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paper, pencils and pens for the actual artwork.

Then I use PS7 to clean/typecast/watermark pages.

I use a Wacom Intuos 4x5 tablet.

When I'm doing drawings, I tend to do the lineart by hand in pen and ink, scan it in, and then colour it and add text in Photoshop Elements.

Pen and pencil are all I need. I hate computers.

Damn, why am I wanting to be a grpahic designer XDDDD

I'm just beginning to use OpenCanvas.

I don't own a scanner, so I just use PS 7. Although, I'm probably gunna use simple MS Paint for starters, then use Photoshop.

Scanners would make things marginally easier, though.

Let's see...

For W/B pages:

White paper
3b/4b pencils
Eraser
Then...
Epson Perfection Scanner
WACOM Graphire Tablet
Photoshop 7 for inks and patterns

For Color pages:

A nice CANSON paper
3b/4b pencils
Eraser
0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 Black Markers
Watercolors
Color Inks
Copic Markers

Or, if digital
Epson Perfection Scanner
WACOM Graphire Tablet
Photoshop 7

Paper: Non-gloss bistol. I tend to buy the large sheets and cut them in half for 14x24(?) sheets. Anything that is durable enough to hold wet ink without running (like wax) or waving (like watercolor on print paper) will do.

I do strips at 4x12, so these sheets cut in half make for ten comics (two weeks worth if doing week days) - most webcomics do 1 or 3 a week.. so it's still a bargain at $1.99 a sheet. ($.20 per high quality archive worthy originals that could be resold if in good condition.)

Pens: .08 Micron Sakura (~$2.99ea. you can find great deals of them online) - I tend to enjoy thick lines that make better dynamic bold impressions when done twice over. Buy them sometime, but start with a .01, .03, & .05 if you like - they can be found in any Michael's, but sometimes you need to look in the scrapbook department, as drawing supplies are often neglected.

Micron pens come on solid black with a consistant line width(unlike ballpoint), do not bleed (like sharpies), don't spot if you let your hand rest on the paper for a while(fountain, or gel pens), and feel to the touch like it's flat on the surface, like a printed magazine (and not brittle like india ink).

I use a rapidograph .05 (~$20) to do thin lines, as it'll never need replacing since it's refillable with india ink.

I've always been envious of people who can ink with brushes alone. Master brushes and you can do many things only mimicked by other inkers.

I recommend trying out speedball quills at least once for everyone. It'll make you in charge of a very powerful line ranging from the thinnest hair of a line to bold 1.0 lines with a flick of a wriest depending on pressure and angle, and just as dangerous at the same time (knick the paper and you're masterpiece will be covered in ink!)

Pencils: Mechanical or blue -- mechanical is great as you can draw a solid line very thin without ever sharpening. Shading is for suckers who took too many bad art classes in highschool - comic artists rarely if never shade. Any pencil/graphite shading you see in professional works is a result of effects, charcoal, paint/ink washes, and pastels / high quality color pencils.

Non-Photo Blue pencils are awesome as scanners/photocopiers can be set to a contrast where the blue colors aren't visible in black and white. So you can draw to your heart's content and then scan without ever erasing.

HOWEVER -- blue pencil lines never erase very well, so if you ever want to show off originals, you'll also be showing off every mistake.

Erasers: I use kneaded erasers as you can make them any size, and due to their relatively soft squishy consistency, they never damage the paper or ink lines... rather suck up the pencil lines like it's a damp cloth on a sugar spill. They're super cheap and every time the eraser is dirty, you play with it in your fingers like silly putty and the graphite is gone! It can be used over and over and shaped to erase small bits or big bold squares.

For tough pencil lines that are stuck in an indent, you usually want to get a white eraser -- avoid pink erasers at all costs. You people have been to school, you know what damage they can do to a decent write up draft.

Always draw pencil lines light, and try to ink quickly and erase a day later after you *know* it's dry. Waiting a long time, pencil lines seem to stain paper, and never properly come off the artist proof.

Software: Corel 9 (outdated), but I've worked professional in a web design department, so I can vouch for Adobe and Macromedia products being first rate.

Cheap (as in free) alternatives: GIMP -- totallly free software program with professional features, cons are that it's really hard to get used to working with, as it's designed by programmers with programmers in mind.

Adobe Photoshop Elements comes free with most scanners/printers/cameras, etc. When it comes down to it all you need is something that can scan a greyscale image, make it black and white -- shrink it with anti-alasing to make it crisp like the original, and have some basic layer and coloring techniques. That's it. That's all you need.

You're not painting graphic design here, otherwise you'd be using a vector imaging. If you're obsessed with spraying on paint effects, you've got the wrong niche. Start working in fairs spray painting people's names on T-Shirts for cholas. Don't waste too much time on a computer - it's a tool, not an easy way into a fast line.

Tablets: I have a Wacom Intuos and Graphire, the graphire is $80 as opposed to the Intuos ~$300 -- and they work the damn same.

HORRIBLE TRUTH ABOUT TABLETS: They will not make you a better drawer or a better person. If anything a tablet is just a crutch people use to sidestep a lack of drive for accessing talent. Getting one and bitching about not having one not only makes you look bad, but is just wasting your time and those around you. If you can not draw on paper, you can not draw on a magnetic I/O strip. An undo button doesn't make you a better artist -- analyzing mistakes and implementing accidents into new stylistic choices does.

If you're just looking to animate or color freehand, then yes, consider a tablet when you're already making money off your published comics.

Various things that will help you now, and understand your future.
"First you get good. Then you get fast. Then you get fast and good."
"Inking is more important than penciling. No one will/should see your pencils, and it's the inkers job to bring the sketched product to the reader."
DRAW BIG. SCAN EVEN BIGGER. POST 1/3RD THE SIZE.