Welcome to the first installment of
The Pixelated Window of the Past (PWP for short, I guess?), where we search for the best and the worst of webcomics, but in particular one subgenre that had it’s time for glory, and that you know well if you’re reading The Unoriginal Comic.
Sprite Comics, of course.
Every Wednesday for a little while, you will find these episodes, a little summer break from mid-week comics.
Today I shall talk about the history of webcomics in general. The term webcomic wasn’t used until 1995, in the very early instance of the Internet, but online comics were used since 1985, although it was on the Compuserve system.
Webcomics were quick to use the power of the internet to expose their work, whether it was talent for writing or art, there has been all kinds. The advantage of webcomics is allowing to reach a potential of million of internet users without any of the hassle of production, distribution, printing and such.
Sluggy Freelance has been one of the first ones to be made on the actual Internet (although not the true first one), has become very popular, and is still currently active, at least until next year, where they announced a potential ‘ending’ or change of plans for their 20th anniversary.
Sluggy Freelance, First strip on August 25, 1997
Like many things on the internet though, when one person manages to hit the sweetspot to become popular, many will follow in the wake of it and try their own hands at it, with very varying qualities of results.
One style appeared a few years later, and showed a new way of making comics with minimal artistic talent, the Sprite Comics. Bob & George started in 2000, using Megaman sprite sheets that various websites had collected. While also not the first, it became so widely popular that it might as well have created the subgenre.
Bob & George, first strip April 1st, 2000
And again, many followed into those footsteps… with an even GREATER range of quality between what’s good and bad. With minimal artistic talent you could also combine even more minimalist writing skills, culminating in a cesspool of comedy that probably only the writers found funny.
In the upcoming episodes, we will be reviewing these Sprite Comics, the good and the bad, and judging them by their art, comedy and writing. Because not all comics are made the same, with different authors also come varying talents, and humor is very subjective of course. But there are some things that can be judged impartially.
See you next week for
Episode 2 : The basic of a Sprite Comic
