Do your beliefs, political or otherwise make it into your series?

[JessJackdaw]

Ahh, yes and no. I would say I try to have equal distribution of a variety of different beliefs and certainly not all characters are morally good (even the protagonists). I mean it's a product of one's upbringing. If a character is raised in a caste-system of set classes and rank, those beliefs don't magically go away when the character is removed from that system.

For example I have one character that has a similar ideology to Eastern Native Americans and some African tribes, and believes no man has ownship over anything. Land is a shared with nature, and no creature can truly claim anything. So having lived in a borrowing culture and placed in a modern capitalistc one, his acts of sharing and borrowing are seen as thievery.

Every belief has a reverse side, so I try to have fun making characters who are radically different from my own beliefs.

Although I'm afraid people are just going to think I share all these beliefs just like what happened to @ScampiCub ... Oh boy... D:

[AnnaLandin]

Do your personal believes shine through?

In some way, always. Even if my comics aren't explicitly political in their text, my political views and beliefs inform the way I tell stories, and the ideals I choose to present. Even when I'm not consciously attempting to do it, it happens anyway. You won't find me doing a positive spin on a belief I don't share, for example. And some things feel natural and obvious to me because of my personal beliefs (women in unquestioned positions of authority, just to name one), so they end up in my stories without me even having to think about them.

On the other hand, there are definitely things that are in my comics that I don't personally believe. I have plenty of characters that are religious and believe in the supernatural, whereas in real life I am an atheist who has no belief at all in the existence of supernatural creatures.

I just happen to find folklore and folk-beliefs a fascinating aspect of human psychology, so it ends up in my stories.

[niinasalmelin]

I'm not interested in having any political stuff in my comics. Not my thing. I'm sure there's some unconscious slips there to be found, but overall, I avoid having something like that in a story. Beliefs are more tricky. I'm not aiming to mirror my own word view on my characters, but things I find interesting I tend to write about so eh, you can't avoid it in every level.

[shazzbaa]

In the most general sense, yeah, of course! If you have one character show kindness to another, and you show that kindness making a difference in the other's life, that's a belief; or if you have a character show forgiveness, and that forgiveness results in harm and hardship coming to the lives of others, that's a belief.
You're the one deciding how the world works, so if you're telling an honest story, your worldview of how the world works in real life is really likely to seep through somewhere, I think.

But I've always felt a little weird about making a Narnia-style allegory of my own beliefs; it's always felt forced whenever I've played with those kinds of stories. "Here's what I think about THIS issue!" kinds of things are tricky to strike a balance on and not be heavy-handed, especially in a story.

[KSlinger]

If a character is raised in a caste-system of set classes and rank, those beliefs don't magically go away when the character is removed from that system.

Oooh yeah! There's one of those in West as well. A lot of bigotry, racism and superstitious segregation too. Hopefully we won't get any backlash for portraying culture in all its forms. I don't want to offend anyone but you can't ignore the inconvient truths, either.

[eagle1]

BEFORE I read the rest of the thread, I wanted to say that this was a good way of putting your views into a comic. It made a point, without calling out anyone specific, and both sides can read the other side in it. It might also cause someone to think, if they happen to see a bit of themselves in the strip.

Eagle
(Now, off to read the thread!)

[joannekwan]

Yes and no?
Like I try to include characters from all sorts of backgrounds to promote a melting pot or mixed salad mindset but I usually try to avoid anything too political, even though I'm clearly on the liberal end of the spectrum.

However I have a story in development that has a sticky subject matter in the shadows, it's definitely not the main focus but the protagonist has to deal with it as it's his job. The secretary is somewhat of a mouthpiece but I try to keep her dialogue on the subject to a minimum as I worry about the story and characters being seen as me standing on a soapbox.

[Emma]

Political? No, I really don't want to do that, and if it does happen, it will not be on purpose.
Non-political? If we're talking about stuff like being nice to people, then yes, definitely.

[Michelle]

My personal opinions, beliefs, etc do come through in my story, but they're fractured across so many different characters that you wouldn't know it. For some, I'll take a personal belief or opinion and explore the opposite side, or follow an idea to the extreme where it's not really my opinion anymore. So, there isn't one character that serves as a mouthpiece for my own ideas and opinions. That would be obnoxious, and I think most readers can tell when they're being preached to.

I don't feel responsible for changing people's minds; my only responsibility is to myself as an artist. I want to create a story that I would enjoy, and that avoids tropes/stereotypes that I find harmful.

[joevallen3]

I didn't mean politics exactly. just your personal believes. Today's post was the first time I injected any political flair into and it's already our best day. my webtoons is two weeks behind so we know to get our patreon page cleaned up by the time that hits over there. I think it depends on your format and story whether politics can and should factor in. In my world, skeeters having an election is a no-brainer. lol thanks for your feedback!

[Mocha]

I honestly think this is one of the most annoying things someone can say to an author. Like, chill people, it's fiction. You're allowed to have fun with it and write whatever whether you believe in it or not.
I once had someone insist that I was "a believer in God blah blah blah in denial" just because I had briefly explained to them the plot of one of my stories which involves some random gods and occasional vague religious references. The ironic part is that I'm an atheist.

[KoreanTacos]

Kind of what I do all the time. I don't mind making fun of other peoples interests, mocking society, insulting politics, and adding in my own personal beliefs. I write a slice of life/comedy so it's only natural my own thoughts are put into it. When I write strips like these I often try to look at both sides of the spectrum. Even thought it's my own personal opinion I will try to inform my readers that I understand the other side as well. I think the only exception was when I did my strip on fan fiction, but that was only because the research I had to put into didn't deserve a look on the other side... I haven't really tackled religion though yet, but I just have no interest in talking about it really...

[joevallen3]

lol same. Also an atheist, I also wrote, "The Adventures of Jesus and Frankenstein" haha! totally agreed.

[joevallen3]

cool. yeah, I'm sort of toeing that line myself. thanks for your feedback!

[Vanesalisa]

I'm a skeptic when it comes to beliefs like folklores and lores , since I focus on the supernatural in Hollow Creek and I find it fascinating the lores and myths

[joevallen3]

me too. I've always been interested in that stuff

[jurinova]

Of course some of my personal beliefs seep through into my comic but I try to create a world with characters with many views, even those opposing to my own. I have strong political themes in my comic but they're not a platform for my own views but rather my way of deconstructing some of the tropes of the sci-fi genre. I also draw of a lot of inspiration from historical events and how politics affected the course of history. I often do worry that people don't see that and only view the story as a metaphor for something it's not.

However there are a few personal beliefs that I do intentionally try to show in my comic like for example normalizing LGBT+ relationships but even then I try to do it in a subtle manner. I just get so tired that LGBT+ people have to tolerate hate even in fictional universes.

[heraclus]

I think that comics is a way of cummunication so when you communicate with others you give and take , so it's inevitable , your beliefs/ideas/anything will pass through to your work and then to your readers. And if your readers commented your work , the communivcation cirlce is complete.

[kyupol]

Of course I do. That's the whole point.

I've been compared to Jack Chick, Alex Jones, Michael Moore, etc. Cuz I "lecture" too much. Maybe I should become a pastor.

[indagold]

I guess? it's not intentional, it just happens. That happens with most writers. Although I don't shy away from showing other people's beliefs in the story too. I had friend assume I wasn't an atheist because god forbid you have religion in your fantasy story.