What do YOU do about filler?

JTigerclaw · Post by **JTigerclaw** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:02 pm

I read through plenty of comics that have filler and gueststrips in their archives, and it doesn't usually bother me, but somehow, having too much filler in my archive makes me feel like... less of a man... or less of a good comic maker anyways. I've heard both sides of the argument, that leaving the filler in there is ok because it's funny and it's a nice little addition sometimes, but others have said that it's bad because it distracts from the story (which of course would be bad during a serious moment, but does it matter much in a comedy strip?)

What do YOU do about filler in your comic? Do you leave it there, or do you create a separate section for it? And if you are some kind of webcomicking god and you never have filler, what you prefer happened to the filler in the comics you read?

Ataraxia · Post by **Ataraxia** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:09 pm

It depends on the situation. If the comic in question has an ongoing story, I'd prefer that the filler be gotten rid of. If, on the other hand, it's a gag strip... well, that depends on how funny the filler is. Funny filler can stay where it is. Unfunny filler should go.

Biev · Post by **Biev** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:13 pm

I take them out because it ruins the pacing when people are trying to read the story in one go. Besides I don't like when the fourth wall collapses. My fillers are usually drawn by somebody else, so they end up in the fan art section.

Linkara · Post by **Linkara** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:13 pm

Eventually I'll get around to moving all the filler from my archive, but otherwise I see it as an opportunity to promote other sites. It's a nice "thank you" to the fan that took time to make the fanart to begin with. ^^

Otherwise I just make sure to have a "Next" buton at the top so that they can skip over that page once they realize it's filler if they're reading through the archive. Otherwise it doesn't bother me at all.

Black Sparrow · Post by **Black Sparrow** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:18 pm

Filler makes baby Jesus cry.

I'm very anal about doing what I do just perfect, so I've rarely even had filler, what with being my own hardass takmistress and all. Those few times I did use filler, it got taken down right away.

For me, coming across filler in the archives is awkward. If it's something worth keeping, like fanart, put it in a seperate section. If people are interested in it, they will look at it.

Jackhass · Post by **Jackhass** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 12:09 am

I don't have any filler in my comic. Never missed an update...but if I had to I'd rather just skip the update and not do filler.

Filler is amateurish...and yes, most of us are amateurs, but if you want your comic to be succesful it shouldn't seem that way. Do you ever open up the comics section of your paper and see a crude sketch with "Sorry guys! I've totally been sick this week!" written beside it in the place of your favourite strip? No...it wouldn't fly there, and if you're serious about your comic it really shouldn't fly on your own site either.

Yeahduff · Post by **Yeahduff** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 12:36 am

Actually, I have, but in either case, appels and oranges.

That said, you should go back and take the filler out of the archives and put it in a gallery.[/hypocrisy]

Godai · Post by **Godai** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 12:42 am

I never do fillers. I find them useless and am extremely annoyed when find one, reading thorugh some comics archives.

The readers pop in - if therte's nothing new, they know there's a lag. They don't need special information to find it out.

:)

JTigerclaw · Post by **JTigerclaw** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 12:47 am

Jackhass wrote: Filler is amateurish...and yes, most of us are amateurs, but if you want your comic to be succesful it shouldn't seem that way. Do you ever open up the comics section of your paper and see a crude sketch with "Sorry guys! I've totally been sick this week!" written beside it in the place of your favourite strip? No...it wouldn't fly there, and if you're serious about your comic it really shouldn't fly on your own site either.

Well, I wasn't so much talking about filler that's done in 7 seconds on a napkin, but more like a random joke with slightly less detailed artwork (like say... if you shade every comic usually, the filler would just be flat colors or black and white). Filler can be done well, or even extremely funny, but does that make it more acceptable?

godai wrote:The readers pop in - if therte's nothing new, they know there's a lag. They don't need special information to find it out.

Ah yes, but would you rather have new filler or nothing at all? (not talking about going through archives, when the filler is no longer relevant)

VinnieD · Post by **VinnieD** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:20 am

It depends on what the filler is. I have a few fillers and they get their own section in the archive. But most of them are just one shot gag strips which don't fit in with the story.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:36 am

I don't have any filler in the archive, and like Jackhass, I've yet to miss an update. I have the odd stand alone strip (usually a larger, longer size) every now and then (about 40 odd so far) mingled in the archive, but they are always placed between storylines and only ever on symbolic dates. ANZAC Day last week, for example, and dates like Australia Day, Remembrance Day, etc.

That said, I do have an annual series of these larger strips at the end of each year starting from the week I send the kids' end of year report home (the strip gets it's own report from the readers on this occasion) and ending at the end of December.

Also, the week of each anniversary it has become traditional to have a week of guest anniversary art which I keep in the archives (which, incidentally, is in a month and a half, so expect a short post testing the waters for this shortly!). Again though, at all times I make sure the storyline is concluded before these other strips are put up.

Reinder · Post by **Reinder** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:40 am

I rarely do filler, but when I do, I make it either a storyline in its own right, or background information to the ongoing storyline. This month I did three backgrounder fillers, and will do quite a few more because I've had to downsize the schedule a bit but do want to have something new on there every weekday.
The fillers had art from some of my collaborators, including my current part-time background artist, Calvin Bexfield. I thought they turned out really well:
Nightmares, the monsters that Ben Fleuter dreamed up, which are used in the Crossover Wars. Illustrations by Ben Fleuter and Calvin Bexfield.
Rogye Nightmare, based on forum posts in which I roleplayed as this minor character.
Wolfmen, with another nice drawing by Calvin.

All of these will be moved out of the main archives once the chapter is finished. Note that this site isn't on Comicgenesis but on Xepher, where cartoonists can control their own content management systems. Moving these to the Cast and World sections will be a piece of cake.

Siabur · Post by **Siabur** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:22 am

I don't do filler. I have 100% all natural comic. It's made in the USA. If filler is used it's a cheap China ripoff.

I don't know if I'd ever use filler. If I had fans and they gave me art I may throw that up for a Saturday or Sunday. I do story arcs, I can't help it, then depending on mood I'll go with some gag a day stuff. Right now, it's single panel jokes instead of 3 panel stuff I usually do. Just depends on what I want to do.

CSchaefer · Post by **CSchaefer** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:40 am

I've never used filler or missed an update, but if I ever did get fanart or something of that nature I'd keep it in a separate section rather than the archives -- both to keep the story flow intact, and to make sure the folks who provided it get properly recognized.

Godai · Post by **Godai** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:46 am

JTigerclaw wrote:
godai wrote:The readers pop in - if therte's nothing new, they know there's a lag. They don't need special information to find it out.
Ah yes, but would you rather have new filler or nothing at all? (not talking about going through archives, when the filler is no longer relevant)

Well, I'd rather have nothing at all. Fillers tend to be mostly random stuff, completely not along the storyline, which makes them totally redundant. Thatt's probably mostly beacause I'm rather into epic / storyline comics rather than gag-per-page type. Either way, I'd rather wait for the real thing thatn let myself be satisfied with some substandard something.

:)

TheSuburbanLetdown · Post by **TheSuburbanLetdown** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:51 am

I sometimes run filler or little pictures underneath the current page, sorta like an afterthought. As for true filler, I like to run guest strips between stories so that the main story is unaffected.

Renee Katz · Post by **Renee Katz** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:57 am

My comic doesn't have filler.

Spqrblues · Post by **Spqrblues** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:04 am

I'm pretty relaxed about filler on other people's sites. 1) Most of us aren't getting paid for this, and 2) I enjoy seeing some guest art or behind the scenes or portraits for variety, and 3) I can click the "next" button. My day won't be ruined if there isn't a new strip on time.

Which I guess means I'm pretty relaxed about keeping the guest art in sequence in my own archive, and since it's concentrated around the December holidays, I think that works well. I occasionally consider going back and tidying up any post that says just "I'm on the road this week and the comic will be on hiatus until [whenever]," but I rather like that as part of the record of the year.

TheSuburbanLetdown · Post by **TheSuburbanLetdown** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:34 am

spqrblues wrote:I'm pretty relaxed about filler on other people's sites. 1) Most of us aren't getting paid for this, and 2) I enjoy seeing some guest art or behind the scenes or portraits for variety, and 3) I can click the "next" button. My day won't be ruined if there isn't a new strip on time.

Me too. Some people are so demanding of their free entertainment. Some of us actually have lives and jobs and/or school. I have noticed that some of them mellow out when they try to draw something and realize how much work it actually is.

Legendary · Post by **Legendary** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:32 am

I really don't care that much. I've personally never used filler because I've never missed an update, but I have a hard enough time getting it done that I completely understand when people do. And it's usually better to take guest comics and art out of the archive unless you have a gag-a-day comic.