First Time Comic Reviewer [Closed]

[mronehundred17421]

Hello Tapastic! As you can tell from the topic name I'm trying to get into making comic reviews for creators, and this will be my first time making an actual review. But don't take me for a noobie, I know very well what makes a good story, or gag, how they are constructed, and how effective they are at delivering their intended effect on how people think towards it. I'm also no stranger to how art impacts the pacing of the story, how anatomy works and what colors are most suitable for a scene. So don't expect all praise, because critics that make nothing but praise... sort of suck at being critics.

So here's how it's going to go down, I'll be making a critique based on the following: Characters, Story, Art, and Pacing. How well your comic assesses all of these four elements results in how well it does overall, and what I feel that you can do to improve your comic.

I may want to try to avoid really long comics since probably not everyone is going to get a review, and I'll be stuck on this really lengthy story.

EDIT
- A note for all or any reviewees, I see that I have a ton of enthusiastic replies asking for reviews, but I surely know that my pace of putting up new critiques is not going to catch up. So unfortunately I'll be unable to take in any additional requests in this topic, but I'll still be available for additional critiques elsewhere... in this forum.

[Chopythes]

I have a one shot, about 9 pages long if that would be something "easy" to start with?

It's called Vasteros Next and it's a small horror comic so you're prepared xD
It's already done and finished but I'd be glad to hear what I could improve when moving on to another project later. :D

[indagold]

Well I have a 30 page silent comic: Garden Of Mold although it's a very surreal type of comic that's just a sequence of events more than anything else. It was very experimental and weird for me, something I usually never do.

[csimma]

I would certainly appreciate some feedback on my comic The Wasteland Chronicles

[phen]

Oh hey, this is such an awesome offer. I would be extremely happy to put up There's No Such Thing as Jason -- I.T. It's a psychological drama story featuring a troubled group of friends connected by and trying to overcome something traumatic that caused their split 2 years prior. It focuses on personal perspective through memory and interplay~

That said, it's about to reach 100+ pages soon so it might be a bit heavy. If you think that's just too long for you, don't even worry about it. I'll be looking forward to reading your review of others' works. There are already some cool comics volunteering!

[haleymewsome]

Hey, if you'd like you can review Unfamiliar!

[mronehundred17421]

Vasteros Next Review -With Spoilers-

Characters - Lidija is shown to be a fairly regular and relatable bystander during the events of the story. She is to how everyone is in daily life. As we see her conversing with Darling on the phone, we can tell how she interacts with probably the closes person to her, who seems to be slightly cautions of what’s going on around where she is, asking questions about the background noises. Based on her attire we can tell more about her personality outside of her interactions within the story. The kid however, is left rather vague, and only has as much as his actions to speak for him, and mostly leaves the story with this moral- never trust children.

Story + Spoilers - The main climax of the story is how we figure out in a freak twist of Lidija’s death, unknown to her knowledge. The premise has built up to this point, foreshadowing and implying possibilities so that it grips readers with suspense until the end. The concept is overall well done.

Art - The art is simple, only consisting heavily of lining and hatching, with light shades of blue. Unfortunately I feel that this comic struggles at its most with it’s art, since it does not do too much justice for the horror genre the story is trying to achieve. Lighter colors don't help all too much. There are also small peeves with the designing, such as the perspectives with the backgrounds, the main character’s headphones disappearing, and unsymmetrical faces (Page 4 panel 3 is just silly).

Pacing - The comic does very well to portray action after actions, and it is overall pleasant to read. The moments leading to Lidija’s death was done well so that it never came out of the blue.

Suggestions - Try to put your characters more in the light of the comic, over the backgrounds so they don’t mix too much. For example, use lighter shades for the background, and heavier lining for the characters. Also use references as well to keep those backgrounds in tip top shape. I could also suggest darker colors for the scene where is inside the train to make it more sinister. Overall it was a good and fun comic to read with an interesting concept.

[kristintipping7]

I'd like to submit the two comics I have currently ongoing: Evil Witch Allie and Bedtime Stories For strangers. Evil Witch Allie is a modern fantasy story that leans toward horror at points. Bedtime Stories is a collection of short comics, most of which have some sort of magical or surreal element and all of which have eerie or melancholy undertones. Allie has 48 pages up at this point, so it might be longer than you're looking for. Bedtime Stories is a collection of 6 (until I update it again) super short one offs. So it shouldn't take to long to get through, and if does, you can just pick out one or two stories that stand out to you to talk about.

[Chopythes]

Thank you so much for your well written critique! I actually had a few laughs while reading and it gave a good insight about what others see that I don't.

Lighter colors don't help all too much. There are also small peeves with the
designing, such as the perspectives with the backgrounds [...]

(Fun fact: it was originally in bright pink!)
And oh god, I hadn't noticed about the headphones, I really need to pay more attention to details, thank you for bringing that up!

I'm just going to agree with everything else you said, it was a great insight and it makes things much more clear to me now. <3
Thank you for your time to read and write this. :D

[zetina]

i honestly feel embarrassed to offer my comic up for review. i get this feeling every time i show something that i already know isn't done with 100% care and energy. like having to do a presentation even though you feel like you did a crappy job? but after calming down with "well, yeah, i rushed the art in a lot of places but i can still get useful insight", here i am showing you my comic Suck it!!.

[nessiefynn]

If you have the time could you please consider reviewing Household Slime Mold? So far, it's an urban fantasy comic about a wannna-be witch trying to get some medicine delivered, and about 30 pages long. I'm looking for critique since I'm going to be starting my second chapter soon and want to not make the same mistakes over and over again. Thank you for giving this offer!

[WakaXO]

If your still accepting new comics, could you do a review for my comic Neon Rabbit ( https://tapastic.com/series/Neon-Rabbit ). It's a superhero type comic set in Canada that follows a girl that gets the power of teleportation after getting hit in the head. It's not very far in, the 2nd chapter is still on going. 😆

[mronehundred17421]

Garden of Mold by indagold Review

Garden of Mold is a silent comic, so with these types of comics, pacing and actions are incredibly important in order to effectively portray what idea you’re trying to get across. You’ll have to use as many tools as possible to maximize the idea, use of sound effects, placement of panels, and the positions and postures of the characters.

The Art is interesting, but at times rather wonky due to it’s style. The biggest thing I’ll have to compliment you on are the colors and scenery for how good they fit the scenes. They give a really aesthetic charm to the entire story that does especially make it feel surreal. The proportions of the characters and consistency with shapes? Not doing all too well. At times it begins to become confusing, that the backgrounds might be intentionally out of perspective? (Page 4, Page 13) But not all the time you’ll be able to get away with it and it becomes more of a hindrance to what you’re really trying to get across. You’ll also have to work on making your faces more solid and less flat so that the facial features don’t look like they’re morphing panel to panel, same with the body types as well (Page 12 panel 2 is weird). Also noses. I know they’re surely there in the side view but you don’t draw them up front? Other than those specific details, everything else is beautiful and it doesn’t take that away my experience of enjoying this.

The Story is very interesting, and the colors of the art surely compliments it the tone and scenes. Since it’s rather surreal, the main character’s situations, actions, and relationships may be up for interpretation. The story tells us of the main character’s status and how he got there. How he had lost everything important to him but somehow became ‘free’, and everything after is a mystery, or at least how I interpret it. Some things are still left vague, such as his relationship with the lady, and what he sees within the plants he has. Try to add a little more context so that you won’t be leaving the readers too many holes to try and fill in by themselves.

Suggestions - Practice more 3d objects and anatomy, you can’t aways draw your characters in 2D. Try to jazz it up a little with interesting poses and angles so that it’s more interesting to look at. Also don’t get hooked on overusing patterns, try to work more on drawing textures and grass. I know it’s part of the art style but don’t let it consume your art. Also work on giving a little more character to that character, a better display of personality would help make his motives more clearer, such as him interacting more with his plants more so we can see how important they are to him, but he didn’t seem as interested in them more than sleeping. Overall, good read, pretty to look at but not entirely clear of its flaws.

[indagold]

Thanks, I used mostly vectors for it. Although I kinda find some of your review funny since majority of these things were intended for this comic. I changed the style specifically for this one. The noses were intentional, perspective was deliberately off both on the world and objects, characters blocky and the patterns were specifically picked beforehand to give a cut out feel. I was aiming something in the vein of color scripts which look pretty minimalist:

Although I must admit there are a few pages that could've been worked on. I did each 10 pages separately between 4 months over a year in under a week.

[mronehundred17421]

The Wasteland Chronicles by Wildcats25 Review

We start off with a post-apocalypse like premise, an art style with limited used of colors and a rough sketchy style of lining. From what I can tell after reading it, it’s pretty dang good, from its art, pacing, and use of dynamics to make the scenes more interesting. However I’m afraid this may be rather underwhelming, or at least a bit off on a weak start.
The Art and Pacing work perfectly well together, it has a very nostalgic feel of simplicity with it. The bodies of the characters feel solid, and their poses well demonstrates their movements and actions. The camera angles are dynamic enough so that none of the panels feel repetitive, and each picture feels fresh. The art might as well look even better if the lines were cleaner and added more detail to shading.
However I do have some gripes with the designs, such as the first two characters in trying to distinguish one from the other, with only their numbers and spatial position to go by, it makes them rather generic. Also the three dudes in similar cloaks who are only identifiable by their scars, who are obviously not the bad guys. Totally not the bad guys, they’re wearing pink! I know it’s probably the color scheme of the comic, but this massively tones down the threat they’re supposed to display.

Suggestions - Try to avoid making throw away characters to fulfilled a single role, like Frak, who was built up as the determined type of person who is then promptly killed. Guy #025 attitude felt a little too comedic following the events of a death that had recently unfolded. Maybe he’s trying to lighten the atmosphere after witnessing the death of his colleague in order to cope with it? Or maybe death is so normal that he is completely unfazed?
Try to use darker colors in order to better suit the theme you’re trying to get, especially if death and blood is a theme. It’s really good art, and very pleasant to read and look it, you could do better with it, but you gotta hook your readers with the story, the bigger sense of danger in this world you’re presenting. Try to give it more impact rather than just this and that is happening, you have the rest of the story to work with it.

[jerreaudriessen]

I really apreciate it when people do reviews So here's my comic . Have fun!

[Cherry_sama]

Well, if you still have time/space, here's my comic Handsome and Hideous.

[csimma]

This was an excellent review!
I just wanted to give a heartfelt thank you for your keen eye and analysis. I absolutely value your viewpoint. I agree with all of your critiques and I will certainly make efforts to improve as an artist and a storyteller.
Keep up the great work with future reviews! (they really help all the creators here!)

[BeetleMilk]

This is awesome! There aren't enough web comic reviewers for sure! If possible could you review my web comic [Psycho Babble]? https://tapastic.com/episode/96692

[mronehundred17421]

Unfamiliar by Haley Mewsome Review

Now this is a neat comic. It has a fresh, cute style, unique and interesting characters, clever dialect. The comic follows a little witch’s advents in her life with her pet/familiar rabbit named Winston.

Art - The art is charming and stylish while keeping it simple, using dark lining, cel-shading, and a blue-orange-white-black coloring scheme. Because of the nature of the cartoony art style, you can get away with a lot of things those Adventure Time noodle arms and somehow still look good. Even with a cartoony aesthetic everything looks alright with the exception of a few peeves and errors I found.
- Page 2 panel 3 is really wonky compared to how the room was previously shown to be laid out, plus the camera would have to be literally breaking a wall to be there.
- Page 5 last panel has some size issues, could be fixed by making the house larger or push the MC to the foreground.
- Page 6 has her changing her color scheme changing due to lack of lighting and back
- Disappearing and reappearing eyebrows

Story - Not too much to say for the story, it’s very easy going in its pacing and the dialect is definitely one of its strong suits, the speech bubbles even fit well with the emotions of the characters. The standings of the characters are pretty well established, I could recommend Planchette and Winston interacting with each other more often so that people can see what sort of bond they hold together. As of now it only comes in bits of communication, and I feel like it could really livin up the comic.

Suggestions - As of now I feel that the characters are much more interesting than events that are unfolding around them, so hopefully in the next few pages you’ll put more emphasis on the world they live in so that the characters aren’t always carrying the story. The art seems to be consistent with its coloring and style, but don’t get too carried away with those noodle arms, it never really hurts to do elbows, they may interfere with making dynamic poses and postures. Page 7 in the last panels is a good example, the MC doesn’t seem to be correctly shifting the weight of her upper body forward, and the arms don’t make her look very sturdy.
Also, I noticed that the characters weren’t properly introduce, as in they aren’t really named until they call each other by coincidence. I found that Planchette wasn’t properly named until page 7, it's not that bad, but there is a better time for it. Other than having small errors, I feel this comic is still moving very smoothly, and I would like to see how it goes down in the future.