Dragoshi1 here again, to shamelessly promote Figured It Out!
So, what the hell is this random comic about?
It's meant to be a big huge parody of standard anime tropes, stereotypes, and other things of that nature. It's also about the weirdest main character and her weirder cast of friends and enemies!
The Series is mainly a Trial and Error of my times with the Program called Comipo! It allows anyone to create Comics with ease. They give the tools, we decided what to do with them.
So, as I discover new features in the program, I work them into a new strip. For example, I learned how to Blur, make Widescreen panels, edit in outside characters, and other stuff like that.
I currently have four volumes, with the 4th one still going, and over 150+ comic pages.
I'm mainly active on my Deviantart account, where I also host the series, and post sneak peeks of characters to come, along with small one shot comics focusing on new characters.
So, I hope you all can critique the crap out of this comic! I'll really appreciate it!
going away - Hey Everyone Look What I Did!
[Plug/Crit] Figured It Out
Dragoshi1
at 6:10AM, June 17, 2011
(online)
posts: 5
joined: 7-17-2008
last edited on March 21, 2012 5:26AM
Shadowsleuth
at 11:28PM, March 19, 2012
(online)
posts: 2
joined: 10-22-2011
Hello, there. This thread looks pretty old, so I'm not sure if you'll end up reading this, but I'd like to give my two cents on your series here.
Now bear in mind that I am by no means any kind of professional critic, so don't take anything I say too seriously.
Your series caught my eye while I was randomly searching this site one day. I was intrigued by the art style you had, so I took a look. (It took me a bit to figure out you were using a program)
At any rate, I started looking at your series, and I had a few thoughts.
First, I can tell that this was an experimental series, and it shows. It has little direction or definite focus, which is, in some cases good and in others bad. For example, the lack of focus or direction makes it able to go in a lot of different directions and stories without feeling too contrived, such as the subplots you've done with the Cosmic Cats and those frog gods... Unfortunately, it also has the side-effect of having the series be a bit detatched. It was a little hard for me to pin down the characters' personalities outside the main cast, and a lot of the characters get shoved to the side at times. The lack of definite plot allows you to do a lot of things with this series, and over time it's changed quite a bit from the original few strips. The stories you have going are pretty creative, and they entertain, to say the least, but at times they get confusing and the series is too silly as a whole to often get emotionally invested; and I often question whether it is supposed to be serious or not. Overall, it feels like it's made progress from where it started, but is still changing and I get the feeling you'll figure out what you want to do with it in time.
In terms of characters: Well, for starters, there are a LOT, and I don't have the time to go over my thoughts of them each seperately, so I'll just go over the ones that stand out. First, the main character, Kuroi. She's pretty entertaining, and probably the most likable of the cast. She has enough energy and quirkiness to handle a lead role, and she works well with the other characters. Kame, at first, seemed a little bland to me; I couldn't tell what her personality was from the start, but as it went on, you established her as a "psychopath". I find this a bit odd, as looking at the original few strips, she doesn't appear to be all that crazy, and it feels a bit like something stuck in to give her more depth. As for Remu... Ah, poor Remu. That poor, poor girl. She's rather entertaining, and the whole "being undead" thing makes for a lot of good comedy. Lucifer the cat is an interesting character; But he's also kind of confusing; the way his story progresses feels a lot like you came up with a lot of it as you went. You might not have done that, but it does come across as odd at times. His daughter, Ismira, I believe, definitely needs more screentime, though. Perhaps it's just me, but I didn't see all that much of her in certain areas. I'd like to see more focus on that family, though. I think there are lots of storytelling opportunities with a family of omnipotent cosmic cat aliens living in a "regular" neighborhood. Your Author Avatars... To be honest, I was a little uneasy with those characters, if only because I think the screentime devoted to them takes away from the other characters, but as the story goes on, the focus shifts away from them and to where it should be. I'm not saying that you need to remove them completely, as I can see some interesting stories with them, but in my humble opinion, the Author should never overshadow the creations.
If I have to make one complaint about the characters, it'd be that at times they do seem a bit stereotypical, but not ever to the point where it's unpleasant or anything. I think you hit the right amount of cliche, to the point where it's the archetypes we like, but with added personality.
The stories themselves are all pretty interesting; though I would recommend keeping them simple. For example, the story with Lucifer and Serena was a bit too complex; I was confused as to why Lucifer would go to the trouble of turning Kuroi's sister evil if all he wanted was a child. And I'm not totally satisfied with the reasoning that he just couldn't procreate; I think you could give a plausible reason why he couldn't have a child on his own and have it be T-rated. But again, that's just me. The story's conclusion seemed a bit too sudden, though, what with the two just instantly making up... Seems a bit anti-climatic, but this series is silly enough that it didn't bug me too much.
The comedy aspect of the story definitely works. The humor you have works well, and the characters interact in a really funny and great way. This is easily the comic's strong point, as the characters you have all manage to be entertaining and zany in their own ways. It gets a little odd during the more serious moments, though, as the whole story has been quite light-hearted that when a serious moment comes by, it tends to fall flat, at least for me. The "meta" jokes and such were also kind of annoying; but like the Author Avatar, those also gradually declined. You can still do those, as I do enjoy a good shattering of the fourth wall, but make sure that it's well-timed and done properly. For example, have a moment where the characters might be doing something that invokes a certain thought, and then have the characters berate the reader for thinking that.
So, in conclusion, you've got a pretty good series going here. The fact that it's made using a program rather than hand-drawn might turn some people off to it, but it makes up for that with entertaining characters and comedy. So keep up the good work.
I hope this critique helped!
Now bear in mind that I am by no means any kind of professional critic, so don't take anything I say too seriously.
Your series caught my eye while I was randomly searching this site one day. I was intrigued by the art style you had, so I took a look. (It took me a bit to figure out you were using a program)
At any rate, I started looking at your series, and I had a few thoughts.
First, I can tell that this was an experimental series, and it shows. It has little direction or definite focus, which is, in some cases good and in others bad. For example, the lack of focus or direction makes it able to go in a lot of different directions and stories without feeling too contrived, such as the subplots you've done with the Cosmic Cats and those frog gods... Unfortunately, it also has the side-effect of having the series be a bit detatched. It was a little hard for me to pin down the characters' personalities outside the main cast, and a lot of the characters get shoved to the side at times. The lack of definite plot allows you to do a lot of things with this series, and over time it's changed quite a bit from the original few strips. The stories you have going are pretty creative, and they entertain, to say the least, but at times they get confusing and the series is too silly as a whole to often get emotionally invested; and I often question whether it is supposed to be serious or not. Overall, it feels like it's made progress from where it started, but is still changing and I get the feeling you'll figure out what you want to do with it in time.
In terms of characters: Well, for starters, there are a LOT, and I don't have the time to go over my thoughts of them each seperately, so I'll just go over the ones that stand out. First, the main character, Kuroi. She's pretty entertaining, and probably the most likable of the cast. She has enough energy and quirkiness to handle a lead role, and she works well with the other characters. Kame, at first, seemed a little bland to me; I couldn't tell what her personality was from the start, but as it went on, you established her as a "psychopath". I find this a bit odd, as looking at the original few strips, she doesn't appear to be all that crazy, and it feels a bit like something stuck in to give her more depth. As for Remu... Ah, poor Remu. That poor, poor girl. She's rather entertaining, and the whole "being undead" thing makes for a lot of good comedy. Lucifer the cat is an interesting character; But he's also kind of confusing; the way his story progresses feels a lot like you came up with a lot of it as you went. You might not have done that, but it does come across as odd at times. His daughter, Ismira, I believe, definitely needs more screentime, though. Perhaps it's just me, but I didn't see all that much of her in certain areas. I'd like to see more focus on that family, though. I think there are lots of storytelling opportunities with a family of omnipotent cosmic cat aliens living in a "regular" neighborhood. Your Author Avatars... To be honest, I was a little uneasy with those characters, if only because I think the screentime devoted to them takes away from the other characters, but as the story goes on, the focus shifts away from them and to where it should be. I'm not saying that you need to remove them completely, as I can see some interesting stories with them, but in my humble opinion, the Author should never overshadow the creations.
If I have to make one complaint about the characters, it'd be that at times they do seem a bit stereotypical, but not ever to the point where it's unpleasant or anything. I think you hit the right amount of cliche, to the point where it's the archetypes we like, but with added personality.
The stories themselves are all pretty interesting; though I would recommend keeping them simple. For example, the story with Lucifer and Serena was a bit too complex; I was confused as to why Lucifer would go to the trouble of turning Kuroi's sister evil if all he wanted was a child. And I'm not totally satisfied with the reasoning that he just couldn't procreate; I think you could give a plausible reason why he couldn't have a child on his own and have it be T-rated. But again, that's just me. The story's conclusion seemed a bit too sudden, though, what with the two just instantly making up... Seems a bit anti-climatic, but this series is silly enough that it didn't bug me too much.
The comedy aspect of the story definitely works. The humor you have works well, and the characters interact in a really funny and great way. This is easily the comic's strong point, as the characters you have all manage to be entertaining and zany in their own ways. It gets a little odd during the more serious moments, though, as the whole story has been quite light-hearted that when a serious moment comes by, it tends to fall flat, at least for me. The "meta" jokes and such were also kind of annoying; but like the Author Avatar, those also gradually declined. You can still do those, as I do enjoy a good shattering of the fourth wall, but make sure that it's well-timed and done properly. For example, have a moment where the characters might be doing something that invokes a certain thought, and then have the characters berate the reader for thinking that.
So, in conclusion, you've got a pretty good series going here. The fact that it's made using a program rather than hand-drawn might turn some people off to it, but it makes up for that with entertaining characters and comedy. So keep up the good work.
I hope this critique helped!
last edited on March 19, 2012 11:29PM
Dragoshi1
at 5:23AM, March 21, 2012
(online)
posts: 5
joined: 7-17-2008
My comic has been running for over a whole year now.
I have it hosted on 3 different sites.
And you are the first person to critique it! So for that, I thank you!
I have read your critique, and you make excellent points.
I really want more screentime for Ismira, and I honestly wanted Volume #4 to focus on her a bit more, but her background, as you also said, is extremely interesting.I don't want tor uin her, so I have a few pages dedicated to slightly improving her character, and making her less monotonous.
I personally believe I flubbed the Lucifer arc of the comic, mainly because this comic didn't really need a story at all! It was all over the place, as you said, I didn't know exactly how I wanted to take the comic during those sections. The disaster that was the Lucifer arc is the only reason why Lucifer and Serena stopped appearing, until I can tell a standard engaging story but keep the comedic nature the comic has been focusing on.
And Kimi becoming a psychopath, I also agree, it seems so...forced. It was mainly to appeal to fans of the comic, as they seemed to enjoy her random fits of violence. I honestly wish I can go back on it, but the only cop out I can think of is a split personality(I already established she is the reincarnation of the goddess of insanity, Lyssa), or shatter the 4th wall and have her protest her character's major persnolaity change.
I'm glad you enjoy both Kuroi and Remu, I also fleshed out Remu immensely, but she still remains the cannon fodder of the characters, getting hurt or "killed" for the sake of the fact she cannot die.
Just one question, though. Have you read the whole comic up to date? Your thoughts on later arcs and the male cast and newer characters would have been sweet to hear/read!
I don't plan to stop the comic at all, I already have so many ideas for the next Volume, including the Ismira focused one.
So thanks for your critique, it's my first one ever on this comic!
I have it hosted on 3 different sites.
And you are the first person to critique it! So for that, I thank you!
I have read your critique, and you make excellent points.
I really want more screentime for Ismira, and I honestly wanted Volume #4 to focus on her a bit more, but her background, as you also said, is extremely interesting.I don't want tor uin her, so I have a few pages dedicated to slightly improving her character, and making her less monotonous.
I personally believe I flubbed the Lucifer arc of the comic, mainly because this comic didn't really need a story at all! It was all over the place, as you said, I didn't know exactly how I wanted to take the comic during those sections. The disaster that was the Lucifer arc is the only reason why Lucifer and Serena stopped appearing, until I can tell a standard engaging story but keep the comedic nature the comic has been focusing on.
And Kimi becoming a psychopath, I also agree, it seems so...forced. It was mainly to appeal to fans of the comic, as they seemed to enjoy her random fits of violence. I honestly wish I can go back on it, but the only cop out I can think of is a split personality(I already established she is the reincarnation of the goddess of insanity, Lyssa), or shatter the 4th wall and have her protest her character's major persnolaity change.
I'm glad you enjoy both Kuroi and Remu, I also fleshed out Remu immensely, but she still remains the cannon fodder of the characters, getting hurt or "killed" for the sake of the fact she cannot die.
Just one question, though. Have you read the whole comic up to date? Your thoughts on later arcs and the male cast and newer characters would have been sweet to hear/read!
I don't plan to stop the comic at all, I already have so many ideas for the next Volume, including the Ismira focused one.
So thanks for your critique, it's my first one ever on this comic!
Shadowsleuth
at 6:04PM, March 23, 2012
(online)
posts: 2
joined: 10-22-2011
I have, so far.
I'll have to re-read a bit because after the Lucifer arc, I sort of lost track of the stories, but I'll be sure to continue looking at what you've got coming so far.
I liked the foreshadowing in your recent "Krookodile Arc", as I'm calling it. Shows some foresight into your stories and gives the feel that you've "figured it out" and know where you're headed.
Liked that one scientist character; Hope you do more with her, since there are a lot of comedic possibilites in the realm of SCIENCE!
Just keep the wide cast of characters you've got so far in mind and make sure to utilize them to their full potential! It'd be a shame to see any of these guys go to waste.
I'll have to re-read a bit because after the Lucifer arc, I sort of lost track of the stories, but I'll be sure to continue looking at what you've got coming so far.
I liked the foreshadowing in your recent "Krookodile Arc", as I'm calling it. Shows some foresight into your stories and gives the feel that you've "figured it out" and know where you're headed.
Liked that one scientist character; Hope you do more with her, since there are a lot of comedic possibilites in the realm of SCIENCE!
Just keep the wide cast of characters you've got so far in mind and make sure to utilize them to their full potential! It'd be a shame to see any of these guys go to waste.
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