I looked at my comic, and noticed that there are no action words.

...

I have no idea how to go about doing this.

This is the most recent page to my comic:


As you can see, he's punching the guy in the face, but... That's about it. It's not exciting without action words.

But I guess I need help on both the words to choose and the placement. I was sitting there, thinking of putting 'ka-BOOM'... But that's not the right action word, and I have no idea where to put it.

Someone, please help me!

I like how manga does it- putting in the sound fx things and then using an asterix and saying "fx: smack!" in the side. But most people don't really know how to do that (myself included) so that's not the best idea...


I dunno, you could just put "Smack" or "punch" or something. Half of the action words is using a font that's right. Like- something that looks violent/painful (does that make sense?) instead of just a normal one.
Using lines to show action and such help just as much, too.

Okay, thanks :)

You're welcome. ^^ I've got a whole BUNCH of font sites if you want to try using different fonts to give a good "punched" feel. ^^

"Action!"

"Doush!"

RDraconis
I like how manga does it- putting in the sound fx things and then using an asterix and saying "fx: smack!" in the side. But most people don't really know how to do that (myself included) so that's not the best idea...

Those "sound effect things" are usually Japanese characters, translated on the side for foreign readers. =p They're part of the art, so translating them in the actual panel is usually a) a giant pain in the ass and b) not worth it because it messes up the flow of the art.

And I've always been fond of "biff!", but it probably wouldn't match the mood of this scene too well. ;P

DancingChaos
This is the most recent page to my comic:

*Smack*. That punch doesn't look too powerful in the drawing. In fact the whole thing lacks real impact.

Personally, I'd have backhanded the guy with my knuckles and done a different angle with the fist super-deformed like this:


Granted, this was like five minutes, but if you want to give it PUNCH, I'd do something like this. Your actions are probably what you need to practice the most. They look pretty static.

silentkitty

RDraconis
I like how manga does it- putting in the sound fx things and then using an asterix and saying "fx: smack!" in the side. But most people don't really know how to do that (myself included) so that's not the best idea...

Those "sound effect things" are usually Japanese characters, translated on the side for foreign readers. =p They're part of the art, so translating them in the actual panel is usually a) a giant pain in the ass and b) not worth it because it messes up the flow of the art.

And I've always been fond of "biff!", but it probably wouldn't match the mood of this scene too well. ;P

I know what you're saying... I really don't like writing japanese characters in my artwork. I know I draw it in the manga style, but I think it would be smart to write them in english... Plus, it takes more work looking up the letters, and it would be pathetic if I made up my own japanese characters. (I mean, who the hell speaks japanese that reads my comic?! I'M not even Japanese! Of all things, I would be writing them in Korean, since I'm half Korean...)

Yeah, and I have seen 'biff' a lot!

Kohdok
*Smack*. That punch doesn't look too powerful in the drawing. In fact the whole thing lacks real impact.

Personally, I'd have backhanded the guy with my knuckles and done a different angle with the fist super-deformed like this:


Granted, this was like five minutes, but if you want to give it PUNCH, I'd do something like this. Your actions are probably what you need to practice the most. They look pretty static.

Yeah... My action drawings are horrible, since I only practice drawing one character at a time. That's why I'm drawing a comic: for practice :D

I see what you're saying. I should make the angles more exaggerated to show more power in the character's punch...

Thanks a lot! :D

eh... I was thinking about going the scanlation way and making all my action words in katakana with translations in asterisks and to be honest I still think my action words look odd in English but I figured some people might think I was trying to hard or something so I didn't. Yes, I think you do need some action words and it looks like you shade some things beforehand so you can pretty much go crazy with the the look of text in the action words and stuff (as in you aren't limited by what fonts you have/and/or download)

DancingChaos
I know what you're saying... I really don't like writing japanese characters in my artwork. I know I draw it in the manga style, but I think it would be smart to write them in english... Plus, it takes more work looking up the letters, and it would be pathetic if I made up my own japanese characters. (I mean, who the hell speaks japanese that reads my comic?! I'M not even Japanese! Of all things, I would be writing them in Korean, since I'm half Korean...)

Yeah, and I have seen 'biff' a lot!

I've been given suggestions to make my comic more "Japanese", like placing it right-to-left, and so on, but I disputed them. I consider my comic American: It's in Left-to right American format, written in English, the characters have American names and American looks and, most of all, I'm an American. Putting in foreign languages (unless it is in the story) strikes me as extraneous and silly. Just use English, though you might want to experiment with drawing your own letters rather than using a font. Otherwise, I use the "Impact" font for collisions, and it works well, especially with a little morhping Al-la photoshop.

Yeah... My action drawings are horrible, since I only practice drawing one character at a time. That's why I'm drawing a comic: for practice :D

I see what you're saying. I should make the angles more exaggerated to show more power in the character's punch...

Thanks a lot! :D

You don't really need to do much to give that particular punch more impact, just straighten the swinging arm and have the victim's head turned over his shoulder. Aso, the next panel should be done from a more downwards angle to make the speaker more intimidating.

Have you read "How to Draw Manga: Amazing effects"? It's a really useful comic for effects.

Yeah, I wasn't suggesting that you put Japanese characters into your comic, because that would be weird if the rest of the comic is in English. =p I was just clarifying what the "sound effect things" were.