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Makin' a webcomic (suggestions/help/long)
ZerolinK
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So yeah... I'm new here and this is my first post lol. I suck at forums since I always register and only stay active for a short amount of time. I decided to register partly because I've been lurking in the forums and reading stuff, and partly because I need help.
The irony of it is that I'm turning to a webcomic forum to teach me how to make a webcomic. The good thing is that this is the perfect place to go to. The bad thing is that I find it awkward lol. Be aware that my comic is not going to be game related. It will not compete with any established comic. Instead, think of it more as an American manga.
The style I want for my... er... manga, is more of a rough style, with as little touch up as possible, except for the colour pages. This is where I need help. My brother gave me the entire Photoshop CS2 suite, but I've lost all the skills I had in photoshop. I need someone to help me learn how to use photoshop to make my comic more professional.
The webcomic is a joint venture between me and a friend. We're both writers (I loves me english
), but I also do the art. I also need your help in telling me if this is a concept that you guys would read: The comic takes place many many years from now, it is A.C 327, the Earth is in ruins. The basic foundation is that time rapidly advanced, but because of the calamity, we've reverted to a more primal state (think of Fallout 3 but take out all the sci-fi weapons... or more like TriGun). Demons now roam the Earth, and remnants of a long lost power, the power of the Angels (who lost the war) are scattered among the Earth.
Here are several things I want you guys to take note of:
1.The main character is a misanthrope who's also a mercenary (think Haseo from .hack or Ashe from Tales of the Abyss)
2.There will be a few comedy scenes, but we plan to make it mostly serious
3.It will be bloody and gory
4.This will be my big return from my retirement (from drawing) so the art will gradually improve.
5.We're looking for a story that everyone will like and that will instantly be familiar to most people, but would still be original in it's own right.
So, if you read all this, thanks. What do you guys think of the story? Do you like it or no? What would you add/remove/change. Me and my partner are looking for suggestions to make this the best free Action webcomic out there, with a story that's something that could probably rival what BioWare writes (if that's possible).
Thanks for reading mates.
The irony of it is that I'm turning to a webcomic forum to teach me how to make a webcomic. The good thing is that this is the perfect place to go to. The bad thing is that I find it awkward lol. Be aware that my comic is not going to be game related. It will not compete with any established comic. Instead, think of it more as an American manga.
The style I want for my... er... manga, is more of a rough style, with as little touch up as possible, except for the colour pages. This is where I need help. My brother gave me the entire Photoshop CS2 suite, but I've lost all the skills I had in photoshop. I need someone to help me learn how to use photoshop to make my comic more professional.
The webcomic is a joint venture between me and a friend. We're both writers (I loves me english
), but I also do the art. I also need your help in telling me if this is a concept that you guys would read: The comic takes place many many years from now, it is A.C 327, the Earth is in ruins. The basic foundation is that time rapidly advanced, but because of the calamity, we've reverted to a more primal state (think of Fallout 3 but take out all the sci-fi weapons... or more like TriGun). Demons now roam the Earth, and remnants of a long lost power, the power of the Angels (who lost the war) are scattered among the Earth.Here are several things I want you guys to take note of:
1.The main character is a misanthrope who's also a mercenary (think Haseo from .hack or Ashe from Tales of the Abyss)
2.There will be a few comedy scenes, but we plan to make it mostly serious
3.It will be bloody and gory
4.This will be my big return from my retirement (from drawing) so the art will gradually improve.
5.We're looking for a story that everyone will like and that will instantly be familiar to most people, but would still be original in it's own right.
So, if you read all this, thanks. What do you guys think of the story? Do you like it or no? What would you add/remove/change. Me and my partner are looking for suggestions to make this the best free Action webcomic out there, with a story that's something that could probably rival what BioWare writes (if that's possible).
Thanks for reading mates.
BAM! Lookatthatbaconsizzle!
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ZerolinK on
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www.pvponline.com
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As for if how successful it'll be, who knows man. Just put it out there. If it's quality it'll attract readers.
the best advice i think is to write a 'bible' for your characters. map out what makes them them, their traits, abilities, etc etc. do this with places in the story that are significant, items, anything like that. this way you can always make sure you keep continuity (i imagine you would want this for the sort of webcomic you're describing)
i was going to suggest you check out gone with the blastwave, but as i googled, it turns out it's now defunct, which fucking sucks because it's AMAZING
Also, it's "mostly funny," but also very "bloody and gory." Typically you don't mix those two things together unless the humor is crude and thus geared towards a higher-aged demographic (Grand Theft Auto's crude humor and over-the-top violence come to mind).
It's easier to make younger people laugh than older people. And I have to ask, how did you "lose all the skills [you] had in Photoshop," so it will get better over time? Sounds like someone is learning how to use Photoshop instead of remembering it, because that shit comes back quickly. The shortcut keys don't really change and the layout of things doesn't alter dramatically, either. I'd go as far to say that if you could use Photoshop 5 you could pick up the reigns of CS2 in a few hours.
One last thing.. if you and your friend are writers (you didn't say comedy writers, just writers), understand that it's hard to come up with stuff that's funny because you have to. Not only does it have to read well, the art has to engage the reader, too. Reading something about a mercenary in an ruined future isn't exactly the best place to be cracking jokes, is it? It'd be hard for me to be in the mood to laugh instead of take the story seriously in that plot. I'd consider changing the setting.
Sorry if this call came across a bit harsh, I tend to have an edge when I critique things.
2.There will be a few comedy scenes, but we plan to make it mostly funny
I don't quite get what you are saying here. Are you saying that its going to be funny while not trying to be funny? It sounds like it wants to be a hipster or something.
it sounds utterly generic
I meant it would mostly be serious.
I know how to draw, and I have an above average skill at drawing
Not working on photoshop for over 2 years makes you lose a lot of your skills.
It's not a manga, the art style is manga-ish, I want it to be a rough art style with a blend of american and japanese styles, though it'll mostly look japanese.
(to reiterate)It will contain almost NO humor, in fact, I'm editing that first post right now lol.
As for all the criticism, thanks, but please try to make it constructive, what would make my comic NOT boring, don't just call it a pile of shit and throw it out.
As for the guy who hated me calling it a manga, I love manga, but I am American and I make comics, unlike most people, I ONLY make comics; I don't do right to left or insert anything japanese, my comics are more closely related to Marvel with an anime-ish art style.
If I forgot anything else I'll respond to it lol
Thanks
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Awww man, I saw Gone With the blastwave (well... what I could find) and it looks awesome. The art is amazing also. It's nothing liek the art I want to do, but it's beautiful, now I've begun a search for it online lol
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Lol yeah I know what you mean, I started with no foundations (bug eyes, a single line for a nose, no lips, unproportional), but after finding out my art was generic, I decided to make my own style, one that didn't need colour to stick out, now it's a more realistic style, still anime-ish, but proportional, eye's that look like eyes, characters with actual lips >.> etc. What I also want to do is make characters that are believable. Not characters that start of weak and in one issue become overpowered (a la Naruto or DBZ), but people who are believable and characters that a reader can relate to. Our main comedic source comes from a person who's neither identified as a boy or a girl but looks like both, besides that person, there's going to be almost no humor. It's hard to explain what I mean, but I think as people respond (especially those that criticize, I need more people to do that), I'll explain what I mean to you guys better so that you guys can help me. I want the comic to be more community driven. I want the readers to decide important events, and, if my partner agrees, I want the readers to practically drive the story onward, I want to give them scenarios and let them vote upon the outcome (like that issue of batman where people voted for robin to die).
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lol yeah, for now it's gonna be writer driven, but if I can get a following, I'd want to do that. The next issue is getting enough money for a domain.... I'm dirt poor and live in a bad neighborhood. All I have at my disposal are those low-bandwidth free sites.
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For now we've decided I'm gonna draw the main character's back story to improve my art skills and recover what I lost. The back story won't be published, but when my art is good enough I'll start on the actual publications, of course I'll redraw and republish the backstory as the story progresses and it is deem beneficial and/or neccessary.
Also, doesn't anyone have any story suggestions? Me and the writer have decided to make the demons look more like humans (how they look in the bible or in shows like Buffy and Charmed), but with low level demons looking less human. We also plan to include the 9 circles of hell (as described in the Divine Comedy... which I actually read lol). And no, there are no angels in the comic. The angels are gone, back to where they belong, but their remnants still remain. The remnants won't be obvious things like swords and shields and arrows. They'll be less obvious things like pendants, bracelets, etc.
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A.C starts several thousand years after our current date, but we plan on having technology deteriorate to a point where the most advanced things are barely usable. People will mainly use blunt/melee weapons, those with actual long-range weapons (that aren't bows, like guns) will be rare.
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Will this be all about fighting? If so how will you keep that interesting? Why do the future? I have never much been a fan of the post apocalyptic stuff myself. I would rather read a comic with the general outline you gave that was based in medieval times. Apocalypses always seem a bit forced to me.
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You may have "actually read" the Divine Comedy ("lol") but right now your story doesn't sound like there's anything there that makes it more interesting than a Mad-Libs filled out by someone who likes angels and demons instead of cyborgs and AI or dragons and ogres or aliens and spaceships or whatever. Great stories are typically about ideas, not about their settings, or their setting has some sort of unique characteristic that makes it interesting in and of itself. I don't really see how a vague catatstrophic event that takes away all our computers and forces us to fight each other with pointed sticks automatically sets you up for success without having to come up with an actual story that's more than just an excuse to play around in the world you created.
First I'll address the question of why set it into the future. It's mainly because it's not done very often. Most stories in the modern age consist of stories in either present day or the past and if it is set in the future it's most likely in space. So i chose post-apocalyptic as a chance to do something different. Though i realize that itself isn't enough.
I am now taking any further questions for the time being
Yes and no. Allow me to elaborate. It is commonly written but is not commonly read.
It's obviously a hot topic due to the fact that some people seem to be under the impression that the world will end in a few years or so. This is evident as there seems to be several movie scripts in production for it as we speak.
Though it's a hot topic it's not really something people like hanging over their heads so it may often be avoided.
that's basically what i'm saying or do i need to elaborate more
I agree whole heatedly with your statement. And before i go on please take note i am only familiar with a few of those. When it comes to zombie movies those are just your generic horror thriller where I it usually follows 1 zombie -> zombie bites someone leading to more zombies -> large army of zombies move in on a group for some reason -> people eventually get away with the mc dying to protect the others or everyone dying. 9 (though i haven't seen it) is a future where it seems that humanity was betrayed by the machines we created (also similar to the path iRobot would have taken if it weren't prevented). Then there is 2012 where major catastrophe befalls the earth and it ends period.
But it seems to me that these mainly have one similar theme to it. Humanity died. Me and my friend plan to take an almost alternate route where the humans race still lives on. Which is unlike I am legend where for some reason there is one guy left (note: i've never really seen it). Though it's not going to be desolate land where everything that moves is a possible enemy and your only friend is your gun like in Trigun and Desert punk
but we're kind of getting off subject now.
That's not necessarily true. All post-apocalyptic futures aren't the same. Though I do agree that i should obtain some things relating to the subject of the story. But the question is whether or not what i need exist or not.
But once again we are off subject. Back to the original topic creators suggestion, are there any thoughts or questions?
No, none of this is off-topic. You asked if they had questions. They do.
Seriously, and you really need to think about this, but your premise sounds incredibly generic. I mean, really. Like everyone is saying, you might want to share the stories and characters, not the setting.
As harsh as this may sound I'd also recommend you try writing your own story rather than mixing two niches together and throwing in some cardboard cut outs for characters. That's not to say that you can't use your premise but you have to put your spin on it and use fleshed out characters.
If you want some serious commentary, you need to provide more than Generic Postapocalyptic Setting #83 and some stock characters. Why should we care?
Also the "plot twist" where the hero dies at the end or sacrifices himself? Yeah, not a plot twist anymore.
Seriously, why all the posting here about story ideas and plans? Design by comittee rarely works - it's your comic, just run with it.
Get a story written up, or a start made to it at least, draw some storyboards up, do your first couple of pages of comic, and then come back to us for comments/criticism/suggestions.
I think Spam nailed it.
this is not just me being an ego whore
it is me showing how you start with an idea and do things with it
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=96567
The main character isn't generic because, unlike most emo characters, he's not emo, people can be misanthropes and be very happy (me), he just happens to hate... everyone... a lot lol. He's only a merc for survival purposes, in other words, sure I can kill you for fun... but I can also kill you for fun, give someone your head, and make money off of it.
Though post apocalyptic futures have been done... a lot... this one will be different, it's not like most apocalypses that happen in the near future. The stuff here happens in a distant future that actually has an effect on the setting.
I plan on making the action flow properly. It won't have a set amount of squares, like most comics do, it'll be released content wise. It'll start and stop at the right time, what that also means is that releases will also be infrequent, though I'll try to make it at set intervals.
The story doesn't only revolve around a merc, but it revolves around other characters. The merc (protagonists) is human, he has weaknesses and fears, accepts those facts, but refuses to improve upon them, until pushed.
And thanks to the guy who told me to just do what I want. What I want to make is a comic like nothing that's been done before. I don't want to compete with any established series, I want my comic to be something else entirely different, something that would feel more like a game than just something you read, something you want/can interact with. Kinda like how Fallout is so successful because it is a game. This is why I need you guys to provide suggestions. Things you guys would like to see improved. The story is near being completely finished, I'm starting on the character designs (can't find a pencil.... can't afford good sketch pencils until sunday >.>).
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Fixed that for you.
The first suggestion I would make is to not publicly admit that you (and your brother) are breaking the law.
unless you just want feedback on the story/writing, then you should try the writer's block forum.
I want to make the comic update at least once a week, sometimes twice a week, with friday being the target date.
Also, I own Photoshop CS2 (the suite) legally. I actually did buy it
Thanks for all your help and criticism. I'm markign this as solved until I finish the character designs and post them on the artist's corner... then I'll bring this back up (or just put it in the same topic as the image). Also... my scanner is cracked... so if the scans have a line going through them... forgive me.
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