10-01-2018, 02:45 PM
And, for the record, I DO do original things; I simply haven't posted them here because they're more slowly done, and mostly because they are either YouTube videos or collaborations with someone e
DioShiba makes solid points of advice to help you improve and you're writing them of because you don't like the fact he is being honest with you, but the points he raises are valid and helpful and if you took the time to digest them and work on them you would realise he is trying to help you. Writing them off because he is a "critic" is the worst thing you can do, as its called Constructive Criticism and is much better at helping you improve than just telling you what you want to hear.
But, i will reply to things you've said here. Importantly, you say that judging something based on only eight comics is pre-emptive, but nobody can judge something based off of hypothetical comics that don't exist. Your content is judged based on the content that exists, and that content needs work. There is nothing saying that you should stop, but that you should strive to improve and to focus on improving the skills needed to tell the story in the medium you choose to tell it in.
Second, whilst it is good to set up twists, you need to get the reader invested first, the big reveal isn't interesting to readers who aren't relating to the characters etc first, planting seeds is good, but you don't want to focus on the seeds, you want to focus on everything else and have the foreshadowing be subtle. Also, if this is prologue, it is entirely too drawn out, it should be succinct and tell the story concisely in order for the reader to get to the story. You wouldn't watch a movie if the whole movie was the content of the first five minutes, and that is how you are presenting this, which is common in sprite comics.
Now, as for claiming they are "bound to be inferior", you should not be sharing things you claim to be inferior if you cant accept that people will point out they are no good. Don't plan to make things better, do your best from the outset. You may not have fans but if you want fans you need to respect the people that will read your content and do your best from day one. Things always improve after the beginning, but that doesn't mean people don't try from the beginning. Authors don't release books with the first chapter being their first draft and expect people to be okay with it, they will make the first chapter tight and the best it can be before moving on.
Now, to be clear, i'm not criticising you to stop you from doing anything, i want you to improve, i love comics, and love sprite comics, and wish there were more, but you need to embrace criticism or you will never improve. DioShiba has only said things to help you and writing them off because you think they are "too mean" or wfor whatever reason, will never help you. Also, even if you receive negative feedback, it can still be valuable, if people say "lol this suks" without giving reasons to improve, sure, its not as helpful, but you should strive to change their opinion and make the best product you can offer.
Now, i will mirror one thing DioShiba has said. You need to learn more about the media you are trying to present your material. I say this as a striving comic artist who has been working on improving my presentation for years and is finally now getting to a point where i'm about ready to start my own thing. I stared like you and wish i had listened to criticism sooner. Comics flow in a certain way, and learning to utilise that will help you. Your frames are barely noticeable, you need to split the frames more obviously so that people can tell where the next frame goes, also, use more dynamic shapes, some frames have bigger things happening, some don't.
Next, think about your text boxes. Your text and boxes need to work well together, look nice, be easy to read, even doing this in paint is still possible, it takes more work but its worth it. It should be clear who the text box stems from, and the text should never touch the edge of the boxes.
This is the first page of Neorice's comic, Hero Oh Hero, which is, like yours, a sprite comic, but look at how his presentation differs to yours:
![[Image: 2_Burk.png]](http://neorice.com/hoh/2_Burk.png)
You see the difference in the quality? Also, to be clear, I'm not talking about the artwork, you could throw Metroid sprites in instead, but its about the flow of the frames and text boxes, and how it holds together and is easy on the eyes. All comics will follow this kind of flow and presentation, its why you can learn from looking at other comics. Only when you know the rules, can you learn how to break them effectively.
Now, when it comes to the use of your frames, you need to think about the content within your frames. utilise the space. Comics are a visual medium, but also need to keep a reader involved, and sprite comics need this more than most as they aren't as dynamic as regular artwork, especially if using ripped sprites. Every panel should move your story ahead, if it doesn't you either don't need it or you should combine it. Like DioShiba says also, if you need a paragraph to explain the page you aren't telling your story efficiently.
The reader will be looking ONLY at your comic, they need that story delivered in a punchy, concise way, and it needs to be eye-catching. These are all things you can work on and once you do, your storytelling will improve. I don't doubt you have amazing stories in your head, but you need to take the time to polish your skills in presenting these ideas.
Again, criticism should never be ignored or washed away, but appreciated, especially if it offers advice as opposed to just criticises.
Apologies if i rambled but i didn't plan this out in advance, i just typed as i thought of it, which, admittedly, may look bad, but it follows my point, if you, the reader, take this the wrong way, i have miscommunicated my ideas in the medium it is presented.
I hope you can take something positive away from this and learn to appreciate others comments as well.
DioShiba makes solid points of advice to help you improve and you're writing them of because you don't like the fact he is being honest with you, but the points he raises are valid and helpful and if you took the time to digest them and work on them you would realise he is trying to help you. Writing them off because he is a "critic" is the worst thing you can do, as its called Constructive Criticism and is much better at helping you improve than just telling you what you want to hear.
But, i will reply to things you've said here. Importantly, you say that judging something based on only eight comics is pre-emptive, but nobody can judge something based off of hypothetical comics that don't exist. Your content is judged based on the content that exists, and that content needs work. There is nothing saying that you should stop, but that you should strive to improve and to focus on improving the skills needed to tell the story in the medium you choose to tell it in.
Second, whilst it is good to set up twists, you need to get the reader invested first, the big reveal isn't interesting to readers who aren't relating to the characters etc first, planting seeds is good, but you don't want to focus on the seeds, you want to focus on everything else and have the foreshadowing be subtle. Also, if this is prologue, it is entirely too drawn out, it should be succinct and tell the story concisely in order for the reader to get to the story. You wouldn't watch a movie if the whole movie was the content of the first five minutes, and that is how you are presenting this, which is common in sprite comics.
Now, as for claiming they are "bound to be inferior", you should not be sharing things you claim to be inferior if you cant accept that people will point out they are no good. Don't plan to make things better, do your best from the outset. You may not have fans but if you want fans you need to respect the people that will read your content and do your best from day one. Things always improve after the beginning, but that doesn't mean people don't try from the beginning. Authors don't release books with the first chapter being their first draft and expect people to be okay with it, they will make the first chapter tight and the best it can be before moving on.
Now, to be clear, i'm not criticising you to stop you from doing anything, i want you to improve, i love comics, and love sprite comics, and wish there were more, but you need to embrace criticism or you will never improve. DioShiba has only said things to help you and writing them off because you think they are "too mean" or wfor whatever reason, will never help you. Also, even if you receive negative feedback, it can still be valuable, if people say "lol this suks" without giving reasons to improve, sure, its not as helpful, but you should strive to change their opinion and make the best product you can offer.
Now, i will mirror one thing DioShiba has said. You need to learn more about the media you are trying to present your material. I say this as a striving comic artist who has been working on improving my presentation for years and is finally now getting to a point where i'm about ready to start my own thing. I stared like you and wish i had listened to criticism sooner. Comics flow in a certain way, and learning to utilise that will help you. Your frames are barely noticeable, you need to split the frames more obviously so that people can tell where the next frame goes, also, use more dynamic shapes, some frames have bigger things happening, some don't.
Next, think about your text boxes. Your text and boxes need to work well together, look nice, be easy to read, even doing this in paint is still possible, it takes more work but its worth it. It should be clear who the text box stems from, and the text should never touch the edge of the boxes.
This is the first page of Neorice's comic, Hero Oh Hero, which is, like yours, a sprite comic, but look at how his presentation differs to yours:
You see the difference in the quality? Also, to be clear, I'm not talking about the artwork, you could throw Metroid sprites in instead, but its about the flow of the frames and text boxes, and how it holds together and is easy on the eyes. All comics will follow this kind of flow and presentation, its why you can learn from looking at other comics. Only when you know the rules, can you learn how to break them effectively.
Now, when it comes to the use of your frames, you need to think about the content within your frames. utilise the space. Comics are a visual medium, but also need to keep a reader involved, and sprite comics need this more than most as they aren't as dynamic as regular artwork, especially if using ripped sprites. Every panel should move your story ahead, if it doesn't you either don't need it or you should combine it. Like DioShiba says also, if you need a paragraph to explain the page you aren't telling your story efficiently.
The reader will be looking ONLY at your comic, they need that story delivered in a punchy, concise way, and it needs to be eye-catching. These are all things you can work on and once you do, your storytelling will improve. I don't doubt you have amazing stories in your head, but you need to take the time to polish your skills in presenting these ideas.
Again, criticism should never be ignored or washed away, but appreciated, especially if it offers advice as opposed to just criticises.
Apologies if i rambled but i didn't plan this out in advance, i just typed as i thought of it, which, admittedly, may look bad, but it follows my point, if you, the reader, take this the wrong way, i have miscommunicated my ideas in the medium it is presented.
I hope you can take something positive away from this and learn to appreciate others comments as well.