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Need an opinion or two.

PUNJABEE - Apr 8, 2005

		PUNJABEE	Apr 8, 2005
		Me and a buddy are starting up a webcomic, and we've just finished our first comic. It's 3 panels. I'm not going to say the name of the comic as the name might already be taken, so I'm gonna wait in that, but the comic will be about movies, comics, music, television, pop culture, some video games, etc. Anyway, here's the first comic, I'd like some comments, or critique. Be honest, be mean if you need to, I just want the feedback. The art is by me, and the writing is by me and two other guys, one of which will not always contribute.

		Scared0o0Rabbit	Apr 8, 2005
		=\|

		SkankinMonkey	Apr 8, 2005
		........... it's okay

		dsheinem	Apr 8, 2005
		OH MY GOD THAT IS THE FUNNIEST THING I HAVE EVER READ IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! I DO NOT THINK I WILL EVER BE ABLE TO ENJOY ANY OTHER FORM OF COMEDY AGAIN! THE SHEER GENIUS OF THIS COMIC STRIP MAKES ME WANT TO QUIT MY JOB AND BECOME A FULL-TIME READER OF EVERYTHING YOU EVER DO!! I MEAN, HOLY SHIT! BATMAN VS. SPIDERMAN IS SUCH A COOL IDEA OF A COMMON TOPIC TO DO A STRIP ON. THE FACT THAT HE WAS DOING CRACK IN THE LAST PANEL WHEN EVERYONE ELSE THOUGHT HE WASN'T REEEALLLY DOING CRACK IS FUNNIER THAN GALLAGHER HITTING A WATERMELON! PLUS, THE CLEVER USE OF BACKGROUND GAGS HELPS MAKE THIS A MODERN MASTERPIECE. THE HOMOEROTIC BATMAN POSTER IS STUNNINGLY CREATIVE AND SUBTLE ENOUGH TO CAUSE HUMUNGOUS BELLY LAUGHS! HAHAHAHAHA WHAT IS THAT BATMAN?!?!?! LOLOLOLOL THAT AND HAHAH SCORPIONS HAHA HA ALL OVER HAHAHA WHAT A GREAT LINE TO HAVE A CRACK ADDICT READ. HAHAHA BTW "SCORPIONS ALL OVER MY BODY'" WOULD BE A GREAT NAME FOR A WEBCOMIC!!! lololoL BRILLIANT. BEAUTIFUL. CLASSIC. WHEN I CAN STOP LAUGHING MORE I WILL START COMMENTING ON THE GREAT ARTWORK. THE CLEVER BACKGROUNDS ALONE WILL REQUIRE A THESIS LENGTH CRITIQUE. YOU ARE MY NEW GOD OF COMEDY.

		MasterAkumaMatata	Apr 8, 2005
		SkankinMonkey: dsheinem was definitely smoking crack. Scared0o0Rabbit: Was he, really? MasterAkumaMatata: Nah, I doubt it. MasterAkumaMatata: I think the needle needs to look bigger. Didn't realize the guy was doing crack until I read dsheinem's post.

		it290	Apr 8, 2005
		Okay, couple of thoughts off the top of my head: 1> don't use gradient backgrounds. They just make stuff look ugly and 'computerized'. A drawn background would look sooo much better... you don't have to add much detail, just draw a few things in perspective and give them slightly flatter colors than the foreground artwork. You can blur the bg a bit if you want, too. 2> Nix with the drop shadows- they just muddy up the artwork. 3> characters look good, but the outlines are too thick. also, they need to have more varied and natural line weight. Buy a Wacom and use the pressure sensitivity, or draw your stuff on paper and scan it. 4> Lettering needs a lot of work. Do it by hand, or get a better comic type font. Also, don't ever use type as small as the stuff in the top right of the last panel. You're better off using all caps, as well. I won't comment on the humor -- it usually takes a few strips to get a feel for writing. edit - oh yeah, he's not doing crack, is he? Crack is usually something that's smoked.... also, it wouldn't really make you think you had scorpions all over your body, but whatever.

		Dud	Apr 8, 2005
		I think the drawing is not bad at all. Actually I think it would work well in a web comic. However the writing; not so good. I find it's hard to come up with something funny from scratch, it's easier to do commentaries on current events, like with what Penny Arcade does with gaming news.

PUNJABEE

Apr 8, 2005

Originally posted by it290@Fri, 2005-04-08 @ 11:05 PM

Okay, couple of thoughts off the top of my head:

1> don't use gradient backgrounds. They just make stuff look ugly and 'computerized'.

A drawn background would look sooo much better... you don't have to add much detail, just draw a few things in perspective and give them slightly flatter colors than the foreground artwork. You can blur the bg a bit if you want, too.

2> Nix with the drop shadows- they just muddy up the artwork.

3> characters look good, but the outlines are too thick. also, they need to have more varied and natural line weight. Buy a Wacom and use the pressure sensitivity, or draw your stuff on paper and scan it.

4> Lettering needs a lot of work. Do it by hand, or get a better comic type font. Also, don't ever use type as small as the stuff in the top right of the last panel. You're better off using all caps, as well.

I won't comment on the humor -- it usually takes a few strips to get a feel for writing.

edit - oh yeah, he's not doing crack, is he? Crack is usually something that's smoked.... also, it wouldn't really make you think you had scorpions all over your body, but whatever.

[post=132671]Quoted post[/post]

1. Agreed. I plan on changing that, but I'm trying out different things for the BGs at the moment. For example, I really like what Scott does for VGCats.com. He does awesome backgrounds, and I'd love to do something that awesome, also the guy from ctrlaltdel-online.com is really good too.

2. I'm trying to get the shadowed look right, I'm still a n00b with PhotoShop, lol.

3. Got $700 for that Wacom? heh. Actually, i'm supposed to be given one by a buddy, one of the really nice ones, but it's for Macs only, and I don't have a Mac at the moment, but I'm looking into getting one.

4. Yeah the TabletPC i used to draw this specific comic doesn't have a working NIC, and I'm just too lazy to find a good comic font and transfer it via USB, so.. you get the idea. =P

Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it.

edit: About the really small text... that was actually intentional. It's not meant to be part of the 'story-line' (as if) of the comic, it was meant as a joke about Batman/Robin and their torrid love affairs (notice the 'POW!' at their groins). =P

Dud

Apr 8, 2005

Originally posted by PUNJABEE@Fri, 2005-04-08 @ 05:17 PM

edit: About the really small text... that was actually intentional. It's not meant to be part of the 'story-line' (as if) of the comic, it was meant as a joke about Batman/Robin and their torrid love affairs (notice the 'POW!' at their groins). =P

[post=132673]Quoted post[/post]

You really don't like Batman then?

You've reminded me of one of my own projects that I've been bouncing around for a while. I won't mention anything here as to change the focus of this thread, but I can promise that it will FANTASTIC, or at least odd.

Anyway good luck with your webcomicing.

		it290	Apr 8, 2005
		As far as the Wacom thing goes, I'm assuming the Mac one you're talking about hooks up to the USB port. If so, it should work fine on a PC as well. Wacom doesn't make any platform-specific tablets as far as I'm aware. But if you're using a TabletPC, doesn't that have pressure support already? You just need to configure your brushes in photoshop (I find making pressure affect size and opacity works well), and you'll be good to go.

PUNJABEE

Apr 8, 2005

Originally posted by it290@Sat, 2005-04-09 @ 12:08 AM

As far as the Wacom thing goes, I'm assuming the Mac one you're talking about hooks up to the USB port. If so, it should work fine on a PC as well. Wacom doesn't make any platform-specific tablets as far as I'm aware. But if you're using a TabletPC, doesn't that have pressure support already? You just need to configure your brushes in photoshop (I find making pressure affect size and opacity works well), and you'll be good to go.

[post=132675]Quoted post[/post]

Unfortunately, Wacom does make at least one Mac only version, it's something called ADB, which stands for "Apple data bus". It looks a lot like a regular PS/2 Keyboard port, but only works on Macs.

		it290	Apr 8, 2005
		Ahh, ADB. That is the OOOLD standard... but that's okay, older Wacoms work just about as well as the new ones (I have an old serial port model). However, note that you won't be able to use the ADB Wacom on anything but a rather old Mac (beige PowerMacs and the like). I think you might be able to get an ADB->USB converter, though.

PUNJABEE

Apr 8, 2005

Originally posted by it290@Sat, 2005-04-09 @ 01:21 AM

Ahh, ADB. That is the OOOLD standard... but that's okay, older Wacoms work just about as well as the new ones (I have an old serial port model). However, note that you won't be able to use the ADB Wacom on anything but a rather old Mac (beige PowerMacs and the like). I think you might be able to get an ADB->USB converter, though.

[post=132678]Quoted post[/post]

Cool, I didn't know that, but that acutally works out for the best. My sister-in-law is going to give me her old G3, it's like a 266mHz with 256 megs of RAM, and OS 8.6, will it work well on that?

		it290	Apr 8, 2005
		Depends. Is it a beige G3? If so, then yes, it has an ADB port. But G3 iMacs don't, and neither does the turquoise PowerMac.

PUNJABEE

Apr 8, 2005

Originally posted by it290@Sat, 2005-04-09 @ 04:19 AM

Depends. Is it a beige G3? If so, then yes, it has an ADB port. But G3 iMacs don't, and neither does the turquoise PowerMac.

[post=132680]Quoted post[/post]

Hmm... I'm pretty sure she didn't say "PowerMac", but yes it is the beige one. The one that looks like it's a tower, then a smaller, thinner tower with a power button on it connected to it.

		joe81	Apr 8, 2005
		heroin, that's most likely what he's doing but there is a pipe in the suitcase so he can be smoking stuff with that.

it290

Apr 8, 2005

Hmm... I'm pretty sure she didn't say "PowerMac", but yes it is the beige one. The one that looks like it's a tower, then a smaller, thinner tower with a power button on it connected to it.

Cool, you should be okay then. FYI, all Macs released in a standard desktop or tower case have been PowerMacs for quite some time. They started using the designation when they switched over to PowerPC processors.

Xavier

Apr 8, 2005

Originally posted by dsheinem@Fri, 2005-04-08 @ 10:40 PM

OH MY GOD THAT IS THE FUNNIEST THING I HAVE EVER READ IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!

I DO NOT THINK I WILL EVER BE ABLE TO ENJOY ANY OTHER FORM OF COMEDY AGAIN!

THE SHEER GENIUS OF THIS COMIC STRIP MAKES ME WANT TO QUIT MY JOB AND BECOME A

FULL-TIME READER OF EVERYTHING YOU EVER DO!!

I MEAN, HOLY SHIT! BATMAN VS. SPIDERMAN IS SUCH A COOL IDEA OF A COMMON TOPIC TO DO A STRIP ON.

THE FACT THAT HE *WAS* DOING CRACK IN THE LAST PANEL WHEN EVERYONE ELSE THOUGHT HE *WASN'T REEEALLLY* DOING CRACK

IS FUNNIER THAN GALLAGHER HITTING A WATERMELON!

PLUS, THE CLEVER USE OF BACKGROUND GAGS HELPS MAKE THIS A MODERN MASTERPIECE.

THE HOMOEROTIC BATMAN POSTER IS STUNNINGLY CREATIVE AND SUBTLE ENOUGH TO CAUSE HUMUNGOUS BELLY LAUGHS!

HAHAHAHAHA WHAT IS THAT BATMAN?!?!?! LOLOLOLOL

THAT AND HAHAH SCORPIONS HAHA HA ALL OVER HAHAHA WHAT A GREAT LINE TO

HAVE A CRACK ADDICT READ. HAHAHA

BTW "SCORPIONS ALL OVER MY BODY'" WOULD BE A GREAT NAME FOR A WEBCOMIC!!! lololoL

BRILLIANT. BEAUTIFUL. CLASSIC.

WHEN I CAN STOP LAUGHING MORE I WILL START COMMENTING ON THE GREAT ARTWORK.

THE CLEVER BACKGROUNDS ALONE WILL REQUIRE A THESIS LENGTH CRITIQUE.

YOU ARE MY NEW GOD OF COMEDY.

[post=132666]Quoted post[/post]

Why dont you show us what talents you have, even if you do have any :

STFU NEWBIE

		Mask of Destiny	Apr 8, 2005
		The B&W G3 (i.e. the first new world PowerMac) still had an ADB bus. For later Macs with no ADB, there is a USB adapter called the iMate that works pretty well. However, the Wacom drivers only support ADB devices in OS 9. In OS X it's USB only.

PUNJABEE

Apr 9, 2005

Originally posted by Mask of Destiny@Sat, 2005-04-09 @ 03:47 PM

The B&W G3 (i.e. the first new world PowerMac) still had an ADB bus. For later Macs with no ADB, there is a USB adapter called the iMate that works pretty well. However, the Wacom drivers only support ADB devices in OS 9. In OS X it's USB only.

[post=132701]Quoted post[/post]

Does this iMate allow an ADB device connect to a Windows based USB port?