Darken - a comic what needs feedback.

[Komiyan]

'lo. So, I've got just over 30 pages, and I figure I'd better start the promoting. so- Darken is a fantasy comic, an action epic that can't keep a straight face. Following the side of evil, because the bad guys are always more interesting and you know it. http://darken.keenspace.com/

I've recently changed my colouring style, so apologies if it seems a bit erratic. I'll be sticking with this one for a while.

Constructive crit is very welcome

[Coyotzin]

I'm not sure if I like the pencil more than the color version. Because of your use of cross-hatching, the b&w seems somehow fuller... you seem to be combining both approaches in the last page, so that might be a Good Thing in the future

I'm not overly fond of the snout-like approach of your current style of anime faces (where the nose's bridge curves back quite some way), but I've learned to live with it

The humor is kind of subdued and I'd like to see more of it, since that would make your story really stand out from the straight D&D mold you're using.

Good work overall; I'm going to be checking on it

[Tetsuo75]

I really, really, really liked this for some reason... despite my dislike of fantasy comics yours looks the biz! the anatomy falls appart in a couple of panels but for the most you manage to pull off angles and poses I wouldn't even think of trying!

I wanna put a link to your site on mine... do you have a 88x31 button?

[Komiyan]

Tetsuo- Woah, thanks I've not got a button yet, I'll try to whip one up tomorrow. That means a lot to me, since Lowroad75 is a bloody gorgeous comic.

Coyotzin- I wasn't happy with the plain colour either, hence the new version. And the noses are changing over the next few pages, cause they grew to irritate me no end.. I need to take life drawing classes at some point :S

[Wp]

Style is style. Not everyone will like the way you draw your characters. I think the bridge of the noses you draw is fine, although in more "realistic" drawings, the bridge of the nose is more of a shadow than a line. As an anime-style artist myself, I have to come to a decision on how to draw my noses. Many anime these days have small noses that are only defined as shadow and nostrils. This tends to make characters more attractive because fewer lines tend to mean less blemishes. In fact, if you look at some cosmetic glamour shots of models these days, light will be flashed directly onto the face, thus minimizing even the shadow that the nose casts. All you might see are the nostrils. I myself have gone with a halfway approach: not to draw the bridge near the eyes but to draw the tip of the nose and the part where it curves down near the lips. I don't typically draw nostrils.

[Pimpette]

Oooo pretty. I like your drawing style... even the big weird noses. They're cute.

More... more.. *foams at mouth*

[Phact0rri]

actually the nose and how it shapes over the face reminds me of your own art, Laurel...

I haven't had the chance to actuall read Darken I need to go throug it sometime, and I will and I'll give feedback. just don't hold me to it. but what I've seen I've enjoyed. You've got a real knack for composing a lose action that seems almost comfortable to you.

more to come soon.. I hope.

[Whiteout]

I love the fighting... very eye catching and intense (for a webcomic that is) I don't really like fantasy comics either but your's seems to stick out above the rest... I'll be watching this one with interest.

[Mordennight]

Not bad. I like the colour better when mixed with the cross hatching. It's great like that.

I'm not sure I'm all happy with the story though. It seems to me to just be another fantasy comic... with the typical party, and the typical crusade to do some all important task.

But y'know... It's actually pretty well put together.

[Mordennight]

Oop. Never mind. I thought you'd used crosshatching in the last panel... but it's just really good pencil crayons.

If you use Adobe phtoshop might I suggest using layers in Multiply mode for the colours. This way you could easilly keep your cross hatching style and have that crips computer colour as well.

[Cortland]

Boop! Back up to the top you go, little thread! You gave me a review, so I thought I'd return the favor!

Overall opinion: great artwork The hatching is lovely, though the business can be a little eye-straining. In your first series of strips, the detail in the background was often very distracting from the figures for some reason. this comic was very refreshing, because the white background let me see how nice your characters look!

The story's very interesting, too. I like how your fantasy doesn't take itself too seriously. I like how Gort and Mink seem a bit too confident in their own abilities for their own good. It feels like you're setting them up to get tossed back on their rears in a major way.

The biggest downer for me is universal with all fantasy I force myself read: way too much back story and names I can't remember. I like fantasy that introduces stuff a little more gradually. I'm thinking Terry Brooks' Magic Kingdom novels, where Ben Holiday is a complete stranger to Landover, so Questor Thews has to play Mr. Exposition and explain things to him. That makes it easier for readers to jump in.

Interesting how all your main characters seem to be real villains at heart. There also doesn't seem to be a serious conflict here--the main creatures they fight seem to appear out of nowhere and start battling just for the hell of it. It'd be nice to have a concrete antagonist or something to challenge your four heroes.

Anyway, love the stuff. Artwork's beautiful of course. I love the rough sketchiness combined with Photoshop's smooth colors. I wish I could color like that!

And I will do you fan art. What ever happened to your laptop, by the way?

[Keffria]

The biggest downer for me is universal with all fantasy I force myself read: way too much back story and names I can't remember.

That's the best part! I love being thrown into a confusing mire of names and places and random historical facts. (That really doesn't bode well for anything I write or draw, does it...?)

At any rate, I love your comic, Komiyan! The fact is that more people will be drawn to your art, now that it's in colour ... but as a lover of cross-hatching/greyscale/&c., I appreciate the fact that you've left some of that nice sketchiness in there.

One thing, though -- it seems to be dragging a little right now, with that fight scene...

[Komiyan]

Ooh, this thread came back out of nowhere..
Yeah, the fight scence is dragging a little.. There's only like a page of it left now, and the next one is a good deal more interesting. I won't be hopping from fight to fight for too long, though.

I was hoping I hadn't bogged anyone down with names and places and stuff, I've been as light as I can with that without missing out essentials.. So there's not a lot I can do about that now, except to say that it'll all get explained when the time is right.

Oh yeah, and there'll be an antagonist.. Not exactly a main villian, per say.. I just wanted to establish the characters, cause it's kinda necessary for it to work. I know it sounds like a cop-out, but it's on its way
Mordenknight- I do use multiply :p I've got no patience at all for pencil crayons, I don't like them and they don't like me.
And my attempt to get away from typical fantasy is to follow the ones who are out to rule the world, instead of saving it.. Oh yeah, and to completely not take it seriously

Hope that wasn't too much blather. A decent comic should really speak for itself without a paragraph like this, so I do apologise- Shows me I still have some way to go. Thanks for the kind words, and for reading, I really, really appreciate

Oh yeah, laptop- Still nothing from the insurance company. I'm getting ready to break heads.

[SteveW]

The only thing that bugs me is the navigation tags. They're kinda too close together so you don't immediately realize that they are seperate buttons.

Other than that, it looks pretty good.

[Nightgaunt]

I also find your comic amusing, and I really like how the protagonists are evil.