Are there any things you're tired of seeing in comics?

[JigokuNeko]

A cast of bazillion male characters and one lone female paper bag...somewhere in the background. Unless your story takes place in a monastery I wonder why I should read something from a writer that can't seem to write 50% of the population.

Violence to the Nth degree as entertainment and the new grimdark fad where misery is so miserable light is literally sucked into it like a black hole of broodiness. Okay, yes, life is not all rosy and sometimes it sucks big time but for some stories there. can. not. be. enough. misery. It always feels like the author is in Misery Olympics with his pals and they're going for gold.

Sameface. Everyone looks cloned. Bonus for having that one blase, almost sneering expression for the duration of the comic. While you'd think this is a beginner's thing, it's actually not. I've seen it on spectacular art.

Comics set in Japan when the author is not Japanese and/or has no clue in hyperspace how that society works apart from anime. Kun this and Chan that and a whole ton of westernized behavior that would not fly in actual Japan. So much second-hand embarrassment...

The Prophecy of the Chosen One with the Watcha-call-it mythical weapon. It was a dark, stormy night...

A random ridiculous amount of time used for effect but with little to no consequences for the character/world. As in, "he was 9000 years old" or "a hundred thousand years had passed".

[SpavVy]

You'll probably hate Uzuki from Time Gate then xD She falls into this somewhat aggression category, as well as Yashiro later on. Of course, it's explained later on.

Not necessarily, if she is well rounded and it's explained then I honestly don't mind, it's just when a personality like that isn't justified it can be a bit painful to watch later on.
Ugh don't even get me started on the really depressing characters, even when it's explained I still tend to get annoyed, I don't think their bad characters but I've seen it so much that I got tired of seeing it.

It Seems like our female reaper leads are the polar opposites when it comes to personality xD mine is pretty laid back and doesn't get angry too often, she actually gets more annoyed.

As for high school settings yeah there are a lot of bad ones and there are good ones but I've seen a lot of high school stories that I just got tired of seeing them just like the really depressing characters, for me it's like if you eat a certain thing too much you will get sick of eating it after a while.

As for Grell that's another reason is to why I hate him, I don't like characters that are there for mostly fan service, but like you said that there are editors that demand that kind of thing which is part of the reason why I decided to become an indie creator, I don't want editors telling me what to do with my characters or story, I do of course have good friends and family that will give me some great tips and listen to my ideas etc. But other than that I like being my own boss, I want to tell the story I want to tell and not what the general public wants me to tell.

[RetroOutro]

I dont really feel comfortable in comic shops because so many of the comics are hyperviolent or the female characters are hypersexualized on the cover. So I guess that. But that's not a comic problem specifically, that's a film/tv/music/videogame/novels/media problem. I'm fine with self-insert or fantasy fulfillment stories as long as they aren't intrinsically antisocial.

[UzukiCheverie]

A random ridiculous amount of time used for effect but with little to no consequences for the character/world. As in, "he was 9000 years old" or "a hundred thousand years had passed".

This can be fine to use as long as you at least explain why they're able to live that long, how they're able to stay preserved that long, etc. and allow the civilization around them to grow, either in a negative or positive manner (it either ends up destroyed or in war or something, or ends up becoming a prosperous civilization).

Don't just be like "because magic". People aren't that dumb.

[eagle1]

Sameface. Everyone looks cloned. Bonus for having that one blase, almost sneering expression for the duration of the comic. While you'd think this is a beginner's thing, it's actually not. I've seen it on spectacular art.

And this is why a lot of mainstream comic book artists turn me off. People praise Michael Turner as an art god, yet all of his faces are the same. For that matter, so are his bodies.

There's something I dislike. If you have characters that are physically active, make sure their body type matches the type of physical activity that they engage in. Using DC characters as an example, Superman should have a farmer's physique. The man does not work out, and all of his physical training was from his youth. Want to see what I mean? Take a look at the way Alex Ross draws him. Big, yes, muscled, yes, cut-up, NO!. Batman is ripped. Green Lantern should not be, he's a test pilot with a willpowered ring, not a top athlete. Then there are the idjits that draw The Flash with a weightlifter's body, same with Aquaman. Pay attention to the types of bodies that various athletes have, and adjust your drawings accordingly.
Drawings of female bodies are even worse. Take a look at the way female athletes are built. See any playboy DD models there? Nope? Wanna see what a real female fantasy warrior would be built like? Look at Pentathlon.

Here's a link: https://www.google.com/search?q=female+pentathlon+athletes&biw=1137&bih=659&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=JH1KVbPqGJTgoASP6IGYDA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

Why look at this? Because the 5 events are equestrian, fencing, pistol, swimming, and running. In other words, except for the pistol, a fantasy warrior. Some good looking women there, but not the typical comic book fodder. Have fun!
By the way, that's a great page of photos for poses for a female warrior as well.

Eagle
(And NOT Xena!)

[ArtistHan]

To quote Tumblr:

Every shonen anime character ever:

Main character: coughs You may be strong but...

Me: Hoe, don't do it...

Main character: ...at least I got friends!!

Me: Omg...

[allenthomas]

I've seen alot of people complain about brooding characters here and I have to say that I'm guilty of that as well. There is a legitimate story purpose for it, though I'm not that far into it yet. However, my story does have two main characters and the second sort of balances the brooder, so to speak.

I can't say that there is anything that I'm tired of seeing in comics. From the comics in my reading list they all have something that grabs my attention and keeps me in so I can't say there is something noteworthy in their comics for me to complain about.

[ArtistHan]

LOL

I'd like to add:
- One person in couple is clumsy as hell
- Some kind of argument ending with the guy angrily expressing his feelings to a shocked girl.

But I'm being hypocritical. I'm still a sucker for all these cliches tbh haha

[keii4ii]

The "I'm late I'm late I'm late!" openings. Some stories that start with that end up good, but was it really the best way to start a good story???

[Iron]

Woah, so much irritation in this thread 0_0;
And I'm just sitting here enjoying all the stupid cliches D:

(although I do agree with many of your points guys)

[Raven_C]

All these things being said, if a comic/tv show/etc has intentionally incorporated some of these cliches into its story and manages to effectively lampshade (or even parody) them, then awesome. It's why I love anime like Gintama and Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou. xD

[ArtistHan]

LOL Ikr? I have this mental image of all of us throwing our pencils and tablets up in the air in cliched, fiery fury haha

Cliches can be infuriating, especially when it gets in the way of newer and better material getting mainstream notice, but at the same time, I'm not a CLAMP/Naruto/DBZ/etc. fan for nothing! haha Cliches can be great and addicting! Nothing wrong with a bit of fanservice

[scythe]

Personally, I have nothing against tropes and stereotypes as long as they are internally consistent and make the story better.

There's nothing wrong with sticking to the original 'hero's journey'.

But... so long as this is a thread about what you're tired of seeing. I'd say my biggest pet peeve is painfully unrealistic dialogue, which I see in everything from webcomics to pro comics. And I'm not talking about your standard, comic format dialogue, which understandably needs to be at least a little bit more succinct than it otherwise would be.

You know what I mean by painful. When you can almost literally see the writer writing it. It usually comes in the form of one character explaining something to another character who obviously already knows everything. That really sucks you out of the story. Or when something crazy happens, like magic in a real world setting, and the 'normal' character/s, treat it the same way as though they would if they'd just witnessed a car accident or something. Yeah, they're shocked for a brief moment, but it doesn't seem to shatter their worldview, which is really should. They just kind of move on, because the writer just wants to move the story on. 'Oh, monsters are actually real? Ok, cool. On with the plot, then!'

[eagle1]

As I said farther up the thread, any cliche or trope is cool if you do it in an original way, which includes parody. I've got a character named Mary Sue for that reason. In order to do it well, however, you need to be aware that it's a cliche, and why. For that matter, you need to be aware of comic book as well as literary tropes so that you can correctly identify these things in your own writing. You have to wonder how many of the creators that are doing these things think that they are doing something totally original, and even worse, are reading this thread thinking "I'm glad they aren't talking about me!"
The only way to root these things out of your own writing is to have good people that can give you feedback, and educating yourself on what these cliches are, and how to prevent them. Because we could play a good game of Webcomic BINGO using this thread as the square generator.

Eagle
(Who uses some tropes intentionally)

[joannekwan]

Ooh, got another one, annoying talking small/medium sized animal companion.

[Jelw]

Two of the stories I'm in the process of writing have highschool protagonists and the reason?… well I had to think about it.
I think highschoolsettings are common because of the whole "write what you know" standpoint for starters. People know what high school is like so it's a setting you can throw onto your audience without a lot of explaining. Additionally, high school is a community of sorts so you can throw in a lot of varrying types of people. You can throw aspiring musicians, engineers, and artists all together and have it make sense. This is a little tougher when you have an adult out-of-school story, and you need reasons for the architect to hang out with the astro physist on their free time. (Obviously they didn't meet at work… but maybe they're high school friends!)
Also, one of the reasons I write young highschool/college aged protagonistsgenerally, is because they're just more accessable to an audience, generally.It's hard for me to truly understand the struggles of a group of post-apocolyptic survivors, and that's alright! However the struggles of putting together the school play? Super boring English lectures and scary psychology teachers? I've been there, and it can be fun to read and sympathize.

[scythe]

Again, tropes and stereotypes are not bad things in and of themselves, and are not automatically cliches. For instance, having a wise old man who teaches the hero skills doesn't have to be boring or predictable.

Look at tropes like words in a language. Yes, everyone's familiar with them, but it's the way you use them that makes all the difference. Don't feel bad if you've got things mentioned in this thread in your own story. I certainly do have some and it's not a problem as long as it makes sense within the story.

Problems creep in when you start to twist the story to fit the trope and not the other way around. Like having lovers who hate each other when they first meet. That's a trope that can work really well, but if your protagonist is someone who is really likeable and not generally prone to confrontation, then the reader will start seeing it as a forced cliche rather than a natural progression of the story.

[SuperRazz]

I don't mind comics that are set in school as long as it is realistic. Just please don't merge every genre available to it. I don't get why a zombie apocalypse, an alien invasion, or a murder mystery would best fit a school setting. If I ever see another shinigami in a school setting again...ugh, idk.

[zelkats]

Now that you mention it...

If I see another shinigami or a Maou (demon lord) again, I swear.

[noctuidae]

i know someone's said something like this earlier in the thread but i would like to say it again because i have like five volumes of Vampire Knight from middle school -- as much as I love gloomy characters, I get really annoyed by wide-eyed optimistic love interests/peers who unfalteringly put up with their moodiness with cheers and smiles and almost never confront the char about it. Even the nicest person will be emotionally drained by a walking black hole of angst. At least show the repercussions of their behavior.

And I've only seen this in manga but I get really suspicious when a feisty female character is supposed to be badass but never actually does anything, or ends up a damsel in distress, when the opportunity arises.

Also subplots where a huge fight or drama arises from a misunderstanding that could have been cleared up with 5 minutes of communication. I get that there are characters out there who may not have it in them to confront problems directly, so then that subplot would be justified, but in most cases I've seen, the characters involved really should have been able to talk to each other about it...

Also I guess this is more of a personal preference thing and i dont feel as strongly about it as i do about the above things, but I'm not really into protags whose main interests are drawing/writing.... I kind of want some level of escapism when I read..