WEBCOMIC: Something Every Artist Ought to Know

A webcomic strip from Norway has been making the rounds this afternoon. Having followed the link from comics luminary Scott McCloud (awestruck by the piece himself), it feels somehow wrong not to help spread the message to as many as can benefit from it. This piece by an artist named IdaEva Neverdah shows what comics can do when you understand their rules and then have the insight and fortitude to break them. I share it here not only because it's an example of the medium serving well to convey a message, but because that message is so helpful.

Making things and sharing them can be scary, like exposing your belly to the wilderness. But it's also often worth it. To understand that the majority of the walls keeping us back from success aren't the confines of society or even the medium itself–that they're of our own making–is an important step in plowing them over and getting the work done.

Here's a small portion of the longer, vertical comic. Click here for the rest. And remember it. 

Comments

  1. Amazing, gorgeous, and heartfelt. One to bookmark.

    Not only is the comic inspiring just as a piece of art, but by doing what it does it also perfectly illustrates what is so disappointing about almost all the other webcomics online. The medium lets you do so many playful things with it, but everyone’s using it to make three-panel setup-straight line-punchline strips you could have gotten from a Garfield book fifteen years ago.

  2. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @Jimski  I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing a traditional comic strip online. There’s a skill involved in crafting a three panel gag. And while I know there are webcomics out there that make use of this kind of playfulness, I agree that there should be more of it. 

  3. I saw this on the Twitter feed and immediately sent the link to everyone I know. Perfect encapsulation of the fears that wrack us and the possibilities we have to realize.

  4. Brilliant. Sometimes the best things come from looking at the tried and true and saying “well what if we just did it a touch different…”

  5. Simple and brilliant. I should print it out and plaster it all over my walls, so that the message can kick me in the ass every time I feel uninspired.

  6. I urge everyone who sees this to click on the link and view the entire strip.  It is breathtaking in many, many ways.

    Excellent commentary, Paul. 

  7. That comic (Through the link) blew my mind, I think I need to print it off or buy it or something, WOW

  8. Mind blown

  9. Every so often, the Internet does something good. This is great.

  10. It’s hard to find a good short comic with heart & a fresh message sometimes. This one is full of both. Amazing.

  11. very cool.

     

  12. This is cool. I remember when people would make crazy flash animations and things like Nose Pilot. That was my jam back in the day.

  13. That’s amazing

  14. I love this. Its takes all of the best artist tips and puts them into two words. bravo!

  15. Right on!!

  16. This is, to me, in line with what the team at TEenage Satan are doing too. Sure panels and page turns have their place but sometimes its when you attempt to break those foundations that you can really create something unique.
    I explained it recently like this. A good comic is like fine dining and sometimes you want traditional fare but sometimes things like molecular gastronomy come along and can change the way you view, taste and experience a meal (or in this case a comic- probably a poor metaphor). Things like this webcomic and Teenage Satan encapsulate that to me. 

  17. I’m inspired!

  18. I don’t get it, its another comic strip