Can Art Make Or Break A Comic?

[greatnessiam1]

Hello All!

1H3rO
here with another question for you all in the fine community of Tapastic!

**The question I have for you all today is simply this.
Does the art of a comic or animated show make or break it for you?**

I ask for reasons of if my comic would be treated different if the art were to change. Or even
if your favorite animated shows and stories had an art change. Would you still continue?

I believe strongly in a good story carrying it aslong as the art is good enough. But you tell me!
I'd love to hear your responses!

Cheers!

Infinite The Journey Have you joined the journey?

[DragonPena]

I read Hunter x Hunter and my level of enjoyment has never changed, regardless of how Togashi draws the art.. For people that don't know what I talk about, the author of Hunter x Hunter supposedly has an illness of sorts which has prevented him from continuing working Hunter x Hunter on a weekly basis thus the art wasn't exactly super high in quality
but I always enjoyed every chapter.

But I have heard different opinions, e.g. people that never gave One Piece a chance because of its "kiddish art", sorry for them, they don't know what they are missing.

[melonramune]

Yes, most definitely. The artist's style in comics is the equivalent of a writer's style in books.
Art is what tells the comic's story. How the artist focuses on various details and traits or the impression the art leaves on the readers changes how the story is interpreted and understood. Style is very important.
If the style were to change, the answer really depends. If your style continues to represent your comic's plot the same way or even better than your old style, people will still read your comic.

As for the quality of art, yes it does matter. But we readers can't really judge that. As long as the artist tries their best and makes something they're proud of, the art is a quality work.

[nikacomics]

I think it really depends on what kind of a story you're telling. Gag strips usually do better with limited artistic ability, can even make that part of the joke, but I think readers do expect a certain style for longer-form stories.

From what I've seen, beautiful art tends to draw people in, but good storytelling keeps them there

[DragonPena]

I agree.. Did you know is speculated that the creator of Death Note was himself/herself a famous mangaka, supposedly he/she had already created a very popular gag manga, Luckyman. The thing was his/her art wasn't what you would call good, certainly not as good as Obata's, so Jump paired him/her with Obata.

[gateofselidor]

It's going to depend a lot on the story. For example, a slice of life comic set in the same or similar culture to most of the reader base is usually going to have less information to communicate to the reader than say, a sci-fi or fantasy comic set in a made-up world. You can get away with a sparse background because the reader can easily fill in the details based on their own experience. A serious fantasy comic on the other hand needs to present a believable fictional world, so you need a lot of visual cues to indicate things like the level of technology available to characters. So I'm happy to read a simple comedy with not very good art if it makes me laugh, but I wouldn't hesitate to drop a sci-fi with mediocre/lazy art.

Art quality is a lot more complicated in comics than just 'can this person draw?' though. I think that the most important aspect is clarity, rather than whether the anatomy is great. Attack on Titan doesn't have particularly good art compared to many published manga (although it has gotten better), but it's always very obvious what happened in each panel, even in the middle of a fight scene. I've seen comics with very polished art just turn into a mess of speed lines and tangled limbs when they have to draw a more active scene.

As for when a comic changes style mid-way, that's also a potential deal-breaker for me. As an artist I understand that people's styles develop over time, or that someone might want to make a dramatic change in their art as a fresh start, but if as a reader I don't like the new style, or I feel it doesn't suit the story, I might well drop the comic altogether. I feel a little guilty for it, but sometimes it just ruins my enjoyment of the series.

[MylCreates]

Personally for me, yes. I can't watch a show or read a book if I don't like the art. One example is Fruit's Basket. I always hear good reviews about it but I could never get around to reading it because I just can't stand the art style. I know it's rude and judgmental of me, I'm sorry XD.
Then again, even if the art's good I wont follow a story/anime long if the story's bland. So in that case both good story and art is a requirement for me.

[ashikai]

I think it depends... An artist work evolves over time. My pages from two years ago are really different from my current pages, but I don't think any of my readers consider it a deal breaker. I think so long as the changes are gradual and natural it's fine. However, if a comic I was reading suddenly switched artists altogether and they had totally different styles, I'd be totally weirded out and I'd probably drop the series.

[MylCreates]

That actually happened with Take Care of My Cat where the artist was replaced. Personally I grew to like the original artist but the new artist isn't bad either. However idk if it's just the style but the characters personalities seemed to have changed a lot after the artist change. I miss the pouty faces XD

[oliviasstephen]

Personally, the story is what keeps me over art. One particular series I have in mind is Megan Rose Gedris' Yu + Me: Dream. Throughout the series, Megan drastically changes the style of the comic and even dabbles into a stop animation type thing for part of it. I still stuck through all of the changes and experimentation though because the story really grabbed me. Some of the evolutions were jarring at first but eventually you acclimate. If I'm being honest with myself, I think the writing of a comic needs to be solid first before art. Art is obviously a major part of comic-making and is part of what separates it from pure prose, but a lot of great webcomics had humble beginnings visually and grew into themselves after a few years.

So basically, I'm attracted to art but I marry the story.

[jjfresh]

I can be picky about art style but if the story is good, then I can easily disregard it.

I dislike when some people say they refuse to read.watch something simply because of the art style (or graphics) because it's pretty small minded for one and for two, they are missing out on a lot of good shows. Although, if I find a comic I dislike as a story and for its art style, I will point that out.

In general, I am drawn to excellent art work but all that matters to me is the story.

[VermillionWorks]

I agree with jjfresh on everything. A more amateur art style doesn't mean the writing will necessarily be amateur and I read some comics where this is the case. Though I also admit that some styles turn me off more than others, but that's all just a matter of taste. Certain animes styles sometimes make it harder for me to give it a chance...or if the characters are all just far too blank-faced; this really bugs me for some reason.

A switch in art styles on the other hand; while that CAN be jarring I have never stopped reading a comic when that's happened.

Slightly off-topic here, but I dislike when some people suggest that artists should try to improve by leaps and bounds before starting a webcomic. Making comics was one of the biggest, most fun ways I improved! (And am still using to improve.)

[keii4ii]

Visual storytelling can make or break a comic, but excellent visual storytelling does not always require excellent art.

Here are a few things that I think are crucial for a comic:

• The ability to capture a variety of body language and expressions.
• Effective use of camera angles and panel layouts to maximize the impact and smoothen the visual flow.
• Genre- and readership-specific things: if you're making an action-heavy comic, for instance, you'd better be good at portraying action in an easy-to-follow manner. Drawing a comic with lots of pretty boys for girls and young women? You gotta be able to draw pretty boys in a way they find attractive.

If you do really, REALLY bad at any of those things, it will hamper your writing. It might not completely break your comic, but the damage will be significant. Not necessarily to a degree where I'd stop reading your comic despite awesome writing, but if you're seriously bad at visual storytelling (especially the first two points), your story might work better as a straight-up prose.

[Amymone]

I'm not going to lie, I've actually jumped into obscure fandoms because the animated series suddenly got a season two art style change that appealed to me. Rarely do I ever find animated shows that have such unappealing art styles, I can't even keep my eyes open.

Above all else, I can learn to love whatever art style is used for a story, granted that the style is appropriate for the genre. There is a certain serialized title that has always aggravated me because it's story is very dark, but it's artwork is SO adorable~<3. I came into that fandom with a certain expectation based off of the artwork alone and left extremely disappointed.

One of the biggest problems I face a lot is liking just the characters and hating the over all development of the plot, especially when it ends. If I love how a character's story unfolds, I'll follow them to the depths of the underworld (kicking and screaming "don't hurt my baby"). Whether or not their art design appeals to me, honestly, is second to who they are or become over the course of the story.... but if you really want to make me draw fanart for them, then an appealing design is necessary.

[hannahvbel]

Personally...yes.
To me the style reflects how awesome the creator is...

[ErithEl]

Hunter x Hunter is THE BEST!!!

[ErithEl]

There's only been one webcomic I've come across that started with an art style that didn't really appeal to me, but I found the story so different and intriguing I made myself keep reading. I'm very glad I did, too, because the art style VASTLY improved and the story and characters just kept getting better and better.

Now, I know this may be taboo (since the comic is not on Tapastic as far as I know) But either way, I would highly recommend checking out The Archipelago. If you can make it through the first couple chapters, you'll be hooked by the time the art style changes!

[Entoxia]

Unfortunately for me, yes.

For me personally, half of comic work is all about the artwork and reading a story with a style I find appealing. If I don't find it visually tasteful it's going to be very difficult to keep my attention. In fact, I can only think of one comic which style I didn't particularly like win me over with the story.

In the past when comics or TV shows I watched had a sudden and drastic style over haul is usually when I dropped out. For some reason I don't feel like it's the same story, kind of like when a band gets a new singer; no matter how good the material I can't let go of what I loved before. An example of this is when Foamy the Squirrel got the style change. I had followed it for a long time but I just don't like the chibi look and feel the show should have been put to rest.

I don't however feel the same about an artist developing style over time. Small changes and improvements aren't something I mind, as long as its not a sudden jerk in a different direction. I know from personal experience that when I changed my style completely in the past, I lost 50% of my watchers attention. People tend to want the style they followed to begin with recognizable and in tact.

[LTyler]

I think - at least initially - art does matter. The way I like to think about it, is that the art is the bait... But the story is the hook. You can have a really great hook, but without any good bait you probably won't be catching many fish (fans) so to speak. But, once they are hooked, they're unlikely to go anywhere.
But, likewise, you can have the best bait in the world - but without a good hook, you're not going to be catching much, either.
So in this way, I don't think art will ever be able to 'make' a comic - I've seen quite a few comics with fantastic art, that just can't keep me reading beyond a few pages... The story rendering it unreadable, or unappealing.
And I've also read some comics that, due to the art, I was hesitant to pick up at first - but afterwords, I was glad I did... The only time the art would 'break' the comic, for me, is if the art simply can't portray what it needs to be portraying - be it expressions, actions, character consistency, ect. If I can't follow the story properly because the art falls short, then that can break it.
Though, it's worth noting that most artists I know tend to be very picky about the art in comics - because they're artists! If the artwork looks like I, personally, could do a lot better - that does put a dent in things...
But for non-artists? Awesome art is cool and all, but it's not the end-all-be-all.

People will make snap judgements. After all, the art is the first thing people will see - it's good to make a good first impression. But beyond that first impression that gets people reading, it's not nearly as important as the story quality.

[Entoxia]

Though, it's worth noting that most artists I know tend to be very picky about the art in comics - because they're artists! If the artwork looks like I, personally, could do a lot better - that does put a dent in things...

^^^ yeah this is actually a good point I forgot to mention. As an artist myself, if theres an element in the comics art I feel I could do better, its going to drive me silly trying to read through it. Especially if its something like anatomy (which mine isnt perfect either! but the point still stands.)