This is mostly "plug", but "crit" is welcome.

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*Critique Disclaimer ;) *

I usually avoid critique thingies. It isn't because I'm not open to suggestions. I really want to improve and be the best I can be. Nor am I a big sensitive baby (though I am a little bit of one, so please be kind/gentle). Mostly I feel a little, um, guilty to ask for critique because I have a 300 page "buffer" at the moment, so the impact of useful suggestions does not become immediately apparent. (Unless you have suggestions on coloring, font, or the other things I do digitally.)

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Okay, now that that is out of the way... Time for the "plug" part...

Here is my synopsis for Used Books:

One is former police officer who, five years ago, single-handedly brought down an infamous criminal organization. Another is an ex-assassin who now runs a used book store. The third is a genius with multiple PhDs who orphaned as a child. What do they have in common? These three ladies are best friends sharing their joys and troubles. Common enemies threaten their lives, and closely guarded secrets threaten their friendships. In a story of old grudges and new foes, jilted lovers and deep regrets, there's no telling what is waiting on the next page...

A little bit of "sample art" (keeping in mind that my older pages are really horrendous and that my future pages are better than this)







The comic consists of many smaller semi-self-contained stories in an episodic format. The tone is not all that dark or serious, but it has its share of dramatic and intense moments. I take particular pride in my cast of characters and the dialogue.

Anyway, the story (and the little stories within the story) is good, and I think the art is bearable at this point. Currently there are 275 pages uploaded, and it's in the middle of a violent chapter -- the next several will be even more violent and plot-heavy, but also increasingly better drawn as I strive to constantly improve. So, please drop by if you like mostly light-hearted, character-centered crime drama.

It's rated T+ because of the blood and the mild cussing.

I like it. The only crit I have. (Which I know you don't really like but it's a simple one.) Is that the color pages look much better than the non-colored. Gives it more depth.

On the contrary! I like "crit." :) And I agree.

I've only recently gotten comfortable with coloring and it takes too much time to maintain my daily updates -- which is very important to me because I have so many pages and am anxious to get to my better drawn stuff. So I decided to compromise with a colored page at the beginning of each chapter. (Better than doing colored pages at random whenever I have time. I like being somewhat predictable.)

Future pages have more detailed backgrounds, which help a lot too. That's one of my self-critiques. I used to be insanely background-shy. The colored pages mask that a little bit (flood-fill a color and no one notices that I didn't draw anything there... lol). I also have been getting better at anatomy over time. It's mostly anatomy critiques that I don't want to get because my uploaded comic is considerably behind my current skill level.

Oh I see. Yeah I think that's the depth that the coloring gives it. A sense of presence that your other pages seem to lack a bit. Either way it's a good comic and I'll be checking up on it often. ^_^

It's technically a different comic, but I want to add a mini-plug within this plug.

I know I keep mentioning how far my art in Used Books is behind my current skill (honestly, it's not a cop-out), well... I started a new project so I can actually get useful critique for improvement on my current abilities/techniques. I uploaded the first real page today: http://www.drunkduck.com/UB_cast_presents_A_Midsummer_Nights_Dream/

I usually pride myself on writing and will never claim to be an artist, but I decided to challenge myself by trying to create the art for a script that is already written. It's Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Do feel free to suggest on everything. No insanely large buffer here, and any helpful commentary will help me improve on my other comic too.

Interesting concept and very well done so far.

Bump.

It's been a month. I have passed 300 pages. :) I'm smack dab in the middle of one crazy story arc.

Used Books is very good when it comes to a story line. It's awesome, really.

I would mention that art may not be as good as other comics, but that's fine, because you have to look past that and into the real things about used books.

I also must say that your pages would look better in colour than not.

Thanks. The art does get better, but will never be eye-popping or jaw-dropping. I'm not capable of that, but I always do my best. :)

I'm pretty happy with my colored pages, even if they are infrequent and take a lot of time. My next one will be up on Tuesday, and it looks pretty good, imo. (I discovered that I'm not capable of "moody" coloring, though. Everything I color looks cheery and whimsical, which doesn't really work for UB most of the time.)

Congrats on the milestone! I've been slowly reading through your archive, and like what I see....

Glad you enjoyed it. (Sorry I missed your reply until now... o.o )

This is my monthly bump. I haven't missed any update days, so we're at page 338 now. We're in the middle of a very important flashback (explains a few origins and introduces some characters) at the moment. As always, I'm pretty confident in saying the art has improved since the last bump. Um, the story is getting deeper too. Quite a lot has been revealed and more mysteries will emerge. (I'm past page 600 in my drawn-but-not-yet-uploaded pages now, btw. :) )

Also, I changed my comic thumbnail and recategorized it as "noir" -- which isn't entirely accurate, but it mostly is about crime and mysteries, so I guess it works in that category. (It isn't very dark, nor is there a lot of inner narration or other noir things.)

"Noir" fits, in my book. Loving the comic!

Time for the monthly bump. ;)

We're now at page 367. (Gee, I guess my thread title is way off now... :-p ) We are halfway through a dramatic little chapter that presents a piece of Yuki's past and brings about a conclusion to some tension between Kaida and Mike (after Mike pulled a gun on her and nearly got her killed).

In about a week, we will be starting another lengthy story arc (4 chapters!) in which we we see several less than friendly characters that we haven't seen in a while.

Anyway, come by and check it out sometime. It's a good way to waste -- er, spend a few minutes (*coughhourscough*) if you like mysteries and violence and drama sprinkled with sarcasm and sitcom moments. (And don't mind looking at the pictures of a writer trying to be an artist.)

And, just for a kicks, here are a few of my favorite panels from the last month: