Brad Guigar debuted his first webcomic, Greystone Inn, back in 2000. Like many webcomikers just starting out, he maintained a full-time job while working on the strip. Even when he ended Greystone Inn and began Evil, Inc. in 2005, he kept working at The Philadelphia Daily News until 2012, when he finally left the paper and became a full-time webcomiker. So while he wasn’t doing webcomics in the earliest days of the medium, he’s been around long enough to know a thing or two.

And fortunately for many people, he has been very generous with what he’s learned over the years. Not only has he written more books on webcomics than anyone else (one full solo book, and one he contributed heavily to—which doesn’t sound like much, but considering only five webcomics books have been written, he makes up for a good percentage!) but he provides an ongoing stream of advice on Webcomics.com as well as in any number of interviews, convention panels, and the like.

I mention all this because, while I sit here and write from a somewhat removed perspective, Guigar is in the trenches figuring all of this out for himself. He’s focusing on what works for him, of course, and his bias naturally skews towards that, but he’s very upfront about how what works for him may or may not work for anyone else.

One of the great aspects to webcomics, generally, is that the community of creators tends to be very open and giving of their time and knowledge. One of the best ways to get started is by simply asking your favorite webcomiker for advice. And as long as you can narrow down the specific type of advice your seeking, they’ll usually be happy to oblige. But Guigar is one of the few cartoonists out there being proactive with his advice. You don’t have to ask him about site templates or Kickstarter campaigns or monetization strategies because he’s already written/spoken about them.

As I said, his advice tends to skew in favor of his personal experiences. Depending on a creator’s own processes, goals, etc., that might not be the best advice for them specifically. And so it’s always beneficial to seek out the advice of others who may be more in line with those same processes and goals. However, Guigar’s own approach is fairly methodical, and he can tell you why something did or didn’t work for him. Which means that readers/listeners can better process whether or not it’s germane to their situation.

I’ve lamented many times before that there aren’t enough people critically discussing webcomics. But not only is Guigar discussing webcomics, he’s also making them. His thoughts are coming from first-hand experience. So when someone puts out as much consistently practical material as Guigar does, he’s worth paying attention to. So what are still doing here?!?

About The Author

Senior Editor, Comics & Lifestyle
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Sean Kleefeld is an independent researcher whose work has been used by the likes of Marvel Entertainment, Titan Books and 20th Century Fox. He writes the ongoing “Incidental Iconography” column for The Jack Kirby Collector and had weekly “Kleefeld on Webcomics” and "Kleefeld's Fanthropology" columns for MTV Geek. He’s also contributed to Alter Ego, Back Issue and Comic Book Resources. Kleefeld’s 2009 book, Comic Book Fanthropology, addresses the questions of who and what comic fans are. He blogs daily at KleefeldOnComics.com.