So...I started a Pokemon based comic a couple days ago, and its coming along nicely in my opinion, but I am starting to think that it may not get a lot of readers. The reason being is that when most people see a comic with 'Pokemon' in the title, they assume it is a sprite comic. Do you guys think this could be a problem and may defer readers from my comic?

(Im not here to plug my comic BTW, just getting some opinions)

MSpaint comics aren't really that high a step above sprite comics :/


Kudos to you for actually drawing it out i guess.

Oooh, okay. Let's think this out:

-Your comic is Pokemon-based.
-Which would lead me to believe that your potential readers are going to have to like Pokemon in order to enjoy your comic.
-Why would you lose those readers by not having the word "Pokemon" in the title?
-Or alternately, do you really want to mislead people into thinkin' it's not a Pokemon comic?

You can just edit your comic's description, so that when the casual browser scrolls over your icon, they'll read something like "Pokemon Veil of Darkness: Not a sprite comic! Dudes, I actually draw this thing out!" ;)

I think the fact that it's pokemon might be scaring away some readers (regardless of how the comic was done.
Personally I have never bothered reading Pokemon/Digimon/Whatevermon/Mario/Wario/Sonic/etc. kind of things cause the chance I'll like them is minimum.

On the other hand something titled "Lobo vs Pokemon" or "Pokemon Spring Slaughter" would at least made me stop and take a look (in the "wtf could this thing be" way) :D

First of all, I think it's still too early to really say that people are not coming to your comic. Personally, and I think many people are like me in this respect, I don't read anything that has less than 20 pages, because that's the point where I can actually get a feel for the comic and decide if I like it or not. Of course I make exceptions, when I see something with a really clever title, like The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo, which I follow since it was only an ad, or really nice art, like On the Grind.
Second, the very fact that it is a fan comic puts many people off, because you are just appealing to fans of the source material, and casual readers like yours truly, might think that you just did't put the effort of coming up with your own characters. So don't expect a massive readership.

Thanks for the replies guys, you all have pretty valid points that I'm definitely going to take into account. I guess it is true that my comic is only appealing to fans of the Pokemon series. Honestly, as much as I like the project, its more of a practice comic for some of the other ideas I have. Just to get the feel for this site and making webcomics in general.

I really do appreciate the feedback on this issue.

Yeah, I pretty much agree with most of the stuff already said.

I'm not really into Pokemon' so I really am not gonna have an interest in it. Not that there is anything majorly wrong with it, It just doesn't appeal to me.

Secondly. It takes awhile to build up an audience. You can't just expect to have a huge number of people reading your comic after only 3 pages.

Your main goal should just be to tell the story you want to tell, because you enjoy it.

Everyone likes to have readers, but your main goal should be to tell a good story no matter what.

My belief is, if you have a good story, eventually you will connect with some regular readers.

You may not appeal to everyone, but that will be the case no matter what type of webcomic you are doing.

Most of us here that are active on the forums (for the most part) are into originality.

- We're not really into the whole fan-comic kind of thing (generally speaking, of course), but there's tons of others on here that DO like that. Especially on deviantArt

- Sprite comics aren't really giving your comic a bad name, unless it was a sprite comic. Only reason sprite comics are bad, is because they take characters and places, and just put them in their own story, with 'sprites' of the video-game characters. All together, takes about 10 maybe 20 minutes.

I also, give you kudos for drawing it out. Just keep it up. Practice drawing everything. Eventually, you'll get a ton of readers.

I am also not into Pokemans.

Yeah, I guess Im just bound to the audience because of the nature of the comic. Not necessarily a bad thing or anything, I just probably wont reach out to people past Pokemon fans.

Hyena H_ll
Oooh, okay. Let's think this out:

-Your comic is Pokemon-based.
-Which would lead me to believe that your potential readers are going to have to like Pokemon in order to enjoy your comic.

That's not exactly true...

Walrus

Hyena H_ll
Oooh, okay. Let's think this out:

-Your comic is Pokemon-based.
-Which would lead me to believe that your potential readers are going to have to like Pokemon in order to enjoy your comic.

That's not exactly true...

Well, maybe not. I am the king of over-generalizations, after all. But if you can find me one person who doesn't like Pokemon, but fervently reads Pokemon-based comics, then I'll edit my statement to "most of your potential readers". Plus- wouldn't likin' Pokemon comics count as likin' Pokemon? Just sayin'.

You need to have a level of familiarity with Pokemon to understand what's going on in a comic based on pokemon, even if the comic pokes fun at it.

However, if your Comic is basically Pokemon FanFiction, then your readers are going to have to like Pokemon a whole lot to enjoy your comic.

If you want to attract a wider audience you'll need to put an original spin on the world of pokemon, rather than just steal the setting outright.

Offtopic, but kind of ontopic: I'm desparately trying to remember the name of a Pokemon comic, B&W Manga style, about a apaphetic Pokemon trainer. He drags a charmander around by it's tail. Can anyone help me out here, it's driving me nuts.

Edit:

Hyena H_ll
Well, maybe not. I am the king of over-generalizations, after all. But if you can find me one person who doesn't like Pokemon, but fervently reads Pokemon-based comics, then I'll edit my statement to "most of your potential readers". Plus- wouldn't likin' Pokemon comics count as likin' Pokemon? Just sayin'.

I think his point is that you can find something like this (NSFW) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-dpTmRy19U entertaining without being a fan of the Pokemon anime.

Phillby
You need to have a level of familiarity with Pokemon to understand what's going on in a comic based on pokemon, even if the comic pokes fun at it.

However, if your Comic is basically Pokemon FanFiction, then your readers are going to have to like Pokemon a whole lot to enjoy your comic.

If you want to attract a wider audience you'll need to put an original spin on the world of pokemon, rather than just steal the setting outright.

Well, thats pretty much what I am doing. I mean, the use of Team Galactic may require some familiarity with the series, but not much, and as long as someone knows the basics of Pokemon (they fight, and have different types), it could be enjoyed, I would like to think. The characters are all original save the Pokemon and the Team Galactic leader. So I would like to think that I am putting a pretty original spin on the Pokemon concept. Of course, it may not apparent yet, but I'm hoping to develop it into that in the near future.

I think your post really offered some good insight on this topic, thanks!

Phillby
I think his point is that you can find something like this (NSFW) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-dpTmRy19U entertaining without being a fan of the Pokemon anime.

...and how! lol!

BTW Phillby, that video was amazingly funny. XD