TWCL

[Lord Pandar]

Hello everyone, I am new here & most likely unaware of the vast & subtle workings of a webcomic form, but I won't let that stop me from sharing my creation, "a large panda". See all eight (eight!) issues of it here- http://s146.photobucket.com/albums/r251/Owen_Gilbride/ . Yes, it
is just a Photobucket, but that's all I have until I buy some web-space. Anyway, what thinks ye all-comments, critiques, vulgar profanities, conversions to the church of the latter day panda? Fire away.

[vulpeslibertas]

Art Crits:
I like the later rendering of the panda better than the earlier one.

Speech Bubbles:
The speech bubbles need some serious work, they are almost unreadable at times. Speech bubbles should make a clear break from the comic. The Panda's bubbles are small and cling to the words, it makes the words look cluttered, rather than readable. The other character's speech bubbles are that awful violet color, which is hard on the eyes, and makes those bubbles harder to read than the panda's.

Humor:
Most cheap, unimaginative comics make fun of the fact that they are a webcomic in the first strip or two. Anyone who's read more than a couple of webcomics will read your first few comics and say "Oh great, another cheap, unimaginative comic", then click on something else. The fact that you carry on making webcomic jokes, and that's essentially the only comedy you have, ruins your comic.

Your comic can be salvaged, but it needs an actual story line, and humor other than making fun of webcomics. Finally, the only hard and fast, absolute and undeniable rule of web-cimics: It's your comic, so do what you want to do.
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[Lord Pandar]

Thanks for the comments. I too like the later panda (I wasn't really sure what to draw with at first). About the speech bubbles, I'm still experimenting with different styles, but yes, the violet may be a bit much. And yes, I agree that fourth wall breaking webcomics are highly overdone, but that was my jumping off point several months ago when I made the first four issues. I've got a plan to get away from that soon.

[tbowl]

I had to stop reading it, I got to 6 or 7 or something.

It is still salvagable... you need to give your character a backstory and a reason to live, then he'll create his own story going forward, then all you'll have to do is give him a situation, and he'll respond accordingly. Nonsense only gets you 2-3 episodes max.

First and foremost though, it needs to be readable, nobody is going to read it if the colors make them sick literally. So here's a checklist.

Work on the colors/readability
Work on characters backstory
Work on the art.

In that order.
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tbowl

[pyrobob451]

Hehehe the last strip is funny

Even though my eyes are bleeding from that font ;p

So, we have a panda with humor so dry it makes Arizona look horny, and backgrounds that look like a bad acid trip. Okay. Well, the panda is drawn pretty well, and as long as you put that fourth wall back up (it gets old, and Chex kinda did it for all of us), you've got a good thing going.

Seriously - if you change that god-forsaken font, I will keep reading your comic.

My name is Pyrobob, and my hair is on fire. That is all.
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[tbowl]

Making Comics is a book I highly reccomend. I think everyone doing comics/web comics should read it, but you would benifit the most. I had lent my book out yesterday and forgot the title, I have it back and now the guy wants his own copy, so now I have the title to show you.

Please check it out. A couple dollars on this book saves you hours a week on your webcomic, and you'll keep more readers.
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tbowl

[vulpeslibertas]

tbowladmin wrote:

Making Comics is a book I highly reccomend.

Agreed. Scott McCloud is awesome.
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[Lord Pandar]

I just got back from a week away, so sorry if this is late. Alright, first off,
font-I'm using times new roman, what would everyone recomend? (& the purple background is a bad idea, I've decided to stop using it as soon as possible).
Fourth Wall-I've already stopped breaking it for the most part, & pretty soon it will just become a Christmas & Easter thing.
Back Story-I'm thinking of revealing it in bits & pieces. My idea is that the strip will be as non-episodic as possible, so I'll have to work flashbacks in.
The book-sounds like a good idea.
I'm glad you liked it Pyrobob. I haven't updated at all this week, but most times I think I can do about four or five a week.