Fan Comics Café

[MS]

Description [Stolen from Fanfics X) ]

Come here to discuss anything pertaining to fan comics; whether it be tips or ideas.

Right. I know many of you wanted this and since Fan Art can't have its own seperate subforum for this- Discuss what you want about Fan Comics in this thread.

Rulez

1. Lol yes there are rulez.

2. No spamming.

3. No flame wars/hate/etc.

4. General Forum Rules apply here aswell.

Enjoy nubz =D

[Infinity]

Ah yes this is definately a step in the right direction and will be welcomed warmly.

Anyway, I will always encourage the (ab)use of the Academy to better your skills.

My dream is to see a forum filled with comic authors that will pave the way to the future of webcomics.

[blueguy]

This is a good idea, and one I had a while ago... though I never proposed it... Hmm... Well, yeah... I guess I thought that maybe the club was enough, but I would always be like "meh" to it... Now that it's here it'll be a lot easier to post in and more noticeable. *whispers* Café has an accent.

[Tabby Catty]

I like this place! I can get used to it here since I would be interested in disscusing our works and brainstorming some ideas I'm just glad my wish is granted.

[Mastercougar]

Ah, a calf, eh?

Yes, I do think this will be much more active than the club, seeing as it's in plain sight. Bravo, MS!

If there's one thing I think should be understood about the making of a comic strip/series, it's that the plot can be as rich as written fiction, and that the images can, at times, be as stunning as art.

Let the Café-ing begin!

[Tabby Catty]

If there's one thing I think should be understood about the making of a comic strip/series, it's that the plot can be as rich as written fiction, and that the images can, at times, be as stunning as art.

Let the Café-ing begin!

Those words right there said by the great MC himself (I mean come on! he has his own wiki article) is the reason why I got myself into my HMM project. I usually am rather visual and when I tried to write a shipping fic it was hard to focus on and sometimes I couldn't find anyways to get the readers into my eyes of the story. Comics on the other hand are a lot more hands on and can be enjoyable for visual spatial learners like me!

[The Sponge]

Ah yes, a much need café is here. I will definately enjoy it here .

[NEO GOHAN]

and thus, a "Great Purging" was devised among the comic elites, by which newbies everywhere would be sent to "Comic Concentration Camps" to hone their visual-entertainment skills, or be annihilated.....
... or something to that effect. d8
AND NOW FOR THE REAL RANT.

pretty much every good comic I know that used to be here has either ended or moved to a new host. and I can't blame them even if I wanted to.

every day, it seems more and more like this place has become the spam section that SPPf never wanted from the get-go. one by one, members I've never even seen come here and make mediocre comics with unoriginal plots, poorly done sprite work, and obvious lack of both effort and entertainment value. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE OTHERS. *coughGOLDENEEEVEcough*
and yet, I'm amazed when these threads garner more attention than ones that are actually good. the reasons? while I'm sure there are other factors, the main one that comes to mind is this: MORE NEWBIES. one lined posts, 2-3 word sentences, barely - IF ANY - hint of what they like or dislike about it. but now I'm rambling again. WHY DO I ALWAYS RAMBLE???

in summary, I'd like to see some solutions, at least maybe some more enforcement around here by moderators. I'm sure even the tiniest of measures would be appreciated.

[Clockworkz]

NeoGohan: I know EXACTLY how you feel. I love it when shitburger sprite comics get all the praise while handdrawn comics (like my Innocence Gone) get the big red x most of the time.
As a closing note: Journey Comics suck. Stop making them.

[SnowStorm92]

Agree'd. The best comics are the ones that people actually put LOVE into making, not throwing a sprite down onto a paint program and calling it a comic. On the same note, what is a good program to use if i am drawing over a piece of paper I have scanned into the comp?

[Infinity]

Agree'd. The best comics are the ones that people actually put LOVE into making, not throwing a sprite down onto a paint program and calling it a comic. On the same note, what is a good program to use if i am drawing over a piece of paper I have scanned into the comp?

There's a lot out there. GIMP (free), Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop, Flash (vectoring, coloring, etc), Inkscape (vectoring, can only import to GIMP, free). There are probably lots of other other programs I forgot to mention.

If you do use GIMP and/or Inkscape give me a holler, I'll help you out.

[Solid Kirby]

To all of the ranters about sprite comics:

STFU

Let me explain. I know what you're thinking about when I say "Sprite Comic". You're thinking about "Crap Quality 'Comics' that makes a monkey's art look like somthing to put in the Lourve." Now, I won't deny that. I've SEEN sprite comics that put them to shame. However, Would I use that to bring down an entire style of comic making? Of course not. There are some cases where a rotten apple DOSN'T neccisarily spoil the whole barrel.

"But wait, It wasn't just one comic! It was-"
I know you're going to say this, and to that I add another STFU. You think the quality of Sprite Comics is at its worst? Go ahead. IM on MSN me saying that. Go on. Tell me on Yahoo that Sprite Comics at SPPf can't get any worse. I will laugh at you for hours. Literally. FOR HOURS. Trust me, I've been in the Sprite Comic ripping game for 'bout a year or so, So I know if a truely Bad comic has graced SPPf. I know when it's reached rock bottom. So until EVERY SINGLE sprite comic looks like this, stop whining.

"They still take no effort. They use sprites from other Video Games."
Two things wrong with this. First, the "No Effort" part. That's the thing about anything. If you want it to be good, you have to put in some effort. Now, comics such as Reporterz, Wisest Pikachu, The Clefairy Show, all of those. Sure, they were sprite comics. All three of them. But people remember how great they were, because they actually put effort not into drawing the comic, but into crafting the plot, inserting the jokes, and yes, making it look good. Yes. I said "look good". Sure, it might not be as grand as a drawn comic, but at least it dosn't look like the bile I showed you earlier.

Second, the Sprites themselves. I ask you: Do the Minis deliberately steal sprites from Pokemon? Does Shpam Man look anything like Megaman? Two examples of sprite comics that don't use video game sprites. And even if they do, that's okay. You can't expect everyone to make custom sprites for everything, even if they should.

"IT'S A GET FAMOUS SCHEME THAT WORKS!"
Well, so are putting Banners in the Art Forums. And that's worse than Sprite Comics, By Far. >.>
I'll admit that half the people here just make sprite comics for the sake of getting famous. However, Isn't that the case with Fan Art in General? What about Fan Fiction? Both offer oppurtunities to show off your stuff hoping to draw in a crowd. That's true. So why are Sprite Comics the target? I've seen some pretty bad stuff in Fan Art and Fan Fiction. They don't want it to be the best it can be. They want the attention.

By the way, A little tip I've learned to all of those complaining about not getting fans. That Signature can be used for more than eye stinging animations and Emo Song Lyrics. You catch my drift?

Overall, I'll admit that some of the Sprite Comics are bad. However, the Naysayers are worse. You're the ones Overreacting about this whole thing, You're profiling the Good Authors as Bad ones, The Attention Seekers with those who just love to make comics, and you're ignoring the fact that Sprite Comics DO take some effort, whether or not Drawn Comics take any more effort. >>

[NEO GOHAN]

I'm not against all sprite comics. heck, I check Shpam Man almost every day. but when I look at what takes up most of the first few pages of this forum, I see pictures of people glued to some generic background panel with no thought put into the words that come out of their speech bubbles. they say it has a plot that will put hollywood movies to shame, and give us crap that doesn't even make sense, let alone a decent plotline. they say it's going to be random/slapstick comedy that'll make us burst at the seams, and give us lame one-liners with absolutely no thought put into them.

indeed, I have seen effort put into sprite comics. but I can't say that about the majority of the comics I've seen here. I know only a select few here who've made sprite comics work (not limited to of course, I'm just having trouble remembering names atm); Sponge, Blueray, and yourself among them.
the rest of them make Chuck Norris MORE emo.

[Mastercougar]

In all honesty, I think this place should become more like the Fanfiction forum. Despite there being a lot of fiction there, very rarely do you see anything with depressingly bad spelling. And when something like that does appear, the other members of the forum politely explain what's wrong with it.

At least, so far as I have observed.

THANK YOU, Devil G. There's absolutely nothing inherently wrong with sprites. There's nothing inherently wrong with any concept or medium. Even journey comics. There could be a brilliantly well-done comic strip that involves a Pokemon journey. There's nothing wrong with that.

What's wrong is settling for the lowest common denominator in quality.

If we want to make this forum a good place to be, we need to discourage unoriginality, and at the same time encourage new ideas.

Here's what I just got done saying in the Fancomics Rules thread, which kinda ties in:

Remember that a good critique does not equal an insult to the comic maker. If I see a comic that is so absolutely miserable that I must critique it, I'll do it in a kind and caring way.

For instance, I might say, "You've got an interesting idea for the plot, but please try to keep the text inside your speech bubbles; it'll look much better.

I would NOT say, "The colors make me vomit." or "The colors make my eyes bleed." That, in my opinion, is an insult, and I grimace every time I see something like that used to "critique" a comic.

No matter how much spam we find in "The Amazing Adventures of May and Brendan Part DX42", I am not going to forsake the comics forum. Nor will I leave because I've had one too many one-line posts in my own comic thread. I understand that people are often a little foolish when they first come to SPPf, and I'm willing to give these people the benifit of the doubt.

And you know what happens? Time and again they, far from dragging down the forum, become valuable members of it. I remember when Blueray and Controller of Flames were among the inexperienced members of the forum. What did I say to them? Not "This makes my eyes bleed." but "You've got a lot of funny ideas."

I've been around the forums of the internet a couple times, though I may seem like a recluse. And yes, there are plenty of forums that have greater restrictions upon comics than ours. Does it make them better forums? No.

They become more arrogant, and more convinced that their style of comic is the only one worth creating or knowing. They'll slam down potentially decent comics with no sympathy at all, declaring that the creator ought to trash the entire thing and start over.

If we were to impose heavier restrictions on what kind of comics can or can't be allowed on SPPf, (or indeed, any restrictions at all) such as "No journey comics" or "No comics featuring Brendan and/or May" or even, heaven forbid, "No sprite comics", we would rapidly hurtle toward that sort of atmosphere, where there is no sympathy for the inexperienced, and the only sort of comic around is one that conforms to the standard.

It would be a suppression of creativity, and THAT would make me leave the forum.

Yes, the fifteenth incarnation of a comic where Brendan starts his pokemon journey is irritiating. Yes, it's frustrating to see one-word praise filling up the threads. But bear with it.

Because if you want a benevolent society where all are welcome to try their hand at comic making, then you're going to have to deal with n00bs and spammers. If you want to get rid of those sort of people, you can do that too- but you run the risk of eliminating people with actual potential, and destroying your chances of harboring anything truly innovative.

Thank you for listening.

~Mastercougar

[Clockworkz]

Solid Kirby: I'm pretty sure I was being specific when I stated "shitburger sprite comics". Not "Every single sprite comic because I'm a judgemental b*stard like that, hur hur hur".
I'm going to go off on a tangent. I remember public school, being a Neo-pagan and being called a devil worshipper with people saying they'd like to burn me. That's called "people being judgemental douchebags". Sh*t, man; after I went through that, I ain't gonna call every sprite comic a worthless waste of space, just like I don't call all Christians egotisctical blithering tarts.
I'm willing to give a sprite comic a chance; but I can spot a shitburger a mile away.

[Mastercougar]

I'm willing to give a sprite comic a chance; but I can spot a shitburger a mile away.

Good! Can't ask any more of you than that!

[Blues]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Clockworkz meant the especially bad sprite comics, not all of them.

People these days only flock to the bad sprite comics and make it go on for pages, while other comics are shafted (not to sound full of myself, but my comic has about 5 posters, 5. While other comics have at least five times that amount, but the comic has lesser quality). People should really wake up and realize making a comic is a commitmemt, and should be thought out before you execute it.

I've always thought about making a site, but I'm definately not a coder, so I'll have to stay here. But if I have to, I'm going to try to make this place better, instead of a literal SPAM forum (Anyone see that spam thread that was MOVED to Fan Comics? I rest my case...).

[LGameboyR]

Whoa, whoa hold on! Theres nothing wrong with Journey comics, just the fact that everyone thinks that there easy to make. They destroy good plots, steal the story of many pokemon games, & make complete crap just to say "I made a cool PKMN comic!" No! you suck! But saying "Stop making Journey Comics." is like saying no more Pokemon games or somethin'. I think it's not the Journey comics it's how you come about it. Like my comic: "Pokemon GX" is a journey comic but it's not the run of the mill J Comics it has twist's & turn's that can make it different, it's the beggining of the end of a story. But the point is, Journey comics is the backbone of Fan Comics! Like saquid fpoon said: every one is trying not to make J Comics thats whats really repetitive! or somthin' you know Neo Gohan!

[Clockworkz]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Clockworkz meant the especially bad sprite comics, not all of them.

Yeah; you don't read, do you. Sa' right; not many other people on this board do either >_>

[Hyuu]

Joining the discussion to see the reactions of two of my ideas.

The first, the one I've had more time to think about, will revolve around Ivan Blues, an introverted boy going to Metapod Boarding School, for high school level students. Metapod High is generally regarded as weak, with a few apples of exceptions. Because of its weak status, the Kanto Elites have decided to use it to experiment with projects. The most recent, Project LPE: Literal Pokemon Education, makes the principle assign Pokemon as teachers, insuring insanity. But Ivan, with the unique ability to communicate with Pokemon and a load of potential, may just change everything for this bottom tier school...
May revolve around antics of the students and teacher, or may revolve around tournaments surrounding the 150 original schools of Kanto. If it does revolve around tournaments, than I'll try to make the battles interesting... otherwise focus on intimidation and relationships with other teams instead =3

The other idea I had would focus on trying to find the history of Zangoose/Seviper animosity towards one another. Inside an isolated forest, Zangoose and Sevipers roam and constantly battle, continuing the age old war. However, one Zangoose's interest in her history awakens and so she roams around the forest, looking for clues...
I like the general idea of this story better... however, I need to make a past for Zangoose/Seviper and I'm still stuck on that part xD

Meh, well, tell me your opinion, any suggestions, if this goes here (MS said tips and ideas... if this doesn't than I'm very sorry), and stuff like that. By the way, since I have no spriting talent, I'll be drawing whichever one I make.