Characters Introduced Early or As The Story Goes On?

[Migue]

Tottaly agree. I think that if you just present a lot of characters without any kind of narrative attached to them they wont be important for the reader and he/she will forget about the character as soon as he dissappear of panel.

[ButterflyEmpress]

I think they should be introduced progressively or when the start to become relevant. I find it annoying when a bunch of characters get introduced in the beginning, only for some of them to be put to the side until the plot needs them and by that time I forgotten about them.

[travelercomic]

To me it really just depends on when it makes sense for the character to be introduced. Only two of the initial four main characters are shown in the first chapter of our comic for instance, but two more will be in chapter 2. Then there are certain characters that appear to have little importance to the story at first, but as the story goes on they will be integral to the plot.

[jennula]

I actually introduced all four main characters, although two of them briefly, in the first chapter of my current comic. In the second chapter, the briefly introduced character got the limelight and got properly introduced. With each chapter, I usually present a few characters that are secondary to the story, but to help understand the main character's back stories and personalities and such, and I guess that will happen for a few more chapters =)

I've introduced main characters to stories pretty late in older comics, but I think I prefer to introduce them early and flesh them out as the story goes - I've made this character, let me tell you (almost) everything about them XD

[zetina]

See, a lot of times they all do have a narrative but also their names and bits of it all appear at once/quick succession. So if there's a bunch of people competing for screentime, I'll sooner tune the information out because idk what is important yet. A lot of time I end up invested way down the line and rereading such beginning parts makes me learn a lot I had missed haha

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

I like to introduce characters over time. It feels less cluttered that way and I can produce a stronger story.

[ryoko]

I don't think introducing an important character later on stops readers from getting attached. I think readers get overwhelmed if you suddenly throw ALL your characters at them first off. There's no right or wrong way, it's just a matter of how your comic is set up and how you go about pacing your storyline. I have several characters that weren't immediately introduced but are very important to the main plot. I'm pretty sure one of them has become the most popular character now.

[scythe]

If you can't introduce a character early on, why not leave a hint about the character? Often not seeing them, but just hearing about them is more enjoyable than the actual character.

The bad guy from the Luke Cage show was like that. They all kept talking about him like he was the baddest bad ass going, and super hidden, and it was great, then he showed up and he was kinda meh. But I digress. As long as when your character does arrive they aren't meh, should be a cool addition to your story.

[Mocha]

I think it really depends on what length of story you're writing. If it's a long story having everyone introduced in the beginning will probably feel too forced (of course there are exceptions). Introducing everyone in the beginning would make more sense if it's a short story I think...

Anyways I personally get attached to both early and late introduced characters, so it's mostly just a matter of preference.