Do most people finish comics...?

[monotone_ink]

From what I've seen, it's quite rare - in that the majority of webcomics are either gag-a-day comics (which go on forever) and longform comics (which tend to go on hiatuses forever ;-; )

With that in mind, I'd highly reccommend people to do more short works - there's a real sense of completion in it, and it really forces you to condense all the good stuff in a shorter amount of time. Furthermore, random people that come across them will get more out of it, as opposed to an incomplete venture.

@A_Toad I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[punkarsenic]

a lot of ppl start long ass webcomics theyre not prepared for, and then abandon them when they realise theyve fucked up and wanna do smth else

as @skicoak mentioned, comics have had a long history of being endlessly serialised, which i think is why people decide to go in for epics (alongside influences such as homestuck, a hideous great monster of a webcomic), which should never be attempted as a first time project hides my work-in-progress set-to-be 400 page first time comic from sight

[ble]

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[Kann]

I've seen a lot of comics just stop updating. Most of time it happened at the very beginning so maybe someone got ovewhelmed by their own idea.

My very first attempt at making a webcomic ended at it's first page, but it was a story where I had no idea how the plot would go on, so yeah. But boy was it so over the top edgy... XD

Even popular comics sometimes end up being forever on hiatus or just abandoned, though I've seen some finished ones.

[Pandastrophic]

The main reason i stopped my previous comic is not having an ending, feeling like i didnt know where my comic or characters were going or how many chapters it was going to be made my feel like it was going to go on forever which was so upsetting. Always have an ending you can realistically reach.

[skicoak]

It's definitely a trap to use serialized manga (and comics for that matter) as a role model when starting out as a newbie/planning your story.

Which is one of the big reasons why the group I'm in decided to go the anthology route.

We're, by format, forced to tell tighter stories. To think about storytelling differently than serialized stuff leads you to believe is standard operating procedure.

And strictly in terms of ending, all we have to do is wrap up the current arc and put a lil' bow on it.

[amortelito]

Of course, there have to be plenty of webcomics that have a full story and an ending somewhere... But all the comics I have followed over 10 years have been abandoned. Most of the authors were teenagers or were university students when they started so it makes sense that they moved on. In that sense, I'm glad I started now that I'm an adult with a job, I barely have time but I know what I want now, if I had started in my teenage days I would have abandoned FOR SURE.

[Eveeka]

This is sad that many comics will never be finished. Fortunately, there are also stories that their creators finished.

[Zyephen]

I think most people who start their projects probably don't finish them, especially amateurs. I haven't finished my own comic yet, but I did just hit 400 pages, and have been working on it for 11 years now. I think it all comes down to the individual's personal drive and discipline. Some people are just more driven than others. I also find a work schedule is immensely helpful for making sure the workflow continues, even when the story might be on a part that is less interesting or slow for the artist.

[Merle]

When I started with webcomics over two years ago, my first goal was to finish a longformat, no matter what. So I spent 1 year producing 5 pages a week, until eventually, I had a 200 page, all in one finished coming of age mistery, with a lot of charme. I never reached anything with this comic, barely hit 100 subs by the end of it.
But I would do it again, because I have learned an incredible amount about telling a story, advertising and composition, groundwork without which I wouldn´t be where I´m now - and most of all, I teached myself to finish.

There is a lot of comics that never end, and there´s already been a lot of reasons named for that - people loosing direction, fun or focuss.
All I can add from personal experience - if you´re in it for the long run, prove it to yourself and start a finishable comic, before you even look at your "golden children", the endless stories you think you have to tell.
You´ll learn and benefit from it tremendiously.

[chocolatteboss]

I finished this one https://tapas.io/series/Happy-Angry-Grandma

Truth is this was an experimental comic meant for me to learn about te site and expiriance of making a comic and it wasn't serious at all. yet it took me a couple of years to conclude. I still recommend doing sth like this as a first comic to build your work routine and processes. us it as an exercise until you get to the real deal.

I took shortcuts I gave it a minimal effort, but people liked it.

With that expiriance I started my next one: https://tapas.io/series/Peasant-Queen

this one is serious. less comical but still has humor. it's only in it's beginning. I'm putting all I have in it. and honestly it wouldn't be this good if it wasn't for Angry Grandma.

Thank you, Angry Grandma.

[vfinnigan]

Since I got started doing print comics, yes, I have some that are finished. However, for each comic I've finished, there's a whole lot of stuff I've got that hasn't gotten beyond the script stage.

[StorySeamstress]

I--like most creators, I'm supposing!--have an abandoned webcomic in my proverbial closet...even though I had a good idea of the end goal, without a firm outline I quickly got behind and lost motivation.

So, with Imaginarium I made SURE I had the whole thing outlined, thumbnailed, and most of the linework done before I posted the first page--and that's really helped me keep on track! (Also, AAAHHHHH!!! It's the front page spotlight today! I'm so honored!)

I'll second what others have said about starting with a smaller project that has a definite ending. You'll be more likely to actually finish it, which will be a great boost to your confidence. I'm a great starter and not a great finisher, so now that I have completed several different personal illustration projects and have a webcomic/graphic novel firmly on its way to completion, that's helped my confidence in my "finishing abilities" a lot!

Also, with a shorter project if you decide the format/art style isn't really working for you...well, you can just try a different one on your next project! That's what I'm trying to do right now; figuring out what I'll do differently with my next project to make the process even easier and more intuitive. ALL THE SHORTCUTS!