The infinite feed: the potential of webcomics in the meme machine

Authors

  • Irene Gil Giménez

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/eutopias.22.22929

Keywords:

Comic, Webcomic, Internet, Memes, Culture.

Abstract

At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, the webcomic developed independently from the publishing market through products specifically designed to be read online. The digital medium was configured as a unique and revolutionary space for the exploitation of new avenues within the comic, as predicted by authors such as Scott McCloud. However, the most popular phenomenon linked to online vignettes has ended up being the «meme», away from concepts such as the infinite canvas and closer to the debate on the technical reproducibility of the image or collective creation. It has changed, away from an existence in highly specialized corners of the network, it now receives millions of interactions in social networks; the webcomic has become a phenomenon, but not the one that its pioneers expected. The objective of this text is to analyze the expressive and narrative characteristics intrinsic to digital comics that have made it nowadays’s viral object par excellence.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Irene Gil Giménez

At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, the webcomic developed independently from the publishing market through products specifically designed to be read online. The digital medium was configured as a unique and revolutionary space for the exploitation of new avenues within the comic, as predicted by authors such as Scott McCloud. However, the most popular phenomenon linked to online vignettes has ended up being the «meme», away from concepts such as the infinite canvas and closer to the debate on the technical reproducibility of the image or collective creation. It has changed, away from an existence in highly specialized corners of the network, it now receives millions of interactions in social networks; the webcomic has become a phenomenon, but not the one that its pioneers expected. The objective of this text is to analyze the expressive and narrative characteristics intrinsic to digital comics that have made it nowadays’s viral object par excellence.

References

Adventures into digital comics. Dir. Sebastien Dumesnil. Top Two Three Films. 2006.

Alter, Adam. «Tech Bigwigs Know How Addictive Their Products Are. Why Don’t the Rest of Us?» Wired (2017). 17 de Mar de 2021. <www.wired.com/2017/03/irresistible-the-rise-of-addictive-technology-and-the-business-of-keeping-us-hooked/>.

Campbell, Maria E. «Inking Over the Glass Ceiling: The Marginalization of Female Creators and Consumers in Comics.» OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center (2015). Tesis.

Campbell, T. The History of Webcomics. Texas: Antartic Press, 2006.

Cantó, Pablo. «Qué es Cabronazi y qué nos enseña de la copia de contenidos en Internet». El País Verne (2018). 17 de Ene de 2021. <verne.elpais.com/verne/2018/08/10/articulo/1533900090_524140.html>.

Casacuberta, David. Creación colectiva: en Internet el creador es el público. Barcelona: Gedisa Editorial, 2003.

Cruz, Eduardo Fernando Aguado, Luis Gabriel Arango Pinto y Verónica Ochoa López. «Hacia un modelo de análisis de memes basados en imágenes macro». Viator. Revista científica de comunicación desde los bordes, 6 2018, pp. 48-86.

Dale, Brady. «The Changing Internet Through Webcomics.» Observer (2015). 17 de Ene de 2021. <observer.com/2015/11/webcomics-and-the-changing-web/>.

Dawkins, Richard. El gen egoísta. Barcelona: Salvat, 1976.

Enguita, Adrián Alonso. «El meme en su temporalidad». Eikasia:revista de filosofía, 82, 2018, pp. 159-177. 

Feels Good Man. Dir. Arthur Jones. Ready Fictions. 2020. 

Frattini, Eric y Oscar Palmer. Guía básica del cómic. Madrid: Nuer, 1999. 

Gallo, Carmine. «Dilbert creator Scott Adams reveals the simple formula that will double your odds of success». 23 de Oct de 2013. Forbes. <www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/10/23/dilbert-creator-scott-adams-reveals-the-simple-formula-that-will-double-your-odds-of-success/#46b56c0d1a3e>.

Garrity, Shaenon. «One of those things». 18 de Abr de 2013. The Comics Journal. 17 de Ene de 2021. <www.tcj.com/one-of-those-things/>.

— «The History of Webcomics». 15 de Jul de 2011. The Comics Journal. 17 de Ene de 2021. <www.tcj.com/the-history-of-webcomics/>.

Gasca, Luis y Román Gubern. El discurso del cómic. Madrid: Cátedra, 1988.

Glaser, Tim. «oh no – this comic is literally me: Webcomics im Zeitalter ihrer memetischen Rezeption». Closure. Kieler e-Journal für Comicforschung, 4.5, 2018, pp. 118-133. 

Glitch Team. «An Addictive Generator For ‘Oh No’ Comics? Oh Yes!». 02 de Abr de 2019. Apps We Love. 17 de Ene de 2021. <blog.glitch.com/post/create-your-own-webcomicname-oh-no>.

Groth, Gary. «McCloud Cuckoo-Land». The Comics Journal, 232, 2001, 32. 

K.C. Green. «On Fire.» 09 de Ene de 2013. Gun Show. 17 de Ene de 2021.

Knobel, Michele y Colin Lankshear. «Online memes, affinities, and cultural production». A new literacies sampler, 29, 2007, pp. 199-227. 

Kukkonen, Karin. «Web Comics». John Hopkins Guide to Digital Media. Ed. M.Ryan y B.Robertson. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2014, 521-524.

Luiz, Lúcio. «Fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu: o fenômeno das rage comics e sua relação com os quadrinhos». XXXV Congresso Brasileiro de Ciências da Comunicação (2012).

Milner, Ryan M. The world made meme: Discourse and identity in participatory media. University of Kansas, 2012. Tesis.

Nagle, Angela. Muerte a los normies: las guerras culturales en internet que han dado lugar al ascenso de Trump y la alt-right. Tarragona: Orciny Press, 2018.

Nøding, Håvard Knutsen. The tools of Webcomics: The «infinite canvas» and other innovations. University of Oslo, 2020. Tesis.

Norris, Alex. Please reblog. 29 de Julio de 2016. <https://webcomicname.com/post/148143828199/please-reblog>.

Plante, Chris. «This Is Fine creator explains the timelessness of his meme». 05 de Mayo de 2016. The Verge. 17 de Ene de 2021. <www.theverge.com/2016/5/5/11592622/this-is-fine-meme-comic>.

Ramos, Rafael Núñez. «Semiótica del mensaje humorístico.» Gallardo, Ed. Miguel Angel Garrido. Teoría semiótica : lenguajes y textos hispánicos : volumen I de las actas del Congreso Internacional sobre Semiótica e Hispanismo celebrado en Madrid en los diás del 20 al 25 de junio de 1983. CSIC, 1984, pp. 269-276.

Samela, Gabriela. «Internet y la repetición de lo igual». AVATARES de la comunicación y la cultura, 10, 2015, pp. 1-15. 

Shifman, Limor. «Defining Internet Memes.» Shifman, Limor. Memes in Digital Culture. EEUU: MIT Press, 2014, pp. 38-54.

Memes in digital culture. EEUU: MIT Press, 2014.

Sibila, Paula. La intimidad como espectáculo. Buenos Aires: FCE, 2012.

Stripped. Dirs. Dave Kellet y Frederik Schroeder. Sequential Films. 2014.

Thoss, Jeff. «This Strip Doesn’t Have a Fourth Wall” Webcomics and the Metareferential Turn». The Metareferential Turn in Contemporary Arts and Media. Ed. Werner Wolf y Katharina Bantleon. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2011, pp. 5521-568.

Wilde, Lukas. «Distinguishing Mediality: The Problem of Identifying Forms and Features of Digital Comics». Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, 8.4, 2015, pp. 1-14, https://doi.org/10.31165/nk.2015.84.386.

Xerexes, Xavier. «From Gurl to Ignatz: Tracy White talks Traced». 29 de Sep de 2008.

Yarbrough, Beau. «A talent deserving of wider recognition: ‘Justine Shaw of Nowhere Girl’». 07 de Jul de 2003. CBR. 17 de Ene de 2021. <https://www.cbr.com/a-talent-deserving-of-wider-recognition-justine-shaw-of-nowhere-girl/>.

Zabel, Joe. «Making Lightning: an interview with Scott McCloud». 21 de Jun de 2006. The Webcomics Examiner. 17 de Ene de 2021. <https://web.archive.org/web/20061111093722/http://webcomicsreview.com/?p=151&page=1>.

Published

2021-12-30

How to Cite

Gil Giménez, I. (2021). The infinite feed: the potential of webcomics in the meme machine. EU-topías. A Journal on Interculturality, Communication, and European Studies, 22, 75–87. https://doi.org/10.7203/eutopias.22.22929
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    428
  • PDF (Español)
    188

Issue

Section

DOSSIER

Metrics

Similar Articles

<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.