Comic Creation As It Happens

Website NewTeeVee reports that the hugely popular online comics Penny Arcade and PVP have begun live-casting their cartoon artists as they create the sites’ Web comics.

Webcams pointed at computer desktops follow the process through the completed script. Each live stream, broadcast via via Ustream , has drawn about 1,000 visitors.

Penny Arcade creator Mike Karhulik says 70,000 people have watched the recorded version of his first livecast and the live streams (click screen right to view) have gotten about 1,000 visitors each. PVP's Scott Kurtz says he gets about 100-150 visitors on a regular basis to his stream but has hit 500-600 visitors when he makes more of an effort to alert readers to the show. Readers can also interact with the creators as they work using ustream's message boards.

Neither creator is making money out of the stream so far, but both Krahulik and Kurtz told NewTeeVee they genuinely enjoy doing the show for the interaction with the fans and plan on doing it weekly.

For those bemused at the idea of watching someone draw, Krahulik thinks he understands the appeal of watching him draw. “I like watching people do things that I can’t do,” he continued. “It’s interesting to watch someone make something out of nothing.”