What do you look for?

[Wadefade]

Just out of curiosity, ( and the fact this will be immensely helpful to both you and me) what exactly do you look for when you think, "Hey, I want to find a new webcomic to read!" and go about your usual adventure into finding a new webcomic. What are the steps of your adventure?

Do you go to your favorite webcomic and find their "links" to their favorites?
Do you go to a webcomic directory/listing and look for genres?
Do you ...?

/discuss.

[Joel Fagin]

I collect links from forums, recommendations and occassionally advert for comics that look like they'll interest me. I don't go looking for them, though, because I have a bookmark folder called "Comics To Try" which goes off the bottom of the screen.

So, I'm set for a while and won't need to go hunting for more.

- Joel Fagin

[Wendybird]

I've got a bunch of comics I follow at the moment, and I seem to just pick up new links - sometimes I'm signing into siteadmin and I'll see an interesting pog. Sometimes J recommends me things, that's how I got started reading. I don't go for links pages, usually I'll only follow people's links if they're on the front page of the site. If someone asks for advice in T&T I'll usually take a look, or alternately if someone just mentions something interesting about their comic on the forums.

[Wadefade]

Homepage presentation is 80% of the game it seems. That is why website design is key!

So if someone blogs about in their comments or links it on the front page you follow that link to see what its all about.
If you see an interesting ad when loggin in. So much has never been so dependent on a good sized rectangle

kk keep em comin

[Jekkal]

Well naturally I direct people to mine whenever possible.

Otherwise it's really a matter of just seeing what strikes me. Project Wonderful ads have some effect.

[VinnieD]

I never really go out of my way to find a new comic, but they do seem to find me. Sometimes I get recommendations from friends. I may or may not keep reading those comics, I also see the occasional newsbox, pog, or PW ad that catches my eye, or I just start reading because I've talked with the artist on the forums.

[Bustertheclown]

I'm not too into the act of blindly groping for webcomics these days. I'm a bit more inclined to go look at a comic if I've actually met, or at least had some sort of contact with, the person making it. That's why conventions and forums are a good thing.

[Cartoonme]

A lot of my finds lately have been from the links on other peoples pages. I also follow Project Wonderful ads around as well when an ad catches my eye.

I also follow banners in forums when I think one looks good or the author seems intelligent.

[Siabur]

I look for comics that relate to what I am interested in. A lot of times it comes from the creators links page. I am in search for some new ones, it seems as if when a creator get's involved with a woman they suddenly loose interest in their comic. In my own defense, it was classic cars. So until then I'm always trying new ones from link pages, forum banners.

[Montyandwoolley]

I tend to follow links, but in general i will judge a comic on first visual impressions. If the artwork doesn't get me on the first page i look at, i wont bother looking at anything else lol. And since im very picky about artwork lol, i have a short list. Once i'm happy with the artwork, i start from the begining of the comic and hope the content is good. If i can get to the end of the archives, it makes it onto my read list.

[EvilFlea]

My keys, usually.

[Dr Legostar]

i haven't read a new comic in a while, usually it's some random banner on a forum or another comic that gets me reading.

[Wadefade]

Looks like advertising is winning...

[Redtech]

Am I the only person who uses forum avatars as well as signatures?!

[Wendybird]

What forums allow you to attach a link to your avatar?

[Redtech]

Sorry, I meant as a visual reference. Taking yours as a good example, an attractive avatar can sometimes be as good a hook, if not better than a signature, simply because it's a very poigant example of the kind of art style I expect your webcomic to be like.

On the other hand, there are some people who I feel are really let down by having great avvies and crummie sigs. In fact, I see people who use avvies not related to their comics as 'false advertising.' While I can understand personal mugshots and custom avatars not entirely based on the comic, if it's a generic .gif or fanart, I may feel obliged to think that person is of a higher or at least different standard to what they really are.

EDIT! And before the immediate argument of "that's what the sig is for, dur" is announced, I like to think of everything as a full-package, because when we're on a board, if we're promoting ourselves and our comics, then surely we want to look our best? The fact the first thing I see of a person is their avatar and NOT their sig, is often highly ignored. Hell, it's why I decided to change mine, may not get more readers, but it's more representive of me and my comic.

[Nutshellcomics]

Since I am still new to reading as well as making Webcomics I tend to click on the Pogs, signatures and ads that catch my eye.
Also, I will follow links to comics that people are enthusiastic about.
So far I have about a half dozen comics that I make sure to read as soon as they update and several that I check back on from time to time.

As Redtech said the Avatar is a good way to represent a persons art style. my signature is my title banner, so I use a character from one of my strips as my Avatar.

[Pimpette]

The comics I read I've picked up from all over the place. Some I started reading because I was friends with the authors, some just for the banners on the forums, some for the adboxes I'd see on sites of comics I was already reading. When I actually sit down and try to find something new to read, I generally check the links pages on comics that I really like.

As for the forum avatars argument.. I suppose I could use it to add to the little banners in my sig, but in truth I have more fun just using whatever image interests me at the moment. Sometimes fanart, sometimes a weirdass photo, sometimes a scribble that fell out of my pen at an odd moment. It's sort of like a desktop wallpaper to me - just something interesting that has temporarily caught my eye.

[Wadefade]

Tell you the truth, while we probably don't look at avatars on purpose, somewhere in our minds we take the avatar account as the type of person someone is. On the internet it is all we got.

If, for an example, I am browsing around and I come across someone that has a Warcraft avatar I might be like, "Oooh they have same interests as me!" and follow a link in their sig. Somewhere in my mind I probably think that whatever they find funny I will too.

This all probably goes on in the subconscious level.

[Jekkal]

Eh, it depends where you are as to what's important. LiveJournal, Squidoo, etc. put much more focus on avatars than a forum would.

If you can get both, then use both, of course, but I won't say one is more important than the other... besides the fact the signature contains the actual link to follow up with.