Do you read your own comics?

[thomassayle]

If so, how often?

I've got both gag and story-type comics that every once and a while (once a year?) I read them and some still make me laugh.

What about you? Do you read them, can you sit back and just enjoy without being critical?

[moontokkym]

I do, usually to check if I've given some information earlier so I can course correct if I forgot to put in some foreshadowing because of a last minute line change or I didn't get an expression as obvious as I wanted.

[Lensing]

For me it is comparable with recording an album.
It´s hard for me to listen to music that I wrote, played on, recorded and mixed.
I listened to it too many times + I know every little detail and then I can´t enjoy it
anymore. But I can usually listen to it some years later and then either enjoy it,
sometimes I´m embarassed and dislike it.

I can´t look at the 24 hours comic day comics that I did. I kept them but I hide
them somewhere. Maybe I will look at them before I do the next 24hcd to remember
what I did wrong.

I just looked at a printed comic again, that´s one I won a contest with because I
was thinking about continueing the story. I still like the drawings

I read some of my comic scripts regularly

[darthmongoose]

I like to read through my comic fairly regularly, because it helps me get a feel for what the experience is like for binge-readers. I try to make all my pages with the "weekly update crew" in mind, so the plot moves pretty fast and every page tends to have some kind of story or character reveal, a big action moment or a punchline, so it can be easy to lose sight of what it's like to read through a whole chapter in one go, or even several chapters, to catch up.

...Sometimes I get kind of into it though and just start reading it because hey, it's a comic I made so it has lots of stuff I personally like in there, and I made it because I wanted a comic like that to exist, so it's hard not to be like "aw yeah, this is my jam!"

[DualDragons]

Sometimes, so I do not get tunnel vision when making my comic. Perhaps the pacing is off or something else comes to my attention when I read it. It's somewhat helpful.

Though it's not like I have the same experience as reading a different comic than mine, because I already know what is gonna happen in there.

[Ayumi]

I do maybe once in a year or every 2 years. I still laugh on some scenes, and it also helps to get back in the mood to keep drawing. I do see the bad drawings and mistakes I made, but I'm prouder to the development than feeling bad about it. I remember things about some pages from my life or the process of that page, etc. It's nostalgic and fun

[AmysGames]

I do reread my own stuff periodically, for reasons that others have already mentioned:

1. To remember what I wrote previously so stuff stays consistent for future chapters,
2. To see how well it holds up,
3. Because I do genuinely enjoy my own stories!

Though usually I reread in the same way that I reread other people's webcomics, where I skim through most of it and just zero in on whichever scene I'm thinking about at the time, since I already know everything that happens before and after it, haha.

[powerplantanimations]

Comic gets bigger, gotta stay consistent. Also helps with adding little call backs.

[dan_thepainter]

I actually do quite often. maybe too often lol sometimes I look over scenes so much to the point where it doesn't even make sense to me anymore, but I want to put myself in the readers shoes and think about how they would react to the story. It's also a good way to look for consistency and even catch some flaws you didn't notice before.

Other times it's nice to read over scenes I had planned in my head long ago and now I've finally drawn them out and reached that point in the story. I get a nice feeling of accomplishment.

[GodbreakerComic]

For consistency, call-backs, and payoffs yes.

I like to reward people who've been reading for awhile with call-backs and payoffs.

[yondoloki]

I sort of started making comics, 'cause there were stories I wanted to read, that I couldn't find, so yea, I read my own comic from time to time :3 I know the beats and dialogue pretty well though (obviously) so its mostly a quick leaf through to look for a certain detail or something.

Sometimes I skim through it and read the comments, as a little self esteem boost on a bad day...

[AmazementComics]

Not often. But when I do, it’s typically to recall certain plot points that I use for future plot threads. I might also read it to see how far I’ve come storytelling wise.

[abigaillmartin]

I read them to check back in case I forgot something in the story or I read them to see how far I’ve come in my comic.

I do laugh at my own jokes sometimes. I tend to talk to myself and reminisce on how I did a sequence. Other times, depending on how old the work is, I cringe at the artwork but find writing that I was and still am proud of or not so proud of. I often retrospect my work because I learn from it.

[conventurecomics]

Yes of course I read my comics before and afer I upload them.

[Maxedrox]

It is important for me to do it so I can keep the consistency of the established plot while new elements are being added. Mostly when I work on a new chapter I try to be careful to not miss something important if the opportunity is there.

[BlueDragon]

I do for a couple reasons.

1) Like others have pointed out, to make sure things are making some modicum of sense (even if it takes forever for something to pay off XD) Continuity. And refreshers so I don't forget I was going somewhere with something dropped early or midway in the story.

2) To edit. You'd be surprised how many times you can read something and still miss an error.

3) I uh...I kinda started writing this comic for myself anyway. I'm not saying it good, or that I love my own work, I'm just saying I am writing this story for myself to entertain myself and want to see it through to the end of the story. So...reading it myself is kinda the primary target XD I like to share it with others, and am so happy other people are enjoying the ride with me. But even before posting this publically, I've been working on this for myself.

I hope that doesn't sound arrogant. I am not claiming to be anything I'm not. I just have these characters I love, and a story I want to see to the end. Growing up in the country before Internet really took off (didn't get it until High School), I had a lot of time on my hands to be "creative" (not to say I didn't work, or play, or do other things). I guess I have always wrote stories for myself to entertain myself XD

[BlueDragon]

I feel this way about the YouTube videos I make. I have to hear my own frickin' voice so many times, and I get so tired of a video before it's even out XD

And they still aren't edited very well XD XD

[thomassayle]

any video i make with my own voice I avoid lol.

[XiuLyn_12]

I do! I usually read the latest episode several times before the next one!

I started re-reading it to see if there were any mistakes, but it has become a habit over time! My story is completed for a while now, and I haven't re-read it.

[Caro]

For my gags I usually only re-read whatever edits my editor sends me when we’re in that phase of publication but I won’t re-read them until I have a physical copy of the book and even still I do it in bits and pieces and I’m always surprised by how good I think it is a year out.

For longform — yes constant rereading. For continuity mostly.