I look at comics much like video games and movies. You can have amazing visuals, but if your story is crap, that's all you got.
Once the amazement of the graphics/art/scenery wears off, then people lose interest unless your writing is equally up to snuff.
It's nailing that perfect combination of both that causes something to succeed.
Sorry, but that is the real answer to what makes a good comic. You can have the prettiest artwork in the world - if your writing is shit, it's a bad comic. You can have the best writing in the world - if your artwork doesn't communicate it properly, it's a bad comic.
(and before someone yells "XKCD!" at me, I think XKCD's artwork communicates perfectly well and Randall Munroe has found a way to be expressive through stick-figures in a way that works really, really well for him).
... also, is the question here "what makes a good comic?", or "what's important to make people click on the link to my comic?" - because those are two very different questions.
If the query is "what gets the most immediate attention?", then the answer is obviously artwork. Humans are very visual creatures (thank you, evolution), so good, fancy, probably colourful artwork is obviously going to get the most immediate response, and readers who click that link might be more likely to stick around for a bit even if the writing is terrible.
However, if your writing is sub-par, you are very likely to eventually lose those readers. You can hook a reader on cool artwork, but if your writing falters, they will lose interest. We read comics because we like stories, right? And if you aren't telling a good story, it kind of falls apart.
And btw, the heavy lifting of storytelling isn't entirely on the written word, here; comics tell stories through visuals; facial expressions, panel layouts, colour coding, etc.
It doesn't really even need to be a case of beautiful art+terrible artwork either - I read a comic yesterday that had beautiful art and perfectly passable writing - but it was a story that entirely failed to hook me. It was just okay, with nothing in particular that made me want to pick up the next volume; I wasn't concerned about what happened next for all the characters. It's a comic that might work for others, but did absolutely nothing for me.
Hooking someone into reading your comic is, at best, half the battle; the other half is engaging them in the story well enough to keep them coming back.
Good art gets you subscribers faster, and there seem to be a lot of successful 'doodle dumps' these days - however, there are always successful webcomics with below average art, and apparently they have really good storytelling. their success could just be down to perseverance, i dont actually know. but i do follow some comics where im not a fan of their art, but the story's really hooked me.
print comics often have absolutely shit art, but do well - i think this is largely because people already know the characters, and have brand loyalty. still kinda counts as a win for story. the fact that the artists keep getting hired, however, makes it more of a hostage situation, were stuck with the fuckers.
ideally, the story should be most important. what youre doing is telling a story, so thats the point. from the perspective of what gets you the most success, though, art is more important.
Of course both are important. But if I had to choose, I'd choose writing. Good artwork helps to draw readers in and make them look at your comic, but a good story is what makes them stay. I've read plenty of comics that where absolutely beautifully drawn, but the story didn't communicate well and didn't leave an impression. It got boring so I stopped reading. Then there are some comics where the artwork is so-so but the story is incredible! I keep reading those.
But I do feel that both the art and the writing are important, they have to work together to create a whole. Artwork that suits the writing and writing that suits the artwork.
I think most artists hate to consider the idea that their trade is not as important as writing. I've seen a lot of famous artist complain that readers are more inclined to buy a comic due to the writer's name on the cover, instead of the artist. There are pools proving that readers care more about the writing than the art. That's a fact.
Writing is the most important. Sure, art is very import, but it just isn't the MOST important. Art works as a marketing tool. It draws the eye and justifies the attention. Done right, it shows professionalism. A comic with great art makes the reader think it's probably worth their time and attention.
Let's be fair: a comic is nothing more than a story. A story told through static scenes. story (or characters) is the most important. The old argument that "comic is a visual media, therefore visual are the same importance or more important than the writing" is wrong. Do you watch movies only for the special effects? the action scenes and perfect CGI? Do you play video games only because their graphics are the best around? Of course not! no one does! There are many classics and masterpieces with very dated visuals that people still watch to this day. Sure, visuals do improve and help the story. The art does not only needs to be good, but match the style and mood of the story. But ultimately, what really makes the reader come back is the writing.
In my opinion, the problem lies in the sense that art is way harder than writing. That creates a sense of importance on it. It's harder to get a good artist, so it's rare to have a good comic with amazing writing and art.
It depends. For me, its kind of like this; your writing is the message you want to send, but your art is the language you are communicating in.
So let me ask you the same question rephrased; which do you believe is more important? The content of your message, or your ability to accurately express it?
I'm a comic artist and also I'm a writer.
So I'm sorry but I'll have to say that both.
In my books I always like to draw something in the first page of the chapter, so I'm always mixing both.
I think you nailed it perfectly! I tried to tell the same thing, but it went way "wordier" than yours.
Though both are incredibly important. I think art is slightly more important.
You know the saying "a picture speaks a thousand words".
And your question, I think that a well written story in black and white coloring stick-men will have difficulty attracting attention when starting out, but once it gains the attention it needs, it will last for a long time. However, A doodle dump of the most stunning and impressive artwork will probably gain tons of views, but die out after a while.
So the well written story in black and white coloring stick-men might be more successful in the long-run?
Haha thank you! I tend to end up super wordy too, but for once I managed to be concise! X'D
Must be a good day. :'D
It is both! Art sucks, what's the point of reading, writing sucks what the point of looking at it. I've seen stories that are clearly well written but the art is god awful and it's so glaring you don't want to read it. I've seen too many comics with beautiful art but story fails and is boring.
It's like asking someone "what makes a good movie? The writing, the audio, acting, cinematography or the visuals?" You can't just pick one, it's a whole combination that makes it good.
You guys give out good points. As for me, the writing is the most important, of course art is extremely important since it will be the language of your story. Simply put, bad artwork may lead to a poor translation of your story to the readers.
BUT of course thats not all there is to it, take attack on titan for example. I dont know about you guys but the manga had horrible artwork, especially on the early chapters, but it grew on popularity because of its superb story thats why it had an anime. A better example is mob psycho 100, this one im sure has a bad artwork. Its not stylized like one piece, its just bad, like it was drawn with a mouse but it was so compelling and addictive i couldnt stop reading it. This was before the anime came out.
I would say writing. I feel most people can get through a comic with bad art if the writing is captivating (Like the original creator of One Punchman) even the manga for Attack on Titan was amateurish compared to other manga. However, a comic with amazing art and a bad story will not hold attention. I say this because comics are a storytelling medium, by just focusing on having pretty art , at that point the comic isn't a story it's a series of illustrations. Story and how it is told is what sets comics apart from artbooks.
As shallow as this sounds, I'd probably go for the art style that seems interesting to me, visually appealing, but I quickly drop it if the story isn't to my taste. There's been some comics that I've read that have REALLY NICE ART, but the story just falls completely flat, and at times it feels like abit of a disappointment?
That said, there's been some comic works that I really enjoy that do not have the best art on the block, in my opinion. Example; Homestuck and problem sleuth by Andrew Hussie, writing was sometimes choppy, as well as the art, but it was charming with its witty writing.
TBH, I think both contribute to it. Art for an impression on a story, as well as good writing to keep the reader captivated.
imo, its an unfair comparison. Writing encompasses so much: the story, the characters, the pacing, the tone, dialogue. Art is mainly important in conveying what is happening and sometimes what to feel (I've read some comics which have intentionally emotionless art though, and rely on the writing and the readers imagination). But the line between the two can be blurry, like for example, the colours in my comic (will) change bc certain colours are symbolic and reflect a character development and tell part of the story by itself (i'm not the best at describing) but is that art or writing? It's part of the plot, but reflected in purely visual ways? Comics are visual storytelling, you can't have one without the other.
I guess if forced to pick, I'd say writing, since I think I define art as pure aesthetics? while they help draw ppl in (esp with how competitive webcomics are since there are so many), writing just encompasses more.
As a writer,I'm going to have to say writing.Plot character development,world building,it's all needed in order to make an worthwhile comic,tv show,animation etc. Yes the art is important, but if one's for example comic
only has good artwork, but the story is lack luster...well is it really worth reading.
Pretty much this. I know I've clicked on a lot of comics that were very pretty looking but noped out on the first few pages because the cringe factor was too high to handle. Where as my favourite series are the ones that paid more attention to simply writing a quality story.
I think art is more important in general, but art needs writing as a crutch more than writing needs art as one.
The main reason is there's an abundance of styles of art that don't require any writing at all; Portraits, still-life, landscapes, photographs, you name it.
But for comics (especially the larger ones), they heavily require writing, but they compliment each other to make it even more appealing then to attract more people to them.
