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

[eschaefges]

I agree - there are many factors (health, family, work, etc) that cause comics to abruptly end - but the biggest reason I think is that they often have so much middle. We are all artists and naturally, we dream big - and thats why sometimes its great to have someone to tell us "hey dude, cut out chapters 5, 6, and 7. And the thing with the eagles. And the shower scene."

For my current tapastic story, I did both the Pixar Method and the chapter method you suggested. I took a 200 page story, divided it into 8 chapters of 25 (plus a cover page for each, totaling 208), and wrote a beginning, middle, and end. However, it was a huge struggle to stick to it and not keep going... we fall in love with our stories so easily

[Vikiro_Hop]

please gag comics...stop making jokes about how female character armor is woefully impractical...pls

[Silverberry]

Fixer-upper boyfriends in Shojo that are rapey assholes. I mean seriously if the guy is a dick that doesn't mean he likes you he's just a an ass! Generally there suppose to be like the jerk with a heart of gold but frankly if a person can't be polite to you and constantly degrades you they are not worth the time. Just because they can be sort of nice once in a while doesn't make them a good person.

[monotone_ink]

Repetitive shounen trash

You, I like you.

All these webcomics on Tapastic that are "featured" or are "trending" which are just plain self insert slice of life webcomics more or less.

It sucks, but the self-insert aspect is the reason they're trending: It's the type of thing that sheep like.

I can't really think of much that I hate, as the effectiveness of tropes depends on its execution. Take for example (as a rabid anime/manga consumer), Sasuke from Naruto and Hachiman from Oregairu.


Sasuke(top) is the typical brooding teenager who just comes off as edgy. He has a tragic past, so sure, that clarifies his behaviour, but I feel that at first glance, its the only thing about his character.
Hachiman (bottom) is too, a typical brooding teenager with edgy views on life. What makes him more likeable though (at least to me) is his hilarious inner monologue, and how he's intentionally being presented as a slimy, bitter person. He very often has different opinions to another of the main characters, and that just makes their arguments more entertaining.

Hmmm, what else do I dislike? Maybe I'll just list a few things:

• Cut and Paste character archetypes that we've seen too much of. It's ok to use them, just change them up instead of inserting the default template.
• Long talks in the middle of fight scenes (real fights wouldn't give you time to talk.)
• Love interest (usually a girl) which doesn't have much of a character outside of being a love interest.
• *drinking beer PUWAAAAAA
• Panty shots in an unfitting story (imagine those in a horror manga, oh lord I'd be laughing.)

• Self-insert Gary Stus that don't need to struggle to get what they want (Looking at you kirito.)

• Lack of composition techniques (sorry, this is just a personal pet peeve and probably won't apply to everyone.) A lot of comics I see here don't make much use of different camera angles and perspective. It doesn't mean much to me how precise the lines are, or the thickness of your lines. If the angles of the frame are just flat, it doesn't seem all that interesting to me.
  I always try to treat each panel like a shot in a movie's story board, it has to be interesting and convey at least some meaning (low angle shots to display a character's strength, long shots to emphasise setting etc.)
  Have a look at this manga I'm reading at the moment.

Just go give some context, the assassin in the top panel is being challenged to a duel by another man, whose face is seen in the bottom part of the page. Sure, the lines are a bit squiggly and the character's faces may seem strange at first, but the way that the character in the top panel is framed just makes the moment oh so effective. The multiple closeups on the bottom as well add tension and suspense.

[purrlpankras]

@wierdmonkeycat
Damn everything you just said is basically what I think too. We should be best pals

[mattcleaver]

I am not very fond of reluctant heroes or heroes too bent on avoiding doing bad things at all cost.
The first, while realistic, is kind of annoying and the other is annoying because it's too unrealistic ^__^

Or maybe I should just try being easier to please...

[DruidPeter]

I would really like to see more comics with older characters in them. Most of the time, the characters are in their late teens or very early twenties, especially when the comic has a manga-ish feel to it.

I guess that's why I like webcomics like Grassblades so much. The dude is at least in his late thirties, and maybe even in his early forties! Yay!

[AnnaLandin]

I guess that's why I like webcomics like Grassblades so much. The dude is at least in his late thirties, and maybe even in his early forties! Yay!

<3 Masahiro (aka Mr Grumpy-Pants) is in his thirties, yes! I haven't settled on an exact age, but he's somewhere in the 32-36 range, and looks older because he's had a bit of a rough time of it.

... I don't have any teen characters in Grassblades, now that I think about it. I've got a 5 year old, and then everyone else is at least 25 or older.

[KSlinger]

Also a fan of Grassblades, but while we're on the subject here are a few other great comics featuring older men/women:

Wanderlust Blues

Thicker Than Blood

Grayscale

Box 13

Alone

Hunter Black

Brain Damage

[MannyMelancholy]

Love triangles can be okay if it's not such a determining factor to a characters decision or stories plot then I nope the hell out of the comic,movie,book, etc. it's just so tacky to me. (Sort of like what's going on in Agents of SHILED) if anyone watches XD. I feel like i'm just love in story lines all together, it's been shoveled in my face too much.

[meatmaiden]

OKOK there is only ONE thing that SERIOUSLY gets my goat.

This message on the comic page ----> "This comic has not not been updated in 86 years."

FINISH ITTTT PLEASEEEE T------T''''''

There's nothing worse than reaching the last page in the coolest webcomic ever, only to discover it's been abandoned....

[AnnaLandin]

There's nothing worse than reaching the last page in the coolest webcomic ever, only to discover it's been abandoned....

This is why I always check first, to see if it's been updated regularly/recently. That way, it's less of a disappointment when I get there, because I know it's coming.

It's unfortunately common to see webcomics abandoned, because they are a lot of hard work, and most of us are doing them for free, while juggling work and family and social responsibilities (and sleeping and eating), so I don't really blame people for giving up, but it's sad when it happens. : (

[meatmaiden]

It's such a bummer... Although I understand why people stop, it still sucks. v_v"
(kidnaps them and forces them to finish it) * ^ *

I'm going to take your advice and check and see if things are being regularly updated from now on--- that's smart! 8D

[demthorshie]

I think the one thing i'm a bit tired of seeing are orphaned characters. Even though I am guilty of doing this myself from time to time, it is a little odd to me when an entire cast of characters are orphans with no parents, no family. It's just a little unrealistic if you ask me ^^;...

[joannekwan]

Well, since this thread was resurrected, I'll add another.

Pervy old man characters!
Come on, give 'em more dignity.

[zoonland]

I am tired of seeing backgrounds done with Sketchup and characters made with Poser/Zbrush etc., especially in mainstream comics. They limit a lot the creativity of the artist, in my opinion.
And comics with good endings. Can I have a comic book that has a bad ending?

[eagle1]

A comic book artist working on a mainstream book has to do a minimum of 4 drawings a day, every day, 365 days a year in order to meet the demands of a monthly 22 page book. Shortcuts have been the norm for the entire history of comics, and CGI has been part of comics since the technology became available on personal computers. And that is just to make an income capable of supporting a frugal individual.
Webcomics, being done for free, make use of such things as well, since they allow more of the story to get posted.
Myself, I like the way a lot of artists use sketchup, as long as the result matches the art style of the characters. For pure CGI comics, those are hit or miss with me, but my favourite webcomic on my reading list at the moment is a CGI called Sunset Grill. The CGI starts out as pretty boring, but the story sucked me in so fast that when I hit the 22 page mark I was already hooked. After that, she could have been using stick figures for all I cared about the art.

Eagle
(Disclaimer: I do Traditional, Digital, and CGI art)

[eagle1]

I've found a new thing I dislike. I am tired of every stand-in supergroup being the X-men, Fantastic Four, Justice League or Avengers.

I'm reading a series right now about an assassin that kills superheroes. I found it while doing research for a pitch that NO-Earth received on the same subject (Which we are going to be publishing). So this series is pretty good. The writing started out a bit off, but fell into place pretty quickly, and the art is quirky and fits the writing style well. But the main supergroup is a rip from the Justice League. I am reading, or have dropped, at least 20 other series that have the same thing. Please do new supergroups.

Eagle
(It's not that difficult)

[UzukiCheverie]

one-hit K.O - as in I just need one flick of my wand or superpower to kill you ... but I kinda forget about it at the start of the battle ...

Go read/watch One Punch Man. It's a manga/anime that takes on this trope well, and very comically. Saitama DOESN'T forget about his most prominent ability, and that's taking out enemies with a single punch. Despite the fact that he hasn't learned anything new (yet; I'm on like, Chapter 50), they keep the plot fresh by introducing new character interactions, each character with their own unique ability, and by making it funny as all hell lol

Well idk what this thread is becoming but I wanna add my two cents because it's something that I think a lot of comic creators struggle with.

The Explaino.

Oh god, this. I can't tell you how much it turns me off to a comic when I go on the first page and find that huge wall of dialogue that's setting up the premise of the story. Reveal that shit along the way, tell it in parts, I don't care, just get this wall of text out of my face. I'm not invested enough in the comic yet, what makes you think I care enough to read through all this text? You're gonna have to pull me into the story a little bit more for me to want to sit through that. And even then, wall of text, ew. Block that shit and separate it into alternating bubbles, or at least use some kind of paragraph spacing. Don't hide the art under all that.

Show, don't tell.

I can't stand it when character A likes character B even though B treats A like crap.

i uh... may be guilty of this /coughs awkwardly but there is conflict later on related to it so it's not ENTIRELY glossed over, it's just character a is such a sponge for romance and friendship, and character b is such a bitch lol and y'know, character b's life is depending on character a, so she can't push him away either cause she sorta wants to live >.>

[zetina]

Hmmm... I think I might be tired of "friendship speech". Not the speech itself but the effect it has. The actual thing I hate is a character changing their world-view, like, immediately. It's different when something a character hasn't realized gets pointed out, but even then.... All it tells me is that the author didn't have any strong arguments for the opinions that character had, instead had a ton of counter-arguments that of course are super convincing and cause the one who heard them to totally agree and change their opinion. That character existed to be wrong and to be taught the message the author intended.

I think a lot of people are guilty of this and, tbh, I don't really hate a story that does this. In fact, I might not even notice/care a lot of the time... But sometimes I really do want a character, especially an antagonist, to have a bit stronger beliefs. Gimme all the moral ambiguity and gray areas!! Let's suffer in "but what is right??" limbo!!