I'm sure you think about it a lot. What do you think of your comic/s? What do you think works (about the story, art, jokes,etc) and what doesn't work. Please go as detailed as you want.

Please don't only tell what you think is bad(artists tend to do that). Say what works with your comic/s too.

(I would have loved to put this topic in the comic review section ,but... the topics are pretty controlled there. Didn't want to risk getting closed/deleted.)

My comic? Well, I don't think it's crap, nor do I think it's great. I think it's just an experiment where I get to test out new things. The bad part of my comic is that it is hard to access, not many people will get into it for either the way I present my art, the way I write, or the concept. Another part is that you feel no connection to the characters.

The art is a mix. It's two dabs of yellow and pink. The backgrounds are way too detailed while the characters aren't. They take second hand to the backgrounds. If you were to look at one comic page, you'd notice that (the sheer irony is that many webcomics have the same problem, albit reversed.) I need to improve on that, and also show characters with more emotion.

The writing can shine at times, but it can also become stale.

Here's the good part: I love for my characters to take the backseat, they are only half the story, the airport is the real main character. I love the writing because I get to provide a story, and make occasional pop culture references.

I like my comic, I like what it does, and I like the writing. I try to make music a part of my comic, not just some cheap gimick, and that seems to work really well. First it started with using radio.blogs and guidelines as to how to time music with the comic. When people started putting radio.blogs on their site, I move on to use mix flash, music and comic. And now that I'm both tired of trying to sync music and comic (it's impossible) I moved on to making a webtoon.

.: Myxomatosis :.

I could use a lot of help with my coloring. While its not bad, I just think it could look better. Im really simplistic with it. I just paint one layer (of course if I make another layer, my laptop will crash cause its so old and doesnt have the memory) and use the highlight brush because its the fastest and easiest way (and as it is, it still takes me 5-7 hours to complete a full 6 panel page).

I also dont ink my comics so they look sketchy and faded and in some places not cleaned up well. Im also terrible with straight lines, even when using a ruler. Anything thats a building or mechanical is a pain for me to get to look right.
I could also use some work on varying perspectives.

On the plus side of my coloring, Im told that I have good color sense.
I tend to like bright, vibrant colors so nothing is really dark and moody eventhough Oni No Noroi is that kind of story. That could be a negative.

I do think Im good at character design and I think I draw the characters very well and very consistant each panel. Ive also been complimented on expressions and for some reason, hands.

The writing could be better. Ive never really written my stories before so Ive got this huge jumble of ideas in my mind that play out very well when I plan the story, but the dialog, especially in ONN, yeesh.. It could use some work.

ummm, I think thats all Ill say right now

I don't think I could point out any faults besides the obvious, anyway, other people's perceptions are the best judge of your work, anything you say yourself will be biased or at least mildly distorted in one way or the other.

I don't have a very good grasp on human anatomy, so I have trouble drawing very good looking poses; I tend to rehash expressions and whatnot so a lot of my art isn't very new; my comic's art is exceedingly two-dimensional; I almost never like a comic in retrospect because the humor is dumb; I have a bad sense of pacing; I need to slow down and actually put effort into it.

But apparently people like it anyway :p

Mimarin
I don't think I could point out any faults besides the obvious, anyway, other people's perceptions are the best judge of your work, anything you say yourself will be biased or at least mildly distorted in one way or the other.

You're kidding me right? Authers' constintly change their perception of their work through feedback, critiqism, and their own experiences. Every outside feedback is "biased or at least mildly distorted in one way or the other" ,but the auther is the one in the end will decide what they want to focus on to improve. I say this is a great way to look inside the auther's head and extimate where they are going with their work. Why in the world would so many art classrooms have self-critique anyway if it wasn't to get some look in the artist behind the artwork. I want more people to reply telling what they really think of their work.

Well here I go. The Planet Closest to Heaven.
I might be a victim of a planning too much ahead storywise. For a year I wrote the story for another year, I practiced my drawing.
I only gone as far as chapter 2 or 3 (in two years of actually drawing the comic) of 11+ chapters in the original writing and I keep adding stuff. So the biggest critique I get from other people is "nothing is happening in your story".
One thing too about the timeline is the current story is right smack in the middle of the entire story timeline. Much more dramatic storywise content happens in the past. And it'll just be while before I come close to it. I guess my weakness is I forget to imagine what people see in my current story vs what I know already. I just don't want to give too much away.

Characterwise: Pepe is such an easy character to write amusing scenarios for unlike the rest of my characters and thus he has a tendency to take over the show. Sadly enough most of the gags revolve (in the past comic material) around defacing humor where Pepe gets tormented because he's a cute and evil animal. This mostly results in 50% of the DD comments on the page being something like "poor pepe". And those jokes are not very original. There are tons of cute and evil mascot characters. But drawing up the scenarios make me and the readers I have laugh so at least things are cool for now.

Scout is an okay character. A lot of my friends at home thought he must be some kind of pansy. I just don't know if it's the amusing sort or the can't stand sort.
I have problems writing Starla into scenarios without giving her the steriotypical girl (save me, crying, guilty) part. I have some better parts for her in the future, but for now I can't seem to like her that much.
Demi/Luka in the current storyline is almost worse ,but I have good plans for her in future content.

Art:
I do admit I did improve so much since the beginning. I'm not the type to redo the beginning. My art way then was my best at the time and I like it for what it is.
I like drawing expressions and currently like drawing forest backgrounds. I want to improve drawing natural full figure bodies of characters. It wouldn't hurt if I can improve drawing Scout, Starla and Demi to be more attractive.

Some of the minor drawing mistakes (that no one tells me) is the background isn't consistent panel to panel. I experiment with one style then try something else which results in long grass in one panel where a character is then short grass and muchrooms in another panel where the same character is.

Another is Pepe's size. Sometimes he is drawn small as a geinea pig other times as big as a cat. It's not consistent.
The art of Pepe is looking more realistic now that I've got a real puppy at home this summer for references. Sometimes I revert back to the chibi apperances for gag moments anyway :D .

I can't think of anymore to say. Well more people, please reply. yes...

I mostly just don't like my comic's story right now..(so many little things I wish I hadn't done...or had done different...which is why I'm constantly considering edits and restarts).
...and yeah, I'll always be critical of my art....especially recently. *cringe*

er... I'll try....

Heaven vs Hell
Pros: I'm pretty sure that I've done the characterizations well. Also, some nice humor and original jokes. (Jim seems to be the most popular joke AND character due to his personality and the fact that the other demons call him "What's-His-Face") The lack of color makes colored panels stand out more, but that's both good and bad.
Cons: The religious aspects can probably keep people away. Also, the art style is overly simplistic and there's a lack of backgrounds. The lack of color also poses a small problem. Characters usually don't show much emotion...

The Adventures of Grim and Bob
Pros: This looks much better than HVH, that's obvious. Since I focus on dark humor more, it really adds to the horror spoof that the comic is supposed to be. It's also told from the monsters' perspectives. I have alot of plans for this one. A few puns that I'm surprised no one's though up yet... (Ash N. Soot, a pun of Ash's name from Evil Dead / A serial killer named Yell, obviously a pun of Scream)
Cons: The art is occasionally sloppy. Escpecially when I draw blood. Grim's hair also has a habit of changing slightly every time I draw him. Same with the bull's eye on Bob's shirt. Like HVH, this probably doesn't cater to a very wide audience.

Well, that's as good I can get it.

I understand how you feel about not seeing what the readers are seeing in your story "now" as opposed to all the information that you know about the story in the past and the future, JillyFoo.

That is my main problem with Jump, there is so much that is involved in the story that I know about that no one else does and hardly any of it has been dealt with in the actual comic and I want to just blurt it all out, but that defeats the point of storytelling, I suppose. On the other hand, everyone seems so confused and has no idea what is going on, which I hate. I didn't want to do what I always hated about stories I read, in particular the anime that has influenced me in my recent years. I had vowed to myself that the story would make sense! But I feel like it never will no matter how hard I try, even though it all makes perfect sense to me.

I also hate the fact that my art is so variable and completely inconsistent not just from chapter to chapter, but from page to page and even panel to panel. It really frustrates me, but I want to improve my art so that's why I keep on drawing, not to mention, I don't want to leave this damn thing unfinished.

Despite all that, I guess alot of people still enjoy the story or the art, or who knows what! So I must be doing something close to right. Ah, Jump is my problem child.

Lola, however, is so good to me. The story flows out so easily as does the art, because everything is so simple, so manageable. It's true that simple is best. The art, though rough, is cartoony enough to be easy to do, but I can properly challenge my "artistic skills" with the layouts and working within the confines of a 500 by 500 pixel block. Everything is lightheared and easy going with just the right amout of drama that people can actually relate to.

So that's my take on my comics.

My opinions:



Strengths: Writing and humor.

Weaknesses: Medium used (sprites)

Pros: I'm awesome

Cons: I'm conceited

pro: the art is simple and the story straightforward

con: the art is too simple and the story so straightforward it's almost boring

I wish I was one of those people that could convince others that complete and utter crap was awesome. Like those people that make modern art.

Making my comic brings me a lot of joy. It's taken me a long time to get to the point were i feel my art is even worthwhile posting on the interenet...you can ask Sam_Charette as he's well aware. :)

I like the jokes that i manage to come out with. my weakness is definatly my art...it lacks a bit of substance. I've done a few things i'm quite proud of, but quickly find out that my pride isn't always warmly welcomed within the community.

so there you have it.

Wow! Where to start... Just a few things off the top of my head.

Art:
- Characters look stiff
- Need to work on drawing women
- Need to work on drawing the human body
- Need to work on drawing environments
- Put more work into perspective (environments and on objects/people)
- More dynamic shots
- Inking needs to be improved all around (includes making sure it's scannable)

Writing:
- Too much talky talky
- Spend more time thinking things through
- Make sure things are clear to the reader (not just to me)
- Improve the way I handle the female characters (make them stronger and not fall into the cliches of having them there just to be rescued and such)
- Avoid cliches
- Improve spelling and grammar

Misc.:
- Improve the speech bubbles
- Improve how I'm doing the panel lines

Just off the top of my head, I'm sure there's a lot of other stuff.

EDIT: Almost forgot, work on publicizing my work instead of just criticizing it.

Pro: My drawing and coloring skills are slightly less suckier than they used to be.

Con: TEO's story is about to get so complicated and ridiculous that I fear newcomers' brains will explode and ooze out of their heads, not unlike a hot dog left too long in the microwave.

~IJ

well i love Gradiate's art. But one thing that pisses me off is the title of the comic. Its called RPGcrazed and i still havent been able to fit in a single RPG joke. Heck we havent even mentioned RPG's. I wanted to change the title but gradiate didnt want to (originally the comic was based on 3 strips he had made called RPGcrazed). Now im going to have to do something (i cant say what it is yet) that will make the comic's title make sence while making writting alot harder for me.

My second problem is speechbubles. On most of the pages gradiate made the speech bubbles by hand but now im going page by page and re-doing all of the speechbubbles. So far i have only done the first 2 pages.

Talking about speech bubbles i need to work on my writting. You can see that the characters dont say much so i need to work on that.

Finaly the comic is way to Megatokyo-ish. There i said it. Both me and Gradiate are fans of Piro's work and the original idea for RPGcrazed was going to be alot like Meatokyo except it had nothing to do with Tokyo, but yet we are in Tokyo but dont worry ill make sure we dont get stuck in Japan.

Critique of Assassin Assassin

Pros: I like the character designs for Shiro and Chain Death.

Cons: Caldara's hair makes no sense. The story is sort of dull, and I'm not really feeling the comicking vibe lately. Also I've drawn a whole bunch of pages which looking back were pretty pathetic. Also my drawings of characters in profile are terrible when showing their back. Everything just looks stiff and unnaturral, and I feel like drawing comics is stunting my art. I COULD be keeping a sketchbook and studying how things really work, but in my rush to create a comic I sacrificed a lot of artistic skill.

So...No, I don't really like my comic at the moment, and I don't think I have the energy to photoshop pages which I feel are sub par, when I could be using that time to learn how to draw better. Because knowing how to draw well is a big step in the comicking process, and I've got pleanty of books I could practice out of.