TWCL

[rocketpig]

Thanks, everyone. Definitely more stuff to think about.
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[rocketpig]

I find it interesting that the webcomic creators here don't like the animated version of the comic.

I've posted it around a few forums that are geared more toward comic readers and the feedback is between 80-90% that prefer the animated version.
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[ttallan]

When I first read Platinum Grit online, it was in a somewhat similar format. You load up the whole issue and then use the arrow keys to click through panel-by-panel. I actually thought it was an excellent reading experience, because you couldn't see what was coming. This made the gags (it wasn't all gags by any means, but there was plenty of visual humor) work really well. Plus, no scrolling, although the panels (originally designed for print) were varied in shape. I've wanted to try something similar for Galaxion for a while, but I don't know how to make it happen.

FWIW, I also didn't know to use the arrow keys first time through. Clicking through was annoying. If you provide that information somewhere, then more people will know they can use the arrow keys.

The second "motion" format you provided is interesting, although it does seem a little like being spoon fed the comic when you only show one or two word balloons from the panel at a time. I'd be interested in seeing how your pages that are actually designed for this format would read.
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[rocketpig]

I think I'm going to run both formats for awhile. I'll let the readers decide which they like better. It really seems to boil down to personal preference (well, duh)... some comic fans love the animated style, others like traditional. Some non-comic fans are vice versa. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the breakdown.

The good thing is that if I'm going to do the animated style, the traditional style is already finished so posting that is virtually no additional effort.
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[Clint Wolf]

Just a couple of technical quibbles first.

At work (who reads webcomics at work?!) I'm stuck with IE 8 and a 4:3 ratio monitor which I'm running at 1024x768 resolution. Your traditional version of the comic fits horizontally, but (as is standard) not vertically.

The experimental version of the comic doesn't quite fit horizontally or vertically, and there's a weirdness with the arrow key navigation where as I progress the panels it also nudges my page scroll to the right until I can't see the left side of the comic anymore. Thankfully you've stopped short of using Flash, which hasn't been updated on the work system in so long it won't load properly anymore (and it's not like I can call up IT to demand they fix my webcomic experience )

Now as a full disclosure, I'm biased against this panel-by-panel format because I like to think of comics pages as a whole greater than the sum of their parts. Which, admittedly, you don't get the full impact of even in traditional click-and-scroll, but there's some part of me that hates getting only a piece of the puzzle at a time unless there's a storytelling reason for it... and if it's being used all the time, it dilutes any particular meaning. For example, I actually *did* like the use of the fill-ins on the page showing the riot because it punched up the chaos and disjointed nature of the event, but my brain nagged that it would have stood out far more had the previous pages been static or mostly so.

I'm not surprised that creators seem to be more critical of the experiment than the readers, since I think we're more inclined to look at the actual structure of how the story is being told, like how a movie director plays around with musical scoring in a way the audience may never consciously notice. But it's there, and it does have an influence.
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[Casual Notice]

Will these comic floormats be in truck size or only car size?
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What I lack in sincerity, I make up for in sarcasm.
S*P*Q*R

[rocketpig]

Casual Notice wrote:

Will these comic floormats be in truck size or only car size?

I don't understand... Are you calling my comic a floormat?
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[rocketpig]

Clint Wolf wrote:

Just a couple of technical quibbles first. At work (who reads webcomics at work?!) I'm stuck with IE 8 and a 4:3 ratio monitor which I'm running at 1024x768 resolution. Your traditional version of the comic fits horizontally, but (as is standard) not vertically. The experimental version of the comic doesn't quite fit horizontally or vertically, and there's a weirdness with the arrow key navigation where as I progress the panels it also nudges my page scroll to the right until I can't see the left side of the comic anymore. Thankfully you've stopped short of using Flash, which hasn't been updated on the work system in so long it won't load properly anymore (and it's not like I can call up IT to demand they fix my webcomic experience ) Now as a full disclosure, I'm biased against this panel-by-panel format because I like to think of comics pages as a whole greater than the sum of their parts. Which, admittedly, you don't get the full impact of even in traditional click-and-scroll, but there's some part of me that hates getting only a piece of the puzzle at a time unless there's a storytelling reason for it... and if it's being used all the time, it dilutes any particular meaning. For example, I actually *did* like the use of the fill-ins on the page showing the riot because it punched up the chaos and disjointed nature of the event, but my brain nagged that it would have stood out far more had the previous pages been static or mostly so. I'm not surprised that creators seem to be more critical of the experiment than the readers, since I think we're more inclined to look at the actual structure of how the story is being told, like how a movie director plays around with musical scoring in a way the audience may never consciously notice. But it's there, and it does have an influence.

I dropped 1024 support awhile back. I'm down to less than 7% of my readers are using a 1024 or lower resolution width. The same goes for IE8. I don't even test in it anymore because it's below 10% and dropping like a stone. I'll be glad the day I can put that train wreck of a browser behind me entirely.

I'd never use Flash for anything. The only reason I didn't present the comic like this before now is because I couldn't figure out a way to do it without using Flash.

I felt the same way about receiving "bits and pieces" of a story until I started seeing more people using it in comics. Over the past few months, I've changed my opinion of it and now I'm perfectly fine with that method of storytelling. Will you feel the same way in time? Dunno. All I know is that it stopped bothering me after a bit and a little after that, I started to actually enjoy it (in a different way than a conventional comic, but enjoyment none-the-less).

And, should people like the traditional format, the book will always be available in print. That will never change.

I feel there's a lot more that comics have to offer with the digital experience and I'd love to see more people exploring the options available to them. This certainly isn't the only way (and it may not even be the right way) but we'll never know unless we start trying new things. Outside of tradition, I don't see any reasons for webcomics to stick to the same limitations as their print brethren.
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[Casual Notice]

rocketpig wrote:

Casual Notice wrote: Will these comic floormats be in truck size or only car size? I don't understand... Are you calling my comic a floormat?

Sorry, a little mild self-deprecating humor. First time I skimmed the topic title, I thought it "Need a little help with comic floormats." In my head I kept seeing automobile floormats printed with scenes from your comic (they'd actually look pretty good).
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What I lack in sincerity, I make up for in sarcasm.
S*P*Q*R

[rocketpig]

And there's my next promotional campaign.

"Walk On Variables!"
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[smbhax.com]

Clint Wolf wrote:

At work (who reads webcomics at work?!)

Pretty much everybody? :D
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[Clint Wolf]

rocketpig wrote:

I feel there's a lot more that comics have to offer with the digital experience and I'd love to see more people exploring the options available to them. This certainly isn't the only way (and it may not even be the right way) but we'll never know unless we start trying new things. Outside of tradition, I don't see any reasons for webcomics to stick to the same limitations as their print brethren.

Scott McCloud was thinking along the same lines back when he published Reinventing Comics, and there's been several attempts to utilize the "infinite canvas" in 12 years since. Some I'm still fascinated by, like When I Am King (NSFW), because the author ropes everything into the service of the enhancing the story, including the scrollbars. You couldn't possibly publish that comic in print.

And that may be the crux for me: the best experiments I've seen, the ones that really make me feel like they justified a non-traditional approach, are also the ones so "out there" that the creator would have no book to put on their table at a convention. Anything less than that skews towards my grumbly feeling about the current 3-D craze in movies: bells and whistles that aren't necessary and ultimately don't add anything to the tale being told.

This is not to say that's what you're doing here, for example I know your motives are *far* more pure than those of big studios cynically gouging ticket prices, but it's worth thinking about. And of course it's ultimately just one man's opinion, free to be as ignored as 1024 screens
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[rocketpig]

Clint Wolf wrote:

And that may be the crux for me: the best experiments I've seen, the ones that really make me feel like they justified a non-traditional approach, are also the ones so "out there" that the creator would have no book to put on their table at a convention. Anything less than that skews towards my grumbly feeling about the current 3-D craze in movies: bells and whistles that aren't necessary and ultimately don't add anything to the tale being told. This is not to say that's what you're doing here, for example I know your motives are *far* more pure than those of big studios cynically gouging ticket prices, but it's worth thinking about. And of course it's ultimately just one man's opinion, free to be as ignored as 1024 screens

Have you read AvX: Infinite? That's my ultimate goal. That comic delivers new and interesting ways of presenting content without ruining its ability to be printed in the future. I'd also like to be able to present metadata within the comic on top of making it more dynamic. Things that aren't absolutely necessary to reading a print book but additional features that will provide a different experience.
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