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Webcomic Platform Masterlist
Webcomic platforms can help get your comic published when you want something quick and easy to start out! They generally share a few qualities:
- They format everything in a basic way so you don't have to do much set up your own space to look nice on web/mobile
- They have no fee to publish your comics there, because you are using their web hosting
- They may get your comic in front of other readers with mobile apps or online catalogs
If you meet their criteria, you may also be able to find hosting with digital comic stores, publishers, and collectives, and this may get you a bit more in the way of money, promotional opportunities, or editor assistance.
Even if you choose to host your website on its own webhost with a comic CMS, you might also consider finding a platform that aligns with your comic goals and "mirroring" your pages there.
In this post, we look at all the webcomic platforms out there we could find in our research!
This post may be updated as time goes on as new platforms enter the hosting arena, or other important updates come to light.
Webcomic Webhosting Masterlist
There are many web hosting companies to choose from if you're taking the plunge into making your own website with a comic content management system (CMS) like ComicControl or Grawlix, a Wordpress comic theme like Toocheke or ComicPress, or a HTML template to cut/paste code like Rarebit. While these solutions are generally free, finding a home for them is... generally not. It can be hard to choose what's best for your webcomic AND your budget!
We took a look at a few of the top hosting services used by webcomics creators using webcomic CMSes, and we put out a poll to ask your feedback about your hosts!
This post may be updated as time goes on as new services enter the hosting arena, or other important updates come to light.
Draw This In Your Style Gallery
Have you ever wondered what your webcomic would look like in another creator's art style? Our amazing Discord community member LĂ©a hosts a Draw This Panel in Your Style event for our members to swap art and panels every two weeks! Click to zoom in on our big collection, and look for the return of this activity in September, along with year-round fun with other comic creators in our community Discord! đź‘Ť
I will not shut up about webcomics!
Do you REALLY like webcomics and you just won’t stop talking about them? Courtesy of Krispy, our wonderful cohost and half of Studio Cartridge, now you can own this great shirt to warn everyone: "I will not shut about webcomics, this is a threat".
You can get yours over here in the Hivemill store! Thanks for listening to US not shut up about webcomics, and thanks for supporting our hosts!
Screen Tones - The Actual Material
If you’ve seen the little comics-esque dots in media (and in our logo), you’ve seen screen tones, also known as halftones! The halftone method was created as a way to print values - and they’ve developed a unique flavour in comics because of how they look. But how do we use them in the digital age? Krispy dives in with her tips:
Preparing for Conventions
What events are best to go to?
Whether it’s a huge celebrity-studded multi-day weekend or a small gathering at a local library, in-person events are an exciting way to reach all kinds of comic fans that may not be in any of your circles online. There’s opportunities to be had at almost every type of event, but a few things that might narrow your focus:
Outlining
Outlining is a great tool for webcomic creators to create a road map quickly and help you get to the final version of your story. Writing out a loose list of the series of plot points you want visit helps you plan everything out by identifying the scenes you might (and might not!) need.
Outlines can take many forms and be revisited on an ongoing basis as you create your comic. Here are some tips on approaching them!
Marketing your Webcomic on Social Media
So! You’re starting a webcomic and want to share it on social media! Good idea! But how?
The ins and outs of every platform shift and change, nobody has surefire answers, and not all of them are going to be right for you. But some specifics to keep in mind as you approach social media as a webcomic creator can go a long way.
Using Visual References
What are references, and why do we need them?
References are visual aids that helps you draw something, such as photos you take yourself, photos you find on the internet, 3D models, live models, miniature toys, or materials you draw on the side for characters or vehicles or outfits you know you’re going to be using in your pages.
Three Pronged Character Development for Webcomics
We all have characters in our heads that we love, but for one reason or another might not be striking our audience as cool/evil as we intend for them to be. How do you troubleshoot what’s going on, and modify what your character does to make them have the impact you want?
In a series of episodes of the podcast Writing Excuses, the hosts come up with a helpful framework of 3 “sliders” that you can scale up or down to affect how a character is perceived:
Sympathy - How sympathetic or relatable they are. You can adjust this by ____
Proactivity - How much do your protags “protag”. You can adjust this by ____
Competence - Are they good at what they do?
Interesting Combinations