Webcomics - A Growing Industry

Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by comic artists or a cartoonist, and are published on a recurring basis (usually daily or weekly) in newspapers.

Webcomics, also known as online comics and Internet comics, are comics that are available to be read from the Internet. Many are exclusively published online, while some are published in print but maintain a web archive for either commercial or artistic reasons.

With the Internet's easy access to an audience, Webcomics run the gamut from traditional cartoon strips to graphic novels and beyond. Two pioneers of this format are Penny Arcade, focused primarily on video gaming, and User Friendly, which bases its humor on the Internet and other computer-user issues.

The majority of traditional newspaper comic strips have some Internet presence. King Features Syndicate and other syndicates often provide archives of recent strips on their websites. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, started a trend by including his email address in each strip.

Webcomics are a growing industry due to the increase in online activity. People are relying on their computers to access anything and everything, including their daily dosage of humour.