Which comics don't you understand?

[halfeye]

I was recommended Axe Cop, looked at it for a while but in the end decided I didn't get enough from it to continue reading.

I looked at Dr McNinja, and gave up on it.

I still look at Spinnerette, but I'm not really feeling the stories, and it's barely hanging in there as something I still read.

I'm sure there's nasty stuff out there that nobody should like, I'm not asking about that, I mean what comic that other people seem to like just doesn't make sense to you?

[Mith]

Dresden Codak is a webcomic I read, but I often am looking at it thinking "What is going on with this story?" The artwork is amazing, but I really think that Aron Diaz needs a story writer on board so that he can draw.

[aurilee]

My first 17 attempts to read Erfworld were like that.

I just couldn't quite get into it. Every month or so I'd think "I should give this another try", but couldn't get past the Elvises on the first page. It was a little too much of a "wtf" moment. Keep in mind that I had never read a synopsis or review or anything about Erfworld and had no idea what its premise was.

Eventually I forced myself to try going a few more strips in but still found it overly weird and the story wasn't clicking.

On my final attempt I got to the page where Parson was introduced and that made me keep going. I got hooked as soon as he was summoned and my brain finally grasped what this comic was all about.

Otherwise, the main reason I won't follow a comic is the art style. Or it's NSFW since I have to limit how many of those I can realistically follow. My main comic-reading time is when I'm at work and I easily fall behind when I can't find time to read the comic at home.

[Darth Tom]

To be honest, with me it's always been the other way around: there have been very few webcomics that I've even understood enough to keep reading. This isn't some snobby thing btw, things I've enjoyed include WoTnow (a Wheel of Time parody sprite comic), Oglaf (utterly, utterly NSFW, nonsensical and very nicely drawn), Girl Genius (some sort of steampunk epic), and OOTS (well, you probably know about that). I spent years reading Megatokyo before finally realising that no, it wasn't going anywhere sometime around 2005, but waited years for Sacred Pie to start posting again (which they now are, occasionally, yay!). I even read about two years' worth of Jack (don't do it. Just don't) in a sort of horrified fascination thinking "what... just... what is this?"

As for what I don't like... it's hard to say. Sometimes the art style just doesn't connect with me, or I'm just not connecting with the characters, or there isn't a story, or there is a story but it doesn't feel like something I'm going to enjoy, or...

I'm not saying I usually know immediately either. In fact I typically stop reading before I get hooked, and that's probably why I don't read some that people really like. I've been assured that I'd enjoy Schlock Mercenary, for example.

All of this is especially strange given that I'm slowly writing out plot for my own story. And learning to draw.

[Windscion]

The comics I don't get are the ones where they make all these sophisticated scenes and graphics, or draw in some highly specific style, and ... I don't speak 'art'. I only speak english and mathematics.

[Lethologica]

Comics that I don't understand? I'm not sure I've encountered a webcomic that was really challenging in that way. Webcomics might be intricate or complex or mysterious, but incomprehensible? (Apart from those that are incomprehensible due to terrible construction, which I'm sure happens now and again.) Not a lot of webcomics are trying to be Faulkner or Joyce. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question?

The closest thing I can think of to a webcomic I "don't understand" is Broodhollow, because of how it plays with perception and leaves things unexplained. In a different sense, Girl Genius has a lot of narrative superstructure that isn't apparent on casual reading, and understanding it on that level can be challenging. Same for Unsounded.

[eschmenk]

I'm sure there's nasty stuff out there that nobody should like, I'm not asking about that, I mean what comic that other people seem to like just doesn't make sense to you?

Assuming you meant what comics make you wonder why other people seem to like them, pretty much any comic that is carried by the newspapers would fit, but especially the more alternative ones, like Zippy the Pinhead. Different people have different tastes. *srug*

(I take it from your examples that you weren't asking about what comics were too complex for us to understand.)

[halfeye]

Assuming you meant what comics make you wonder why other people seem to like them,

Yeah, that's more or less what i meant. It would be rude to say which comics are rubbish when it's all subjective and different people would be saying different ones, which would seem to mean they're all rubbish, which can't be right.


pretty much any comic that is carried by the newspapers would fit, but especially the more alternative ones, like Zippy the Pinhead. Different people have different tastes. *srug*

(I take it from your examples that you weren't asking about what comics were too complex for us to understand.)

Different people have different tastes, so I'm asking what people's particular distastes are, I am sort of assuming people would post about the ones they like in the relevant threads (or in the case of Star Power, maybe not).

[Gez]

Nature of Nature's Art (http://www.nofna.com/?T=1-1-58-1) is a big WTF as far as I'm concerned.

Drowtales, which has a thread here, follows the intrigues and machinations of approximately 18976 major characters with unpronounceable names.

Dresden Codak, which also has a thread here, poses a different conundrum: what I don't understand about this comic is why anyone is still reading it.

[AdmiralCheez]

Dresden Codak, which also has a thread here, poses a different conundrum: what I don't understand about this comic is why anyone is still reading it.

I still read it, and I find myself asking that very question. It has some interesting ideas once in a while, and pretty good art, but other than that, it's a total mess.

[Knaight]

Assuming you meant what comics make you wonder why other people seem to like them, pretty much any comic that is carried by the newspapers would fit, but especially the more alternative ones, like Zippy the Pinhead. Different people have different tastes. *srug*

I suspect that's what's meant. I'd also agree regarding pretty much every newspaper comic, although the more alternative ones are likely to be an exception. Bizarro is decent sometimes, the one with the girl and the pterodactyl is occasionally excellent, etc. Meanwhile Family Circus is consistently the single worst comic in the newspaper.

[Darth Tom]

I suddenly found myself laughing at Dilbert jokes a few weeks after starting work with a large multinational. That was a scary moment. Don't want to work in another company like that again.

[DeadpanSal]

I like a lot of comics, but I just don't get Dane Cook.

[Draconi Redfir]

i tried penny arcade for awhile but ultimately had to give up on it, it was only minorly entertaining at best, and there was never any sort of continuity or story to it, things jumped around from this to that and the other thing with no reason or explanation. Never really understood the hype about it TBH, the artwork was nice last time i checked, but other then that there was never really anything special about it. mediocre at best.

[eschmenk]

the one with the girl and the pterodactyl is occasionally excellent

I don't know what comic you are referring to. The only possibility I can think of is Non Sequitur, which is one of he few that I like. Although it didn't last very long, I really like The Far Side (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicStrip/TheFarSide). I don't mind Bizarro, but the little I saw comes across as just OK to me.

What I meant by "alternative" comics are even stranger. So, for example, Zippy the Pinhead (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicStrip/ZippyThePinhead) (which apparently originated "Are we having fun yet?" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippy_the_Pinhead)) and Life in Hell (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicStrip/LifeInHell). BTW, Scott (http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-18) Adams didn't like Zippy (http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-19) much either (or a least didn't like having Dilbert criticized by the author).

[Razade]

Nature of Nature's Art (http://www.nofna.com/?T=1-1-58-1) is a big WTF as far as I'm concerned.

You should...probably put an NSFW warning on that one...at the very least. The scene depicted is two wolves having sex.

[Knaight]

I don't know what comic you are referring to. The only possibility I can think of is Non Sequitur, which is one of he few that I like. Although it didn't last very long, I really like The Far Side (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicStrip/TheFarSide). I don't mind Bizarro, but the little I saw comes across as just OK to me.
Non Sequitur sounds familiar. I couldn't track down the title earlier.


What I meant by "alternative" comics are even stranger. So, for example, Zippy the Pinhead (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicStrip/ZippyThePinhead) (which apparently originated "Are we having fun yet?" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippy_the_Pinhead)) and Life in Hell (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicStrip/LifeInHell). BTW, Scott (http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-18) Adams didn't like Zippy (http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-19) much either (or a least didn't like having Dilbert criticized by the author).
That is a bit stranger, but it still seems a cut above Family Circus and it's ilk.

[Leewei]

I was recommended Axe Cop, looked at it for a while but in the end decided I didn't get enough from it to continue reading.

I looked at Dr McNinja, and gave up on it.

I still look at Spinnerette, but I'm not really feeling the stories, and it's barely hanging in there as something I still read.

I'm sure there's nasty stuff out there that nobody should like, I'm not asking about that, I mean what comic that other people seem to like just doesn't make sense to you?

Axe Cop is written by a pre-teen boy. It's an artist's faithful attempt to make a comic that is as awesome as it is in the mind of its creator.

Dr. McNinja is made in a similar vein. The individual characters are ludicrous, but the world hangs together fairly well, especially toward the end when you see what's really going on. There's even a crossover between the two comics.

Spinnerette seems to be suffering from writer fatigue. It has been good at times in the past.

The one comic that often makes little sense to me is xkcd. I've actually learned a fair amount in the past reading up on the stuff that makes for insider jokes in that comic.

[Darth Tom]

The one comic that often makes little sense to me is xkcd. I've actually learned a fair amount in the past reading up on the stuff that makes for insider jokes in that comic.

Yup, I enjoy XKCD, but I usually have to look up the XKCD explained website to understand the joke, and often ask my smarter half for advice. Then laugh.

[TechnoWarforged]

http://romanticallyapocalyptic.com/

The Art is amazing but the plot is so hard to follow.

I used to like xkcd and actually get most of the science related comic, which is getting rare these days.

and obligatory: http://www.giantitp.com/Comics.html

[Lethologica]

Oh yea, Romantically Apocalyptic. I gave up on that because there was no way I was going to be able to follow the plot reading intermittent updates. That one definitely counts.

[Avilan the Grey]

There is a difference between not "understand" and simply not enjoying. I read very few webcomics; mostly because I just don't have the time to read many (nor having the time to hunt for new ones to read) but also because the vast majority just isn't for me.

[random11]

I suddenly found myself laughing at Dilbert jokes a few weeks after starting work with a large multinational. That was a scary moment. Don't want to work in another company like that again.

I found that there is an inverse correlation between my mood at work and the number of Dilbert strips I sympathize with.

[keybounce]

Comics that I don't understand? I'm not sure I've encountered a webcomic that was really challenging in that way. Webcomics might be intricate or complex or mysterious, but incomprehensible? ... Not a lot of webcomics are trying to be Faulkner or Joyce.

May I suggest http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6 as a webcomic that will be challenging to understand and keep up with? I think it finally finished, so it has a fixed end point now.

(I'm stuck deep in the 6th act, trying to keep track of everything. Call it an art upgrade moment).

[Lethologica]

Right, that. I keep meaning to get around to Homestuck, but I keep abandoning it in the first chapter because I don't feel like I have time to read it in a way that'll do it justice. I'm getting slowly more Homestuck-adjacent, though (just got hooked on Prequel), so maybe I'll get over the hump this time.

[Mith]

Came across Prequel, and am not sure how to feel about it. I can understand a story where someone is hard on their luck, but there seems like there are not very many happy moments to enjoy with the series. Since it appears to have basis in other peoples commands which is generally summarized as "You cannot have nice things", I am not sure if it is worthwhile continuing.

Do other people recommend it?

[PhantomFox]

I do even if it's slow as molasses. But it's more of a two steps forward one step back formula. The crashes make the climbs to even higher heights more meaningful to me.

[Lethologica]

A fair portion of the reader inputs are trying to give Katia nice things. It's definitely a struggle for her, though. I'd say it's a very real-feeling struggle.

[Mith]

Ok. I ask more because the part that I am going through has very little in terms of emotional support for Katia, and I find the struggle more running on a treadmill than two steps forward and one step back.

EDIT: As a sort of update, I feel much better about the Prequel now. The first low point in the comic is pretty hard to get through because she's not exactly starting from a very high place to begin with.

[Lethologica]

Aye. Now I'm just depressed because I caught up and thus have no more Prequel to read. Oh, well.

[Mith]

Me as well I guess the nice thing is that it takes a while to read through the update, so it isn't over as fast as a normal webcomic would be.

I hope the author will consider delaying updates a bit longer after he is done with the campaign, and develop a buffer of a few pages so that he can space out the updates. That can theoretically negate the slow update schedule due to the flash aspect of some of the updates.