Community comic idea (troop 37)

Drowemos · Post by **Drowemos** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:53 pm

Well I posted this over in the pitch section ( Troop 37 pitch ) and did not get much response so I'll try here in.

Troop 37 is a comic that is drawn in a round robin fashion. Each page and part of the story is drawn by a different artist. I have added a couple of pages and it is a lot of fun.

I was thinking that Comic Genesis should do something like this. Implementation of Troop 37 is kind of clunky. A comic like it on comic genesis would run a lot smother.

Just and idea.

Pattyannboyd · Post by **Pattyannboyd** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 5:09 am

that sounds kinda fun

I'd be up for doing something like that

Kaloo · Post by **Kaloo** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 4:01 pm

I like stupid group comics...

Drowemos · Post by **Drowemos** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:06 pm

Well if I could propose and idea Comic Genesis already has an intersting character associated with it. Genchan:

A trendy sci fi adventure girl. Alot of the chan images are nearly stories in their own right. Why not give genchan her own comic created round robin fashion.

Redtech · Post by **Redtech** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 5:33 pm

Cool. The only thing is how detailed do people want it? The Troop has it's own cast and so it's more like an interpretation of a favourite sitcom, rather than a 'play with the pretty doll' story.

Drowemos · Post by **Drowemos** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:28 am

Well Troop 37 is a riff off of 50’s sidcom conventions. Genchan could very easily be a riff of the science fiction genera. Extra character’s can be added as needed for the story. That’s the nice thing about the format. You can do whatever you want with the comic. But only for one page.

As for story at Troop 37 we have found short one shot pages work better than long story arcs. If you get into a long story arc people get stuck with what to do next. For that reason dramatic stories just don’t work with this format. It works better when you keep things light.

So a Genchan comic would be sill sicfi sitcom. Think something along the style of Red Dwarf.

Chelsee · Post by **Chelsee** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:07 am

This could be a very fun and engaging way to get to know other members of the community. I love seeing different people's renditions of the same character - though I agree that a "predefined" cast could help limit the confusion.

What would a good rounded cast need? What do you find in the average comic /role play stereotype/boy-girl band? We'd need enough characters to cover each person's preferences...

Maybe we'd need an angry/broody one...

A bookish/diplomatic one?

A pacifist ^_^?

A happy-go-lucky one...

Or, dare I say it... a comic relief character/creature?

Maybe... a newt. Or a tiny SPACE octopi...

...good god I love this kind of thing... I'd be all for helping out!

LibertyCabbage · Post by **LibertyCabbage** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:20 am

Chelsee wrote: What would a good rounded cast need? What do you find in the average comic /role play stereotype/boy-girl band? We'd need enough characters to cover each person's preferences...

Maybe we'd need an angry/broody one...

A bookish/diplomatic one?

A pacifist ^_^?

A happy-go-lucky one...

Or, dare I say it... a comic relief character/creature?

Maybe... a newt. Or a tiny SPACE octopi...

Or you could just post pictures of dog crap.

Drowemos · Post by **Drowemos** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 11:20 am

LibertyCabbage wrote:
Chelsee wrote: What would a good rounded cast need? What do you find in the average comic /role play stereotype/boy-girl band? We'd need enough characters to cover each person's preferences...

Maybe we'd need an angry/broody one...

A bookish/diplomatic one?

A pacifist ^_^?

A happy-go-lucky one...

Or, dare I say it... a comic relief character/creature?

Maybe... a newt. Or a tiny SPACE octopi...
Or you could just post pictures of dog crap.

Seriously, was that called for? What's with the Trollish behavior?

Chelsee · Post by **Chelsee** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:42 pm

LibertyCabbage wrote: Or you could just post pictures of dog crap.

Uh... yyeah... or we could do that. That would also work. (Honestly, this is meant to be fun. If you're not interested in the project there are probably better ways to express it.)

So how would we start something like this?

Serenagold · Post by **Serenagold** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:50 am

if you guys decide to go through with this I'd gladly contribute.

Silliness + SciFi = Awesomeness

The great thing about doing this red-robin style is that you don't have to worry about plot and characters. They'll just be added along the way as people contribute. The only responsibility regarding story and consistency is for the next artist to remember what the plot line has been so far and use the already established characters or add your own (so long as it makes sense and fits in with the plot in some way.) Pretty straight forward.

Really the main concern is finding someone willing to moderate it and upload the artwork. Let whomever is in charge decide the order that the artists will contribute, then let the artists contributing try to responsibly keep in touch and let everyone know if there are any problems that would delay them from providing the next entry - that being the case their turn would be skipped.

Chelsee · Post by **Chelsee** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:40 pm

Serenagold wrote:if you guys decide to go through with this I'd gladly contribute.

Silliness + SciFi = Awesomeness

The great thing about doing this red-robin style is that you don't have to worry about plot and characters. They'll just be added along the way as people contribute. The only responsibility regarding story and consistency is for the next artist to remember what the plot line has been so far and use the already established characters or add your own (so long as it makes sense and fits in with the plot in some way.) Pretty straight forward.

Really the main concern is finding someone willing to moderate it and upload the artwork. Let whomever is in charge decide the order that the artists will contribute, then let the artists contributing try to responsibly keep in touch and let everyone know if there are any problems that would delay them from providing the next entry - that being the case their turn would be skipped.

Hear, hear... That's really the kick, isn't it? Being moderator might be a kind of thankless job, if they're responsible for setting the whole thing up as well as organizing turns and... face it. Having to be 'that guy' who nags people when they're running late. I'm not concerned - am a pretty quick study when it comes to pumping out work.

I guess to be solution oriented, would could at least try to define a reasonable length of time per page.... Say, a week? If it takes too long per page people will lose interest. But too short of a time and no one will be able to meet deadlines.

Maybe we should define it as 'comic strip' length rather than full pages... Where you're allowed to do longer full-sized pages, I suppose, but the minimum requirement be something less demanding? (Think Garfield-sized strips over Strangers in Paradise sized... And let that be the last time the two be compared

)

Drowemos · Post by **Drowemos** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 3:10 pm

On troop 37 the rules are as such:

If you want to ad a page you post "Next" on the message thread.

From the time of posting "Next" you have 3 days to complete and post your comic.

If you don't post your comic in three days then you lost your turn and anyone else can call next and post a comic.

Once a comic is posted the comunity has 24 hours to vote Pass/Fail/Do Over.

If the comic is passed by the community they it is added to the continuity of the comic.

There is no real administration. It is all community run. One guy controls the website but all he really does is post the comic once it passes the community vote.

The full rules and guidelines can be seen here:
http://www.comixpedia.org/index.php?title=Troop_37

To get things started all someone has to do is call next and draw a comic.

LibertyCabbage · Post by **LibertyCabbage** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:37 pm

drowemos wrote: Seriously, was that called for? What's with the Trollish behavior?

You're a writer, aren't you? So, why don't you write something instead of complaining about my "trolling."

Well if I could propose and idea Comic Genesis already has an intersting character associated with it. Genchan

Genchan is a good symbol, but symbols make lousy characters.

Chelsee wrote:If you're not interested in the project there are probably better ways to express it.

I'm interested because I unsuccessfully tried something similar and I'd prefer that other people not screw up their own projects.

Phact0rri · Post by **Phact0rri** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 3:07 am

would be a good idea, to outline the plot, so that it actually stays organized. maybe a bible with character concepts, so the characters don't vastly change in appearance, and that the characters actually have a set personality.

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:50 am

LibertyCabbage wrote:
Well if I could propose and idea Comic Genesis already has an intersting character associated with it. Genchan
Genchan is a good symbol, but symbols make lousy characters.

Yeah, come to think of it, GenChan doesn't even have character. What is she like, apart from being somehow related to science-fiction? Some drew her ultra-violent, others drew her sweet as a lamb. I suppose everyone has their own idea (if any) and attaching a certain "official" character would just ruin it for people who don't like it.

Drowemos · Post by **Drowemos** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:38 pm

Characters usually develop through the scripts submitted. Little side jokes become part of the character's personality.

It has been my experience the more controls you put on these sort of things the worse they work. Have a set script or overly defined character and the project grinds to a halt. The fun of the idea is each person has full creative control over the story.