CE Instructor Gannon Beck: “You Should Be Making Webcomics”

CE’s new Introduction to Webcomics course starts on September 18! Leading the class are co-instructors Gannon Beck and Bryan Richmond – both of whom are webcomics creators and CE community members themselves.

Gannon addressed his fellow alumni in a letter explaining how Comics Experience not only influenced his work, but also pushed him to make the jump from student to comic creator.

Here’s an excerpt:

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beck-bioFellow Comics Experience Alumni,

At New York Comic Con in 2011, I attended a panel about breaking into comics. Andy Schmidt was one of the panelists. His parting words on the panel were so profound that they have guided my approach to comics ever since. What he said was essentially this: With the advent of print-on-demand and webcomics, if you’re not making comics in this day and age, that’s on you.

That sunk in, and shortly thereafter, Bryan Richmond and I started working on Space Corps. We initially were going to pitch it to Image, but Andy’s words kept lingering above the project. His words pointed Bryan and me to the inescapable conclusion that we didn’t need anyone’s permission to make comics.

And neither do you.

There is no path to breaking into comics that doesn’t involve actually making comics—or at least lots of pages. A webcomic will give you the byproduct of sample pages to show around at conventions. Like producing samples, a webcomic will also give you a vehicle for improvement and experimentation.

The upside to doing a webcomic with your own characters, however, is much higher than merely producing samples. Creating your own webcomic has the most advantages and the largest upside over other possible paths. It will take your pursuit of a comics career, and your skills with it, to the next level.

Taking the webcomics class being taught by Bryan and me will help get you up and running. We’ll not only help you with the technical challenges to get started but will also arm you with the entrepreneurial insights that helped me break away from my cubicle prison over fourteen years ago.

Class starts September 18. I hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Gannon

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Thanks to Gannon for sharing his perspective — and to both instructors for developing the course!

To enroll or learn more about Intro to Webcomics, visit the course page here.

To hear Gannon and Bryan talk about Intro to Webcomics and starting Space Corps, listen to Episode #75 of the “Make Comics” podcast here.

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you’ll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Nicole Boose
nicole@ComicsExperience.com
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