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Writer's picturePhil

Five content lessons I learned from creating a webcomic.

Updated: Jan 9, 2023


It was late summer, 2014. I was a few months into my consulting venture, and came to the stark realization my content strategy skills were weak. My solution—a New Year’s resolution— was to create a webcomic and promote it organically. On a professional level, it would force me to create content & gain a deeper understanding of social channels. On a personal level, it offered an excuse to set aside time to indulge in a hobby I enjoy. In January 2015, Cool Purgatory was born after four months of planning and preparation.

The premise? Cool Purgatory was where things went after they became uncool. An enigmatic group of white-masked, black-clad Arbiters governed it, and fraternized with its captives. Some of the strips brought this world to life, but Cool Purgatory’s sweet spot was commenting on the zeitgeist.


A year+ and 150+ strips later, I retired it for a variety of good reasons. Free from the pressures of biweekly deadlines, I was relieved to have some free time back! Looking back at the exercise, here are the top five things I learned:


1. Aspire for freshness.

Fresh air. Fresh water. Fresh paint. Fresh perspective. Fresh produce. Fresh scent. “Fresh” is a universal standard for goodness, and is a sensible goal to establish for your content. Fresh content is timely. It resonates with its audience at the perfect moment. Fresh content is also novel. It elicits an “I haven’t seen that before” reaction. Readers liked the world-building strips I created, but they shared and engaged with the fresh ones.


2. Self-created shortcuts keep you sane.

Creating content devours time. Cool Purgatory was a hobby, and there was a threshold for how much time I could spend on it. I needed to expedite my artistic process to allow maximum time to ideate on the front end. So I developed a system of production that stole pages from the playbooks of animation, video games, and live theater. I drew “sets”— e.g. a bar, a library, a laboratory, a VIP exit— that could be repopulated again and again. I recycled character art and props from old strips to fill panels. I tracked and ranked ideas with a chart that unintentionally resembled an egg about to be fertilized. These self-created systems were messy at times, but proved invaluable. Don’t just comb through an app store looking for shortcuts; forge your own.


3. Brevity wins.

I learned this the hard way. I’ve always struggled with the writing part of cartooning. I use too many double punchlines. I overexplain. I don’t convey gags succinctly enough. If you’re wordy with your content, seek inspiration from writers who aren’t. Read a few chapters of “A Farewell to Arms” to reset your brain. Keep a copy of “The Elements of Style” handy. It’s no coincidence that my strips with the most engagement used the least words.


4. Viral fills a void

Give your audience something— a laugh, a truth, an understanding, a fresh perspective—when they need it most, and you’ve got a better chance of them sharing it.


5. Respect the Holidays.

Too many brands dump vapid, tone deaf posts into their followers’ feeds on holidays. There’s no excuse for creating mediocre holiday posts. They’re one of the few constants across content calendars & you have time to plan them and do them right. If you’re going to interrupt your followers on a holiday, reward them with something special.

Good luck with your content plan, and let me know if I can help!





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