One Small Step

[Jkandra]

Doug was a man out of his depth and going nowhere. Now he's just out of his depth.

Follow the banner and let me know what you think.

[Biev]

I think it's interesting, but I wish you wouldn't recap all the time. Most of the strips start with the sentence the last strip ended on, t's kind of annoying to read the same thing twice in a row.

[Rcmonroe]

I think it has a lot going for it. Not all the gags are knee-slappingly funny but some of them are good and the rest don't miss the mark by much. I agree with the above comment regarding the overuse of recaps. Also I generally like the art style, although some strips look a little rushed. I know that when you're trying to crank out a strip each day sometimes you just don't have enough time to make perfect drawings.

Pretty fun premise, you can go in a lot of directions here. Its nice to have that kind of flexibility, it goes a long way toward preventing writer's block. I think you may have created the first comic strip in history that doesn't have any female characters. Although with some of those aliens its hard to tell.

Keep up with the regular updates, this looks promising.

[Jkandra]

About recaps: It didn't occur to me how that would be picked up reading one strip after another. I'm coming from the mindset that the reader would need the context for the new day and not refer to the previous day. I guess that come from reading strips in the newspaper all these years. Paradigm shift.

I'm still working out my technique as far as the art goes. I've had a definite style for many years but a couple decades of computer work has made my manual skills rusty. Job, kids, dog, and mowing the yard also get in the way. I'm not getting my mental imagery down on paper the way I want to yet. We can't all be Bill Watterson right away.

Rcmonroe, I like the way you depict your characters in the car. I'll be studying that more.

I will have female characters. I just don't have them yet. Doug is going to want to date out there in the galaxy. Besides, I don't think it's the first comic with no females.

Thanks

Joe

[Rcmonroe]

About recaps: It didn't occur to me how that would be picked up reading one strip after another. I'm coming from the mindset that the reader would need the context for the new day and not refer to the previous day. I guess that come from reading strips in the newspaper all these years. Paradigm shift.

I think there's a happy medium available. Maybe a little recap every 5-6 strips? I don't know. I'm still trying to figure how often to recap in my own strip. I think if you're able to work your recaps in as dialogue they become a little more reader-friendly. That's what I'm hoping anyway.

Rcmonroe, I like the way you depict your characters in the car. I'll be studying that more.

I've been trying to show less of the car because I hate drawing it, I really don't think I draw it well at all. Unfortunately much of my story takes place in the car. That was good planning, wasn't it?

I'm still working out my technique as far as the art goes. I've had a definite style for many years but a couple decades of computer work has made my manual skills rusty. Job, kids, dog, and mowing the yard also get in the way. I'm not getting my mental imagery down on paper the way I want to yet. We can't all be Bill Watterson right away.

Yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat. But I think you'll find that the more you draw, the happier you'll be with your drawings. In your case, I can see that the skills are there, and the rustiness is fading quickly.

[That guy]

ART: Your art style is simple, but easy on the eyes - and it's excellent by the standards of most starting webcomics. Continue allowing your characters to evolve as you draw, all comics do, but you have no problems in the art department.

WRITING: As has been said, you don't need to recap in a webcomic. The beauty of the internet over newspapers is we can hit 'back' if we're confused. The jokes are pretty good, and it's got a good balance of joke/plot driving each strip. If you can continue posting 3x a week reliably and maintain quality, you'll start building a big fanbase in no time.

SITE: The background is nicely done - but for me it's overkill. You have a simple style and you work in crisp black & white... but then your banner has a lens flare and the stars are all realistic and colorful. I'm a minimalist and it just seems distracting. All elements should draw you to the strip, in my opinion.
-Also, you might consider adding a *calendar* tag or *storyline dropdown* for ease of navigation, especially since you'll be building an archive rapidly with your update schedule.
-If you want to start reeling in readers, I also recommend a tag-board. People like to come back when they can get involved. The downside is you get spammers and jerks alongside courteous readers... but most tag hosts allow you to edit & delete as you wish.

Very good work - keep it up!

[Jkandra]

I tried a new background with stark white stars and you are right, it does look better. (Grumble) I also did that with the header and took off the lens flare which makes it seamless with the back. (Which I also like more...grumble)

Thanks for the suggestions

Joe

[Biev]

I've been trying to show less of the car because I hate drawing it, I really don't think I draw it well at all. Unfortunately much of my story takes place in the car. That was good planning, wasn't it?

Well, you could always have the car break down after she'd done gambling all her money away, and force them to continue by foot : P

[That guy]

Glad you took 'em to heart. I do like the adjustments, I think they add to the overall mood quite well.