The Webcomic and the 21st Century

The Rise of the Internet

(Image Credit: Wikipedia, Matt Brit)

Whereas radio and television dominated as the primary mediums of pop culture in the 20th century, the dawn of the 21st century truly has become the age of the Internet. Despite its humble beginnings in the latter decades of the 20th century as a governmental and military prototype communications tool (see ARPANET and Source 1 below), the Internet has transformed into a seemingly endless web of networks hosting a hodgepodge of websites representing a diverse array of human interests. The overall ease of access, immense and immediate reach to a worldwide audience, popularity and utilitarianism of the Internet as a communication tool promoted a variety of new media formats ranging from blogs to YouTube videos. As a mechanism that provides instantaneous updates and information to a mass audience, the Internet has thus become an important outlet for creative professionals, most notably artists.

The Webcomic

For many artists, the Internet serves as an online, sometimes interactive, gallery where they are allowed to showcase their work via photos or other multimedia projects such as music, movies, etc. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before comic strip artists chose to migrate their strips onto the World Wide Web. Mainstream newspaper comic artists moved first, such as Scott Adams of Dilbert and Bill Amend of Foxtrot. Eventually, young and aspiring, sometimes amateur, artists began to post their own comic strips on individual sites. Many sites gradually attracted a large fanbase, and as a result webcomics evolved into a popular medium that has as many readers as contributors. Several famous webcomics have emerged, such as Penny Arcade, Questionable Content and XKCD, to name a few. Nevertheless, I have been interested by Asian American webcomics and therefore hope to explore them as a popular culture medium through this blog.

Page Sources:

1. The Internet Society: http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml
2. Dilbert: http://www.dilbert.com
3. Foxtrot: http://www.foxtrot.com
4. Penny Arcade: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/
5. Questionable Content: http://questionablecontent.net/
6. XKCD: http://xkcd.com/

The Relevance of Asian American Webcomics

 

The Appearance of Asian American Webcomics

Amidst the multiple Asian American webcomics on the Internet, no single artist has the claim of being the first Asian American webcomic creator. Regardless of superficial distinctions, Asian American webcomics collectively present another medium that highlights a variety of issues pertinent to individual Asian Americans and the greater community. Despite the fact that not every Asian American webcomic artist or webcomic strip is solely devoted to highlighting Asian American issues, an overwhelming majority of existing Asian American webcomics focus on issues of ethnicity, race, stereotypes and a host of other problems Asian Americans face in daily life. Some webcomics, such as Secret Asian Man by Tak Toyoshima, tend to devote a large percentage of their webcomic strips to issues facing Asian Americans, while others prefer a more subtle approach.

 

Asian American Webcomics and Asian American Discourse

Aside from the personal preferences of the cartoonists, the dynamics of Asian American webcomics can be discussed within the context of the Asian American discourse. For instance, questions can be raised concerning the anonymity and nameless Asian American protagonist in Jorge Cham’s PhD Comics. Different interpretations exist regarding the nameless Asian American character: Did the artist choose to leave the character nameless in order to allow university graduate students to relate to the character or is it a subtle hint at the emasculation of the Asian American male? The open-ended webcomic in this capacity thus serves as a prompt that can promote discussion and debate of Asian American issues to a diverse audience consisting of Asian Americans, Asians and non-Asians. The need to appeal to a mass audience also explains why certain webcomics with Asian American creators sometimes attempt to stray from centering their webcomics specifically around Asian American issues. Readership and fan support is essential for the survival of Asian American webcomics (and webcomics in general), and many times small niche audiences cannot always sustain a webcomic.

In spite of the need to retain a large and diverse readership, many Asian American webcomics have nevertheless pressed onward in presenting Asian American viewpoints and thereby engaging in the discussion of Asian American issues. Some comics that repeatedly discuss topics of Asian American stereotypes and racism, such as Secret Asian Man, have succeeded in receiving newspaper syndication, a feat highly unusual since the reverse is true for most online comics; the general trend is to have a successfully syndicated comic strip move to the Internet.

The newness and budding popularity of the Asian American genre in the webcomic community underlies the apparent lack of references regarding this subject. However, an analysis of several webcomic strips reveals a deep understanding of the pervasive issues affecting Asian Americans and that these webcomic authors are relatively successful in utilizing the comical webcomic format to promote awareness about the various issues challenging Asian Americans.

Page Sources:

1. Secret Asian Man: http://www.secretasianman.com/home.htm

2. PhD Comics: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php

Webcomic Strip Analyses: Case Studies

The following comic strips address a range of topics prevalent in Asian American studies. The discussed selections are from Secret Asian Man.

The first Secret Asian Man strip touches upon issues related to the Asian “obedient” stereotype and to a certain extent the emasculation of the Asian American male. The dialogue from the Caucasian hair stylist implies that since Asian hair “behaves” so well, then by extension Asians and Asian Americans are very good at “behaving” themselves. The topic of obedience provides a transition to the issue of emasculation and the Asian/Asian American male. The protagonist in this strip is “trapped” in the chair and is only able to contest the stereotype verbally. The character is in a helpless position and essentially voiceless as the hair stylist is too focused on the “obedient” hair to notice his comment. The setting and the words present a power dynamic, with the Caucasian hair stylist having complete control not only over the Asian character’s hair but his entire body as well.

This second webcomic strip focuses on the difficulties male Asian American actors face in the entertainment industry. Preconceived notions of the Asian American male as subservient, emasculated, weak and foreign have led to typecasting in Hollywood, and consequently a dearth of roles for Asian American males. Despite the fact that the preexisting trend is shifting (i.e. John Cho), the limited screen time for Asian American males and their subsidiary roles continues to remain an issue today.

Overall, the multiplicity of Asian American webcomics serve as a new communications front whereupon Asian American comic artists and an Asian American audience can express frustrations over imposed stereotypes, question preexisting notions of race, ethnicity, identity and the daily minutiae that collectively become incorporated into the ever-changing idea of Asian American culture.