Serious Comics Vs. Funny Comics

[Decomics]

From what I've seen here, it seems like most people like "funny" comic strips a bit more than "serious" strips.

Me, I like a mixture. My strip "Due East" has a serious story with a good bit of humor thrown in.

Is it just that people like a quick gag or that they don't associate seriousness with comic strips or is it something else? I'm curious as to what you all have to say...

Btw, shameless plug #2. Check out my comic Due East at
http://dueeast.comicgenesis.com

[Kris X]

We usually ressurect recent comic pitching threads here. It's allowed and keeps the forum less cluttered. Just a tip for next time. I'll look the other way since your last thread isn't on Page 1.

[ShardZ]

It does seem that most of the earliest webcomics, possibly drawing from newspaper strips, started out humorous. The second generation was inspired by their success (or whatever), and probably stuck to the tried-and-true humor because it was successful.

I don't know about five or ten years ago, but there seem to be plenty of purely serious and dramatic webcomics now. Maybe you just have to find the right circles and dropdowns?

And of course, a lot of those comics that started out as humorous, even gag-a-day, eventually matured into a mix of comedy and drama, or even straight drama. (I'd post links to other comics, but this is your thread.) I'm not sure how I, personally, feel about the latter. It's harder to take something completely seriously when there will always be some old comedic elements lurking about.

It's nice when a comic can find its footing early, though, as yours has done with choosing a balance between the two. (I love the hand-done art, lettering and balloons, by the way, but the occasional blurring hurts my eyes...)

Well, that's my two cents... six cents, tops.

[Humand]

I like my comics funny. I'm just not a very serious person. I also don't have the attention span for serious comics. They can be highly enjoyable though, I just think they're more difficult to get into.

[Jin-roh]

I like to laugh at serious things.

I would say that a mixture is great, my comic of course is funny.

I think that thunt.comicgen.com does a great job about mixing the two. Probably some of the best I've seen.

[Decomics]

Hey there! I appreciate all the replies thus far, very helpful perspectives, one and all.

I also appreciate the feedback below on Due East from ShardZ. (I love Zebra Girl! I've read the whole thing...) The blur is only for special effects, either to depict motion or dream sequences. Sorry about the hurt on the eyes.

- Allen

It's nice when a comic can find its footing early, though, as yours has done with choosing a balance between the two. (I love the hand-done art, lettering and balloons, by the way, but the occasional blurring hurts my eyes...)

Well, that's my two cents... six cents, tops.

[ShardZ]

Aww, it isn't that bad. I'm just nearsighted, and my eyes seem to need to focus on what's on the screen. After about .5 seconds, when I realized it was deliberate blurring (and not some resolution problem), I was able to overlook it. And it's a very nice effect; a nice change of pace from the speed lines and pure Photoshop effects that so many comics seem to use (not that there's anything wrong with those...).

Oh, and it's always nice to meet someone else who knows ZG (maybe I'm underestimating its exposure in the webcomics world?). Another one of those comics that started out humorous, but matured into a dramedy... or a coma, if you prefer.

I've been trying to recall comics that went in the other direction, starting with serious plot but eventually adopting comedic elements. I can't really think of any, but others probably could.

[Mvmarcz]

my comic is a romantic drama...at least it's supposed to be.

I try to keep it light here and there so that the strip can stand up on it's small update schedual.

[RemusShepherd]

Is it just that people like a quick gag or that they don't associate seriousness with comic strips or is it something else? I'm curious as to what you all have to say...

It's just a matter of grabbing people and keeping them coming back. It's easy to grab people with a joke, while newcomers might look at one page of a half-finished story and shrug. And people will always come back for jokes to lighten their day, but they have to be really interested to remember to come back for a story.

It's not being on the internet that favors gag comics. It's being delivered in daily allotments that causes this imbalance. And there's nothing wrong with it, IMHO.

[ShardZ]

I just realized that I never really answered the original question...

I prefer a mix of humor and drama (consistency and detail from a comic's earliest strips are a huge plus, but not always easy to find). I will read the occasional purely serious comic if the art and scripting appeal to me, but I can't get into pure gag-a-day. It feels... unsubstantial. But that's just me.

I also just noticed your use of the term "comic strips" in the first post, and I found myself wondering if you meant it literally. Strips, because of limited space, are generally used to portray a self-contained segment of a larger plot or, more likely, a self-contained joke. Pages, on the other hand, allow more flexibility to tell a larger story (and a joke or two, if space permits) with or without the use of panels, but are generally dependent on the rest of the pages to make sense or truly attract a reader to the story (as RemusShepherd said).

Your own strip seems to be a sort of blending of the "strip" and "page" format--good-sized segments of storyline and plot development, but still able to end on a cliffhanger or punchline, rather than relying on the continuation of the next page. Or I could just be grasping at straws, here.

[Decomics]

I started out on full-sized comic books, usually at least 20 pages per issue (sometimes more, as needed) so doing comic strips has been a challenge. I also wanted to bend the rules a bit so that, if we needed a bit more room to express the art or the story idea, we took the room we needed. This led to a few near-page-sized strips.

Starting with Book 2, we will be using comic page format, so that should be fun. Should make the page style a bit more reminiscent of Zebra Girl or even Clan of the Cats (but B&W like ZG).

And thanks for further clarifying your position.

Your own strip seems to be a sort of blending of the "strip" and "page" format--good-sized segments of storyline and plot development, but still able to end on a cliffhanger or punchline, rather than relying on the continuation of the next page. Or I could just be grasping at straws, here.

[Phact0rri]

I like to think people have room in thier pallette for both serious and humerous. This is not the case, heck I know people that won't touch anything funny (super hero comic geeks) or people that won't touch anything that doesn't have gigantic eyes and not about highschool romance.

But for the large part I think what is really hit or miss is if the person likes your comic. Serious or funny, or both it has to appeal to people. if it doesn't then no one will read it. Mainly appealing to the human sensabilities or a way for readers to embrace your content on a comfortable level and have "feelings" rather fear, or sadness, or laughter.. what a reader gets after he or she reads the comic is at the point of if they will come back.

I think people have stronger sensabilities, in some areas or others, and most webcomic readers don't care as much for the longer drawn out epic comics, as much as they want a quick "bam" each page able to be read by themselves and they get just what they want. a quick chuckle, or a quick meaningful exchange.

[Tehdugz]

I guess a lot also depends on the comic style itself, take mine for example. Its not like a serious theme would work well at all with what i use - So the sorta straight gag a strip thing works best. If you limit yourself like i do your only option is humour lol.


Which obviously i pull off amazingly.





Obviously..


*cough*