Writing, drawing, first publication rights

I have no idea how web-comic copyright works, but I would assume that if you write a novel inspired by a comic that you previously published, there shouldn't be any issues with the rights. After all, a novel is considerably different from a comic. You won't be transcribing the scenes word-for-word, right? You'll be adding descriptions, characterizations, settings, actions, etc. It'll be different enough that I doubt anyone would have a problem.

If you want to be safe, though, you should write/draw the whole thing first, before posting it online. Not only does that save you from the worry of, "What if I get halfway through and change my mind?" but it's also kinder to your followers. When I used to read fanfic, nothing was more frustrating than a novel-length fic that stopped halfway through, simply because the author got tired of it, or didn't know how to finish the story. When I wrote my own stories, I promised my readers that I would never start posting something unless I'd already finished writing the whole thing.

(Keep in mind that I am not a copyright lawyer and I know very little about web-comics and "first rights" publication rules. Someone will probably be along shortly who can offer more concrete advice.)

Unless a third party is involved in putting out your webcomic, and you agreed to give them certain rights to the content, then sure, you can do whatever you want with your work. No one can ever just take possession of your ideas unless you give them permission first in the form of a contract. By default you own your own work.

You should be fine. If the web comic becomes popular enough, the publishers will be thrilled your story will have that built in market.

Hapax Legomenon said:

I like to write and I like to draw and I have tons of ideas. I like to read webcomics but I'm not 100% sure if I am prepared for this kind of a commitment.

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This sounds like me. D: I'm skipping the whole web comic thing, and will just write for now...