cuponoodles

If you've checked out my about page, Friendster profile or seen my wardrobe, you know that I'm a big fan of webcomics. Half of my t-shirts are from the Diesel Sweeties store, and I'm driving up to the Penny Arcade Expo in Bellevue this weekend. My webcomic bookmark folders (one for daily comics, one for semi-daily) consist of no less than 40 different websites featuring sequential art.

Anyway on to the point of this post: Questionable Content, one of my favorite webcomics, is changing from Mon-Wed-Fri updates to a daily format. What's the reason behind this? Jeph, the creator, quit his job as a web designer for undisclosed reasons and now wants to make a living off his comic. QC is a one-of-a-kind comic, mainly covering the exploits of an indie rocker boy, the girls he has crushes on, and an anthropomorphic PC. It's better than it sounds, really. Jeph's art has grown greatly in quality during the one year of QC's existence because he isn't afraid to make noticeable changes in the way he draws his characters and backgrounds. His characters have also drawn a considerable following and he has dedicated a section of his website to fan-submitted art.

Jeph has a tough road ahead of him, as do other webcomic artists who try to make a living off their art. Most hold day jobs or teach art in order to earn their daily intake of ramen noodles. Only a select few have ascended to self-sufficiency, a god-like status among webcomic artists and writers.

For many of these artists, what started as a hobby has turned into a pursuit of a dream. I mean, how many people can say that all that doodling during English class may actually pay off? So to Jeph and all those other artists of an underappreciated art form, I wish them luck… and t-shirt sales.