Thinking of starting an online comic...

[acid]

Yes, I'm thinking of starting an online comic. I don't have anything to actually show you yet, but this won't be a comic about Jazz Jackrabbit. Then why post here? I want advice. It'd be helpful if those of you with experiance in things like this (Like Captain Spam) could tell me what I'm getting myself into by doing this.

[Radium]

Radium's tips, learned from the four webcomics he <i>almost</i> started:

1) Make sure you can draw characters that look the same each time you draw them, or have a "set style" prior to making the first comic.

2) Don't make the characters too complex. You'll have to draw them more than you think. I strongly reccomend stick-figures.

3) If you make a mistake, just cleverly cover it up with speech bubbles.

4) Use a font that's easy to read. *glares at CaptainSpam*

5) Have a storyline that makes sense. *glares at Scotty A.*

6) If it's too long, readers will lose intrest. *glares at J.K. Rowling*

7) Don't be afraid to temporarily stop the comic if you have a kidney removed or something. Just say you're stopping it, so that your (three) readers don't think you ran away.

[Hare]

Alrighty, I've got-um some tips! :P

As far as discovering jokes to put in the comics, it gets easier as you go.

In case you have trouble:
Don't get discouraged, but if you do, don't give up. Presistance is important. Skill is like a muscle and develops as you work it. If you get to the point where you mess up like crazy and have worn the paper clean through with the earaser, that is the time to take a break and relax. There is kind of a "zone" in areas that require skill. There is stuff that can disrupt this "zone", and it is all in the mind. The right mindset makes a big difference. A steady hand is good, but the mind is where all the magic happens ^_^... And I'm not saying that you should meditate and do yoga, or anything.

In reguards to developing skill:
Just think like an experienced artist and cartoonist. Weather you are or you aren't, if you think like one, you will start to draw like one... I think. In other words, examine lots of other people's work, and imitate the ones you like, making sure not to completely rip off their work. And it'll make more sense. My skill improved the most drasticly when I was inspired by other people's work.

I hope this helps :)

[Batty Buddy]

Que Passa!!!!

Well, I don't have any actual experiance (Even though I pitch my Snooze and Mat idea to Keenspace, I never got a reply. I think I did it wrong) my suggestion is to know your characters backwards and forwards. This may seem obvious, but you'll be amazed at how easy it makes things.

[Radium]

I pitch my Snooze and Mat idea to Keenspace, I never got a reply.
You asked Keenspace for hosting before Foxmage? )))):

I pay ~$100/yr for that site, y'know. Actually, I paid once. I don't think they've noticed that it's expired yet...

[Batty Buddy]

You asked Keenspace for hosting before Foxmage? )))):

I pay ~$100/yr for that site, y'know. Actually, I paid once. I don't think they've noticed that it's expired yet...
Ok, fine, I'll try to draw up my pilot comic and submit it to you, if you want.
(I've had an idea for a pilot comic ever since I started, but I'm not sure if its as funny as the rest of my ideas are... Ah well, I like it and I'm sticking with it.)

[Radium]

Ok, fine, I'll try to draw up my pilot comic and submit it to you, if you want.
(I've had an idea for a pilot comic ever since I started, but I'm not sure if its as funny as the rest of my ideas are... Ah well, I like it and I'm sticking with it.)
YAy./

[acid]

Thanks for the help guys, I'll try to get a sample up ASAP. Keenspace sounds like a good host for my comic, but Captain Spam has a lot of rantings about it in his livejournal, so I'm getting doubts.

As for Foxmage... I think if I'm not going to stick it on Keenspace, the next spot I'll try is the family website. At least I'll most likely know what I'm doing on both of them.

[Captain Spam]

4) Use a font that's easy to read. *glares at CaptainSpam*

It's perfectly easy to read. You just have to know what it's saying. Takes a bit of getting used to.

(Even though I pitch my Snooze and Mat idea to Keenspace, I never got a reply. I think I did it wrong)

Eh... heh, Keenspace has had... problems... lots and lots of problems. Scads of them. They're still fighting with approving requests from a couple years back, if I recall what they've said recently... if they haven't gotten back with you and you have SOME kind of comic in mind, ANY kind, then they're more than likely stalled for whatever reason. Or you tried to get a site name that's already taken.

Thanks for the help guys, I'll try to get a sample up ASAP. Keenspace sounds like a good host for my comic, but Captain Spam has a lot of rantings about it in his livejournal, so I'm getting doubts.

Lemme tell ya, Keenspace is quite frustrating when things go wrong... which they do with alarming frequency. It might be good for a start, but after a while, you'll be wanting something more.

As for general tips... a lot of what goes into webcomics is your own personal experiences as you go along. Trust me. Sometimes you need to make your own mistakes and figure things out before you know what's right.

But, for a few tips... let's see...

<ol><li>KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DRAWING FIRST. In terms of characters and plot. Your drawing style will change over time, that's a given. But know what you're drawing and all first. Draw up a good backlog BEFORE you officially open the comic. I've seen strips get about two or three comics in and then suddenly die off from lack of ideas or energy. So know your own comic first.

<li>Listen to your fans, but do not be slave to them. Once you do get people reading your strip, you'll most likely get people who want to give you all kinds of suggestions from them. Pay attention to them, but don't let them completely change the comic to their own ideas. This goes along with the first point; if you know what your comic is about, it's less a chance someone else will hijack it.

<li>Talk to other webcomic artists. Trade links. Visit forums. Do guest strips. Do fanart. The webcomic world is <b>NOT</b> the same as the traditional art or comic world. Being open and communicative to others is expected of webcomic artists. Being cold and introvertive is not. Just make sure you leave time to draw your own comic.

<li>Keep up with your schedule. Granted, it's very rare to find a webcomic with a perfect schedule (I can only think of <a href="http://www.schlockmercenary.com">one</a> offhand), but you should at least try to maintain the schedule you choose. And, of course, choose a schedule you can keep up with. Try to build a backlog in case of emergencies. This brings up my next point...

<li>Your fans will understand an occasional emergency. Don't fret if you've missed a day. I learned that the hard way. You DO want to keep up with your schedule, but dropping a day once in a while isn't the end of the world for your comic.

<li>Do NOT get furstrated over lack of readership. If you're drawing a webcomic just to get readers, you're not going to make a good webcomic artist. You've got to be able to draw the comic for YOURSELF. You should draw the comic because you enjoy it, not because you want people to hang off you as fans.

<li>Have fun doing it, geez. Don't take it so bloody seriously. This is supposed to be fun! C'mon!</ol>

Hope this all helps. Ask me if you need more help. Or ask other webcomic artists if you want second opinions.

[Strato]

If you ever need help on plot pm me. Plot's prolly teh only thing im good at in stories.

[Monolith]

My one suggestion would be to build up a large backlog before you even start posting it anywhere. This is so you can get used to making the comics a little, and find what pace you can work at. This also lets you catch any major flaws, or whatever, that you might not have seen/thought of before.

[acid]

well, I finally got something for you to look at. Here's my first comic that promises too much. Looky! (http://www.marable-family.net/eli/Images/comic-001.gif)

[Radium]

Yay, Rayman people!

Might I suggest clearer/larger/computer generated handwriting...? There's a lot of good programs to add speech bubbles, but if you don't have any of those a good alternative is importing it to Power Point and adding a nice resizeable speech bubble object.

[MoonBlazE]

well, I finally got something for you to look at. Here's my first comic that promises too much. Looky! (http://www.marable-family.net/eli/Images/comic-001.gif)As a comment.. I'd not read your comic. Sorry. Just looking on it bored me: 1) The text is nearly unreadable, 2) The noise is not cleaned up, 3) The characters are very boring and plain.. Here's a few hints I can give:

-Make EVERY picture in your comic different. Nobody wants the same character standing and babbling the entire comic.
-Make characters' size LARGE, background TINY. The character least fill 1/4 of the comic picture, unless you are focusing on the background.
-White your text, THEN draw the text box. Unless you've an idea of how much it'll fill, most of the time the text will be pulled together and look messy.
-Make unique details on every of your characters. Don't detail them too much of course, but use it for descripe their personality. Such as scars, sun glasses, or a hat.
-Clean your stuff. Make sure on there's no noise leftover. The callender in the comic is a good example of lazy work. It's really hard to see the numbers. Use your eraser or scanners light tools to remove the shades of the paper slightly. You can also use a photo edit program to clean it.

Avoid turn your comic into a roman. That's too much text.

[Fawriel]

And yet another demonstration of Moonie's divine kindness.
I'd suggest what Radium has said, the text and the outlines aren't very clean, so some inking or anything to make it tidyer would be nifty.
The rest is okay. Don't let people - like *coughcoughhack*whomeIwasn'tlookingatanyone - spoil you the fun! XP

[acid]

For a comment, I'd not read your comic. I got bored just by look at it. 1) The text is unreadable, 2) It's not cleaned up and look very messy, 3) The characters are very boring and not unique in anyway. Here's a few hints I can give.

1) The scanner made the text too small.
2) Nobody's perfect.
3) Their personalities will get more evolved down the storyline.

-Make each picture in your comic different. Having the same character standing in the same position and talking is 'very' boring.

He's NOT in the same position. And this is only the first comic. It's more explaining than action, and I will do more action once I get more into the comic.

-Make characters BIG, background SMALL. The character should never fill alike 1/8 of the picture itself, unless you are focusing heavy on the background. The character should fill atleast 1/4 and be in a position and size so you see him/her first

Most of the panels are taken up by the speech bubbles in this. I can understand on the last panel, but I can't rally fit him in otherwise.

-Draw the text box AFTERWARDS. Unless you are one hundred percent sure on how much you'r going to write, the text should never be pulled too much together in the box, better write the text then draw the box.

What can I say, I have tight bubbles. I DID draw them after the text.

-Make slightly details on each character. Don't over detail them, but make a detail on them that could descripe their personality more. Such as a scar, sun glasses, or a hat in a special position.

The characters will be evolved more during the storylines. For now, you can recognise Eli by the helmet, Zit by the plug things on his head, snuffs by the fact that he's tiny, bomber by the fact that she looks like a bomb, Acid by the fact that he looks like Eli except with no feet, and Icee by his spiky stuff.

-Hold your stuff clean. Don't get around to make it look blurry or messy. Your callender in the comic is a good example of a non-cleaned object. It's hard to see what's on it, and so. Use an eraser, use your scanners light tools to remove the shades of the paper slightly. Do eventually use a photo edit program to clean it completely up.

My eraser makes things blurry >_<

People preffer more art than text, usually.

Well, this is an exception. I'll be getting more into the art when I make the comic.

[MoonBlazE]

What ya think you are doing? I'm trying to give you an advice on your comic. Defending it won't make it any better and I didn't flame you any time. Your respond make it look like I insulted someone near to you, like your mother. Next time I won't give you an advice how to improve it (Oh and come on, if somebody is saying it's bad, it might be a good idea trying to improve it no matter who they are). You need to understand that I just I gave you constructive critism like a 'fan', argumenting and discussion my suggestions toward your comic won't make people like it.

[Radium]

The characters will be evolved more during the storylines. For now, you can recognise Eli by the helmet, Zit by the plug things on his head, snuffs by the fact that he's tiny, bomber by the fact that she looks like a bomb, Acid by the fact that he looks like Eli except with no feet, and Icee by his spiky stuff.
At least 3 of the characters seem to be named after you. This isn't really relevent, but it certainly is interesting.

[acid]

At least 3 of the characters seem to be named after you. This isn't really relevent, but it certainly is interesting.

Well, their names were made with a spark of uncreativity, so... Yeah. I might want to redo that.

[Radium]

Though what Moonblaze says is quite accurate. You should take critisizim as hints, not complaints.

[acid]

Though what Moonblaze says is quite accurate. You should take critisizim as hints, not complaints.

Well, I'm just an idiot sometimes. We all are, right?

[Radium]

Well, I'm just an idiot sometimes. We all are, right?
I have two choices of how to answer this question. Option 1, I can say "no, I'm not", which will just make me look like an idiot because everyone knows this is not true. Option 2, I can say "yes" and willingly admit that I've been an idiot. So really, they both have the same outcome, and it's not in my favor. Aka: No comment.

[Fawriel]

Then again, Moonblaze could have formulated his criticism so that it sounds like hints, not complaints. XP

[Radium]

Then again, Moonblaze could have formulated his criticism so that it sounds like hints, not complaints. XP
You're just used to critisizim being "OMB I LUB IT, DUNT LERN HOW TO DRA BETER".

[Fawriel]

I'm used to criticism sounding like "Well, it's not all that bad, but there sure are some things you could improve, like...", not "This is boring. You must do (insert here) and (scnksäacmasafdsasafdsafa) because it sucks the way it is.".

[Radium]

I'm used to criticism sounding like "Well, it's not all that bad, but there sure are some things you could improve, like...", not "This is boring. You must do (insert here) and (scnksäacmasafdsasafdsafa) because it sucks the way it is.".
They both express the same message. Only in different ways.

[Fawriel]

Well, I'm not surprised YOU don't see a difference. 9_9

[acid]

Well, we both made a mistake. He might have voiced his opinions in a less negative way, and I should have spent my time improving the comic rather than defending it.

[Fawriel]

And they lived happily ever after.

[MoonBlazE]

That you felt I was negative, was because I was serious. I'm not Fawriel who makes emotions and hearts in every line, I respect and talk to you as a partner, an equal. If you felt offended, you missunderstood me, I was trying to help you in a kindness. I may, yes, have sounded abit rude. But that's me, the way I am, and people in this world are different.

[Radium]

I'm not Fawriel who makes emotions and hearts in every line
The accuracy is outstanding!

[Fawriel]

LOL <3
WHAT R U TOKIN ABUT ;__;



aka

Huh?

[Radium]

Omb Fawriel, you killed the comic.

[Fawriel]

Omf Rad you killed an ant with you shoe!