This summer I ♥ Comics returns to Blog@Newsarama. Each Wednesday comics bloggers and creators will discuss the things they love about the medium.

This week our guest contributor is David Gallaher, the writer of High Moon. The comic wrapped up just recently on Zuda.

by David Gallaher

When I was a kid, growing up outside of Baltimore, Sunday mornings were spent on the living room floor, eating Cap’n Crunch, and reading the funny pages. I must’ve spent hours reading everything from Peanuts to the Lockhorns. Sure, I didn’t get every joke – and every strip wasn’t always awesome, but even at that age, I really grew to appreciate that each comic had its own unique voice, style, and flavor.

What I didn’t realize at first, however, was that each paper had its own comic publishing agenda. Sure, I might be able to find the latest Phantom comic strip in the pages of the Washington Post, but would I find the most recent Marvin strip? When you moved around as often I did – this presented a bit of a problem. I was at the mercy of whatever the local, backwater paper chose to publish that day. I didn’t have access to some of my favorite strips – and there wasn’t a way to catch up on some of the strips I’ve missed.

But, then the Internet came along ….

Good old Internet. Even with a modem and a dumb dial-up connection, a whole world of comic content became open to me. Syndicates were opening up their archives – delivering comics to my inbox – and providing the kind of content that satisfied the kid in me. Better yet, most of them were free.

And even better still, every day more strips were popping up. And, these strips were different – these strips were racier, relevant, and independently published.

With minimal startup costs, no editorial dictates, and the opportunity reach a literally unlimited audience, the webcomic revolution had begun, and so did my decade-long love affair with medium.

These days there are close to 19,000 webcomics floating around in the digital ether. And if you are in the mood for something odd, something cute or something unique – you can pretty much find a comic about it.

Live in Philly? There’s a webcomic for you.

Like the drunken exploits of young twenty-somethings? There’s a webcomic for you.

Like reading about cats during the industrial revolution? Yup. They’ve got that, too.

Werewolf westerns. Teen superheroes. Stick figures. Southern fairytales. Victorian murder mysteries. Zombie epics. Disturbing family dramas. Disturbing superhero dramas. Brooklyn dramas. Voyeuristic thrills. Blatant insanities. Pirates. Ninjas. Doomed romances. Superevil corporations. Cybernetic sharks on a train. Grad school funnies. Library humor. Dinosaurs. Action figures. Occult detectives. Intergalatic adventures. And so much more. It’s all there for me - 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. Whenever. Wherever.

And I can’t get enough of it!

I love webcomics for … the way they stretch the medium.

… the way they defy convention.

… the vast archives of old strips, right at my fingertips.

… the way they push the boundaries of storytelling.

… the liberating effect they have on creators.

… the diversity in style, voice, and flavor …

But, mostly, I love them for the way that they complement my morning bowl of Cap’n Crunch.

(and for the record, there is a webcomic about Cap’n Crunch too!)

David Gallaher is the award-winning writer behind HIGH MOON, the werewolf western webcomic, currently serialized on Zuda. During the daylight hours, he writes for the New York City Police Department.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 2:12 pm and is filed under I ♥ Comics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.