Webcomic Hate

[Dotty]

I'm not sure what that is. Care to enlighten me? =o

[Paul Escobar]

Donjon? It's a comic that is awesome. Info. US publisher's Donjon site.

[McDuffies]

I always thought that I didn't like fantasy comics much. But then I realised that two of my favourite comics are fantasy ("time-bird" and "Donjon") so I realised that it's just that most of fantasy sucks.

[Paul Escobar]

"90% of everything is crud." But there's good stuff in all genres.

(Also, "time-bird"? You mean "La Quête de l'oiseau du temps" by Le Tendre and Loisel?)

[McDuffies]

yeah

[Bustertheclown]

You know, the internet hasn't been around so long that we should forget that there are other ways to show off or get advice. I happened to be a 14 year old with big aspirations once; a kid who started drawing comics before the World Wide Web became a household name. I didn't have any troubles finding support, competition, or knowledge through less digital sources.

But today's kids have that chance so why should they miss it?

I certainly wasn't harmed by the inability to post online every scrap and scribble I ever made as a shoegazing teenager. Instead, I used a photocopier and forced my shitty comics on friends and cohorts. I understand that the internet provides the opportunity for all of those types of growth and support. However, I don't buy that posting your work on the internet can be the Be All and End All of community or communication. Personally, I find face to face feedback has always been much more important and valuable to my own growth, and I certainly don't need to put anything online, let alone upload the entire catalog of my life's work, to get that sort of feedback.

"Every scrap and scribble"? "be all and end all"? "entire catalogue of life's work"? You're exagerating things. Most of people I've seen just post things that they're proud of, which means things that are top of their abilities, whatever they be. There's thousands of people posting things so it may seem like an overwhelming amount of images, but from my experience, people are usually posting the best of their work, and even if they're posting unfinished sketches, they use blogs, and not main sites for that.

Oh, really? I'm exaggerating? I suspect that you and I are not surfing the same internet; ether that, or you're being way too forgiving and/or trying to play mind games. Do me a favor, and take a perusal of just about ANY social networking site that poses as an "art" site, and you come back and tell me that I'm exaggerating. Perhaps the only reason why CG might (and I highly stress the word MIGHT) avoid the gamut of lazy shit being posted online is because the people who post lazy shit are probably too lazy and too shitty to learn their way around FTP. Upping the tech savvy is definitely a good form of quality control. However, go to a site like deviantART, where uploading your work literally takes about thirty seconds, and see how pride-worthy the stuff is that makes it online. To make the site relevant to the conversations, let's even narrow it down to their Cartoons and Comics galleries. While you're at it, go out and look at all the cut & paste, stick figure, MSPaint, and sprite comics around hosts like CG, and you tell me I'm exaggerating, and that all these people feel great pride in a job well done.

Don't think for a second that I believe the rest of entertainment is just peachy. Sure, there's plenty of professionally produced crap out there. Again though, I don't think that it's in the same league of disarray and sheer volume in yielding sub-par quality as is found on the internet. Things in the real world are set up in a way that can give me a reasonable expectation of what I'll find when I go out looking for diversion. THAT'S IMPORTANT. People keep talking about how if I can't find what I'm looking for, I must not be looking hard enough. As far as entertainment is concerned, nothing in my life is so hard as finding webcomics I like. I like comics. I like the web. I'm pretty good at navigating both, so what's wrong here? Is it really me? I'm the one to blame? God, I hope not, because that would make me retarded.

Maybe webcomics (web in general) simply offers different kind of quality and you're just used to traditional entertainment too much? Maybe you're like a classic art fan, trying to understand the values of pop-art and failing? Just suggesting a possibility.

Or...

Maybe I've been surfing the internet too much for the last fifteen years, and I've seen no real sign of the much-hyped rise in quality that's supposed to have happened by now. Maybe video clips of nut-shots and gamer webcomics are not the epitome of culture, even if that culture is nihilistic and has a collective attention of monkeys on speed? Maybe the internet is nothing like Pop Art, and your analogy is really bad? Just suggesting other possibilities.

I suspect, though, that I'm not retarded. I suspect that, in the case of online content, the act of surfing around, looking for interesting stuff is the diversion. Let me put it another way, or rather the same way I keep putting it; I walk into a comic shop or bookstore, I know what I'm going to find. I turn on the TV or go to a movie, it's generally because I already have a good idea of what's on, and whether it'll interest me. I click on my web browser, and it's like I'm lost on another planet, without the benefit of translators or maps, and it's my job to navigate my way around, hopping from bit of info to bit of info, never really halting on anything for long. It's like an ADHD paradise!

You don't like that? I find it wonderful and adventurous that I don't know what's the next thing I'll find. To hell with tv channels and their programming schemes!

Sure, I like it. I just don't like it when I'm looking for good comics to read.

[McDuffies]

ah, forget it

[ShineDog]

Uhm

Dude. just because shitholes like CG and youtube are full of crap does not mean there arent places out there that showcase and discuss quality art. You are indeed browsing the wrong internet, or at least you don't know where to look.

[Bustertheclown]

Alright alright alright, you got me. I found an opening, and I took it. The discussion turned to whether or not people are actually posting every last scrap under the sun online, and whether or not they should be proud of that. McDuffies said I was exaggerating, so I just pointed out the most obvious places where all the crap could be found at its highest concentration. Sorry for being so silly.

[Nikara]

wow the topic of conversation completely changed over the last 10 pages... I'll try to respond to both.

Hate's a strong word. What I really dislike (:P) about my comic is that, looking back, I had WAY too much of a clear idea of where I wanted to go. As a result, the conversation is choppy and forced. I try to keep it natural, but it's hard O.o I'm not sure if there's a way to fix it; perhaps I'm more comfortable with my own laziness than I ought to be.

As for the Internet content--the good thing and the bad thing about the Internet is that it depends on people to exercise good judgment. And some people clearly don't have good judgment. That said, in regards specifically to art, no one should be ashamed of putting up "bad" art unless they're making it out to be much better than it actually is. I think it's great that your average person could put up something to be reviewed by a public of sorts. That's how you improve.

[Dreamaniaccomic]

Don't be a-hatin'.
Even though I've only just started my own comic, I've been reading webcomics since I first got access to the internet. And one thing I've learned? Hate isn't just a strong word, it's a waste of energy as well.

[KWill]

If only it could be harnessed and used to generate electricity...

[Rcmonroe]

If only it could be harnessed and used to generate electricity...

…and then in turn be used to punish those that we hate…

[Killbert-Robby]

Don't be a-hatin'.
Even though I've only just started my own comic, I've been reading webcomics since I first got access to the internet. And one thing I've learned? Hate isn't just a strong word, it's a waste of energy as well.

Sure its a strong word, but hey, every word has it's place. Some things deserve the hate *shrugs*

[Jesusabdullah]

I just want to say that I do, in fact, show you guys "every scrap and scribble" that I'm responsible for. Okay, maybe not ALL of them, but most of them. Either way, I should probably be ashamed.

[KWill]

If only it could be harnessed and used to generate electricity...

…and then in turn be used to punish those that we hate…

I'm sure we all agree that we ought to love one another and I know there are people in the world that do not love their fellow human beings and I HATE people like that. >=(

[Dreamaniaccomic]

Well, to each his own. If I find a comic I don't like, I stop reading, and go back to one of the ones I do enjoy reading. No hate! Hooray!
The thing is, hate generates more hate, which keeps on growing and growing, until everyone involved is P.Oed and planning complex revenge plots all because people didn't agree over a little thing.
It does work in reverse, of course- happiness and encouragement generate more of themselves, and can counteract the above.
Don't believe me? Explain flamers.
Exactly. And the help forums here are the direct opposite of that, thank Ghandi.
Instead of hating, I work on my comic. It gets work done.
Peace on,
The Dreamaniac.

[Rcmonroe]

I hate it when people can't tell when I'm being sarcastic.

[Yeahduff]

I hate sarcastic people. And haters.

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

That explains the self-loathing you, jumped-up streak of pompous piss.