Do I have what it takes to make a great comic?

[SeasonofTreason]

Hello there, this is my first post. I'll preface this by saying I'm almost mid-20s and I realized I've been feeling aimless in life and embarrasingly enough I've wasted a lot of time worrying about silly things like why I can't get a date or engaging with questionable internet communities such as the black pill.
It's been maybe 9-10 months since I picked up drawing again after abandoning it for many years and I set up the mileage to draw every day or at least every other day with the intent of creating characters and making my own graphic novel. I have a sci-fi/space opera meets superhero-esque story for which I've been planning some rich world-building and lore which I'd love to be able to illustrate, I have some of the main cast designed and the first episode is pretty much planned out, I have some of my artwork down below if anyone wants to take a look, I know it's nothing to write home about but I'm working my way up there.
I feel like this gives meaning to my life and I'll keep on doing this even if I'm not going to make a profit from it or, although it would hurt a lot, no one would want to read it, just the fact that I'll have it fully realized before my eyes is enough to keep me going.
Sorry if this turned into an overly-dramatic rant, thanks for reading!

[abigaillmartin]

Indeed! The composition and the character design I think you got it. But that’s just me I’m a bit of an amateur.

[Yuurena]

Heyyy, I don't know what you're going through to make you feel aimless in life, but I say you keep going! Even if no one reads it! Do it for you! I, myself, though I've been working on my own comic for the 5th year now, have at most 2 consistent readers Yes, it's sad, because you don't feel that all your effort and love that you've poured into creating it has been rewarded or at least acknowledged, but whenever I find myself thinking "ah what's the point? no one's gonna read it anyway..." I always answer myself "yeah but I will." I love my characters, and I wanna watch them grow and overcome their difficulties, so even no one else wants to witness it, I'll be there to do it. SO do it for you, do it for your world that you've busted your ass to build, and do it for your characters that you've carved into life <3 They are worth that effort!

[SeasonofTreason]

Thank you!

[SeasonofTreason]

Thanks for the reply! Yeah that's pretty much what I always try to tell myself that even if I'm the only member of the audience the only thing that matters is that I'm truly entertained by my creation even if no one else would be.

[abigaillmartin]

Yeah dude that’s how I feel. Most likely if you like what you’re doing others will do too! If you like your characters, most likely, others may as well! Just trust your instincts that’s what I do!

[HGohwell]

You seem to have a solid enough grasp on art and the elements of it to make a comic. I can't just how well you can tell a story from your art, of course, and that is a big part of comics but the art is definitely solid enough. As long as you're realistic about your goals and how hard and long the journey is, you should be fine. Because it is a long, hard journey. Some basic a advice:

• Try not to worry too much about how great your first comic is. I'd say, do a short, simple one to get the hang of it first, because it's a learning experience and a lot of first projects are learning experiences and suck by virtue of being that, but some people do just jump straight in and learn as they go.
• Try not to overthink and hesitate for too long. While some people never plan or build buffers, some people are the other end of the spectrum and worry too much about getting it right and being great first time they never publish anything.
• Please, please, don't make the mistake basically all of us have made and publish without a buffer. Your buffer will be a live saver.

But yeah, you're art looks more than good enough and if you've got a story to back it up and the perseverance to stick with it and not get put off by the lack of early engagement (it's notoriously difficult to get the ball rolling, people come here after a few weeks complaining about lack of engagement and I have to fight the need to tell them to come back in a year when they've actually shown commitment) you should be fine.

[SeasonofTreason]

Thanks for the advice. Yeah I'd say I definitely fall into the latter category as I tend to overthink things into oblivion and get stuck with ideating and refining a lot and it takes a long time to get myself actually started because of that, but I've been making progress in this regard. Now with the buffer thing I can't say I have a lot of experience leveraging social media so that would also take quite a bit of work. I wouldn't say I'd be put off by the initial lack of engagement as it's something I kinda expect to happen at least in the first stages.

[HGohwell]

As long as you're aware that engagement can be slow, you should be fine. It's frustrating, but it seems to be something people miss. It seems to have trailed off these days but there are periods where people pop up after only a few days wondering why they haven't got hundreds of subs yet.

The buffer is very important. So many people go into webcomics thinking it'll be fine just draw it and update as they go. Which is fine if this really is just a hobby and you don't care for engagement, but to pick up an audience, consistent posting is one of the biggest draws, so having an amount of the comic pre-drawn and ready to go in case you fall behind schedule for any reason can be a life saver. How much, there's no real consensus, some people got for chapters, some people got for scenes, some people just got for staying a page ahead. It just depends on where you're comfortable, but just do yourself a favour and don't try to make a page then post then make the next page then post, it will lead to burn out so quickly.

[Lensing]

I think your art has everything that it takes but it has to meet your own requirements
and has to fit to the story you are telling and those 2 things are really hard about making
comics

[wispysing]

Hi, friend. You definitely have what it takes to make a great comic from what I've seen in your art–you have a good grasp on anatomy; your coloring is great (very dark and gritty!); and I especially love your use of black cel shading to establish texture and further adds to that moodiness.

I'd say, if you've established your plot and create enough buffer for updates, just go for it! Take your time, enjoy the process, and most importantly, have fun! Take it from someone who is equally afraid of posting into the void, it'll still be rewarding regardless as long as you're doing it for yourself first.

(Also, do drop a link once you've published your comic! I'd love to take a look. )

[system]

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