So I was just thinking about the #1 reason my interest in Western comics is so sporadic: a lot of the time, the art sucks. =/
And even when it doesn't suck, oftentimes it's just not pleasing to look at. I remember reading a Transformers comic that was just...I mean, the characters were there; and everything looked 'correct', but as soon as I stopped understanding the story, I just bolted. It didn't hold my attention at all; it was a visual experience with no visual appeal.
And at first I was gonna be real negative and critical about this...I mean, the manga industry is just as savage and cutthroat, if not more, but the quality is way more consistently superior...I have only ever read one (1) badly-drawn manga in my life, and it didn't stay that way-- about 1/6 of the way through its run, the art began to improve, and by the halfway-point it was solidly fantastic.
But anyway, before I could really get into drawing harsh comparisons and being mean, I started to think...y'know, this could be a good thing, in a way.
I mean, it still sucks when art sucks, but for those comic artists whose art only mildly sucks, there's a lot you can learn from them.
1. Done is better than perfect
The reason that 'bleh' artists can even get hired is because, as every comic artist eventually learns, art quality is actually not the most important factor in producing a successful comic.
Speed and consistency are far more important in most cases...readers don't need the characters to be drop-dead gorgeous in every panel; just recognizable. And if you can't meet deadlines you have no chance in the professional sphere, no matter how good your art is.
Basically, if you can do a timely mediocre job, you can be a comic artist. ^^ And those of you who can do a timely above-average job (which being an amateur webcomic artist kinda trains you to do), congrats: you're ahead of the curve! ^^
2. Play to your strengths
This is a panel from a comic series that I used to read as a kid (a Nancy Drew adaptation)...ngl, the art was pretty gross a lot of the time. ^^; Even 12-year-old me got a good laugh out of some of those panels...
BUT, would I say that, overall, the art sucks? I could...I think I'd be justified in saying it. But honestly, now that I've taken a close critical look at it, I don't want to.
Like yes, it's definitely not great, but it works. The characters are surprisingly recognizable throughout, despite how inconsistently the bodies/faces are drawn...important features, like hairstyles, cheekbones, and body types, always remain.
And the motion and posing of the characters is actually good; you can always tell the difference between a bad-bad comic artist and a competent-bad comic artist by the way they use motion.
Plus, the colorist (who is also responsible for the CG parts) has a marvelous way with scenic lighting~. Even in earlier issues where the line art was much thicker and grainy-looking, their work managed to ground the characters in the scene, every time. They do this so well that sometimes it's hard to tell when they're using CG in the background and when they aren't; the characters always look like they belong.
Of course, this isn't to say that their work is the best that I've ever seen; on the list of CG/2D art examples I would recommend for study they would still be very close to the bottom. ^^ But you can tell that they are a large part of what made the comic art actually tolerable.
And when the skills of the artist and colorist meshed just right, once in a blue moon, you'd get a legitimately good-looking panel like this (from the same issue):
Maybe you might still laugh, especially at the eyes, but by the standards of the comic that's phenomenal. ^^ And you can't deny that it shows skill. If the whole comic looked that good I wouldn't even be talking.
Basically, all that is to say that, despite the relatively low art quality, the things that the artists COULD do well shined through and made the comic work. The art was compelling enough that I started actually reading the comic again while looking for these example pics; at the end of the day it did its job.
And I hope, if you feel/have felt iffy about your own comic work, this little essay proved cathartic to you (if only because it proved to you that you can do better than a professional artist XD). Focus on fundamentals, lean on your strongest skills, FINISH things, and you'll be just fine.