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Web comics are comics that are displayed on the Internet instead of being printed on paper. It's a new medium that is still in its infancy. At the moment most web comics are basically paper comics on the Internet. However it's possible for web comics to include sound, interactivity and animation. Along with the lack of censorship and practical constraints this means they can go places paper comics never could.

Typically comics are put up a page (or strip) or so every week rather than being put on the Internet as completed works. Many have epic plots. Presently many web comics are terrible but there are some good ones, some have migrated to print and we're certain to see television series and movies of some in the years to come.

WHAT YOU NEED

Ability to think up good stories and/or jokes (if you can't do this, you're not going to produce a good comic).
At least basic drawing skills.
At least a basic knowledge of bitmap graphics programs (e.g. Photoshop)
Bitmap graphics program (GIMP is free)
At least basic knowledge of how to create web sites (can also be done with free software)
Paper, pens etc. (unless you're creating all your work on computer)
Scanner (unless you're creating all your art on computer or uploading from a digital camera)
Computer
Some sort of Internet account that allows you to put up a website. There are some free comic hosting sites

You can have a team with these skills between them. This will allow you to do a fairly simple comic. If you have people who can draw well or use 3D graphics software etc., you could produce something more elaborate. If you want to do a comic with a serious story, you really need good graphics (I'm not sure why).

DRAWING YOUR COMIC

I'm not going into a lot of detail on this. There are numerous ways to draw web comics.

If you're not that computer literate, you'll probably want to draw your comic on paper and scan it. If so, add the bubbles with your graphics software in separate layers. This will make it easy to correct mistakes or translate your comic into other languages. You'll almost certainly want to touch up your comic on the computer anyway. You may also like to color your comic on the computer. Remember your bitmaps shouldn't be much wider than 500 pixels. Most web comics seem to be produced this way.

Another way to produce web comics is with photographs (using human actors or dolls or other non-human models). If you have a digital camera, you can upload them straight to the computer. You can then

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