What to avoid in webcomics?

[The Mortician]

Honestly, I don't remember where the posts were anymore or what thread it was contained in... but I was wondering about what to avoid. A while back, someone mentioned getting hits off a site that was ... probably made the lower end of the geek chart.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/T ... e/geek.gif

I'm just wanting to know what subjects/situations should not be emulated in a webcomic/story.

Any Help?

[The Neko]

According to SA, this is a pretty good basic guide.

http://ghastlycomic.livejournal.com/9525.html

[Mercury Hat]

Anything sput likes!

:D

[Kels]

I like that post of Ghastley's, especially since I'm not falling into any of the pitfalls. =D

Mind you, I remember reading a similar essay by Stanley Schmidt, which I unfortunately forget the name of, where he details all of the old-hat, hackneyed SF plot ideas that will almost always get your stuff round-filed faster than it takes to say it. But he makes the wise comment at the end that it is possible to make these ideas work, in the same way it's possible to make a lot of the stuff Ghastley advises against work. But you have to be exceptional, and bring something new to the table along with it. And let's face it, very few of us are exceptional, by definition.

Best thing I can suggest is, don't do what everyone else is doing, and you've got a good start.

[Shishio]

The main thing you should avoid is letting the opinions of others keep you from doing what you want to do.

[BrownEyedCat]

How is it that I'm the first person posting this?

http://hownottorunacomic.comicgenesis.com/

[Turnsky]

pop culture references... particularly obscure ones, or ones that people won't get a few years down the road.

[Eff]

pop culture references... particularly obscure ones, or ones that people won't get a few years down the road.

I dunno, look at PA. If you head into their archives you'll see things about Interplay and Eidos, and might wonder who the @$!# they are. The comics are still bizarre enough to be entertaining though. And their topical nature likely generated significant interest at the time, to readers that stuck around.

Another thing to avoid: Comics about doing webcomics. I'm as guilty as the next guy, but I have sworn off it now. Other cartoonists may understand and enjoy said comics, so it might be best to post them on a comic forum. Your readership however will just be suitably confused. Although it is possible -- with tact -- to get away with it cleanly. One example is Mission Hill, which is presumably an examination of the cartoonist's life five years before he landed a show.

[The Mortician]

http://ghastlycomic.livejournal.com/9525.html

I have to say this is the closest I'm looking for, but its just that, a little too basic. Now if Merc posted everything sput likes (Sorry Sput) ...I am confident THAT is the list of things I am actually looking for. The deep end disgusting stuff that attracts those ... people or what ever they want to believe they are.

Problem is I have a comic that has anthropomorphic animals, dammit! "Furries" is the quick label I've received that a few times when someone mentions my comic in conversation. They are not the main characters, the REAL story doesn't revolve around them. It is about the human and how their dealing with it in a world that could in a way resemble the 1968 Planet of the Apes, having thought about it afterwards.

I'm just looking for more subjects to avoid before I get linked by one of those pro animal eating animal sites

[Eff]

Ack! Same boat. I've not been victimized by that label yet. Though I do fear it.

I like to think that since I've not once made reference to them being animals, or furry, or using their tails to get things done that my characters might be overlooked. I get away with so many gags that would just seem awkward or outright wrong with human characters.

Please link your comic so I can evaluate its "furriness"

[The Mortician]

Please link your comic so I can evaluate its "furriness"

NEVERRRRRR!
[size=0]h t t p : / / t h e m o r t i c i a n . c o m i c g e n e s i s . c o m [/size]

[Ataraxia]

Another good reference for things to avoid is the Mary Sue Litmus Test:

http://www.ponylandpress.com/ms-test.html

[The Neko]

http://ghastlycomic.livejournal.com/9525.html

I have to say this is the closest I'm looking for, but its just that, a little too basic. Now if Merc posted everything sput likes (Sorry Sput) ...I am confident THAT is the list of things I am actually looking for. The deep end disgusting stuff that attracts those ... people or what ever they want to believe they are.

Problem is I have a comic that has anthropomorphic animals, dammit! "Furries" is the quick label I've received that a few times when someone mentions my comic in conversation. They are not the main characters, the REAL story doesn't revolve around them. It is about the human and how their dealing with it in a world that could in a way resemble the 1968 Planet of the Apes, having thought about it afterwards.

I'm just looking for more subjects to avoid before I get linked by one of those pro animal eating animal sites

At this point, I think you'll just have to live with the fact that some people will say your comic is "furry" because they've stolen ALL CARTOON ANIMALS IN HISTORY PREVIOUSLY AND FOREVERMORE. The fact that you actually have a REASON for them to be cartoon animals puts you outside that label. All you can do is just refuse to accept their description, and stay out of that community, or whatever it is.

[NakedElf]

Things which bug me in comics:

Leaving 'sorry the comic is late I'll have it up soon!' filler in your archives. Once you get the comic up, the filler's purpose has been served.

Anatomy 'issues'. If I'm constantly trying to figure out how the hell your characters menstruate, or just plain walk, I'm not focusing on your comic and will probably end up with my brain hurting too much to continue. Yes, I have stopped reading otherwise good comics simply because the artist kept positioning the breasts too high. If you can't do anatomy, pick a style which doesn't rely on it, like XKCD or The Order of the Stick use.

Shitty grammar/writing. I can stand the occasional spelling error (I'd be an enormous hypocrite if I didn't,) but I don't want to read something which looks like it was written by someone who failed 8th grade English.

Advertising when you have nothing to advertise. Every so often I'm bored and looking for something new to read, so I'll find me a webcomics list add and go read their comic... And waay too many times I've gotten to the comic and found, well, maybe 10 strips. Not enough to form an opinion off of, not enough to really interest me one way or another. So I wander off in search of something else... and that person has wasted their advertising dollars.


Okay, so that's not really "subjects/situations" which shouldn't be in webcomics... I think I'd go with 'child porn' for the actual question.

Almost any situation/subject matter *can* be done well in the hands of someone competent. There are things I'd recommend avoiding--like, say, yet another gaming webcomic. But if you like gaming, and want to make a comic, hey, make what you like. Eh, I'd also recommend not making your comic a soapbox for your views on why gays, Jews, blacks, and kittens all suck, but if anti-kittenism is your cup of tea, I then do your thing and just don't bother me with it.

Edit: I don't have a problem with 'furry' comics. I've read (and liked) quite a few comics which I consider furry, and there are plenty of people out there who specifically like furry comics. Sure, that seems a bit odd to me, but I think they could lob the same accusation at me--why do all of my characters have pointy ears? Do I have some sort of pointy ear fetish? (yes.) Unless people are saying 'Don't read comic XYZ, it's furry," I don't see what the problem is...

[Jackhass]

Hmmmm...was this set off by my topic about being discovered by Vore fetish sites a while back?

Well anyways, there's really not a lot you can do about it...besides the Vore stuff I am also linked to by the furries. Hell, somebody listed me in the fucking Furry Wikipedia. I suppose I should have seen it coming...not only do I have talking animals, but they get involved in romantic-type situations, make mild sexual jokes and Shandy is pretty cute. None of it is intended to attract the weirdos, but I can see now that the comic wasn't exactly furry-proofed.

But oh well...if I obsessively kept anything out of the comic they could latch onto then it wouldn't be the same comic. Hell, my current storyline featured Shandy in a bathing suit at one point and two characters out on an extended date...I think it's shaping up to be one of the better little storylines I've done though. Should I have avoided doing it to avoid it being appreciated in the wrong way? Should Charlie Brown never lusted after the little Red-Headed girl because it may excite the fantasies of a few shitty human beings out there? I don't think so.

So yeah, just do what you want to do...if your comic is well done the number of fans appreciating as you intend it to be appreciated should easily outnumber the more unsavory fans.

[NakedElf]

While being linked to or discovered via certain cites/weird-ass google searches can certainly be creepy, I'm not sure I see the *problem* (unless the links make it look like you're doing something illegal.) Even if you don't want to be identified as 'furry', if they're advertising your comic and bringing you readers and the people who show up that way seem to be happy with what they find, isn't that a good thing?

[Vulpeslibertas]

This is how you avoid the furries ->
---
"Disclaimer: My comic may contain anthopomorphicly rendered animals. However, they are really a social commentary on pathetic people who have no lives, not actual furries. My comic contains subliminal messages which will brainwash any furry/therian/whatever and make them lose their totem animal/p-shift powers/Lvl 9 Dungeon Master sword/etc."
---

I draw a cat-girl comic, so it's not "furry". There's a time-honored wall of seperation between cat-girls and furries. It may not be respectable, but it's more respectable.

[/off topic]

What I hate is the mysterious person with a mysterious unknown past in the mysterious town on a mysterious mission with the classic third person voice over. No comic should ever begin with a third person voice over unless it ends with a third person voice over. Note the emphasis on the word end. Voice over is a narration style: it needs to be consistant throughout your comic, just like art, characters and plot.

Also, the mysterious business: If something is that darn unknown, it isn't interesting. Why would anyone care? Does the writer even know what they're writing about? 10 out of 9 don't.

[McDuffies]

Am I too old forumer when I remember the thread where Ghastly first posted that blog text?

Anyways, if you want to distance yourself from furryness, I'm guessing that a few things will be sufficient.
Don't replace "human" with "furry" or "sex" with "yiff".
Avoid showing graphic sex because it's been so often shown in furry comics for porn purposes (even in furry comics that aren't primarily porn) that their mere appearance will draw the association.
I think that you might as well avoid showing graphic nudity. As soon as you have to show a female nipple, you have to decide whether this nipple is covered with fur or not - if it's not than that's a strong association with furry anatomy principles, and if it is... well, it's not nudity.
Hm. Actually I'm all spent out.

But generally, in trying to escape from all those crappy, reocurring concepts of comics, I try to get my comics to wind out more like real life. That is, if a character has to react, I think along the lines of "what would he do if he was a real person?" "What would some of my friends do?"
That way I know that, if happenings are predictable or whatnot, at least they're such for a reason, and not because I saw it in other comic and unconsciously copied it.
Also I try to avoid being inspired by other comics, movies, etc. I know that for some those are the main sources of inspiration, but it seems to lead to just a bit more plagiatrism than can slip below the radar.

[Eff]

Why the hell were vore sites linking your comic, Mr. Hass? Your archives are about to be assaulted relentlessly until I find the comic in question. Which is probably just someone eating a muffin or something.

Exciting evening, GO!

[Eff]

Ah HAH! the sheep stole a bag of chips and ate them.

Most perverted.