Every production in the visual narrative arts has its Bonus Features nowdays.
Webcomics could be no different.
In most webcomic sites, whether independent or hosted, users expect to see a range of extra features in the form of extra pages with material supporting the main event, which is of course the actual webcomic.
Of these, some are almost mandatory for a professional look, and others optional or up to originality.
Why have them though?
Strictly speaking, they aren't necessary. The webcomic itself is all that is necessary to well, tell your story and engage the audience. In fact, several of the super popular webcomics here on Drunk Duck don't have any extras at all!
However, the extra features and extra pages are often helpful in various ways. Especially for new readers, supplementary material might help them get engaged in the story easier and faster, and remain that way- all the more so if the webcomic has a sizeable archive.
Besides that, insights, behind-the-scenes material like WIPs and concept art, extra art and other things give readers more things within your webcomic to sink their teeth into. They can offer more immersion, or tide them over while they wait for the next page to drop. Extra pages can also offer more insights in elements that are supplementary to the webcomic's content, like historical information and other trivia.
But what are some of the basic extra pages that are good for a webcomic site to have?
1. An Archive page: An index of all your chapters and uploaded pages
2. An “About” page: A brief description like the blurb on the back cover of a book that says what your webcomic's plot is all about, as well as perhaps rating
3. A Cast page: A list of your webcomic's characters with names and some short description which will help your reader keep track of them or even learn more trivia about them
4. A Links page: A list of links to other webcomics as well as other resources and things you might want to urge your audience to go to
From there on, depending on your webcomic and needs for extra information, sky is the limit! Some feature extra worldbuilding pages, others have historical notes, others have links to merch and forums, links to their patreon and/or other funding options, and so on.
How about you? Do you have extra pages in your webcomic site? If you don't, do you intend to make any?
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The Extras in Your Webcomic
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 23, 2019
4 likes!
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Eustacheus at 12:40AM, March 27, 2019
InCase redid chapter 1 of Alfie after he had finished chapter 7 since the art was more like sketches than carefully drawn and inked pictures. Since the release of the "revival" the original chapter 1 wasn't available anymore. I translated it and added it as an extra to my page, as well as a foreword, a little bit of info, a chapters page, links to other projects by InCase as well as a download page for getting all chapters from my cloud.
bravo1102 at 5:27AM, March 24, 2019
I usually leave it in the author's notes. But I have posted the cast pages that I originally only did so I could keep everyone straight. :D. And of course a fantasy comic has to have a map.
cdmalcolm1 at 10:56PM, March 23, 2019
I started to do it at first but it was just fillers. I like the idea of tags in the images.
Avart at 3:20PM, March 23, 2019
I love extra stuff. I'm more like showing my techniques or sketches, but sometimes I show special arts made with a more complex techniques (the ones that I can't show XD). I have a ton of extras to show, including an ending for my comic that I make almost 3 years ago. Hope to find the right moment to publish it here. BTW, if you want to take a look to my extras you can do it in this link: www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Gloom_Portfolio/ I hope you like it.
usedbooks at 5:05AM, March 23, 2019
I should update my synopsis section. Heh. My cast section had to be divided into multiple pages. It's useful for me, though. Comic Easel has a neat feature that lets you tag characters on your updates, so I can link the character bios to the tags. Just click from the bios for all the pages that character is on. Makes continuity much easier.
Ozoneocean at 10:52PM, March 22, 2019
I used to do the extras thing but it's hard to keep it updated and it's also hard to fit it into the core webcomic experience. You do it well on yours Tantz with your cast page ad history etc, and the way you use Patreon is probably one of he best ways of handling new extras. I mostly do it via the Pinky TA Facebook page, but that's not well integrated with the comic.