We got both kinds

iglidante

*waves*

I've been lurking around here for quite a while, but never actually posted much of anything. There's some amazing work in this forum, and I'm not even going to pretend that mine is even close to that level. But I've got something going with a webcomic that I finally got around to making (took me a few years to get off my ass and actually create strips). I thought I'd share:




The comic is at www.flyingmanandfriends.com, if you want to see more than that.

What do you guys think?

McGibs

wuh.... what?

DeeLock

Yeah...it's...yeah...

Metalbourne

Its like a comic strip for people with ADD.

That being said, I'm not exactly sure what to think of it. But the art is a little static and could use some variety in your camera angles/placement.

Kazhiim

Are they gingerbread cookies? Dog toys? Why are they fuzzy?

Hexmage-PA

I somehow find these funny.

KalTorak

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

I somehow find these funny.

Yeah, I'm not sure why.

Not quite satisfyingly funny though. I feel like I'm missing something.

iglidante

Kazhiim: I'm not going to answer that directly, because I like to keep people guessing, but they're most definitely fuzzy - it just doesn't have direct bearing on the "story." But they were cookies in strip 18, if only for a moment.

Metalbourne: I'm keeping the characters mono-posed for now (well, two poses if you count sitting), but I might eventually do more. I kind of like that Flying Man's arms are always up, though. It makes me smile. But I do introduce new settings (there are two new ones coming up in comics I haven't posted yet).

KalTorak: Yeah, some of them are like that. Others have more of a direct punch line. Depends on my mood when I wrote it, I guess.

FANTOMAS

It needs more kitchen utensils, show us the background of this comic, also show us what do you want to do with this aside from somehing random. What is this for, what are the jokes that we are missing ? is this for a friend? is this for a large audience? As Dr Metalthings said it IS static, draw from diferent angles, or diferent positions, or ANYTHING different. in a scale of 1 to Rock and roll, I would give it a "comercial new metal"

iglidante

FANTOMAS: Definitely the backgrounds need more detail. As I make more strips, I plan to add more interest to the panel art. Already, it's progressed a bit - from scribble grass in the initial strips, to mountains and trees, plus interior, and others that haven't been introduced yet.

Really, this is for whatever audience develops. I'm writing them for whatever clicks with me personally, and seeing who gets pulled along for the ride. Definitely a work in progress.

I'm working on some different poses and angles, but I don't want to introduce them until I really think they fit the current style and feel. And there will always be more props - I love drawing props.

I do think, however, that all things should be rated on a scale of 1 to rock n' roll. That's pretty sweet, even if I only get new metal.

Godfather

Okay, you're going to have to explain every one of these jokes, because they don't make a lick of sense to me.

Metalbourne

Godfather wrote: »

Okay, you're going to have to explain every one of these jokes, because they don't make a lick of sense to me.

exactly

Godfather

I don't care, just somebody do it so I can move on with my day without pondering over this shit.

Angel_of_Bacon

Times like this I rue the creation of Adult Swim, and long for the days when people didn't confuse constant utter bewilderment for humor.

Loomdun

I am just as confused as I normally am

CheerfulBear

Adult Swim ruined non-sequitur.

Metalbourne

Angel_of_Bacon wrote: »

Times like this I rue the creation of Adult Swim, and long for the days when people didn't confuse constant utter bewilderment for humor.

Well, at least its not skits with homoerotic undertones and awkward situations made on a copy machine.

Grim Outlook

is this a comic about schizophrenia?

or maybe i'm the one with schizophrenia

Metalbourne

well, you know, it's absurd.

But it's like, almost working. Like it wants to be funny but it can't hop over the fence to the funny side.

The best example of absurdist humor would be that infamous "forgot my hat" thread from 4chan, but I really really don't want to search for it.

Godfather

Why anyone would waste time at 4chan is beyond me.

Metalbourne

Godfather wrote: »

Why anyone would waste time at 4chan is beyond me.

Because your mom is there.

Godfather

You can't come to my birthday party anymore.

NakedZergling

What the fuck.
The sad part is, there are enough fucktards out there that this will probably be more popular than anything i ever make.

iglidante

I don't watch Adult Swim (don't have cable), and I really try to avoid 4chan as much as possible, so I'd like to say I'm free from those particular interests.

I guess you could say I'm shooting for absurdity. The juxtaposition of the WTF characters, unchanging facial expression, oddly constructed dialog, and surreal situations, for me, results in something that's either a non-sequitor, head-scratcher, or downright creepy. Sometimes it's more of a straightforward joke. The ketchup party strip was absurdity combined with a straightforward 4th panel gag.

I will say, though, that I am absolutely 100% not whoring this concept out based on some popular humor bandwagon that I think I can capitalize on. This is my real sense of humor, and I genuinely get a kick out of creating these. But I know they aren't perfect, and I'm working all the time to make them better. I have a good backlog of future strips going, and I'm never just sitting back.

Metalbourne

It feels authentic, otherwise most of us wouldn't be wasting our time giving you advice.

The humor just needs a little more cultivation.

MagicToaster

It still sucks though.

iglidante

Metalbourne: Okay, I just wanted to make sure I was clear about that, because I know a lot of people watch Family Guy and think "I can make this, only shittier" and then proceed to do just that. There are some strips still in the hopper (19 are currently on the site, but I have 15 more ready to go) that I feel really take the idea and bring it to another level. More interesting panel art, new characters, and other stuff like that.

Because I really want to be in this for the long haul, and I won't be able to do that unless its continually getting better - otherwise it would quickly become obvious that I was just jerking off, posting the same thing three times a week with slightly different dialog.

Skelly B

I actually enjoyed the ketchup one and the one with the flying man getting in our personal space. A lot of them tend to end on the same not though... his face can only be a punchline so many times.

The execution feels lazy.

Shiekahn_boy

Oh I get it. The first one is "tossing salad"

A Sexual Innuendo.

iglidante

Skelly B: Yeah, I'm trying to get away from that more in future strips. It's a hard line to ride, because sometimes leaving the fourth panel free of dialog seems like a more elegant punchline than actually having dialog in it. But the panel needs to be strong, in that case, and not stand on the same joke each time. I do agree that there are only so many times Flying Man's face can be the punchline - and I need to fight against that. Ketchup Party is one of my favorites, though.

iglidante

I thought I'd post a couple more strips to give a better sense of things. In retrospect, the two I initially posted were both nonsequitors. These are too, I suppose, but aren't quite as disconnected.

tynic

What do you want out of this, exactly? We tell you the writing is derivative, unfunny and makes no sense, and you say "Oh, that's the way I want it." We tell you the art is flat and deeply uninteresting and you ... post more of exactly the same stuff.
Why should we care about what you're doing here?

iglidante

I'm looking for a variety of responses. I want to see how different strips work - the type of reaction they illicit.

As I've said before, these are a work in progress. Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to completely scrap the concept and reinvent it. I have a concept I'm shooting for, and certain aspects of it are key. But I want it to work, and I'm looking for feedback. When I hear, for instance, from Skelly B, that the "smiling face as a punchline" feels lazy and old, I consider that, and in the future try to write more concrete punchlines, or at least DIFFERENT ones.

I want to hear what people like, and what they don't like. I happen to enjoy the concept. That doesn't mean I don't want honest feedback. I do, and I appreciate it.

iglidante

And look - a Photoshop joke! I try to avoid throwing these out there too often, but I think I've done *counts* three design-related meta comics so far.

Aldo

Why does mr. stinky keep moving around?

Your sun does not fit in with the rest of your artstyle, if you want to go for cartoony with fat lines you should at least be consistent about it and apply it to the sky as well. Also, your sun keeps moving around. Usually that is done to mark the passing of time, but in your case it moves back and forth in an illogical way.

iglidante

What I've been trying to do is, if you look at the background, slide the mountains around (well, when there are mountains) and move the characters and the sun. Sort of quick way to mix frames up a little, to give kind of a sense of the camera moving. So, depending on the "angle" I'm choosing, one character might be closer to the camera, the other further away, and the sun in a different position.

...but I know that's not really working as well as I'd like.

And good point about the sun. That's been bothering me for a bit now, but I couldn't really put a finger on it. I need to draw a sun, rather than using the glowing one.

Food

I think those photoshop effects like the one you used for the sun always look cheesy. This might just be my personal opinion, but I think a more hand drawn look in general would fit your comic better.

iglidante

Food: I do think I'm going to try a hand-drawn sun for future strips. The current sun is just a big, fat brush with 0 hardness, cut in half, and layered with an even more diffuse glow. I shrunk it somewhere around strip #10 (it's really big in the first few), but I'm still not really happy with it. It's not so much an effect, but it is cheap and simple, and not really fitting with the rest of the art style.

multimoog

I get it! I genuinely get it.

This thread is a troll thread!

iglidante

Oh come on, I've seen the REAL troll threads in AC, and they're a hell of a lot worse than mine.

Aldo

iglidante wrote: »

What I've been trying to do is, if you look at the background, slide the mountains around (well, when there are mountains) and move the characters and the sun. Sort of quick way to mix frames up a little, to give kind of a sense of the camera moving. So, depending on the "angle" I'm choosing, one character might be closer to the camera, the other further away, and the sun in a different position.

...but I know that's not really working as well as I'd like.

And good point about the sun. That's been bothering me for a bit now, but I couldn't really put a finger on it. I need to draw a sun, rather than using the glowing one.

Ah, see, it's just confusing me. If you're going for completely random goofy comics your first concern should be to not make it too random. You already have a talking stuffed doll talking to a stuffed toy, toying around with more confusing elements is just going to end up with people just shrugging and moving on with their day.

Maybe you should look into this girl's work http://www.kawaiinot.com/ , she seems to be going for the random goofy simple comics as well, but manages it better, I think.

Not that she makes me laugh, but hey, different strokes and all.