You have a point regarding the fact that to make any income in webcomics, you basically have to sell merchandise. That or ad space. The upside of webcomics is that the creator has full reign on what goes in/out of the comic. Working for a syndicate (who distributes newspaper strips) you often have to deal with censorship/editorial, to the point that sometimes you lose control of your creation.
Of course the biggest personal pet peeve is that there are too many folks copying whats popular (Penny Arcade/PVP/etc) that its become the standard that webcomic ="edgy" gag a day strip, when there's stuff like
Abominable Charles Christopher,
Kiskaloo, and
RatFist that aren't as well known, but are superb comics in their own right.
PS I actually like Penny Arcade/PVP, I just don't see why EVERY webcomic has to be like them. Its like movies only being comedies. Its too limiting.