What makes a comic popular?

Scrubbo · Post by **Scrubbo** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 1:20 am

I agree with Damonk here. (Don't let it go to your head, ya crazy canuck!)What makes ME like a comic beyond just being funny is :"Professionalism" - Does the comic artist consistantly publish to his deadlines? What ever deadlines you set, you MUST meet them with only the occasional bobble. If you think you can MOSTLY meet a deadline schedule, you're better off making an easier schedule (i.e 5 comics a week instead of 7, or 3 even) than having a history of deadline problems. I've stopped reading comics because of deadline problems. So I can't stress this enough! Make sure you plan your strip around your life and vice versa. If you are planning on a 2 week vacation, get 3 weeks ahead on your strip! "Perserverance" : the longer a comic has been running with I "discover" it, the more likely I am to keep reading it because it'll have a huge archive for me to dig through. Once somebody has read a couple of months or better yet a year or more of an archive, they're hooked! When I read a couple of strips, or a month of archive and that's it, the comic hasn't had enough developement yet that I'm "emotionally invested" in it."Innovative Consistancy" : You need consistant characters to keep people interested in them while simultaniously keeping the comic interesting. If bun-bun suddenly became a happy nice rabbit, people would be PISSED at Pete Abram. However, having Bun-Bun's alternate universe version be a sweet happy bunny (ank Kiki being a gangsta ferret) is funny. Look for weird and new twists to take your comic, but always keep the basic characters "identifiable" so that you're readers will recognize them. Remember, readers have an attention span like an easily distracted ferret. Oooh! Shiny!But the single most important thing for cartooning is loving it! <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/smile.gif"> If you are totally in to your strip and care about it, it will show. And you will get fans. If you have an ecclectic, weird strip, you may not have that MANY fans and your fan base may grow more slowly, but those fans that you get will be extremely loyal. <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/smile.gif">Have fun!------------------
Scrubbo
<A HREF="http://www.sillyconev.com" TARGET=_blank>Silly Cone V</A>
A place to rest your weary soul.

SuperJoe · Post by **SuperJoe** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 4:19 am

I have at least two happy readers. Maybe a few more. And I'm fine with that. I do my comic for me, to tell the truth. It would be nice if a bunch of people liked it, and what-not, but basically, it's whatever makes me happy. So I guess I don't really have any say in this matter, do I? Nevermind.------------------
So this mute says to my blind friend, "Look over there!"<A HREF="http://jwalkin.keenspace.com/" TARGET=_blank>J-Walkin'</A>

Rtist54 · Post by **Rtist54** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 5:19 am

My girlfriend likes my strip.------------------
Any artist can call their piece "Untitled", but there's only one <A HREF="http://untitledagain.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>Untitled Again</A>.

Scrubbo · Post by **Scrubbo** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 5:47 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by rtist54:
My girlfriend likes my strip.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Ahhh, but does she like MY strip!Waitaminute! You have a girlfriend! <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/eek.gif"> You're not spending NEARLY enough time working on your comic then! <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/rolleyes.gif"> lol!Or maybe I'm just jealous! <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/wink.gif">
------------------
Scrubbo
<A HREF="http://www.sillyconev.com" TARGET=_blank>Silly Cone V</A>
A place to rest your weary soul.

Screwball McGoo [gDC] · Tue Nov 14, 2000 7:31 am

I'm going to be extra controversial today and say that's it's just a combination of longevity and a snowball effect with no talent or wit or essentially anything else required. Why? I'm betting on it. ::evil grin:: It's hard to make a case AGAINST for a multi-year study though.------------------
Anyone see that last Beast Machines? Pretty nifty, eh?<A HREF="http://nerdz.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank> NERDZ</A>.

Gecco · Post by **Gecco** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 12:10 pm

I don't mean how many visits or hits or whatever you count does a comic need to be considered popular, I mean how do they get those hits in the first place?Quality obviously has something to do with it, but not all the time. I've seen many great quality comics that were not nearly as popular as some medocre yet very well-known ones.So, do you think advertising makes the comic? Or is it the humouor, drawing ability and all around quality that makes a comic popular?------------------
Saving the World- an online comic strip
http://savingtheworld.keenspace.com

John Pierce · Post by **John Pierce** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 12:45 pm

I t really doesn't matter how good you are, if no one knows about your strip. You need to first get your name out there, and then you'll have to stand on your own merits.------------------
<A HREF="http://pigmandiaries.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>

Rtist54 · Post by **Rtist54** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 12:47 pm

I think advertising is the trick regardless of quality. Though quality always helps. Most of the time, I find that people don't really care much about the drawing ability but more of the content. Is it funny? Is it clever? whatever. But, that's all I have to say about that.------------------
Any artist can call their piece "Untitled", but there's only one <A HREF="http://untitledagain.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>Untitled Again</A>.

Drollstreet · Post by **Drollstreet** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 12:49 pm

I can't agree with John more... If I had not promoted my comic for about a month before it came out, I probably wouldn't be here right now... I probably would've stopped doing webcomics because no one read my comic.------------------
HEY, PUNK!
YA YOU!
READ <A HREF="http://drollstreet.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>Droll Street</A> RIGHT NOW...

You know if you got any spare time...Marshall Ricks-
<A HREF="mailto:maricks@comic.com">maricks@comic.com</A>

Drollstreet · Post by **Drollstreet** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 12:51 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Quality obviously has something to do with it, but not all the time. I've seen many great quality comics that were not nearly as popular as some medocre yet very well-known ones.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I also agree here. Luckily I consider myself in the middle of both of those...------------------
HEY, PUNK!
YA YOU!
READ <A HREF="http://drollstreet.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>Droll Street</A> RIGHT NOW...

You know if you got any spare time...Marshall Ricks-
<A HREF="mailto:maricks@comic.com">maricks@comic.com</A>

Damonk13 · Post by **Damonk13** » Tue Nov 14, 2000 12:55 pm

I'd say it's a smattering from Column A, and a handful from Column B...Most importantly, though, is TIME and patience... big sites like Sluggy didn't start up one day and suddenly get overwhelmed with hits. I remember actually, not too long after I started reading (September '99), that he mentioned on his site how he was "just now" starting to make enough to almost earn a living drawing his comic strip without needing other jobs... But his strip had been out since August 1997!!So figure, that's more than 2 years before his fan base was large enough to allow him to focus solely on the comic!!Plus, he did a LOT of advertising; posting everywhere, submitting his site to umpteen "top whatever" Comic Lists, etc............It takes a while to earn a name for onesself; people are wary of the "kickass comic" that starts out for a few days, weeks, months, only to fade away into oblivion because the stripper wasn't serious enough or passionate enough about his craft... Just keep pluggin away at it, and be thankful for every single reader that you get. A hundred, ten, or even TWO happy readers is a lot better than no readers at all.Word of mouth, both yours and your readers will eventually creep out there into the webcomics fray, and, with enough persistence and tenacity, will begin to reap the satisfying readership rewards you may be seeking...'Nuff said (too much said!).------------------
"i wish i could think of a witty quote to put here"
--damonk13
<A HREF="http://framed.keenspace.com/" TARGET=_blank>Framed! The Comic!</A>
(now with extra Riboflavin!)

SuperJoe · Post by **SuperJoe** » Wed Nov 15, 2000 8:45 am

You're comic's not bad. Don't worry.
I read it once in a while.
If you had a bat I'd read it more.
Or a monkey.------------------
So this mute says to my blind friend, "Look over there!"<A HREF="http://jwalkin.keenspace.com/" TARGET=_blank>J-Walkin'</A>

Gwalla · Post by **Gwalla** » Thu Nov 16, 2000 5:15 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Jamellan:
retarted<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Are you sure you're not <A HREF="http://www.wendycomic.com/rant/20001112.html" TARGET=_blank>Josh Lesnick</A>?------------------

Damonk13 · Post by **Damonk13** » Thu Nov 16, 2000 7:56 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Jamellan:
I don't wanna say advertising makes a comic, it's just the flame in a fire. Once you light it, your comic then decides if it catches on fire or goes out.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Does that mean it can burn out? <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/biggrin.gif">
------------------
"i wish i could think of a witty quote to put here"
--damonk13
<A HREF="http://framed.keenspace.com/" TARGET=_blank>Framed! The Comic!</A>
(now with Beta-Carotine and new, minty <A HREF="http://www.keenspace.com/cgi-bin/ubb/fo ... LastLogin=" TARGET=_blank>Forum</A>!)

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Thu Nov 16, 2000 12:24 pm

I know exactly how to make a comic popular. Don't be challenging. ALWAYS be sarcastic. Simple lines are good and repeated panels are better, and make sure--here's a big one-- NOT ALOT OF WORDS. Keep it simple. If it REMINDS people of another comic to a great extent, that's good. It seems FAMILIAR.Other than that, CUTE MERCHANDISING!!And that's it from A to Z.By the way, none of that shit goes on in my strip, QUESTIONABLE TALES!!--maybe that's why I'm like the Zippy the Pinhead of Keenspace.------------------
<A HREF="http://questionabletales.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>http://questionabletales.keenspace.com</A> Look what I pooped