Question to all webcomic fans...

[Stadge]

My friend Joe and I are currently in the process of co-creating a comic that we've had floating in our heads for about a year. At the moment, we're just writing it for a laugh and to relax from college.

But, when we're comfortable with what we're doing exactly and when we've got a stockpile of comics already done (so we can always keep ahead of the updates), we're considering putting them on the internet. So I suppose the real question is, would any of you possibly read it? I mean, we're truly not expecting great results, but it'd be nice to know if people are interested.

It’s a humorous take on super-hero’s, and will be set in Manchester (as well as possibly Liverpool) in the UK. We’re currently writing gag-a-day format, have various characters fleshed out already and have a few large plots ready to use once the cast and world are established.

Feel free to PM me if you want any more information about it.

Finally, if anybody wishes to offer advice, criticism, warnings or support they’re more than welcome.

[bongotezz]

once you get it posted to the web post here again. i'll check it out. i love superhero parodies.

[Friv]

Let's see if I can get all of the options into one post!

If you're enjoying making them, and you aren't too worried about criticism, I say go for it. It's always good to see a new comic on the 'net, and you never know - it could become popular and big, which is always cool. Consider that support for the idea.

Now, the warning - don't expect much. It's entirely possible that you will take months, or longer, to have more than single digit viewers. At worst, it will be you and your friends reading it forever. You seem to know that already, but knowing it intellectually and emotionally isn't always the same thing. It took my own comic six months to get above 20 viewers, and I came within a hair's breath of giving it up; I remain glad that I didn't.

Advice - put it up on a site that's designed for comics, or else have the web know-how to have a site designed for comics that is yours (this is likely to be bandwidth-intensive, especially if you get popular). Under NO circumstances should you use anything like Geocities. EVER. My suggestion is ComicGenesis, because I prefer their updating system to the one on DrunkDuck, but there are others out there that I'm sure you can find with a bit of looking. ;)

And, uh, criticism... I can't really give that without a comic, and I usually prefer to look at the comic rather than the background material; if you need the background to sell the comic, you've probably just lost half your readers. (Note: I don't actually think that you, in particular, need the background, given that your comic isn't up yet. Just explaining why my advice is open-ended, and shoe-horning some criticism into the post. ;) )

[Stadge]

Thanks, for the advice and support. Friv, your post has been quite informative, I just have to try and take it all in now.... thanks again.

Once we've got round to getting it on the net, i'll post a thread letting you know. But could be a couple of months, we've got exams, (hence wanting a stockpile of comics).

Anyway, for fear of rambling on, i'm going to leave it there.

Thanks once more Friv and Bongotezz.

[Johnny Blade]

Well, I'm not really a huge fan of all this super-hero stuff, so I guess some jokes would be wasted on me, but if it's funny, I'll read it. I mean, I've given up on D&D some time ago and still love OotS.

Now to the only advice I have for you: You wrote something about "a few large plots". In my opinion, you should be really careful about this. It can be done in a good way, as for example Sluggy Freelance proves, and longer stories are pretty close to mandatory, I guess. But if a comic that starts out simply funny becomes overly complex, tragic and/or philosophical, odds are it will also start to suck.

So, when making the transition from gag-a-day to a more story-driven comic, take small steps, don't introduce arcs that will take more than twice the time of the previous one and never start a plotline that can't be lightened up by humour too soon (or at all). Also, if you plan to have some overarching mega-arc unfurl in the background, you should really know where you are going with this and make sure it doesn't mess with the comic's general outlook. So I guess it would be better to leave such things alone at first.

That's just my perspective as a reader, though, and I've never really tried to create a comic myself, so I guess there are others better suited to help you. I just wanted to warn you about Cerebus, since too many webcomics have met their fate at the hands of this abomination.

[Heliomance]

Now to the only advice I have for you: You wrote something about "a few large plots". In my opinion, you should be really careful about this. It can be done in a good way, as for example Sluggy Freelance proves, and longer stories are pretty close to mandatory, I guess. But if a comic that starts out simply funny becomes overly complex, tragic and/or philosophical, odds are it will also start to suck.

OOTS started out purely gag-a-day. I'd say it's got pretty complex, had its tragic moments, and boy-oh-boy has it got philosophical from time to time.

[Johnny Blade]

Yeah, OotS has successfully made the transition to a more serious comic, but its still mainly about being fun to read.

Sure, it has its tragic moments - but you don't see protagonists die every week. I mean, look at Roy's death for instance: Even this has been done in a rather light-hearted way, given the tone of the afterlife strips and Belkar's and Haley's attempt to retrieve the corpse.
I mean, we're practically on the verge of the unmaking of the entire universe (sans deities), and still, most strips end with a gag or punchline of some sort.

And sure, it may tackle some relatively philosophical questions, but seriously, the Giant doesn't (ab)use OotS to ponder the meaning of life, the essence of humanity or anything like that. Given the nature of the comic, this wouldn't be possible, too.

And of course, the story is rather complex, but it's also clearly arranged. It's obvious who the protagonists and antagonists are, and their goals are rather obvious, too, be it the gates or ruling Azure City (or its remnants).

And that's what I wanted to say in the first place: A webcomic pretty much has to become more story-driven over time, because if you have a cast of interesting characters introduced and then only use them to deliver your gags instead of working with them, well, that's pretty bad, too.
But you have to be careful about this, so you don't forget the roots of your comic.
I probably should have explained what I meant with "overly complex, tragic and philosophical" better, since that was rather vague, but well...