How are you doing, comic-wise?

[Yeahduff]

Hooray for buffers!

LC had frequently mentioned in his Webcomic Review Thread that he thinks webcomics having a "new readers" page is a good idea, and I agree that it sounds like a good idea, so I made one. However, I ended up making all the recaps sarcastic, because I can't stop being kind of a dick, even to myself.

I think I am going to steal this. Yup I'm pretty sure I am...once I actually have enough chapters to do such a thing.

Ahead of my time, as always.

Wait, I was too lazy to actually put those up wasn't I.

[McDuffies]

There never were any. It was all a lie.

[Yeahduff]

http://www.yeahduff.com/comics/8to1/mee ... oknow.html

Not comic version but y'know.

[LibertyCabbage]

I finished scripting a 96-page rough draft for a story set in the Freedom Fries/Orange Revolution universe. I'm pretty excited about the story; I'm less excited about actually drawing it, particularly since I haven't done any drawing in a long time. I'm planning on spending a few months doing art practice in preparation, though, so hopefully I'll be posting some random drawings on the forums in the near future.

I started it today.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

I finished scripting a 96-page rough draft for a story set in the Freedom Fries/Orange Revolution universe. I'm pretty excited about the story; I'm less excited about actually drawing it, particularly since I haven't done any drawing in a long time. I'm planning on spending a few months doing art practice in preparation, though, so hopefully I'll be posting some random drawings on the forums in the near future.

I started it today.

I only have one suggestion so far and that is to make the first/prev/next/last buttons a little more obvious. I like the monochrome that you're going with so I udnerstand if you don't want to add color, but maybe make the text a little fatter for those particular buttons just so they stand out a little more. Only saying it because typically after I read a page of a comic the direct immediate next thing I look for is the archive nav buttons and it took me more than immediately automatically to find them. But that's also literally my only thing, otherwise the site looks sick wicked awesome.


So I'm nearly finished with the first page of my next chatper, and to behonest it looks liek I won't even need ot edit it that much (I know I will because the transition from paper to digital is never entirely smooth but like I don't need ot "cheat" and color or shade naything really). I sstill have two Secret Santa fanarts to put up the next week or two so I can milk soem more time out of building up a buffer, but I'm excited to get started with this chapter after that. Hoping to get a lot of people "giving a shit" about the comic ths chapter.

[LibertyCabbage]

I only have one suggestion so far and that is to make the first/prev/next/last buttons a little more obvious. I like the monochrome that you're going with so I udnerstand if you don't want to add color, but maybe make the text a little fatter for those particular buttons just so they stand out a little more. Only saying it because typically after I read a page of a comic the direct immediate next thing I look for is the archive nav buttons and it took me more than immediately automatically to find them.

Thank you for pointing that out. The navigation buttons are designed to start off dim and then get brighter once you hover your mouse over them, but I agree that it's not great for functionality, especially for people with darker screens. I'll change them so that they're at full brightness from the start.

But that's also literally my only thing, otherwise the site looks sick wicked awesome.

Aww, you're too nice. I'm glad to have an opportunity to showcase my design philosophies since I'm always criticizing people's websites in my reviews. I'm also glad that the site came out well even though the coding's relatively simple; I feel like the majority of the work was in hand-drawing all of the buttons and Photoshopping stuff. It seems like a lot of creators are intimidated by making websites because it's a weird programming thing, but it's really just as much an art or design project as anything.

So I'm nearly finished with the first page of my next chatper, and to behonest it looks liek I won't even need ot edit it that much (I know I will because the transition from paper to digital is never entirely smooth but like I don't need ot "cheat" and color or shade naything really). I sstill have two Secret Santa fanarts to put up the next week or two so I can milk soem more time out of building up a buffer, but I'm excited to get started with this chapter after that. Hoping to get a lot of people "giving a shit" about the comic ths chapter.

That's great news. I've been wondering when Loud Era was gonna get back on track. I'll link to it when it starts back up.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

That's great news. I've been wondering when Loud Era was gonna get back on track. I'll link to it when it starts back up.

Aw, thanks! I'll link back to FreakBoy too, we'll spread the readersip around.

[Humbug]

The ToP relaunch was supposed to be in effect, but after noting no change in traffic for the first page, I decided to hold off on updates until I have a significant buffer. Extra pages ahoy!

[LibertyCabbage]

Aw, thanks! I'll link back to FreakBoy too, we'll spread the readersip around.

That'd be great.

The ToP relaunch was supposed to be in effect, but after noting no change in traffic for the first page, I decided to hold off on updates until I have a significant buffer. Extra pages ahoy!

Are you disappointed by the numbers you got? I know, personally, when I heard about the relaunch last month I was planning on reading it when it started, but it totally slipped my mind until this post. So, maybe your launch would've gotten more attention if you'd made it a little more obvious.

I'm just asking since it seems very unusual to me to unlaunch a webcomic.

[Humbug]

Not really, I'm more disappointed that I didn't have a big enough buffer. After not updating for more than a year, my traffic inevitably dwindled to almost nothing, so I was curious to see if any of the old following was still left. I'm actually glad that I did get the numbers I got, that way I'm not obligated to update while I build up that buffer.

[peterabnny]

I used to watch my numbers pretty closely. Used to cheer when they went up, despair when they dropped. You guys have effectively cured me of that; now I don't care anymore...

[Humbug]

I still get a kick if traffic spikes, I'm neutral for the most part tho.

[McDuffies]

I have to admit that abysmal numbers I always got helped me stop my comics or go to indefinite hiatuses without guilty conscience. If I had something updating I would probably be happy about spikes, but I'm taught not to get disappointed, not to get too giddy about every tiny peak and to enjoy drawing without worrying what would work with audience.

[LibertyCabbage]

If I had something updating I would probably be happy about spikes, but I'm taught not to get disappointed, not to get too giddy about every tiny peak and to enjoy drawing without worrying what would work with audience.

I agree that having a balanced attitude's the way to do it.

[peterabnny]

I have to admit that abysmal numbers I always got helped me stop my comics or go to indefinite hiatuses without guilty conscience. If I had something updating I would probably be happy about spikes, but I'm taught not to get disappointed, not to get too giddy about every tiny peak and to enjoy drawing without worrying what would work with audience.

That's pretty much it. Following stats and numbers is just more of the same bullshit miscellanae that I don't have time for anymore. I'd just as soon draw what I want and not really concern myself with what the readership wants.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

I took some time this morning to organize all of the Loud Era files stored on my computer. The oldest dated back to 2009. Just my old site templates, decorative images, cryptic outlines for projects I guess I never got around to. I'm really pleased with the progress I've made as an artist.

Here's a really quickly thrown together example, just focusing on Joseph, from his first "real" appearance in 2009 through some yearbook-style pictures I drew for the site as well as his most recent appearance that I have on the computer.




I'll need to do a more thorough one at some point as well as for the rest of the characters to give people another thing to look at on the site.

[RobboAKAscooby]

Looking good Cuddly.

I did that a few months ago and it was like "holy shit look how far you've come............plateu, shit at least the bodies are getting better"

Still trying to figure out exactly how to best present my "illustrated web-novel" idea *sigh*

[Humbug]

McDuffies is right, no people/no feedback means can stop updating updates without a guilty conscience. Sure, authors claim that they are doing it for their own amusement but once they have an established following, the pressure to update will always be there. It makes you feel bad when the readers cry "Where's the comic?"


Oooh! Comparisons are fun! This is not a year to year progression, but whatever, linked because new image is laaaaaarge,

http://talesofpylea.com/top/files/2012/11/20060603.jpg 2006?! That's almost 7 years!

http://talesofpylea.com/img/blogimg/topredraw.jpg

I originally picked the new style because I wanted to draw comics faster, but once I actually started the damn thing all of that went out the window and it's taking as long as my old lineart style. Oh well, if its worth doing it's worth doingh right.

[McDuffies]

The new one looks pretty great too.

[peterabnny]

Heh... You think my current stuff is bad; you should see my early stuff!