Have you ever tried to explain what webcomics are to an acquaintance, co-worker or complete stranger and failed miserably? Well, the PBS Off Book webseries may have just saved you like half an hour of self-doubt with its concise "The Rise of Web Comics" short. Running a little less than 8 minutes long, the featurette obviously can't cover the almost 30-year history of the medium (or, approximately however old the Internet is now), but it does serve up one concise definition of what "Web Comics" are, alongside a nice cross section of contemporary works and short interviews with prominent creators. Christina Xu (Breadpig), Nick Gurewitch (The Perry Bible Fellowship), Sam Brown (Exploding Dog), Lucy Knisley (Stop Paying Attention) and Andrew Hussie (Homestuck) are all on hand to discuss their respective comics, and what publishing on the Internet has meant for them and their work. Most impressively, perhaps, is that the segment kind of manages to explain what Homestuck actually is without making anyone's head explode. Click past the cut to watch the full segment.


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