Please Be Mean To Me.

[RadPal]

Hopefully that subject line will get some attention:

I'm linking my comic in hopes that I'll get honest feedback so I can improve. So, go nuts.

My comic is Roxxor University. Don't let the word "Roxxor" scare you away, nor the word "University."

I want opinions. I want cold, hard opinions.

[Invaderdavy]

I'm sorry. I can't be mean about it when I actually think it's pretty good.

The humour is better than in most webcomics I've seen here, and the style is simple, but it works.

So.. yeah. Sorry for not being mean.

[Thetwat]

Hell, your comic beats the hell out of mine. How do you get you speech bubbles so smooth? Mine always turn out kinda rough. Do you put them in before shrinking your images down to size?

[Shadowmimiiru]

Hell, your comic beats the hell out of mine. How do you get you speech bubbles so smooth? Mine always turn out kinda rough. Do you put them in before shrinking your images down to size?

Don't know about him but that's what I do ... On topic however, I can't really say anything bad either, the writing makes me laugh when I supposed to, and I've been recommending it to my friends for a bit now.

[RadPal]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I wasn't expecting so much positive, but thank you. I'm not going to complain. I still don't think the comic is prime-time quality right now, which is why I came to this forum looking to check my work against everyone.

How do you get you speech bubbles so smooth? Mine always turn out kinda rough. Do you put them in before shrinking your images down to size?

Actually, I make them after shrinking down. Firstly, I use the GIMP. Bit of a learning curve as everyone knows, but once you get used to it, its really powerful. And, you can recreate anything you do in the GIMP in Photoshop, so this probably works in Photoshop too.

Anyway, I make the balloons using ellipse (or the rounded rectangle tool under select once you make a selection, this SAVES my life with difficult blocks of text, and I discovered it way too late), and I then make the tails with Create and Edit Paths, and add the selection with Shift+Create selection from path. Fill with black (or any color you desire for the border), I shrink the selection by 2 pixels, then fill with white, and I'm done. Can vary the amount you shrink by to change the border thickness.

[El]

I actually rather like this too! I'm not usually one for gag-a-day strips or whatnot, but this strikes a nice balance between jokes and story, QC style. I like the university setting, too, and I read about half the archives just now - more than I've done with a webcomic for a while. I'll get through the rest later.

I'll give you some crits though, as you want them, and I'm shortly gonna be seeking some of my own:

You could add more content - this is an entirely personal preference, I know many people just click in, read the latest comic, and click away, but I've got kind of used to seeing more on a site. You could add a guestbook or a shoutbox maybe; good for getting ongoing feedback on your comic, maybe add a bit more to your character section, possibly start a links page?

Artistically, there's room for improvement on an entirely traditional scale, (anatomy, shading etc,) but your comic is very visually stylised and minimalistic, so it's not really necessary - it depends only on what you want to achieve by way of an end result, and what you've got going at the moment is quirky, likeable and works well.

Keep it up, you're faved.

[RadPal]

Thanks for the input!

maybe add a bit more to your character section

Yes, the Character section needs an update, and I'm going to get to that. I'm thinking of changing the way the information is communicated to the reader. Something different than paragraphs / blurbs.

Artistically, there's room for improvement on an entirely traditional scale, (anatomy, shading etc,) but your comic is very visually stylised and minimalistic, so it's not really necessary - it depends only on what you want to achieve by way of an end result,

Those two aspects (anatomy, shading) are what I was hoping to hear about in feedback, because those are the two things that are irking me right now about my comic. I do plan on developing my style further, without departing from it too much.

I am relatively self-aware of the anatomy errors, so I can improve on that with enough practice. The thing is, I don't have quite an eye for shading yet, so I need to actively work on / study that further.

[Geekblather]

Okay, so I'll try and be mean.

-flex-
-stretch-

Since you asked for commenting on anatomy and things, try to pay a little closer attention to the hands. Sometimes they start to lose their form and become kind of amoeba-like.

Also, varying the angles and perspective in panels makes the more visually interesting, so that people aren't just seeing the same characters from the same angle at the same size all the time. Zooming in and out is a good way to indicate space or to adjust timing in a strip. There's a thread not far from here about Wally Wood's 22 Panels that always work that is pretty helpful at providing some ways to practice that.

Along a similar line, varying facial expressions is also a good way to indicate what's going on, especially in dialogue-heavy strips. Facial expressions can do a lot to 'sell' what's going on, or to indicate how the characters feel about it, or what their intonation might be when saying a certain line. So far, all the characters look perpetually annoyed, and not much else. Even if they are perpetually annoyed, there's different degrees of annoyed and ways to express it.

My last note is on somewhat more of a design point. Sometimes the bubbles extend out of the frame of the comic, and it looks like the tops are sliced off. If there isn't room for all of the bubble, actually pushing more of it out of the frame makes it look like the fact that it extends outward is on purpose, and not that you just didn't quite have room for all of the bubble to fit. Bubbles and text are as much a part of the image as the characters, so it's good to be mindful of that and not just stick them in any old place.

Anyway, that's what I have to say, since you asked for notes Granted, my own stuff isn't perfect at all, but I read a ton of comics, and those are some things I've noticed that make a difference.

[RadPal]

Thanks for the critique, geekblather.

There's a thread not far from here about Wally Wood's 22 Panels that always work that is pretty helpful at providing some ways to practice that.

Haha, I just bookmarked that a few days ago. I do need to work on that.

So far, all the characters look perpetually annoyed, and not much else. Even if they are perpetually annoyed, there's different degrees of annoyed and ways to express it.

I don't see this. If you're referring to Dr. Webster, he should look perpetually annoyed / indifferent. Otherwise, I think I'm illustrating emotions in a wider range than annoyed.

And as for the bubbles, I used to clear out the clipped portion of bubbles to make it look like they extended, but recently (in this comic), I thought the clip looks neat so I've decided to leave them in. Do you (or anyone else who may read this) find it unsightly?

[Geekblather]

It's more when just a little chunk is cut off that it looks unintentional, they're not all like that.

[Uncaringmachine]

Um....their eyes are a bit big and chunky looking. What......I can't find anything wrong darnit! I'm gonna go eat some fudge now.

http://gothymcgee.comicgen.com

[Rhenny]

Good stuff, the writing makes it for me, and ultimately thats what should ina webcomic. The way you approached the material made it feel fresh and the art complimented the writing.

[Biev]

I just think you should keep trying to improve the art. You've already improved a lot in a short time in terms of panel composition and coloring/shading, so I know you're trying. I still get the feeling that you could do better. For now it would be good to focus on the hands, they sometimes suffer from the "ball of sausages" syndrome : ) Other than that, just continue to work on panel composition and character positioning, and I think you'll improve quickly.

[RadPal]

Thanks for the continued feedback. It's all very helpful, I'm making a list of things to work on.

The way you approached the material made it feel fresh and the art complimented the writing.

Thank you for the praise, but I'm curious, how did the approach make it feel fresh?

Other than that, just continue to work on panel composition and character positioning, and I think you'll improve quickly.

What is meant by panel composition? The layout of the image?