I've receved some complains and recomendations of the reading order of my web manga, thus I decided to make a poll to see what action I should take.
Currently my webmanga is read from right-to-left, chapter 1 and 2 are completely finished that way, but I'm about to start chapter 3, and a change can be made.

I hope you can help me with this poll.
thx in advance.

http://akinotsuki.com/web/poll.html

There are a few manga-style comics on here that read from R to L. At least one I've seen actually prints a note up front in the "Author's Comments", just to remind people.

If I were you, I'd continue making the comic whichever way seems best to you, but - if you're really worried about the whole R to L thing, just put a note in there.

Personally I'm a lot less likely to pick up a comic that reads right to left if it's written by a native english speaker. Reason being that it's counterintuitive and is often a symptom of manga fans who, er, aren't very creative. Also I feel it kind of excludes non-manga fans; maybe they won't read it anyway, but I wouldn't want to actively alienate them.

If you want to change to left to right it's probably better you do it sooner than later. If it were me I'd probably try to change the old pages too, either by mirroring them or moving the panels around or something.
On the other hand, if your story is relatively short it might be easier to finish it in your current format and switch when you start another comic.

I won't read a comic that reads right to left. I don't read manga with the exception of Blade of the Immortal, but I think it's a little more than jut a manga. I suppose if something was really exceptional and some people harassed me into giving it a chance, but I still don't think I would in the long run. It isn't how we're raised to read and makes the reading flow a mess in our heads. Also, basically what the previous posts said. There is no reason to do it unless you're trying to attract a foreign reader base... are you?

Of course, knowin the mind of manga fans, it might be a boon to create you comic with an asian format, I don't know. I just wouldn't do it. ^_^ Good luck. =] You've done a lot of great work already.

I'll probably be crucified for this by the Manga fans here, but I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind writing a comic in English and then laying out the panels right to left. I have a small handful of Manga that are right to left, and it's always either a) because it's a cheap adaptation or b) because for some reason, the translators wanted to stay as close to the original as humanly possible (Suehiro Maruo adaptations, for example, because they're considered... I dunno, more artsy than the average giant robots Manga, I guess). Going out of your way as a non-Japanese speaker to make your comic look like it's adapted from Japanese... I dunno, that's a bit silly, isn't it? I'm all for people taking on the art style, having artistic influences from all over the world is a good thing, but the fact that Japanese comics read from right to left stems directly from the way the language is written, and if you don't write in Japanese, why would you arrange your panels like that?

Blah blah blah. I'm sorry, I'm brain-fried and rambling. Move along, move along, nothing to see here. *cough*

Don't draw right-to-left if the language on the pages is read left-to-right.

It's a stupid trend.

Almost all of penis is read from right to left.

Reading panels and word bubbles right-to-left but reading the words in a language that is read from left-to-right may disrupt the flow of the comic. ultimately it's a decision between sticking the the traditional way of making manga or readability.

wow =D I didn't expected to receive so many replies in one day =D, and many of them really helpfull, I expected more from mlai, normally he's more talky and less rued but anyway, I guess I'll change the reading order for the 3th chapter, for current chapters, a mirror not always works (some times mirrowed things get weird results), but the arguments here are pretty solid. I guess that what I was doing, like spacehamster said, was silly, it's just that I wanted to keep the format, but in any case we end up reading the text from left to rigth.

I'll wait to see if I can get any more opinions during the week, I do the pages on weekends so there's time.

Thx for all your replies =D

yadiel
I expected more from mlai, normally he's more talky and less rued but anyway,

Ack, I'm singled out!

But what else is there to say? It's a dumb trend. Like saggy pants, except worse. Jpnese comickers draw R-L because their language is R-L. If your comics' language is Jpnese go ahead and do R-L. But if it's English why would anyone do R-L???

I agree with mlai (and the others who said similar things). Japanese comics read R-L because the language dictates that they be read that way. But if it's in English, English is read from L-R, so it makes little to no sense to make it read "backwards". I'm sure hardcore manga fans will appreciate it, but you will end up alienating a lot of readers who just don't want to read an English comic "backwards". I usually won't read English comics that read R-L.

I have a very difficult time training my brain to read right to left...and I've only found one Manga so far that I like well enough to make that extra effort (Edepth Angel - for her most wonderful hand drawn and colored pages.).

And yes I have to agree that reading cells from R-L and the text from L-R makes it doubly difficult.

Whether that influences how you handle your comic...is up to you.

yadiel
wow =D I didn't expected to receive so many replies in one day =D, and many of them really helpfull, I expected more from mlai, normally he's more talky and less rued but anyway, I guess I'll change the reading order for the 3th chapter, for current chapters, a mirror not always works (some times mirrowed things get weird results), but the arguments here are pretty solid. I guess that what I was doing, like spacehamster said, was silly, it's just that I wanted to keep the format, but in any case we end up reading the text from left to rigth.

I'll wait to see if I can get any more opinions during the week, I do the pages on weekends so there's time.

Thx for all your replies =D

NOO!! don't change it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

people say it disrupts the flow? pah! it doesn't at all!! what would completely shatter the flow of your comic would be if you suddenly changed from RtL to LtR. that'll just serve to confuse readers. if someone doesn't like the direction your comic is going (literally... XD) who cares? your comic is reeeeally popular on buzzcomix anyway, (like, crazy-popular!) so you can't be lacking readers, right?

I personally have no problems reading right to left, having been trained by all those lazy manga publishers who won't swap the order in the books. But I would recommend having something actually on the comic page itself to direct your readers in the right direction. The only time I've actually seen something like this was in the DBZ manga, where there was a little chibi picture of Goku running right to left with an arrow at the top of every other page. It wasn't all that big, and might give your readers an earlier tip off of the direction your comic runs rather than having them try to read it L to R and being too confused to go on and read the hint down in your author's notes.

lol at panels reading right to left while text reads left to right.

Hmmm, it's a conundrum....
As a general rule, I would say that you shouldn't write a comic right-to-left if the language it's written in first reads left-to-right. It's not a major problem, but it is counter-intuitive, especially with a webcomic, where the 'back' and 'next' buttons are often arrows pointing the opposite way to he text, and there's no front cover or 'stop! This is the back of the book!' to indicate reading order. Also, if you ever try to sell your comics, publishers will think you're a Japanese-wannabe fangirl/boy n00b, and it puts off anybody who isn't a big manga fan from wanting to read.
On the other hand though, this comic has already started. Now, whatever my feelings on the right-to-left issue are, I have to say it's probably MORE annoying to change halfway through. Particularly since if somebody really hates right-to-left, they probably won't have read through all the pages written in that order to get the the left-to-right pages.

So I'll leave this one up to your judgement. If you're ever going to do something for print, for a portfolio entry or for a competition though, I'd recommend left-to-right. Most manga competitions, like the Rising Stars, will disqualify your entry immediately if it's right-to-left!

I've NEVER in my life done something read the manga way...nor do I plan to unless I wanna make an intentionally stupid comic. I got this strip called "kyupolics anonymous" which is basically random shit that features my characters attempting to be funny. (not yet uploaded on DD). I might put a strip that says "READ RIGHT TO LEFT" just for the sake of making fun of the manga/anime genre.

lol I dunno... I say I'm a fan of manga (my drawing style has its roots in manga) except for a couple things. First is its reading order and the other thing about manga that annoys me is the inter-changable gender of characters. Its like... I think this is a guy but it turns out "he" is a "she" or vice versa. lol!

kyupol
Its like... I think this is a guy but it turns out "he" is a "she" or vice versa. lol!

Ain't that great? I think it's the funniest thing.
I drew fan art of Mega Man once (yes I admit it I drew MEGA MAN~!!), and I drew Zero as a girl. Hey he had blonde hair down to the knees and a red suit what was I s'posed to tink!?

Don't change it.

The only reason I say that is because the people that have already read your comic and gotten used to it will become confused. Continue it doing the way you want it to be.

Aside from all reasoning, my opinion disagrees on right to left reading. The only reason why manga is read oppositely is because Japanese (and all asian countries for that matter) traditional reading goes from right to left. It is the way things have always been for them ever since writings were but stone and chisel. On the other hand, all western reading (as well as europian reading) has been left to right. That is the reason why english comics don't follow manga rule. Many manga readers believe right to left reading is the only way to classify or declare themselves to be manga artists, so they follow trend. Also, some do it because they believe that it is the only way manga should be drawn. Either or, it is usually the artist who decides whether or not they should obey the 'law'. As for me, the reason why I don't obey the rules of manga reading is because most of my readers are not manga fans, or japanese. Thus, they are all english and read left to right. Also, I find it to be more difficult to read, because when you're reading a book, your eyes tend to travel to the left, since it has been taught to you since birth.

If you find it to be better to draw from left to right, I have no say in anything you want to do. It's your comic and no one has to tell you to change it. Just keep it the way it is, and not to confuse people, give a little sign over your page, saying it's right to left.

Please don't do right to left panel if you're writing your comics in English. Even an Asian like me who grew up reading right to left format finds English translated manga irritating to read. Sometimes, I caught myself reading the English text backwards when reading these translated books.

Sometimes, I caught myself reading the English text backwards when reading these translated books.

*gasp*

I should be afraid of you... cuz you are teh satanist. lol! So you talk backwards too?!?

I KNEW IT! MANGA IS THE SPAWN OF THE DEVIL! Aside from brainwashing readers into becoming pedophiles and promoting perverse sexual behavior... as well as promoting violence... it teaches them how to read backwards and talk backwards!!!

lol!