Ow, My Sanity

[Ow My Sanity]

http://owmysanity.comicgenesis.com/

Ok, so, here's what I got.

Unlucky Everydude with Perpetual Poverty finds out that one of Those Two Guys is a member of a Religion of Evil that's a Secret Circle of Secrets and stumbles into a Human Sacrifice trying to summon an Eldritch Abomination, which succeeds before turning a Be Careful What You Wish for scene into a Kill 'Em All scenario after the monster reads his mind. Suddenly it's in a Form You Are Comfortable With and claims he made a Deal With the Devil, and is now insistent on following him around as his Magical Girlfriend, and it's become Did You Just Start Dating Cthulhu? Cue more Eldritch Abominations showing up at his house... but that's for later.

Suddenly, enter the MIB with a Knight Templar attitude and intent on keeping the Masquerade by any means necessary.

Sample image? 'K.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

Gotta link to your site, friend?

[Ow My Sanity]

*facepalm*

...knew I forgot something.

[Robialgaro]

Interesting art style. I haven't read the story, so I'll get back to you on that. But the drawings are neat

[Robialgaro]

I read what you got up to now. It kept me interested to the end, especially once the ceremony had ended. I think you developed that bit very well, where the main character is thinking ahead of what's going to be happening. It's good writing.

[Ow My Sanity]

I read what you got up to now. It kept me interested to the end, especially once the ceremony had ended. I think you developed that bit very well, where the main character is thinking ahead of what's going to be happening. It's good writing.

Thanks a lot. I am a writer first, and the art style is going to jump around a lot; I'm using this to teach myself the medium, but I do have plans that will last me for a good long while. I'm compiling a characters page that should go up soon, but I'm trying to keep the site as simple as possible.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

To be an uber-creeper, are you the guy over at the TV Tropes forum that's doing this as your 150 page practice webcomic? Cuz uh... I dunno, cuz I remember that someone's doing that.

[Ow My Sanity]

To be an uber-creeper, are you the guy over at the TV Tropes forum that's doing this as your 150 page practice webcomic? Cuz uh... I dunno, cuz I remember that someone's doing that.

I don't have an account at tvtropes (but I did flip through and read an awful lot during my planning stages), and this thing is going to run way more than 150 pages (probably going to run about 1500-1600 pages, considering that is the length of my outlines), but I know someone who does... which I discovered yesterday when he linked me to a tvtropes page-in-progress about Ow, My Sanity.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

Oh cool then. That's quite a hefty undertaking you're planning there. Best of luck to you.

While I'm here though, I did check out your work. It is very interesting although not something that I myself would read, just not my taste really. I think someone with more of a familiarity with your genre could help you out more. So far the writing seems pretty good, and it will only improve with time (hopefully you haven't structured your scripting so much that it will stifle your improvement). I appreciate the hand-drawn art, and I think it will get more refined as you go further with it. How long have you been drawing, just out of curiosity? (I always like to know that about people before I give them a deeper critique). In fact, how long have you been writing for?

[Ow My Sanity]

I've been drawing a lot in the last ten years on the advice of a doctor (I have a disorder that interferes with my natural hand-eye coordination pathways, which has the nasty side effect of forcing me to learn how to draw things by rote, but that's beside the point). My skill level is far lower than where I want it to be in this department.

I've been writing, on the other hand, since as long as I can remember. Poetry, prose, essays, almost everything. I've finished two novels and countless short stories, most of which will never see print (but I'm very proud of that second novel). Both my mother and her husband are state college English professors and creative writing professionals. I was introduced to Lovecraft at about age ten when I read At the Mountains of Madness and didn't sleep for about two days (the trees outside my window during the winter used to howl, and in my young mind, they sounded like hideous fluted piping). I am much more comfortable with actual horror and aboriginal fantasy than I am with this particular blend I'm experimenting with.

I'm trying to combine some very odd genres here; I'm trying to keep a gloomy mindset in a genre that's not usually built for it, I can certainly understand if it's not to everyone's taste. My outlines aren't set in stone. I learned not to do that when I was compiling the novels I've worked on, but they're instead arranged in what events and revelations need to happen when; the plan is for ~63 chapters, with a lot of wiggle room. I've already noticed that Chapter 04 will be longer than my script says it is, and probably be about one and a half times longer in page count than the other three chapters, which weigh in at 24 pages each.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

Fascinating! Hey, whatever way of learning works. That'll only improve with time. Have you got even an itsy bitsy sketchpad that you can bring round with you? That works wonders. Not sure how old you are, but even just doodling during class helps out- I've broken out of many plateaus in my drawing just by messing around like that.

I think you have an interesting art style, although your writing is stronger than your art. I find that many people have vastly superior art skills that carry their writing, or vice versa, but you have more of a balance between the two. Regarding your art specifically, I think your style is there, but it could use some honing, and that will come as you learn more about drawing. Your art seems very manga-influenced, but without stereotypical tropes one would usually find therein- like the sweatdrop and so forth. I appreciate that, but just make sure you don't rely on the animesque style to avoid learning how to do things your own way, if you understand what I mean.

It is interesting that you are writing out of your general comfort zone. Good for you! Many people- myself included- neglect to do this, and I think it is disadvantageous in the long run. It never hurts to expand your skill set beyond whatever inherent strengths you have.

Oh yeah, I'm just really picky about what I read, haha. This work is a little too fantastical for me, but I am glad to provide feedback if I can. The gloomy mindset is coming across better in the writing than in the art, but like I said, as you get more comfortable with your art, you will be able to express yourself better visually in addition to what you can already do verbally. I am glad that your outlines are more fluid as I would hate to see you get stuck in a situation where you could improve but are afraid to stray from the laid out plan. I find that that way works best for me as well, keep a few important events in mind and adjust accordingly.

Good luck with this endeavor, and feel free to come back whenever you need further critiques.

[Ow My Sanity]

A review of the comic has since shown up here: http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?p=9613