Hey everybody - figured I'd do this instead of introducing myself over at the other subcategory. I uploaded the first two pages of my superhero comic Bulletproof here yesterday: http://www.drunkduck.com/bulletproof , and I'd like to know what you guys think. Any and all feedback would be helpful, be it on page layouts, writing, the actual art itself or my shoddy lettering. ;-)

WARNING - the comic is labeled mature for occasional strong language. Please don't read it if you're offended by swearing. Thanks.

Also, I'm wondering what people think as to my publishing schedule. At the moment, the plan is to update 22 pages at a time like a print comic, but that would mean long gaps in between updates, and we all know what that means for a webcomic. But I'm worried the comic won't read as well if I break it down into smaller segments, so I'm at a bit of an impasse there. Lemme know what you think.

Blah blah blah, man, if you read all that, I practically owe you a beer already.

That's some pretty good stuff there. I enjoy the story and artwork. The color work is a nice touch and adds some life to it. Although I can see that there are some proportional errors, you hide it pretty well somewhat.

Nice job so far!

To answer your question about how often to update, I would recommend for you 3x a week. Build up about 10 pages or so, then release them 3x a week. For a 22 page issue, that will take 7 weeks, or almost 2 months, to show. And from your 2nd issue release date, it seems that your pace is roughly 2 months per issue. 3x a week, that'd be my suggestion, see how long you can keep that up. And you can always do "filler" pages if you start getting behind. You could do 2x a week updating if you want, but I think you're better off with a more frequent update in the beginning to help build your readership. If you could swing daily, that'd be fantastic, but I know that'd be asking a lot of you. So 3x a week is my recommendation.

But I would highly recommend building a buffer of at least 2 weeks so that you won't feel pressured every week to get something out just in the nick of time. Giving yourself some time will free you to do less when life gets crazy and do more when extra time becomes available. That'd be my advice.

Good luck!

Meechi
Although I can see that there are some proportional errors, you hide it pretty well somewhat.

Hah, yeah, the figure drawing is a bit of an issue... I'm really trying to improve on that with the pages I'm working on. It's funny how doing comics mercilessly brings out all your artistic weaknesses. Sigh.

arteestx
To answer your question about how often to update, I would recommend for you 3x a week. Build up about 10 pages or so, then release them 3x a week.

So if I understand you correctly, longer breaks between issues would be more easily accepted? I'm new here, I really have to ask. Because I think what you're suggesting is feasible. If I take a break after every issue, then release the pages over the span of several weeks, I won't have these ridiculously long breaks between issues anymore (it takes me more than 2 months, I completed #1 in late May).

Anyway, thank you very much for the advice.

spacehamster
So if I understand you correctly, longer breaks between issues would be more easily accepted? I'm new here, I really have to ask. Because I think what you're suggesting is feasible. If I take a break after every issue, then release the pages over the span of several weeks, I won't have these ridiculously long breaks between issues anymore (it takes me more than 2 months, I completed #1 in late May).

Anyway, thank you very much for the advice.

Actually, what I'm recommending is taking one break upfront to build up a reservoir of pages. And then release them 3x a week for as long as you live... or at least as long as the comic lives. :) If you can keep up a rate of one issue every 2 months, then you should be able to continue to release individual pages at a rate of 3x a week continuously with no breaks between issues. If it takes you more than 2 months per issue, then release pages 2x a week and/or make use of filler material.

After an initial break to build the reservoir, I would avoid taking long breaks ever again. Find a schedule you can live with and maintain, and then keep that schedule going with no breaks. I think consistency is much more important than releasing pages as a group sporadically. Keep people coming consistently back to your comic, let them know when and how often they can expect it, and build up readership that way. If I as a reader don't know when to expect more of your comics, then I'm going to be less likely to come back and I'll eventually forget about you.

arteestx
I think consistency is much more important than releasing pages as a group sporadically. Keep people coming consistently back to your comic, let them know when and how often they can expect it, and build up readership that way. If I as a reader don't know when to expect more of your comics, then I'm going to be less likely to come back and I'll eventually forget about you.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I figured. The problem being that I simply don't have enough experience at this stuff to predict if a given release schedule is going to work - I think it's pretty much inevitable that it'll be a bit chaotic at first. I'll work ahead for another two weeks and see if I can get two updates a week going. Three just isn't realistic.