One of 2013's biggest print publishing successes has been Allie Brosh's graphic memoir, Hyperbole and a Half. Quirky humour and captivating Microsoft Paint illustrations document Brosh's experience of life in her 20s, touching on everything from her battle with depression to her worry that her dog is "slightly retarded".

The book, published in the UK by Square Peg, began life in 2009 as a web comic, or graphic blog. Web comics have been around since the early days of the internet, but the combination of universal broadband, image-friendly blogging platforms and the marketing power of social media has seen their popularity explode in recent years.

Established fanbases, and the chance to attract new audiences in print, make web comics an attractive prospect for publishers. Graphic novel publishers have been experimenting with online/print business models for years: notable success stories include print anthologies of FreakAngels, a web comic set in a post-apocalyptic Whitechapel (Avatar Press), and Jesse Moynihan's Forming (Nobrow Press).

Aside from a flirtation with web comics during the graphic novel boom of the 00s, mainstream publishers have been more wary, with the odd exception: Jonathan Cape picked up the literary web comic Hark! A Vagrant after it had been published in print form by Canadian comics specialist Drawn & Quarterly.

No doubt the bestselling Hyperbole and a Half will inspire others to get in on the act. HarperCollins has already snapped up the popular web comic Nimona. The next hot ticket could be British artist Philippa Rice, whose marvellously inventive blogs My Cardboard Life and Soppy have won her fans across the world. Though with 150,000 Twitter followers and a booming cottage industry in self-published print editions, it is hard to see what a publisher would add.