Comixpedia Article...

Joel Fagin · Post by **Joel Fagin** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:29 pm

The article I was asking for samples for a little while ago is up on Comixpedia. I ended up using comics from Cortland, Emergency Exit, Zoology, Reasoned Cognition and linked to Aldus and Tales of Pylea. Thanks, guys!*

- Joel Fagin

* "Guys" used here in it's genderless form.

Linkara · Post by **Linkara** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:42 pm

Very helpful, Joel! Since my comic is a serious superhero webcomic, I can definitely see the difficulties in trying to keep up the standard comic plot structure. It's one of the reasons why the majority of my issues in Lightbringer tend to be only one issue or, at least, have stories that can be told in a single start to finish without too much necessity to go back and read the previous storyline.

Also it helps to update more than once a week. ^_~

Kilre · Post by **Kilre** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:52 pm

Dude, your articles always inspire.

Warofwinds · Post by **Warofwinds** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:53 pm

Good stuff, Joel^^ Lots to think about.

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:10 pm

Veyr well done Joel! That's the kind of stuff I try to keep in mind when writing. I'm glad my strip helped a bit.

Jackhass · Post by **Jackhass** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:17 pm

Good read! Plus it had graphs! Graphs make everything better. Plus you made my comic sound better written than it actually was, which is always good.

TRI · Post by **TRI** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:59 pm

Ohhh.... So that's how you do that....

CSchaefer · Post by **CSchaefer** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 2:29 am

Excellent article! The whole serious-comic pacing hurdle is something I've been struggling with since launch, so I know exactly whereof you speak. I don't know if there is a solution, but it certainly feels worthwhile to keep plugging away at finding one...

Best technique I've found so far is to try and create mini-crescendos at regular intervals; sure, putting a cliffhanger or dramatic buildup at the end of an "issue" is important (and fun), but it's important to write lots of little peak moments to bring readers back on all the days that aren't the end of a chapter.

Humbug · Post by **Humbug** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 3:34 am

Excellent article Joel.

Makes me think alot about other things.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:07 am

Nice piece of work, Joel. Good to know some Sandgropers are intelligent too.

No, a good article. I was wondering how you were going to use that strip about the moon...you're right too, we don't even realise we're doing it, eh?

Orion · Post by **Orion** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:33 am

That is some good stuff Joel, stuff I haven't thought about before, but probably should.

Dr Legostar · Post by **Dr Legostar** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:08 pm

good deal joel, and good to see 50% of the comics linked are cornstalkers

LibertyCabbage · Post by **LibertyCabbage** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:45 pm

Yay! I figured out this stuff on my own already, but it's good that it's explained clearly like this so writers will have a better understanding of the comics they read and make.

BrownEyedCat · Post by **BrownEyedCat** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:56 pm

Ooh, this stuff IS useful!

Joel, you're going to hear that repeated ad naseum even more than it is being repeated ad naseum now.

Keffria · Post by **Keffria** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:06 pm

Insightful as always, Joel.

I love the way certain commenters are being uppity about what you said. It's just the truth -- story comics in general have a hard time keeping readers. Quite often, an individual page doesn't really go anywhere, and people get tired of coming back over and over and over again for tiny little hints of plot each time. Even if they don't give up, most people - myself included - don't check story comics each update - they read better in batches, as if you're reading a printed comic book.

It's pretty obvious that I don't always pay attention to the dramatic-structure rule; someone may or may not have pointed out (either Joel in the article or one of the commenters) that on the printed page, borrowing gag-a-day-style comic structure can make a story comic seem very disjointed. You just have to recognize, if you're a writer of a story-based comic, that you're probably never going to have massive pageviews.

Come to think of it, this is one of those 'HAY GUYS ITS MY STYLE SO LAY OFF' things. Dammit.

Joel Fagin · Post by **Joel Fagin** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:18 pm

Keffria wrote:I love the way certain commenters are being uppity about what you said.

They're right to, in a way. The article is too heavily on the drama-a-day side and doesn't push the other option - multiple pages in an update - as much as it should. In effect, then, I'm telling them to write their comics differently instead of simply packaging them differently.

Anyway, thanks everyone!* Especially you, Keff, since I used Aldus as a negative example.

- Joel Fagin

* And apologies to McDuffies. I meant to link your tutorial on story structure and I just realised I forgot entirely.

Keffria · Post by **Keffria** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:38 pm

Joel Fagin wrote:Anyway, thanks everyone!* Especially you, Keff, since I used Aldus as a negative example.

Eh, thank *you*. (And not just for the bit of publicity I've gotten from the article...) ...Please, feel free to rip my comic apart in whatever manner you see fit. I guess there are some things I'm kind of obstinate about and would hesitate to change in spite of criticism, but I don't like the excessive back-patting you often see in the webcomicking community.

(Actually, when you were asking for submissions for the article, it did get me thinking about the number of 'boring' pages in my archive. I hope I've managed to make things a bit more interesting.)

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:12 pm

There's excessive back-patting in the webcomic community?

I'm with you, Keff. They can grizzle at us both!

Joel Fagin · Post by **Joel Fagin** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:42 am

Dutch! wrote:There's excessive back-patting in the webcomic community?

There is around here, too, but there's also a lot of people who haven't noticed the "Mallet me" signs on their backs.

- Joel Fagin

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:22 am

Um...that was me failing at being sarcastic, apparently.