Webcomics Nation

Webcomic Nation
Logo
Owner Joey Manley
Website www.webcomicsnation.com
Launched July 29, 2005 (2005-07-29)

Webcomics Nation was a webcomic hosting and automation service launched on July 29, 2005 by Joey Manley.

Concept

Though Joey Manley was well known for creating a family of webcomic subscription services (consisting of Modern Tales, Serializer, Girlamatic, and Graphic Smash), he stated that he mainly focused exclusively on the subscription business model because online advertisement rates were low and bandwidth was expensive in the early 2000s. When online advertisement became more lucrative in the mid-2000s, and the subscriber numbers of his existing platforms remained stagnant, Manley decided to transition into a business model more similar to that of Keenspot. Webcomics Nation tried to do for webcomics what services like Blogger and Flickr did for blogs and photo sharing respectively.[1][2] Webcomics Nation initially offered unlimited Web space to any cartoonist for $7 USD per month,[3] but the website quickly became a free hosting service, supported entirely through advertisement money. As the revenue of free webcomics supported through advertising eclipsed the increasingly unpopular subscription model, Manley eventually turned Modern Tales into a free website as well.[4]

Webcomics Nation also aided cartoonists with little to no experience with Web technologies to set up a webcomic. Talking with Publisher's Weekly, Manley stated that "A lot of people don't have that kind of dedication to technology. The younger cartoonists do, but some older cartoonists don't."[5]

History

Manley launched WebcomicsNation.com on July 29, 2005 after having the service beta tested by a large number of major cartoonists (including James Kochalka, Lea Hernandez, Roger Langridge, Tom Hart, Cayetano Garza, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, and Spike Trotman). Manley advertised the service in part through its use of modern Web technologies such as XML, RSS, and "web services".[6] Webcomics Nation quickly became Manley's most profitable project.[5]

Webcomics Nation merged with ComicSpace in 2008.[7] The service closed alongside Manley's other websites in April 2013.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Deppey, Dirk (July 2006). "The Joey Manley Interview". The Comics Journal.
  2. ↑ Boxer, Sarah (2005-08-17). "Comics Escape a Paper Box, and Electronic Questions Pop Out". The New York Times. There's even a new site out there called webcomicsnation.com, which is supposed to do for Web comics what Blogger did for blogs and Flickr did for photo sharing.
  3. ↑ Walker, Leslie (2005-06-15). "Comics Looking to Spread A Little Laughter on the Web". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-07-30. Manley ... has concluded that advertising represents the industry's future. So he is preparing to launch Webcomicsnation, a site that will offer unlimited Web space to any cartoonist for $7 a month. Manley hopes to turn a profit selling ads. ... 'I am no longer the publisher. I am the service provider.'
  4. ↑ Garrity, Shaenon (2013-11-15). "Joey Manley, 1965-2013". The Comics Journal. Manley introduced WebComicsNation, a free hosting platform for webcomics. As free comics supported by ad revenue started to eclipse the increasingly unpopular subscription model, Manley turned Modern Tales into a partly free, then entirely free site.
  5. 1 2 MacDonald, Heidi (2005-12-19). "Web Comics: Page Clickers to Page Turners". Publisher's Weekly. Webcomics Nation has already become Manley's most profitable project ever.
  6. ↑ Manley, Joey (2005-07-29). "Webcomics Nation is Open for Busines". Talk About Comics. Archived from the original on 2005-11-15.
  7. ↑ Marshall, Rick (2008-04-24). "Comicspace/Webcomics Nation Merger: The Interview". ComicMix.
  8. ↑ Melrose, Kevin (2013-11-08). "Modern Tales founder Joey Manley passes away". Comic Book Resources.
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