Artists doing both vertical and classic versions of their comics

[fanyart]

Hello,

I would like to ask the artists that do their comics both in the vertical and the classic format to share their experience.

Which version you prefferred personally?
Which got more views, subscribers and overall popularity?
Did you have some interesting experience with either of the format?
Why did you choose both formats?

Thank you for sharing! I'm doing a research paper on modern trends in webcomics and would really appreciate your info

(I'm also a comic artist and am publishing a comic named Crow which I did back in highschool - http://tapastic.com/series/DHCrow
and recently tried to do a mobile version to see which fares better - http://tapastic.com/series/dhcrowmobile

The "classic" version is ahead with updates but I don't think it really matters as readers of either version won't find the other unless on my profile.)

[PotooGryphon]

Great topic! I'm curious about other people's experiences are as well.

Which version do you prefer personally?

It depends. I read on the PC, so horizontal format is nice for me and it's the format I'm use to after years of reading printed comics. However, vertical comics done right are quite brilliant as well.

Which got more views, subscribers and overall popularity?

My vertical format series is currently more popular (most subscriber, views, etc.), however, I promote that version more. My Oops website, posts a new horizontal page every Saturday, and my Tapastic series (both vertical and horizontal formats) post the same page on Wednesdays. So I don't annoy my followers by sharing a link to the same horizontal page they just saw on the website a few days before, I post links to the vertically format Tapastic page so it's something new and different to check out. I think my vertical format comic is more popular, because I focus more attention on my vertical format comic series than I do the horizontal format Tapastic series.

Did you have some interesting experience with either of the format?

Hmmm, interesting how?

Why did you choose both formats?

I do both because my pages are originally created in horizontal format and Tapastic really encourages creators to create in vertical format. I vertically format my pages for Tapastic to conform to their mobile optimization and I post the original horizontal pages, because they're already done and some reader prefer the horizontal of the vertical.

Oops Comic Adventure Vertical Format
Oops Comic Adventure Horizontal Format

[scythe]

Which version you prefferred personally?

Like above, that depends. I have a widescreen retina, and the horizontal format is a treat on that. But on a mobile there's no question that vertical is better. On a tablet I could go either way, although I lean towards the full page view.

Which got more views, subscribers and overall popularity?

Vertical. Hands down.

Why did you choose both formats?

Also like above, I design and plot my comics as full pages, which means I have so many more options, including doing double page spreads. I can also easily print it IRL when the time comes.

I don't host my full page comic here though, I do that on my own site, which I've set up so it can be viewed as a double page spread if your screen is wide enough. After that's done, I take the individual panels and reformat them as vertical.

[UzukiCheverie]

With one series in vertical and one series in classic, there really isn't one that I prefer over the other. It just depends on the style of the story you're going for. If you're doing a traditional type manga, classic is always the way to go. But if you're going for something a little more casual and daily, vertical is often the choice. In the end it's up to you u o u I do Uzuki in vertical because it looks -great- in vertical and in its original horizontal format, it's way too squished. But I do Time Gate in classic because it's done in more of the style of a traditional manga and it looks fine with Tapastic's formats because it doesn't stretch too wide.

Soo ya. No real preference, it just depends on the storytelling style you're going for u w u

[blacksuncomic]

I like this topic.

I'll admit, the first time I saw the vertical format for comics I didn't like it but now I'm convinced it's the best way for a user to digest a comic on a mobile device. So In regards to which I prefer, it really depends on the medium.

On a mobile device I would rather read a comic formatted vertically then a digital version of a page that should really be in print.

In regards to views and subscribers? I'm new here so not too much going on in that department (indirect plea for attention http://tapastic.com/series/black-sun ... lol).

I originally did my Black Sun in print. I'm reformatting it for mobile. I think I'll leave the print version for actual physical prints (at least that's my outlook at this point in time).

In regards to Dragon Heros, I gotta say that I'm partial to the mobile version. It just flows so much better that the print version (not that the print version is bad, I just think that print version would work better in finished printed book).

[jonsaintamant]

I'll admit, the first time I saw the vertical format for comics I didn't like it but now I'm convinced it's the best way for a user to digest a comic on a mobile device.

I agree. Vertical looks great on a mobile device. I design all of my comic pages in horizontal format to be printed as zines and sold at conventions. When I started posting Shelby and the Blooms here, it was in horizontal format. I emailed a question to Tapastic about how I can get my comic featured, and they responded with the suggestion to change to vertical. So now, I individually copy every frame from my horizontal formatted pages, and paste them vertically. It's time-consuming, but it's easier to read and understand on a smaller device.

[bluefairy]

Vertical format gives you incredible possibilities for impact! It is as if you are watching a movie... You have the next parts hidden while scrolling, so the pacing which you have in the horizontal format with turning the page is now even more enhanced. I had my heart pounding really fast a few times when reading a vertical comic that was really well done... But I found out that you can't simply cut and paste your horizontal stuff and expect to have the same effect... You have to design the pages vertically with the thought how it will appear and the impact they will have. And it is so much more fun! Somehow you have some of the advantages that the movies have suddenly within your reach to use for your comic as well... I am sure the vertical design is not still so popular, but it will be soon much more than the horizontal, because more and more people have smart phones. I have no idea how they've done it - it is so much easier to scroll down and read than click every time you finish a horizontal page. And it doesn't even slow down inspite of all those large images!

[scythe]

That's so true about it being more like watching the action take place in real time rather than seeing it all at once as a page. As for turning standard pages into a vertical format, I think you can achieve great effects with it if you put the effort into your layouts, as oppose to just by copying and pasting panels and hoping for the best.

[gateofselidor]

I've recently started posting a vertical edition of my comic. (regular here and vertical here, for comparison). It's too early to tell which is more successful because the regular version is older and has a presence on other sites, but it's been an interesting experience. My work is very heavy on detail, and the vertical format had allowed me to show the panels much larger than before. I've had to sacrifice consistent line thickness, and it has had a negative impact on some of the landscapes because they tend to be horizontal panels. I think I prefer the regular format because that's what I designed the comic to be, but I really enjoy the vertical format and I'm already planning on taking advantage of it with an unrelated short story that will be vertical-only.

[SadSacks]

My comics were all horizontal and then I started converting them to vertival just for Tapastic. I ended up strongly agreeing with their advice, vertical is best! Now I just create that way instead of converting.

[fanyart]

Wow, thanks so much for sharing your experiences! It's really interesting, I feel I'll be sad when my assignment is over and I'll have to leave the world of webcomics... it's just so fascinating!

Good luck with your comics in both versions!

What I just noticed that while the number of subscribers of the mobile version of Crow was going up, I sent that "wall message" or what it's called to subscibers that "Crow has now a mobile version too" thinking that it would only go to the subscribers of horizontal Crow but it probably went to all of my subscribers and something weird happened - some people resubscribed from Crow mobile to Crow horizontal.

I would get it if it was the other way around considering most of your experiences and this site's motto.
My only explanation would be that the horizontal version is ahead of the mobile. But with all that talk and statistics about mobile versions being simply the best it just feels weird. Or did I do the vertical version wrong? Someone commented that they liked it so I don't know anymore... I guess I just have to exclude this from my research

Anyway, thanks!