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Smackjeeves<br />
Smackjeeves is a free webcomic hosting web service that artists can join and create custom<br />
comic pages that allows readers to become a fan and subscribe. Although you can see who your fans<br />
are, they do not give you information about them and the only statistics they provide is the number<br />
of hits each comic page has. Fans seem to be mostly from United States and are interested in comics<br />
enough to register an account. Registration is not linked with FB connect, so users have to enter all<br />
information to register for an account. Hit titles are mostly parodies and western-style comics that<br />
have more of a cool and artistic factor than looking cute. Western-style comics also tend to have<br />
more dialogue and multiple frames on one page. Therefore a comic title, such as “Pictures of You”,<br />
can have 1177 fans on Smackjeeves but only 810 fans on Facebook. This is probably due to the<br />
inappropriateness of such storytelling format on social networking sites for the masses.<br />
The Duck<br />
The Duck provides free web hosting for comics and is a direct competitor of Smackjeeves.<br />
Some artists hold mirror accounts on both sites to maximize reach. However, comics found on The<br />
Duck generally have weaker drawing. Like Smackjeeves, most fans seem to be also from United<br />
States and are interested in comics enough to register an account. Similarities with Smackjeeves also<br />
translate to seeing similar types of comics and probably attracting the same crowd of readers.<br />
Tapastic<br />
Tapastic is a very new free webcomics hosting service but unlike Smackjeeves and The Duck,<br />
it received huge financing from a Korean telecommunications company, SK Planet. The author had<br />
been contacted by SK Planet to discuss cooperation but was later ignored after the Korean company<br />
decided to hand over the management of their new venture business to their US office. Tapastic’s<br />
business model is significantly different from Smackjeeves and The Duck, as it seeks to identify new<br />
hit titles and collaborate with indie artists to develop merchandise and other exclusive content like<br />
video games. 18 Indie artists are defined as those who have a significant fan base but had not signed<br />
18 Krystian, Marisa. "This CEO Wants To Change The Way You Read Web Comics." International<br />
Business Times. N.p., 9 Apr. 2013. Web. 16 May 2013.<br />
.<br />
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