Critique my Banners, please! (I'll critique your works as well!)

[Heliox14]

Good day/evening!!
I'm Helioxiv, the author of Background People. It's not your typical teen-lit novel, I tell you now. Check it out if you don't believe me.
Anyways, because I've reached 25 subs, I thought of releasing a banner, just to, you know, attract a few more readers and improve the overall look of the story.
Here you go:

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Please, don't hold back. Criticize it as many times as you want.
If I need to go an entirely different direction, please tell me.
Thanks!
-Helioxiv

[Mr_B]

Okie dokie, lemme take a shot at it!

I would definitely say I prefer the bottom banner more. The rocky background of the top one makes it difficult for letters to stand out (it took me a bit to realize that "A novel by Helioxiv" was there). Also, there appears to be a watermark on that image? Or is it text you added yourself? If it's the latter, then it's too faint for you to get your point across. If it's the former, it's visible enough to be noticed. I would personally prefer a non-watermarked image.

The "Reader advisory" label is a nice touch and gives the audience an idea what kind of attitude to expect, so I'd keep it. However, in picking the second banner I would maybe make the font bigger, so it spreads across the entire length of the banner. Since there is a wall in the back, maybe even pick a font that looks more like grafitti.

Whatever you choose, hope it works for you and gets you more readers.

[Amberday]

i only read the summary. first thing's first. make sure the photos you use are original and not downloaded from google. you could be sued for those. then choose a better font for the title. thin, fancy fonts don't match with walls. graffiti would be better. use the overlay effect so that the letters will blend with the texture to look more realistic. you can also be more creative with your photography skills by taking photos of places that inspired your comic (like the street where your mc regularly walks, the school, park, a beautiful sunset, etc.) and use fancy fonts.i also volunteer to edit the photo if you want because i'm bored.

[Cera_OMalley]

maybe against the wall have a silhouette of a crowd. then in the back, smaller 'at a distance' have your main character(s) drawn with details

example:

with the ones in the back, drawn with details

[VikiKuli]

H! So, here is my feedback. I prefer the bottom one but have feedback on it. Have A Novel by Helioxiv lower down, do not exceed the height of the Reader Advisory message on the let, as it helps with the symmetry of the banner, but I do suggest keeping the two lines separate as you do. Moving it down gives a chance to make the title more centered and a bit larger. Have it slightly above the vertical half-way mark to help with symmetry. Good choice of color though! It works well together.
If you'd like to critique my comic below, feel free, but no need to if you are busy and what not

Wednesday7 | Tapas

Best of luck with getting more subs!

[XzynderVexymous]

What’s up Helio?

I won’t criticize but I will say that the second one looks better and clearer.

[KoreanTacos]

Banner 2 is much easier to read than 1, but banner 1 is more visually interesting, but hard to read the bottom right, not to mention whatever it says in the center of the banner (something box?)

I kind of agree with Cera, it would be more visually appealing, you don't even need to draw it, you can just take a picture of some people and just make them silhouettes. It would be more visualy interesting, but only with banner 2. If you do it with banner one it'll look like a Linkin Park album.

You're more than welcome to critique if you'd like:

JODDAS VAPD | Tapas

[ZatchZ]

Choose a different font.
Center the text, or blow it up to fill the empty space.
Where it says "A Novel By ... Heliovix" choose a font that takes up for surface area or choose one that contrasts with the background.
I wouldn't recommend a gray background, not that attractive. You want your font to pop, not to blend in.

[lunaartemisasama]

I prefer the first one, don't be afraid of using all your space, you can lower opacity in the background so it doesn't compete with you title, and I would prefer a display font more bold, not so sure if you are going for a graffitti like style... or something more formal

I don't like the use of two type of fonts. So maybe you can stick with one for the title and use a more common font for your name like the one in readers advisory? ( a sans serif one) Just a suggestion.

People above me pointed out other important things, and interesting ideas.