Comics with old people

Chocolate 2016-01-01 18:25:54 UTC #1

Hi guys! My question is... What do you think of seeing old people in comics? Does it turn you off or made you want to read it? As I got older, I somehow steer my attention towards older characters. I don't know; within 10 or 20 years, I'll most likely create a grandpa who save the world with his walking cane. Idk, I'm not sure about the direction I'm heading. I'm afraid I would lose new readers and my old subsctibers if make a comic about an old, boring character. I wouldn't want to waste my time if nobody read... :<

Do you guys have any webcomic/comic suggestions for me to read and study to see if I can get any inspiration/ideas? Thank you! :>

AnnaLandin 2016-01-01 18:37:37 UTC #2

My comic has one main character who is somewhere in his mid 30s (though he looks older - he's had a rough time of it), and most of the cast is in the 25-35 span - with a few outliers (a little girl and an old lady) - and people seem to be enjoying that.

I don't know if I'm just odd, but I've always made stories about adults. I guess it just feels like adults would have more skills/life experience, and therefore more likely to do well on the adventures I send them off on? Or maybe I've just played one too many Japanese RPGs in which teenagers save the world (playing one right now where a cast member who is 28 is referred to as an old fogey. :T) and got sick of seeing wet-behind-the-ears babies saving the world? I don't know why, but that's the way it is.

I think that as long as you make an interesting story, people will read it, regardless of how old your characters are.

VermillionWorks 2016-01-01 18:40:20 UTC #3

Ha, I actually asked a similar question in another thread and @joannekwan gave a good answer:

joannekwan:

Ooh, great question!

I think a series with an older cast could definitely turn away some readers, particularly teenaged ones, since they're at that age when they're beginning to figure out who they are as a person and consume media featuring people/characters doing the same thing. But having an older cast could also be an interesting hook, like in the movie Red (but even that has that young woman who is thrust into the old pros' world).

For me, how much I can relate to a character is based mostly on their personality.I'm subbed to this one series, Easy (careful, some nsfw stuff and man x man themes), about a middle-aged teacher who is still trying to find himself. He isn't particularly handsome, or fit, or dashing (so like a lot of 40+ year old men xD), and I can see how people can pass over it. But I enjoy it because he's introverted, shy, and a little grumpy at times, all of which can describe me as well.

But definitely looks are a huge part of it. Like vampires can be hundreds of years old, but they're usually very beautiful/handsome/young looking, and those are the ones that sell. I think people tend to be more shallow than they like to admit.

Frankly, it wouldn't turn me off as long as they're interesting characters and I think there should be more stories with older people in the starring roles, or who aren't just there to give advice and disappear, but you may have to accept that some younger, picky readers may be turned away....though if they're interesting enough, perhaps not as many as we might think?

I feel the same way. XP

winglesscomic 2016-01-01 19:29:20 UTC #4

Howl's Moving Castle was captivating even though for most of the movie the protagonist was an old lady. But I think that's what gave it its charm, was Sophie adjusting to the life of an old lady and then just rolling with it.

It might turn some younger demographic away - in the same way that stories about young people might turn an older demographic away as well. I personally don't like reading many stories with teenagers even though I'm not much older. I'd actually prefer reading a story about an older person since they aren't very common (like, 60-80 yrs old, not middle aged). As long as the story is written well, though, I don't think many people would care toooo much about the characters' ages.

YamamotoRyuunosuke 2016-01-01 19:48:55 UTC #5

I think young characters have different traits than older ones. It doesn't depends on the age but how well you portrait the character and how it fits its surroundings (or how he doesn't if it's the case).

I'm very new to webcomics, but I can talk about manga. We often see in series like dragon ball, naruto or bleach, there's always an overpowered granpa! Master roshi, kami, Jiraiya, the third hokage, Genryuusai yamamoto, etc...
While older characters have skills and experience, young ones have dreams, ideals and potential. This is explicitly said in Shaman King.
Then you have a few stories about old people. For example, Cyborg J-san the first manga by takeshi obata, it's abut a granpa that turns his own body into a badass cyborg. This one is a comedy. Another one with similar setting but a lot more mature approach is Inu Yashiki by Oku Hiroya, this one is about an elder man whose family doesn't care about and the only loved one he has is his dog. one day he finds out he has a few months to live and he gets killed by a landing UFO and these aliens decide to turn him into a machine.
Again, it's not about the character but the approach you give in the story. You have Cyborg J-San which is about an old man, but it's supposed to be a story for young boys. And then you have Zetman, where all the main characters are between 14 and 19, the story and setting are very mature and not appealing to a teenager.

zetina 2016-01-01 19:59:28 UTC #6

Old people aren't necessarily boring. In fact, they often have a lot to tell. And there's also aspects of their aged, unreliable minds to explore. Like, writing a thriller where no one believes what they see and they doubt their own memories. Then there's various quirks and wisdom and wrinkles that tell a lot abt their character (if they smiled a lot in life, you can tell). Idk it seems like a wholly unexplored area. And with our overall society aging so much, and the technology, our very own generation will be a band of internet-surfing old coots! Just think! Sites built entirely by and for old people! That's our future, dude. So I think that's when retiree protags will be the bomb haha

Chocolate 2016-01-01 20:06:13 UTC #7

Oh thank you @VermillionWorks! I'll check it out! :33

shazzbaa 2016-01-01 20:12:50 UTC #8

I have a lot of readers who are highschool - college age. In my comic, there are three main characters, two of whom are 20 and 17, and one of whom is this guy:

(he's actually much younger than he looks, but that's not obvious from the comic so far)

When I ran a "which character is your favourite" poll on Deviantart, the winner was DEAD EVEN between this guy and the 17-year old... which means that even among my younger readers, he's one of the most popular characters of the comic. It was really unexpected for me -- I love this guy but I didn't expect other people to care about him as much as I do!

It's worth mentioning that if your current comic is like..... idk, not to pick on BL, but if your current comic is BL and the main interest is young, attractive people discovering themselves, and then you switch to a comic with a protagonist who's 74, you are probably going to lose some of the subscribers who came for young, attractive characters they related to more.

What's important to you here, though? If it's getting and keeping subscribers, then yeah, don't do anything that might turn anyone off. But if it's telling the story you want to tell and connecting with people who needed to hear that story, then you might be surprised, like me, to find that there are a lot of readers who enjoy the same thing you do. In my opinion, I'd focus less on "HOW DO I TELL A STORY WITH OLD PEOPLE" and more on the character whose story you want to tell, and how to make their story compelling and tell it well!

iddqd 2016-01-01 20:23:15 UTC #9

We all better identify with people who go through the same challenges of psychosocial development as us, and someone in their 50s goes through quite a different set of challenges than someone in their teens. Take a look at Erik Erikson influential work in this field.

I can think of a few movies about older people, but as far as comics or manga are concerned, I can only think of the Old Boy manga off top of my head. Pretty sure there have to be a few others. Maybe something by Robert Crumb?

4LS 2016-01-01 20:40:41 UTC #10

I would absolutely read a comic where a grandpa saves the world (obviously assuming the writing and art are okay).

People say 'write what you know', so I don't think it's surprising that younger characters dominate the scene - the majority of comic / webcomic creators are young (or young-ish), and they write characters in their age bracket. I'm certainly guilty of this, though I've included older characters in my casts, and like @shazzbaa I've found they have been popular. But personally, I've got a bit sick of seeing a bunch of teenagers / twenty-somethings saving the world - whereas an old character would stand out from the crowd and grab my attention. I say go for it!

Just make sure he's a real person, not just a sterotype grandpa figure - that'll be what will make him interesting. It might help to try and imagine him as a younger person first, and then imagine how that person would have aged - rather than just starting out with 'he's a grandpa', like his age is his defining feature.

mg78 2016-01-01 21:26:36 UTC #11

growing up imho it's natural to fit in a story mature characters because what a story is, its what we image and feel... so growing up we reflect ourself.

to me it doesnt metter what i read. old, young, male, female, alien, unform, unicorns, whatever.... the only MAIN rule is and must be: there must be a soul, a why, an essence and in the end, something that ll be let in the reader.
imho if there s a why, everyone or everything can be in a story. no matter what.

MarineHaddock 2016-01-02 13:13:14 UTC #12

I'm currently working on a short comic where all the main characters are in their 70s (though I might switch the ages up slightly depending on my drawing skills). I don't know how it's going to be received, especially with being a short oneshot, but people I've mentioned it to at least pretended to be interested.

I personally always want comics with older characters, but they're so hard to find. I prefer stuff about adults personally so you basically guarantee me as a reader (good thing about low competition). I got sick of teenagers in things and even people in their early 20s. It will turn some people away, but others are looking for this kind of comic.

There's a manga I read which isn't very popular called Mother Keeper, and in it there are 3 men who are almost 50 and 2 of those men are the most popular characters among fans, especially in the non English speaking fanbase. If they're interesting, people will like them regardless of their age.

KSlinger 2016-01-02 13:56:53 UTC #13

I'm the opposite actually, and tend to avoid comics containing only teenagers/children. Most older characters have more agency than younger ones and I get frustrated by much of what goes on in typical high-school/other child-centric settings, not only because of the (usually quite) limited surroundings but because I just can't relate to a lot of what's going on.

Don't mind a mix at all, though. There are some really great comics with a combination of ages, like Humor Me, Grassblades, and Big Jo. In my comic, West, the ages of important characters ranges from 80s to 8 years. I don't discriminate at all, if I can help it, but I do find older characters to be more interesting over all. With younger ones they have a lot of growing to do, but with older ones their identities are much more of a puzzle.

That said, I don't currently read any comics with very old people in them. Wanderlust Blues comes to mind, and Alone. Hunter Black also contains a lot of older men and women. Comics with ONLY older people in them though? I haven't seen many.

scythe 2016-01-02 22:13:32 UTC #14

Bad stories turn off people. Old, young, I don't think it matters, as long as you're telling a good story.

smilingblackmoon 2016-02-02 01:37:31 UTC #15

southern bastards. protagonist is old and bitter as hell and it's one of the best comics in print right now.

Aspie_Gamer 2016-02-02 01:48:04 UTC #16

Life of an Aspie has a "grandma" esque character in her mid 60's despite looking like she's ten years younger than that. She's not a stereotypical grandma as readers will find out as LoaA grows and accumulates continuity

whirlwyndstorm 2016-02-02 03:10:55 UTC #17

The "mentor" character is one of my favorite archetypes and they're usually older characters so it definitely doesn't bother me! One of my old scrapped comics was a magical-girlish team where the age ranges were pretty wide. One of the characters was in her 60s.

Jabbage 2016-02-05 18:34:25 UTC #18

OH GOSH HOW DID I MISS THIS THREAD? This is a great question and right up my street

One of the things I love about webcomics and indie comics is that we're not pinned down to the kinds of protagonists that tend to do best in mainstream media. So often protagonists are young and on a coming of age story, but I keep finding myself being drawn towards including older characters because they present so many possibilities - they have a lifetime of experience, plenty of chance to have collected regrets and made mistakes, and I think I really enjoy stories that reflect on the entire life of a character. Not to mention the fact that they're likely to have different motivations and concerns to younger characters - motivations that haven't been done to death already!

My comic The Art of Monsters has an older man, Wu Huan, a hermit who has sequestered himself from the world and gradually befriended a formerly malevolent mountain spirit. The fact that he is older and mortal, while his friend Hui is immortal and ageless, is a main point in the story. My other comic Breaking the Lore is about an older lady who ends up with a daughter through magical means and who is forced to deal with the consequences of that. Many of her decisions are fuelled by her desire to make sure her family are able to take care of themselves before she dies.

Now... does an older protagonist put people off? I'm going to say... possibly on a superficial level. I found I was having trouble attracting attention to Breaking the Lore while Estrith, the old lady, was the face of my banner.As soon as I stuck her daughter on there, suddenly I was picking up more views. Which... is kind of sad, but there you go.

VermillionWorks 2016-02-05 20:10:12 UTC #19

I'll also add something, if you make an older character, they don't have to say, "I'm getting too old for this."
I'm just sayin', I feel like I hear old characters say that a lot. XD