I have no clue what my comic's audience is.

[Jekkal]

I hate categorizing my comic.

Part of it's that I have a lot of stuff in there, the other part's that my style isn't very . . . tidy. By tidy I mean I usually have the below list of 'types' to choose from:

• Furry
• Manga
• Slice-of-Life
• American
• Drama
• Science Fiction
• Geek
• etc.

And of course they expect you to 'choose one' . . . Slice-of-Life and Manga are vague enough, but I have no clue what 'American' style is, and Furry is so all over the board I don't know who the hell thought it made a good genre that didn't fit the others somehow. Even when you're given multiple choices, it's tough going.

I suppose the first question is how I'm supposed to figure out what I am, but the second question would have to be how the hell I'm supposed to tell the difference between some of these, especially with the one-size-fits-all genres like 'Furry' and 'American'.

Maybe it's asking a bit much to be able to define a comic one way or another, but it's still odd.

[Geekblather]

I have the same problem, in that my comic is sometimes silly, sometimes dramatic, mostly american in style, but has some shoujo elements- so I have a hard time categorizing. I usually pick as the most disparate elements, and figure that- it's a cross section of them.

[Eff]

Forget accuracy, choose whichever category you want to shop for readers from. If you want to collect free interest, certainly Furry or Manga is the category of choice.

I know if I was looking at the comicgen wiki I would be very unlikely to search the Slice-of-Life or America category because I'd have no idea what the heck I was in for.

[Kris X]

Actually most Slice of Life comics are very particular and more psychological characters studies... Also considered in the category of things likely to happen in real life and more dealt with average human emotions. I only comment on this because I border on this genre, if not squat on it with my comic.

EDIT: And American style is like a retro look in some circumstances. Take a look at Daniel Clowes and Craig Thompson.

[Kirb]

Just choose from what you think your main audience is there for.

[The Neko]

It depends on who your audience is going to be. If normal, everyday people are going to be put off by the "furry" style, then you're better off just marketing it to people who enjoy that. Niche.

Also, jekkal, your sig is a bit too large. I suggest making it smaller.

[NakedElf]

[*] Furry: Anthropomorphic. Some people really like anthro, others won't touch it. In general, if you can submit some sort of image to go with your comic, you may convey whether it's furry or not without having to actually specify it.
[*] Manga: Self-obvious, a Japanese style. Big eyes, small mouths, graphic novels.
[*] Slice-of-Life: Basically follows your own life. Generally no plot.
[*] American: I would assume as opposed to Japanese style--typical newspaper type of comic. PvP is a good example.
[*] Drama: Serious
[*] Science Fiction: Obvious. If you have dramatic sci-fi, just call it sci-fi.
[*] Geek: Computers, gaming, etc. Penny-Arcade, Control Alt Delete, etc.

In general, if you can only chose one category, just pick one which you think describes it well. Easier said than done. :P If there are two categories which both describe it well, then maybe pick the one which gives the reader more information. For example, my penis comic is labeled 'quirky' rather than 'mature'--I figure people will realize it's mature based on the *name*.

Alternatively, if you think a particular category is just going to be more popular, you might go with that--like furry, in many cases.

[Killbert-Robby]

I say just do what the hell you want, it's YOUR comic. You're on a planet with 6.5 billion people, enough people out there will like whatever you do. Its statistics. Make the comic for yourself first, and do fanservice after.

[McDuffies]

Big ear fetishists?

Dutch used to have problem with them.

[Killbert-Robby]

Racist deserves all the trouble he can get



(Kidding, before anyone gets testy )

[Dutch!]

Deary deary me

[Nervous Spy]

I've found that usage of such categories varies tremendously from site to site. Some comic sites define "furry" so widely that it encompasses things like "Garfield", on some other sites "manga" only refers to comics that adhere strictly to all and sundry idiosyncrasies of that style, including reading direction.

And most sites freely mix style-based categories with content-based ones, which doesn't make for much consistency to begin with.

I'd guess you safest bet would be to look at how other, similar comics have been categorized on a certain site, and base your comic's categorization, for the purposes of that specific site, on that.

Big ear fetishists?

Shh! Don't you know that saying a new fetish's name on the Internet will bring that fetish into existence? Two words: Dumbo pr0n.

[Tyras]

Shh! :o Don't you know that saying a new fetish's name on the Internet will bring that fetish into existence?

Oh please. That fetish was old news years ago.

[VIIStar]

I'd go with the most obvious... from your sig, that anthropomorphic or furry. No need to over-think it.

It looks like some of the words you list are for drawing style and some are for narration... *i.e., it's a furry drama or manga slice of life*

I don't know how you'd actually 'draw dramatically or slice of life' (furry and manga don't really say much for content, they can be about anything just drawn in that style*... Or you can narrate a drama or slice of life, but they don't dictate style.

Are they categorizing content(story) or style(art)?

[Kris X]

[*] Slice-of-Life: Basically follows your own life. Generally no plot.
[*] American: I would assume as opposed to Japanese style--typical newspaper type of comic. PvP is a good example.

Incorrect. Slice of life does not need to be about YOU. It can be about anyone, real or fictious as long as it's remotely plausable to happen in real life.

American style is not just an opposite of "Japanese." There are other comics out there, such as European, that are NOT Japanese.

Sorry, I'm just trying to remove the stereotypes of what people consider these categories to be.

[McDuffies]

I've found that usage of such categories varies tremendously from site to site. Some comic sites define "furry" so widely that it encompasses things like "Garfield", on some other sites "manga" only refers to comics that adhere strictly to all and sundry idiosyncrasies of that style, including reading direction.

Yeah, at places, you might get flamed for mistaking what some call "manga influenced" and naming it just "manga". Some see comics drawn in manga style with more American themes and influences a bastardisation of the genre, and this made a derogatory term "manga influenced". Not to mention what happens when you mistakenly call anime "cartoons".
Similar with "sprite" and "pixelated". You'll have a group of people trying to distance themselves from the majority by slapping a different label to themselves. Or to the others, in any case.

Incorrect. Slice of life does not need to be about YOU. It can be about anyone, real or fictious as long as it's remotely plausable to happen in real life.

American style is not just an opposite of "Japanese." There are other comics out there, such as European, that are NOT Japanese.

Sorry, I'm just trying to remove the stereotypes of what people consider these categories to be.

Still, it's like how most of people deem fantasy equal to quest stories because that's what they find the most. Most of comics I've run into that label themselves as "slice of life" still are "I'm bored let's make a comic" kind. Kind of ironic that the prototype for that kind of comics was "Real life" which quckly slided into geek fantasy.

[Geekblather]

I could probably say that my strip is slice of life, albeit- slices of life in a fictional place, with fictional people, but it's generally reality based.

[Tarts]

If humor is absurd, and life is humorous, is my comic a slice of absurd humor?

[NakedElf]

[*] Slice-of-Life: Basically follows your own life. Generally no plot.
[*] American: I would assume as opposed to Japanese style--typical newspaper type of comic. PvP is a good example.

Incorrect. Slice of life does not need to be about YOU. It can be about anyone, real or fictious as long as it's remotely plausable to happen in real life.

American style is not just an opposite of "Japanese." There are other comics out there, such as European, that are NOT Japanese.

Sorry, I'm just trying to remove the stereotypes of what people consider these categories to be.

I said opposed, not opposite.

Most people posting comics on the web in English are familiar with American and Japanese style comics. European comics, if they've encountered them at all, are a small minority. So as far as most folks are concerned, there's the style they've seen published domestically in newspapers and comicbooks, and there's the style they've seen imported from Japan.

As for slice of life, definitely it doesn't have to be about one's self, but that is the way it is most typically done.

And since these are just general, vague categories, all they can ever possibly be on a practical level *is* stereotypes. Maybe in a hard-core group of comic-readers/writers would we find strict breakdowns, but when simply talking about categorizing your public for general public consumption, popular stereotypes are important. If I describe a comic about aliens on Mars as 'slice of life' because it's about their lives, I'm going to confuse people. Likewise, if I describe my comic as 'furry', I have to remember that some people consider the term to really just mean porn.

[Princess]

I would narrow it down to science fiction 1st and furry 2nd.

_

I have no idea what my comic is anymore- I stick it under historical/mature/humour/manga/whatamess