Do you think in order to make a GOOD comic, you should be a reader of comics?

[candiedcotton]

Okay, pettiness moment from me, haha. I was talking to someone recently about making comics, and they wanted to dip their own toes into it. This person does write decently, but has never even so much as read a single comic. Never, not one. Absolutely zero experience. So I told 'em they should read a few first, especially since they want to delve into a sort of adventure/romance theme with a kind of manga-esque overtone.

They swore up and down they had no need to look at any comics or manga or anything like that, and didn't need that experience to make a great comic. I told 'em they were heading for a world of hurt, heh.

SO. I'm curious what all your opinions are.

[AmazementComics]

Reading exposes you to what's already been done.

The good stuff inspires you. The bad stuff warns you what doesn't work.

Could someone who's never read a single comic, write a good comic? Anything's possible in theory but if I had to bet money on somebody, I'd put it on somebody who's an avid reader every time.

In my own work, whether I'm editing panels or doing rewrites, I can't tell you the number of times I've tapped an 18 year comic reading history and been like, "Oh in this situation, it kind of reminds me of Alan Moore's work on Swamp Thing, Earth to Earth, or "this story resonates as early X-factor" or something...

Not to mention the super obvious, of having someone say, "Hey Xyz, I want to do this story inspired by this comic and this comic."

If your friend doesn’t immerse themselves in comics, they can never tap into that.

Tell them to write on, write often!

[DualDragons]

Absolutely. There is more to comics than pretty pictures. Flow of the panels, the actual panels themselves, composition (of both the panel content and between the content and speech bubbles) etc.

Reading comics will provide you with examples of what has already been done (as @AmazementComics said). Analyzing them is even better, how do already existing comics flow? How do they handle speech bubbles? If you don't read comics there is a good chance you will not understand how comics work beneath the pictures.

[Kelheor]

From one point of view, I can see them getting completely lost right at the start. Even as a person who read quite a lot of manga before trying to make comics, I remember myself having a gaping hole in the place where my brains should be when I had to sit and start making a comic. Like... What do I do, literally?

From another point... maybe they will come up with some absolutely new unusual experience that the comic world never seen before?

[candiedcotton]

Good points, good points. I was kinda wondering if I was just being a jackass or not. Basically, this person noticed my comic was doing alright, got a bit jealous about it, and decided it must be ever so easy and wanted to make one of their writings into a comic. Unfortunately, they weren't very willing to listen, but I think it'll be a hard learning experience.

I feel like you need to have a passion for comics to really be able to dedicate yourself to making them. Or even just a passion for art, I guess. This person cares for neither. They just feel they'd get famous if they made their writing into comics rather than just literature.

[Kelheor]

Oh, drawing a bad comic is definitely much harder than writing bad prose (or at least more time consuming). So yeah... good luck to them, I guess

[darthmongoose]

Pretty much every professional comics creator I know is a massive comics nerd. They love comics. They love talking about and dissecting comics. They either devour tons of comics, or at least used to read a lot and bemoan that working on comics gives them limited time to do so.

I think there are circumstances in which somebody could make a successful comic without being into comics, but they're quite odd and specific, like: "It's a gag comic with simple art that more leans on excellent writing, something like xkcd", or "The creator isn't into comics, but is VERY into a related thing, like film storyboarding or animation." (I can't imagine why somebody like that wouldn't like comics though...). It feels weird to me, personally. I learned so much about how to time jokes from reading things like Scott Pilgrim and Azumanga Daioh... and also... Making Comics by Scott McCloud is a comic! I feel like making comics without having read "Making Comics" is completely ridiculous, it's like... I dunno, it'd be like being an animator who's never read "The Animator's Survival Kit" or a Games Designer who's never read "The Art of Game Design", it's practically mandatory reading!

But even outside of just how reading comics shows you what to do and what not to do, helps you find your personal storytelling style and stuff... it's important because it helps you know where your comic fits and where your audience is. I don't think it's very likely for a person to make a popular comic on Tapas if there's not a single comic on Tapas with over 10k subs that you actually enjoy reading. How can you make a product an audience will enjoy if you don't like any of the things they like!? How will you know who to market to and how to market it without seeing where your work fits?

And then there's another thing which is... comics are exhausting. They're so much work. I can't imagine making one if I didn't just absolutely love comics and think it's a wonderful medium, and love to have books of my own comics on my shelves alongside books of comics by friends and people I admire. They don't make a lot of money, they rarely result in a lot of fame... why make comics if you don't love comics!?

[NickRowler]

Honestly, the thing most newbie comic creators struggle with is not understanding story flow. Scott McCloud even dedicates his how to books to it probably due to most other how to draw comics/manga books tend to be on drawing only.

I think they should read some comics within their genre to understand style. And maybe they should also read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. I don’t think it would be impossible for them to create a comic. I think of something like Cromartie High which was created by someone who dislikes most manga and common manga tropes, thus you end up with a series that is quite unique looking when compared to other manga.

[candiedcotton]

I pretty much went on the same tirade, haha. Basically, their response is that they feel written literature is a dying art and that if they convert their work to comics, it will get more attention. They want the fame, and maybe some cash along with it. I did make it clear to 'em that making a living off comics is damn near impossible even for the best of creators, but eh. It's that old mentality of "yeah but my story is better than anything ever".

[darthmongoose]

All I can say is...er... "Good luck" to this person because...wow. That is some serious Dunning Kreuger effect they have going on there.

[candiedcotton]

Oh for sure.

Just kinda made me wonder how common that mentality was though, you know. How many folks decide to get into making comics when they're not really into them at all.

I'm an absolute addict, so I can't even imagine.

[DarkSena]

Everyone started off as a reader I would say
Even though I have to admit... I'm a terribly lazy reader. I hate to read But I love to look at the art, okay

[BoomerZ]

It is possible if he studies the medium for structure and and technique. Stories are stories. If you know how to write a story, that's half the battle. I would also say if he was a storyboard artist he would be fine. If all he does is write stories, I think he will be lost at layout. Lots of medium shorts and full shots at eye level will most likely be his go to.

[Nugtown]

I think they're lying, straight up
It's not necessarily because you need to read comics to make comics, you could feasibly do it on your own with no help. But there's a difference between "I have no need to reference comics" and "I have never read them!" <--not even absorbing it by casual exposure? Good one.

[AxemanRifflord]

...How is this person even expecting to get the art done? Are they going to hire an artist? Do the art themselves? Freeload? Have they even considered that part?

[candiedcotton]

Oh no, I've known this person for a decade. It's 100% believable, lol.

[candiedcotton]

I think they assume I will be the one drawing it, haha.

[DiegoPalacios]

Gotta say one must understand how the medium they are using works and reading is an easy way to get the grasp on comics.

[Lensing]

You should be really good at telling stories and be able to communciate with pictures.
You need some experience in visual storytelling, I can imagine someone who is into
movies and doesn´t read many comics and is still able to make a comic book.
But I think in reality most people who create comics are comic fans first

[powerplantanimations]

Yeh. I actually recommend people go back to early as the 30's and start seeing the evolution of comics first hand. This is why I think reading stuff like DC is useful lol.