Comic Critique.....JUDO CHOP!!!!

lassie

Surfer here.

I recently started a surfing webcomic named BeachNuts at http://www.B-Nutz.com.

I started about a year ago cartooning, so be easy on me and let me know what you think. I still have a long way to go......my style changes every other strip I feel and the writing may be too isolated for non-surfers.

Either way, hit me up......

Surfer out.

Golem

I dont really like it that much. Art is ok I guess make sure to post the comic next time and not just site whore

lassie

Ooops....my bad.....i'll try and curb my whoreish tendencies next time:

Ranger Rick

I laughed pretty hard at that one. Well done.

Prospicience

I really like both the art and the idea. Even if you don't surf I think some of them are still funny but, if you do surf you get that added funnyness factor. I like it :^:

Edit: hehe I liked this one, my brothers and I always do this when we snowboard/surf

falconire

Actually I think the art style is very defined and looks rather proffessional. I'm not a surfer so I couldn't anything for the humor but overall it's good.

StudioZEL

Art is good. Punch lines need more punch.

paulwind

It's actually quite good compared to some of the other "webcomics" that show up here from time to time. It's clear you worked hard on this. My suggestion is that if you want to continue with this particular strip, you should start putting together at least a somewhat regular cast of characters, who have names and personalities. I'm telling you this because at some point, you're going to run out of jokes that appeal to surfers or somehow relate to surfing. For instance, take a look at PVP. That prick Kurtz hasn't mentioned video games in damn near years, but it's because he has so much fun tooling around with his characters by giving them stories that make them into real personalities.

However, they say "write what you know," so as long as you can keep these characters in this context, and make it appeal to everyone, you're onto something.

JCM

Great art style, looks different, although the jokes kinda went over my head,but then Im no surfer.

My I suggest posting slightly bigger images? It looks likea comic for 800 pixels screen, but today 1024 pixels of width is the norm.

NightDragon

I think the art is decent, but the jokes aren't as good...and yeah, the punchlines do need more "oomph". The only one I found even mildly amusing was the "check out that girl's ass", and my reaction ended up just being one of those "laughs" where you just breathe out of your nose hard.

It also seems that the comics are a little too small. You have lots of tiny, tiny details, and the text is a little straining to read.

If you're afraid the jokes may be too hard for non-surfers to understand, keep half the jokes available to everybody. It's kinda like Penny Arcade. One of my friends finds them funny, yet she's never played any of the games. Why is that? Because the jokes are still funny and are understandable...and sometimes you can absorb the joke by looking at the context. Also, you'll notice that not ALL of Penny Arcade's jokes are about games. They may discuss games, or gaming, or whatnot, but in the end, the joke isn't about the game itself, and therefore, in those cases, you don't need to understand the game to understand the comic.

lassie

Great comments....thanks....

Yeah, my feeling too is that my artwork is alright, but my writing leaves something to be desired.

My thinking on the dimensions of the strip panels was just to satisfy possible publication someday in the future (surf rags and the sort). So I kinda stuck with the classic newspaper format. I do agree that it is a little straining at the 700x250 size. I enlarged the strip on the main page to 785x280. For now I'm going to leave the archived strips the same size (700x250).

Yeah, my punches--if they're even there--do need a little more 'oomph.'

The absurdity is there, but my delivery is ....."eh."

Lly

Well, I just read through the archives and i enjoyed them a lot. I guess half of the appeal is nostalgia (i'm an ex surfer wishing London had a coastline!) but still, good work.

Crashmo

I can tell that to surfers this comic would be pretty funny with all the in-jokes. I still enjoy alot of them and your style is nice and tight. You should try sending some to surfer magazines/websites, to see if they get picked up or at least mentioned.

Grim Outlook

so i take it wet suits smell after surfing?

i like them, they have a defined style and the concept's unique

Staleghoti

It makes me want to snowboard

lyrium

The art looks really nice overall, it's just that their teeny tiny little hands are getting to me.

Godfather

This comic could become quite the read mainly because of the original concept. Sure, surfing isn't new in the world, but it's definitely not something i'd see an entire webcomic based on, and automatically separates it from the hundreds of video game/generic anime webcomics flooding the internet these days.

I really can't stress how important the concept in a piece of work is in stories/comics/varios media. The franchises that stand out the most these days are the ones who always try something new. While everyone was perfecting the CD player, apple created the IPod; while everyone was creating higher-quality animated fares, PIXAR was embarking on CG films. In the manga/anime realm, while everyone was trying to create the next Dragonball or ninja flavor, Oda went with pirates and created One Piece.

Get a original/winning concept, and it's only a matter of time before it takes off (most of the time...)