Taking comics to the people: artists are using new platforms to bypass gatekeepers and grow the comic book industry.

• Author: Garcia, Alexis
• Position: Reason TV

"Any time you don't have to ask permission is awesome. And now you don't," says Jason McNamara, an award-winning graphic novelist based in northern California. McNamara is just one of many in the comics community turning away from traditional publishing and toward digital platforms like Kick-starter and comiXology to finance and publish their work.

It's a strategy that worked well for McNamara's last release, The Rattler, a graphic novel he co-created with Los Angeles artist Greg Hinkle. The writer launched a campaign through Kickstarter, the online crowdfunding website that lets potential customers contribute money to help get creative or business projects off the ground. His goal was to raise $4,600 to publish the book; he ended up collecting pledges worth more than three times that amount from 390 different backers. "By going through Kickstarter first, we could get a real idea of what the interest is for this book," McNamara says. "There is an element of entrepreneurship and there's a gamble that appeals to people. In Kickstarter, I've had better conversations with [fans] than I've had over the past 10 years of doing conventions."

The emergence of crowdfunding sites has provided fans with a more diverse selection of comics by allowing creators such as McNamara to sidestep editorial gate keepers and bring their art directly to consumers. Before online platforms like Kickstarter came along, graphic novelists essentially had two choices: work with Diamond Comic Distributors--a company that boasts exclusive arrangements with most American comic publishers and stores--or publish, fold, and staple your books yourself, hoping you'll be able to sell them in person at events.

"In order to get in the comic shops you had to go through Diamond. They do have a monopoly in the comics community," explains Matt Silady, chair of the Master of Fine Arts in Comics program at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. "Diamond does a lot of great things for retailing...