Comments on: AntiPatterns in WebComic Development (or, Strike Two!)

By: Fleen » Cool Things Of Note

Fleen » Cool Things Of Note — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 13:12:18 +0000

[...] Also, the parade of webcomics books continues apace, as Bunny chimes in with preorders. While some are not fans of the single-panel webcomic format, Lem’s got some real twisted genius going on, barely moderated by long, fluffy pink ears. Watch for 90 of the best strips to hit sometime late May/early June, subject to printing delays, university workload, and the Royal Mail. [...]

By: Joanis

Joanis — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 20:18:20 +0000

Even if there isn’t character development, you can still be funny or poignant in a gag-a-day strip in a way that may affect more people than a poorly-done, unfunny strip that focuses on the exposition and backstory of its characters. There are a lot of story-driven “funny” webcomics out there that are very nice artistically, and yet terribly unfunny. With a gag-a-day strip, it’s not that there isn’t room to grow. It’s just you aren’t pushed to explore backstory in the same way. You can do it, however most gag-a-day comic writers focus instead on developing their timing. They focus on their joke-telling ability. Because at the end of the day, they are telling jokes. They might not be exploring the nuances of the childhood of their characters, but that’s not what they’re trying to do. And The Far Side wouldn’t have been any better if it had been a Penny-arcade or Scary-go-Round rip-off.

By: Matt Buchwald

Matt Buchwald — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 13:49:50 +0000

Some day someone is going to have to make a gag-a-day comic in the literal sense: Comics that make you start to vomit.

By: Compugasm

Compugasm — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 06:53:10 +0000

gag-a-day sounds like it’s easier than it is. Nataliedee and Drew make it look so easy.

By: Zach VZ

Zach VZ — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 02:39:19 +0000

well now I have to, you said it in public. Curse You J. Jonah Jacqueson!

By: j.jacques

j.jacques — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 23:58:44 +0000

HEY ZACH DRAW ME A HUMPBACK WHALE WITH AN ENGLISH DEGREE

By: Zach VZ

Zach VZ — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 23:19:58 +0000

Jeph all usin’ big words like reductive.

By: j.jacques

j.jacques — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 22:12:50 +0000

No matter what kind of comic you’re doing, there’s always room for improvement, whether it’s in the art or writing or whatever.

It’s reductive and false to claim that a comic is necessarily doomed to stagnation because of its format. But I don’t think that’s really what you’re trying to say.

What this post says to me is “Hey, so you’re going to start a webcomic! Great! You better not suck at it, or your comic won’t be very good!” It’s true, yes, but not very helpful.

By: bup

bup — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 15:27:58 +0000

First, gag-a-day without continuity is much harder than storyline-driven humor. If you keep at it, you will be driven to work harder for your humor. Some might call that growth.

Second, don’t like his art if you don’t like his art, but your reasoning is fallacious. His choices with regard to perspective are clearly intentional – they relax the eye since they set the expectation that things aren’t going to be perfectly straight, or bound by gravity, etc. You may as well go after Degas because his floors go up too steeply and things look flat against them.

That one porkwrench you keep harping on (the one with the pig and the big wrench) actually has a very pleasing line, and nice variety in the thicknesses of line.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 14:29:15 +0000

I don’t think having “two guys on a couch playing videogames” is a good fallback for … well, for anything.