Webcomic genres
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The webcomic genres are the types of themes a webcomic can take. They are a version of the set of genres any piece of media can take.
[edit] What a webcomic genre is
A genre is not so much a bias as a tone: if the characters of a webcomic are wandering lost in a cave on a spelunking expedition, a dark comedy might have them come across a skeleton of some lost person, dressed in the same equipment and clothing they are using. In a horror comic, they stand a much better chance of being eaten by some horrible infernal beast that picks them off one by one. This is but one comparison; there are as many variations on genre as there are webcomics.
Strictly speaking, all pieces of fiction have a genre, and webcomics invariably take one on, either by conincidence or design, over the course of a strip's run. However, the depth that genre will take on is directly influenced by the depth of the characters who live and die in the world of any given comic. Dynamic characters produce dynamic examples of their genres.
[edit] Types of webcomic genres
| Genre | Exemplary webcomic | Exemplary non-webcomic | Summary |
| Absurdist fiction | Achewood | FLCL | Absurdist fiction allows free rein over all humorous possibilities, the only constraint being the edge of believibility. |
| Dark comedy | Something Positive | Dr. Strangelove | A humorous tone, cut with misery and angst in varying amounts, the dark comedy does not deny hope, but makes its acquisition difficult. |
| Sprite comic | 8-Bit Theatre | Not Applicable | This genre refers to the presentation of a comic, rather than the content. A sprite comic uses computer sprites, often taken from video games, for significant portions of the work. Usually, the characters will be rendered as sprites; backgrounds and other objects may or may not be sprites. |
[edit] See also
- Category:Anime and manga webcomics
- Category:Comedy webcomics
- Category:Coming-of-age webcomics
- Category:Drama webcomics
- Category:Fantasy webcomics
- Category:Horror webcomics
- Category:Infinite canvas webcomics
- Category:LGBT webcomics
- Category:Political webcomics
- Category:Science fiction webcomics
- Category:Sprite webcomics
- Category:Superhero webcomics
- Category:Video game webcomics
