There are a lot of webcomics out there. Regardless of genre, they all need basic components to make it a comic. The look of the characters, background... most comics have their characters in the comic constantly, but backgrounds tend to vary quite a bit. Some treat the backdrop as an important or detailed addition to the setting (Buck Godot, Bad Machinery, Runners...) and other webcomics prefer to focus mainly on the the dialogue and characters (Penny Arcade, Awkward Zombie, Head Trip). Comedic strips seem to focus less on background, as the dialogue is much more relevant.
While setting is important, I realize I often don't pay attention to