Character info pages! What to write?

[Hiye]

Hey guys! I'm recently coming back to my comic after about a year's leave and have been thinking of making some additions to the website. I was thinking of adding some of those spiffy 'character info' or 'about the comic' pages many comics have. I've never done one so I'm not sure what to include, especially since everyone's seems to be different. So, just like to get some people's opinions:

1. What do you include on your character info pages?
2. How much info is too much?
3. Does each character have a separate page?
4. What do you like to see on others' character pages?

Okay, then Thanks a lot for your input!

[834n]

1. What do you include on your character info pages?
Race and sub-race, such as Human-Asian or Demon-Fire (This is handy for my comic as it has plenty of races but not so useful in a mostly/ all human cast comic.)
Age & Height (Quite often for my own sake when looking at a timeline or such)
Eye Color & Hair Color (Not really needed, the comic is full color. But there anyways!)
Favored Weapon (As my comic deals with a lot of fighting I thought this addition would be fun. On that note: Having something like that related to the comic's style might add a little flair to your cast page. I recall Junk Riot had 'favorite color' as one.)
I have images of course, and a paragraph or two about the character. I also try and find quotes from the characters that fit them and seem somewhat profound and put one of those under each name.
2. How much info is too much?
This could be a hard one. Unless you have a warning about spoilers, don't include many of them. Try and give a good depiction of the character's personality and role in the story. Some back-story is good too, but don't use it as a crutch. It's my opinion that the character pages should serve as reminders for readers, not as a means of getting more info than is presented.
3. Does each character have a separate page?
Mine do; a main page has images that link to all their individual pages. But some comics don't. It depends on how many characters you have and how much info/ pics you want to give each one. Some comics put all of the characters on one page while others might divide the cast into things such as "Heroes", "Villains", and "Extras".
4. What do you like to see on others' character pages?
I like so see a good picture of the character, handy if doing fan art or a cameo. I also like to see something unique. Be it just a little info other comics don't tend to give (again, the favorite color and favored weapon examples) or something like an animation or the like. Just be creative.

[Warofwinds]

For me, I don't like to include too much on the character page. Especially lots of details that don't much pertain to the story, like blood type and the like. Never really got that. I include a blurb on how they relate to the other characters, what their goals and motives are, and sometimes, their origins. I like to use such extras page as a refresher, not as a something necessary to the comic.

What I don't want is people reading the cast page and learning things they're supposed to learn in the comic.

However, I have had multiple requests for more information on the characters, including larger pictures from multiple angles. People like to use the cast page for fan art references, it seems. Something to keep in mind.

[Adobedragon]

1. What do you include on your character info pages?
At this point, my character page only includes information on the four primary characters. When I revamp the site next month, I'll add several secondary characters. I include an image, along with age, species, profession and a short blurb about the person. I try to focus on goals or obstacles, particularly those that relate to other characters.

2. How much info is too much?
I'm in the minority in that I don't sweat "spoilers." Everything "seems" like a spoiler to me because I know the beginning, middle and end of the story. But HC will be a long, complex story, and the likelihood of anyone figuring out a major plot point based on an obscure factoid in the bonus pages is waaay unlikely. And if the reader is that astute; if he or she is willing to pick through the bonus material and try to figure out what will happen? Well more power to him or her. I'm flattered that they'd go to the trouble, and I see those extra bits of info as a bonus for more intrepid readers.

As long as I'm not stating the equivalent of "The butler did it," I don't worry too much about spoilers.

3. Does each character have a separate page?
No.

4. What do you like to see on others' character pages?
I'm a cranky editor type on a dialup connection. I sometimes use character pages as a basis for determining if I want to read the rest of the comic. Especially if the current page is intriguing, but takes for-evah to load.

I like imagery that is a good representative of the comic's art. I like a description that goes beyond blood type and hair color, and gives me a sense the creator can write a story, and has developed characters, not flat archetypes. I.e., a description of the character's personality, strengths, flaws, etc., as they pertain to the story to come.

[Geekblather]

1. I keep my character info pretty basic. Name, where they're from, and a general idea of their background and relationship to any characters that they have a pre-existing (pre-comic) relationship with.

2. I try to keep in mind that, people might not necessarily read a big long description. My people all have a pretty basic paragraph on them, with a graphic. Any spoilery things (ie, stuff that isn't apparent within the first couple of strips) I keep out of the descriptions.

3. I have my people all on one page, with links to full size images of them. I'm sure some of them might like having their own pages, but- for the amount of info there, it's not really needed. Plus, it makes it easier for people to find exactly who they want. They're all there.

4. I like to get an idea of some background that I might have missed, or that might help me to understand why they act the way they do. Mostly, I just want to see a little of who the artist/writer sees their people as.

This is my cast page if you're curious.

[Dutch!]

I don't have too much on there. Just a short little blurb for each character. I'm not too interested in reading a thesis on each person. Just a few bits and pieces.

1. Each character has a short paragraph detailing his personality and general relation to other characters in the strip. Following that, there is a single summarising sentence and I have a link to the first strip they appear in.

2. Don't put too much info in. If they want to know about the character, I reckon it should be in the strip. I don't want a dossier for each person who rocks up in your story.

3. No separate page. One page for the whole lot. Although, I do have to update it. The Soldier and Fos have appeared in the story and are becoming more prominent as the plot moves around the spirits in the cemetery, so they should probably go up soon too.

4. I expect to see a small picture of the character so I can learn to recognise them and a short paragraph of information. Nothing too specific.

Like above, if you want further examples, here's the link to my own cast page showing how I've handled it as simply as I can.

http://www.schoolspiritcomic.com/?page=cast

Cheers.

[Garneta]

1. What do you include on your character info pages?

I have a picture of the character that I drew just for the page, and some general background about each one, maybe a little story or two about something that's happened to them in the past.

2. How much info is too much?

Well, don't do any spoilers, I guess. I don't like to see a lot of stuff that you can clearly get from the comic itself, either. For example, I don't put that my characters have whatever color hair and eyes, since you can see that for yourself!

3. Does each character have a separate page?

Yep.

4. What do you like to see on others' character pages?

Basically, what I have on my own. Definately include some background stuff that'll never make it into the comic itself!

[TigerEye]

Hmm lets see...
1. What do you include on your character info pages?


Defiently include a picture of the characters (I need to do this myself). And then maybe a little background information and maybe a short description of the characters personality. Bassically enough that the reader can get a brief overview of the character and personality. Things like eye color, hair color, etc I feel is not nessassary since the reader will be able to see that on their own.

2. How much info is too much?

Hmm well nothing that could be concidered a spoiler, such as info that will be coming up later in the comic. Info thats in the first few pages is alright I think. Also keep the descriptions short and sweet, enough for a overview but not so much the reader is having to go through several paragraphs.

3. Does each character have a separate page?

Mine don't, just one character page that has everyone on it. Though I will be adding more characters as the story goes on.

4. What do you like to see on others' character pages?

Bassically the same stuff I have on mine. A picture, description of personality. Maybe a little blurb on the characters background.

[Liddell]

I haven't done any of this yet, but I plan to do a special, large picture of each character for posting on the character info page. I'll probably include a short description and some basic stats (home, interests, major), but I don't know how much plot-relevant stuff I should include.


I might have a grace period for big plot developments. Something big will only be available on the character page if it happened in a past chapter, perhaps. Several of my characters have some major spoilers coming up in the distant future, but once those things happen, they'll be necessary for understanding the characters at all. New readers would want to be able to learn these sorts of things from the info page.


It might be worthwhile keeping a sort of encyclopedia of events and minor characters on the site, just to make remembering and keeping track of details easier. I might even drop clues about later plot developments. This'll have to wait until I get a nicer design for my site, but it'll come eventually.

[Hiye]

Hm, thanks a lot, guys. I'll look into your advice

[Nomadic Phoenix]

1. What do you include on your character info pages?

My personal rule of thumb is that I don't make the character info pages any longer than the pictures I have of the characters. I really don't want to sit through a 10 page essay on one character, and I doubt anyone else does either. Short, simple, and to the point is how I prefer to keep it.

2. How much info is too much?

Like I said, I don't like too much info. So, let's put it this way. If you copy over to a word document in Arial 12pt, Single Spaced with 1in margins on all sides and the text itself covers over 1/3 of the page, you've got too much. Either that, or if the text causes you to pass out due to boredom, you've got too much. That's why I like to keep a few good friends around as guinea pigs. Never hurts to have a little human testing.

But in terms of what you put on it, I like to put in the top 2 character traits of the character, coupled with what he adds to the webcomic. For instance, this is from one of my two main characters:

"Tim is very friendly and intelligent. He serves as the stability to offset Michael's unpredictable whims and wishes."

And that right there sums up approximately 85% of all interaction between my two main characters. Simple yet efficient.

3. Does each character have a separate page?

No. I keep them all on the same page. I merely have a few quick blurbs about each one next to their respective picture and that's it.

4. What do you like to see on others' character pages?

Less "fluff" info and more summary. I want something quick and dirty, not long and flowery. It's not how much data you have; it's how much you can put into a few words. That, and it'd be nice to have better pictures to go with the said descriptions.


Hope my input helped.

[Liddell]

Since my characters are all college freshmen (yeah, I know, lame, but the college setting is just a background for the mysteries), I plan on posting their majors and GPAs and maybe even SAT scores (or GRE scores for the graduate students).

[NakedElf]

I recently just completely re-did my character page, so yeah... <a href="http://nakedelf.comicgenesis.com/charac ... l">here</a> is the new page for reference.

I think a lot of it depends, obviously, on the nature of your comic--do you have a small core cast with a lot of characters who are only seen occasionally? Does the comic follow a lot of characters? Are readers likely to confuse anyone?

My old character page had a pretty simple setup: an icon for each character, with their name and a short description next to them. At the time, I only had two main characters, a bunch of characters who might show up up again... and a few characters who would *eventually* show up in the plot. So there was really no reason to include a lot of information--it just didn't make sense, given that the main characters were introduced pretty well in the comic, and all of the other characters were pretty basic.

Since then, my core cast has doubled, there are a few supporting characters who show up from time to time, the main characters have families, etc. So I restructured my character page to reflect this. I now have four sections, which link to separate pages: Main Cast, Minor Characters, Family, and Cameos (for when characters from other comics or real life show up.)

1. What do you include on your character info pages?
I basically try to sum up the character as they relate to the comic. If someone is just a minor character, then their description is short--after all, you don't need to know that the guy sitting next to the main character in comic three has a wife and three kids and a dog named Sam. However, the fact that the main character is adopted and loves dogs but has an irrational fear of fur is the sort of thing which could be important, and thus included.

In general, try to keep it interesting.

2. How much info is too much?
Or too little? Basically, the length of the description should match the importance of the character. A minor character can have a few sentences; a major character should have at least a paragraph.

Of course, don't be afraid to change/expand the descriptions over time. After all, as a comic goes on, characters often change and develop.

3. Does each character have a separate page?
No. Each of the four main characters has their own page. The minor characters all share a page, the family characters all share a page, and the cameos are all on a page together. Personally, I think this keeps things neater and better organized, and all of that clicking back and forth gets old when you're only reading a couple of lines.

4. What do you like to see on others' character pages?
Basically, things which are important to the character. If a character got married and then divorced and had a baby out of wedlock which they're now raising as a single parent, and the character page only lists their preferences in cheese, I'm going to be confused. The character page is especially helpful when it comes to characters who're important but not always in the comic, or who have long pasts which might be hard to keep track of (wait, what did Joe do for a living three years ago?) but which contain relevant plot points.

[PieceOfSkunk]

I treat my cast page as a both an introduction to the characters and (to a lesser extent) an introduction to the story. I include basic information about the characters' personalities and motivations, but I also put in tidbits about things they have happened to them previously in the story that are likely to influence them or affect them in the future. This makes it easier for readers to understand what's going on in the comic they just read, and hopefully will continue to read!