Episodes
Getting Started (2025 Edition)
Whether it’s your first and only webcomic or one of many that you’re planning, preparing to launch a new comic can take a lot of thought! You’ll be thinking about things like organizational aspects (which is getting your art and story plans ready), technical aspects (which includes hosting that works for the scope of your comic), the timing and how you get the word out once you're finally ready to launch.
Update Schedules
Many webcomics work in a serialized fashion, updating with a page a week or batch of pages every so often, and this is something we probably borrowed from newspaper comics and issue format comics. With that, we wanted to talk about what it’s like to keep up with our own schedules, expectations with retaining readership, and the process involved with sticking with something that works for you.
Tragic Backstories
Let’s not lie to ourselves: we’ve all been in the misery pit before, thinking about the poignant and tragic beginnings to our character’s stories. Tragic backstories are a trope for a reason: painful experiences can add depth and catharsis to characters. But how do we make them resonate with our audiences emotionally?
Backgrounds
I think we’ve all heard someone make the joke of setting their comic in a white void before. When asking around, backgrounds seem to be one of the biggest challenges when creating a comic. In today’s episode we’re going to give our five cents on why this might be and talk about tips and tricks that make working on them more fun!
Animation and Webcomics
A lot of creators in webcomics, including all of us here, have come from an animation education or a career path. It makes a lot of sense that many of us are drawn to it, because there’s so much creativity and energy in the world of animation. And webcomics are very freeform, so if you have your own site or a platform that supports it, videos, GIFs, and CSS animation tricks are all on the table as tools we can integrate into the comic experience. So let’s talk about it!
Writing a Synopsis (with Eli!)
A synopsis is one of the most powerful tools we have for hooking potential readers into our story. But sometimes summing up your big ideas into an understandable, compelling short statement is really challenging! So we’re here to break down the elements, look into what you do and don’t need, and hopefully give you some good ideas to work with!
Finishing a Webcomic
Webcomics can come to a stop for a whole host of reasons. Sometimes creators don't get to choose those reasons, as life or other circumstances can get in the way.... BUT let's say it's smooth sailing and everything goes to plan. At some point, you will reach the end of your story or a natural stopping point. However you choose to tie up all those loose ends can take a little effort that you don’t always anticipate!
Join our hosts as they discuss the hows, whys, and whens of their webcomic endings.
Video Platforms (with Star!)
Video has exploded in popularity online, and is rapidly becoming– if it hasn’t already– one of the most popular mediums for people to express themselves, chat, promote, and experiment online. Chances are good if you, the listener, are hanging out online in creative social spaces, you’re already watching video content, whether it be keeping up with a favourite streamer, putting on Youtube movie reviews in the background while you work, watching or interacting with the creative communities on tiktok… there’s a lot!
AI is Bad, Actually
Welcome, fellow artists and storytellers, to the vibrant world of Screentones, where the lines between imagination and reality blur with every stroke. Join us as we delve into the colorful palette of comics, exploring the intricate layers of storytelling, character dynamics, and the magic of visual narrative. Whether you're a seasoned creator or an eager enthusiast, prepare to be immersed in discussions, interviews, and insights that ignite your passion and ignite your creativity. This is Screentones, where every pixel holds a story.
Patreon (with Bob!)
Joining us today is Special Guest Bob, the creator of Into the Smoke! Join us as we talk all about Patreon!
Patreon is a site where you can get your readers to financially support you on a subscription model. You make an account on patreon.com, send your readers over to give you any amount per month they want, and you can post bonus content for your readers that’s either free to access OR behind a paid tier. It can be a really nice way to put a little money in your pocket, but it’s also really easy to overwhelm yourself, too, so we’re going to talk about what we’ve learned about navigating it!
5 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started
Starting a webcomic can be a huge endeavor. Whether it's your first comic or your fifth, the beginning stages of webcomicking can be the best of times and the worst of times. It may surprise you to know (though hopefully not) that we here at Screen Tones have all started webcomics and so, we want to share our favorite tips for getting started. And what better way to do that than with a nice, neat numbered list! Let's dive into the 5 Things We Wish We Knew Before We Started Webcomicking!!
Jam Session! What Are You Reading?
Join our hosts as they JAM about the comics they're reading right and maybe you'll find a new comic to pick up. The only way to find out is to listen now!
Discipline
This episode is not for the faint of heart. We’re talking to the creators that have decided they want to make a webcomic at all costs and are ready to put in the work! Webcomics require so many hats and unless you’re part of a team, you’re wearing all of them. Discipline is what will help you stay organized, push through the less enjoyable parts of webcomicking and ultimately help you bring your idea to fruition.
Burnout
Burnout is the accumulation of unchecked and built up chronic stress over a period of time. And it takes some interesting forms that you might not expect, it can come from other places in your life OR from the making of your comic itself. But preventing it from creeping up on you in the great marathon of webcomics is critical to keeping healthy and happy, so let’s talk about our experiences!
Jam Session! Layers
Layers are a feature of digital art programs like Clip Studio, Photoshop, Paint Tool Sai, just about any art program. If you look around your dashboard or under one of your menus, you’ll probably find them, and understanding how to structure them for sketches, effects, and other things can help save you work, time, and add an extra OOMPH to whatever you’re working on!
The Intro "DO IT (feat. Shia LaBeouf)", and the Outro "It's Good To See You Again!!", both by Adrianwave, have been used and modified in good faith under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Licensed. Edits include: Fade IN/OUT, and a repeat added to the beginning of "It's Good To See You Again!!". For more information on this creative commons use, please reference https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/