Be honest if this is you

[dominioncomix]

Yes, absolutely! For me, a big appeal of webcomics is also seeing how the art style developed over the course of it, so i like reading some recent stuff before going to the beginning and enjoying the art evolution alongside the story!

[TheOddFungi]

No, I don't. My mom does and it drives me crazy. Like, I want to try and figure out the ending on my own or just let the plot happen. I don't want to know the ending before I even begin and as a writer I would feel kind of cheated (not sure if this is the right wording) if someone read the last chapter of my story before starting it.

And since the last chapter is completely out of context if one doesn't read up to that point, then how can they say the ending was good or bad?

[Coati]

I usually read the first. In case its like a super long and old comic, I only take a look at the last one to see how the art improved because I love to see those things. But I go for the first in order to see if it is good

[Beppobear]

SAME! Literally, I hateee spoilers!

[Beppobear]

Oh I can reason with that. It gives you something to look forward to.

[Beppobear]

Same, I was asking because I noticed how the latest chapter of my web-novel has more views.

[Beppobear]

I love the artistic development so it's understandable!

[TheOddFungi]

Ugh, I guess I should prepare myself for that then

[IamKeeks]

As a head's up: sometimes, when I click the story links in the promotional forums, they send me to the latest chapter or the "read" button tries to start me on the most recent chapter. I'm not sure whether this is a setting one can toggle on the creator side. I haven't found it, on my dashboard. So I often accidentally ended up on the latest chapter thinking I'm reading the first one.

[noenoh]

I dont like to spoil myself if Im interested on a story so I avoid doing it but I must confess I have checked a couple of works when Ive noticed the art in the thumbnails looks different (usually when there are collaboration stories).

I dont care the art quality decreases, its a thing Im already aware happens a lot in new artists not bebause they are bad at drawing but mostly because they are pressured with their deadlines they set for themselves, so as long their story keeps being interesting I dont care, I keep reading.

Theres a lot of sotries Im interested on reading rn, Im subbed but havent find the time to read and Im avoiding to check new chapters lol

[TheOddFungi]

It is a setting that you can find when editing your story. From my understanding the default is set to "start from beginning chapter" though as it has always been turned off for me. It's at the very bottom of the editing page.

[pilot-obvious]

I'm always tempted to read, but I restrain myself because I'm worried I'm going to ruin surprises! I might skim through to look at the art if it's a comic though! I can't resist looking at amazing artwork!

[GumshoeComix]

nooo I wouldn't want to spoil myself like that ;;
All the stuff in my library are things I really enjoy and spoilers would ruin that for me
if I read the first few chapters and I don't like it, oh well, I'm sure someone else will.
And when it comes to novels I wait for them to be finished to start reading, so there's some I'm following that I've read one or 2 chapters of that I'm just sitting on until they're done.

[Beppobear]

It's not bad, it just makes you feel a lil' disappointed for a while but hey, that's what comes with writing and sharing your stories online!

[Beppobear]

Oh boy idk how you do it! My curiosity gets the best of me and I can't help taking a peek. But then the peeks turns into finishing the whole thing lol! I get you though!

[thedude3445]

Sometimes I'll scroll a few later episodes, but I'll turn my brain off and try not to pay attention to the story. I'm more looking at how the art is, and how long each episode is, and if it feels like the story has progressed a lot in the X episodes up to this random one I clicked.

I don't do it often but it usually gives a quick glance view of the comic better than the first episodes which are often either rough, or higher quality than the rest, or too slow with intros to get a good view of the comic in its "natural state."

[Rhonder]

I'm pretty spoiler adverse, so I don't usually check out the end of anything, comics or novels included. It's not uncommon for comics in particular that I might see some of the newer pages as my first exposure to a series, and I do think that that is effective for intriguing people, but I would never then go and read like... the most recent chapter first or something.

That said this is only for story-based series. If it's a comedy strip or whatever I have no issues starting with the newer stuff and maybe going back at my leisure.

[Llyrel]

Like others here, I don't generally read the most recent episodes of a comic/novel. I hate spoilers and I much prefer to read everything from the start. Might definitely take a look at recent pages to see how the art changed/improved, though, especially if it's a comic that's been going on for years and/or if the artist specifically mentions that their style changed after a certain number of episodes still won't read what's in the bubbles to avoid spoilers, though!

[joannekwan]

I don't mind spoilers, but thoroughly looking at the latest update of anything story-based is pointless for me since I'm seeing it out of context.
If I find a series to check out, I will immediately scroll to the first episode to see if it's my jam.

[vvodbow]

Like most answers here, I generally only skip to the latest ep (or somewhere in the middle) if the art style or vibe isn't matching with the series banner/thumbnail. Then I'll take a quick 5-sec glance at the first frame/page of that latest ep, to avoid knowing the contents.

I'm less afraid of spoilers than starting a series in a way not intended by the creator(s). Not like there's any rule that dictates how a story should be read, but I can't help but feel a bit disrespectful for doing so

By the way, I might be deviating a bit, but just curious if anyone feels conflicted as a creator to have new readers start from your latest ep vs. the beginning because your art style improved significantly over time, esp. for not-so-episodic series