How old is your comic? And what kept you motivated to hold onto it?

[Kura]

Raven Wolf is 4 years old while No Future just turned a year old last month. This is pretty much for how long I have been drawing / releasing the pages to the internet. (Creation on them started much longer ago. Raven Wolf I had been working on for around a year before starting the comic, while No Future was an old story I wrote when I was 14 and recently found when I was going though old stuff. Though there were some things that needed to be re-worked I thought it was actually still pretty darn good and could be used if I cleaned it up.)

As for what keeps me motivated to keep working. The fact that it's something that I can do is honestly pretty much it. I am physically handicapped and my health is poor. I cannot work, cannot do a lot of stuff for myself and I usually require the help of a family member or assassinate to even do what to most people would be some of the most mundane or simple things to do. There is not much I can do, even less things that I can do on my own. Writing and drawing comics is pretty much one of the few things I can do, even if I can't do it very well. It makes me feel like I can accomplish something and that I'm not a waste of space on this earth that makes everyone's lives difficult because I can't take care of myself (how I felt before making comics)

At least that is how it is for now, as my health gets worse I will eventually have to stop making comics. (there are already a few things I had to stop doing because of health, canceling side series as well as being unable to colour pages any more) but I do what I can.

[Maffi]

You are a true hero among us. And you have my fullest respect for what you are doing ! Hope you will be able to fight back your illness!

[epiale]

Catihorn is actually the end result of a pretty old idea. In middle school (around 2007 or so) I got bored and asked for drawing suggestions, a friend told me to draw a human unicorn, and the result ended up mildly horrifying. I'd written "unicorn man" above it, realized it sounded like a superhero title, drew a scared looking cat "sidekick" next to it, and the main characters for Catihorn were born, haha.

For whatever reason I latched onto these animal abominations, and started trying to make a comic out of it, as I'd loved webcomics for a while, and had bern trying my hand at creating one of my own.

The story itself has changed a TON, going through about five wildly different itterations before landing on the current plot. : P It started off as a gag-a-day, then a messed up creepy story, then a rom-com of all things, then a significantly more messed up dark version, then a boring adventure version, and finally became kind of a weird mixture of several old ideas, and quite a few new ideas entirely. The characters have also changed quite a bit (the designs are less stupid, Raul isn't a massive baby anymore, and Uni actually used to be straight up evil), but it's mostly the plot that's jumped around.

I had two notable early attempts at making Catihorn a comic, the first failing because I SUCK at gag-a-day type stuff, and the second one was abandoned about half-way through the first chapter after several "friends" told me the idea was stupid and the comic was awful(that all happened in high school. Ive since developed a spine when it comes to criticism, and stopped spending time with rude people lol).

This most recent launch into creation came about because I rediscovered my love of the medium, and this story idea at about the same time a little over a year ago. I fixed it up a lot, and now we have the weird, much better version of Catihorn I plan to finally bring to life and finish properly. : )

As for motivation, I honestly just love my characters, and I want to tell their story properly. I also just enjoy creating the comic, as its a big creative endeavor I can be proud of. And while it's by no means a major motivator (i honestly never expected to get more than maybe one or two followers, if that) the comments I get and being able to see people enjoying this project I've put so much time and effort into feels wonderful. : D

[BitStrange]

Little Bit Creepie is a result from my obsession I had with voodoo dolls (non magical ones) I started my art career with drawing them back in November of 2008.

In January 2010 I created a girl holding 3 strange like creatures/voodoo dolls and I kept drawing them. Well I wanted to do more with them and my boyfriend said why don't I do a comic with them. The rest is history =D

I released my comic back in May of 2011 and kept going with it til August of last year do to personal reasons (4 deaths in the family in a years time and I got sick) So it was going for 3 years.

I am now in the works of bringing them back (just the creatures right now anyways) and it should be ready by the end of this month =D

What kept me motivated was the pure enjoyment of creating these creatures and I also want to tell their stories.

[UzukiCheverie]

Heeere we go, story time.

Time Gate, as a comic, has only been around since November, 2014. Not that old (although it's 1 year anniversary is coming up!).

Time Gate as an story though? 10 years now. And it all started as a ZeldaxFinal FantasyxKingdom HeartsxTales of Symphonia crossover fanfiction that could only be poorly manifested from the brain of a 9 year old who had nothing better to do with her life than play video games.

So there I am, 9, already starting to write this thing out. I'd go from working on paper, to typewriters, to laptops, etc etc. and in so many different forms - gag comics, manga pages (both of which I left stuffed under my bed where no one would find them >.>) and password-locked novel chapters on computers.

What kept me motivated to keep going with it was just the fact that I loved, and still love, Zelda. At this point now though, after removing all the fanfiction bits, and eventually letting go of the Zelda part (which was always the major element of it, Link was the main character), it's just my child and I hold it near and dear to my heart as the only thing that matters in my life (sad isn't it lol). Hell, Time Gate was originally a PREQUEL story, and then it eventually just became the entire series name, with Reaper becoming the "prequel" type story instead. You can actually find some of the original fanfiction versions I wrote and actually FINISHED if you look hard enough on the Internet (but I'll never tell because it's like, my 13-year-old me's stuff and it's soooo bad lol)

I'm so thankful to actually see Time Gate progressing as a manga now, though, and even more thankful for the fact that people seem to really be enjoying it. It's a great feeling. I'm gonna keep working on Time Gate until it's finished, or until I die (hopefully the former). And even then it'll still live on.

[Nat]

Oh this is cool ^^ so many interesting stories haha

Hmm as for me, I'd say SKY BLADES is about a month old now? I've been playing with versions of the plot for a year, but it only recently came together when I decided to integrate a more personal aspect into the story.

The main character is a former pro athlete and a lot of her experiences are based on my own. I used to be a synchronized swimmer. I used to train 25 hours a week and was part of a national team. I did that for about 11 years, so it's safe to say that some of the things that happen in the comic are pretty damn personal haha.

I just quit the sport a year ago and a friend whom I confided some of my experiences to, actually told me I needed therapy haha. SO in a way making this comic has been a type of therapy.

[ToasterThief]

I've been working on my webcomic Under the Skin (-cough- http://tapastic.com/episode/78086 -cough- <3) for about 2 years now but only posting on Tapastic since the fall of Inkblazers around Christmas 2014! But before that I worked on the same comic before deciding to re-boot it for about 2 and a half years?? So overall its been a very long time!!! I think the fact I can keep going is because I have a co-author and we help to keep each other going ya know? 8D

Its nice that you finally started posting something you'd been thinking about for a while! Thats always a big step!

[ToasterThief]

15 years is a LONG TIME goodness me good on you for the dedication!

[purrlpankras]

Thanks, Yeah, it's the only thing I'm good at so I didn't have much choice lol

[zoonland]

I had the very first idea for the comic book I publish here 20 years ago.
I was a child (9-10 y.o) and I found that that idea was funny but never thought about doing a story out of it.
I used my characters' shape in illustrations through all these years, because I was more interested in doing more realistic stuff, and in pursuing an inker career.
Then, exactly a year ago I've seen an episode of Family Guy (never seen it before because I thought I wasn't going to like it) and I found it hilarious. Then I've seen almost all the FG episodes and I thought that it would be funny to try doing something similar.
It was faaaaaaar from my other works (I mostly write fantasy or dramatic stories), but I wanted to challenge myself in doing something new.
Then, I remembered I had those weird characters that might fit well with a funny story and...
That's how Zoonland was born

[serenitysquirrel]

How in the heck to you link your comic neatly?

http://tapastic.com/series/Hearthwood

Anyways, Hearthwood is a few months old now. That's a baby compared to many comics but I've been learning so much doing it and find writing and arting comics more and more fun the more I do it! The world it takes place in is vast and rich in both history and future prospects, and I have plans to do other comic stories in the universe as well.

There is currently no reason in my life I shouldn't tell this story, and every reason I should.

[Sho_Shonojo]

It's hard to resist. I cringe at many of my pages in the first chapter of my comic but I have to remind myself that I'm not going to get anywhere if I keep going back and re-doing what I've already done.

[HarisADevine]

I've been working on my comic since almost one year and a half and the main reason why I kept going is because Michael Son, editor in chief of Tapastic, sent me a mail the exact same day where I send the first episode, where he welcomed me in his website and said he read my comic and enjoyed the art style.

[Maffi]

Thats the exact opposite of what i have done haha

[bsienk90]

For me it's not so much that I DON'T want to continue my comic it's more that I can't find the time. I have a full-time job as a graphic artist and sometimes I'm putting in over 40 hours a week by Thursday and I of course have other obligations out side of work (freelance, friends, family...etc).

But my comic idea actually is about...well the other arching story I started in 2004...but this specific section I created about 2009-ish? It's called Confessions.

My main story is about a teenager girl and boy (Kris and Wren) in present time (well when I wrote it 2005) but every time I'd let people read my novel they fell in love with her dads (Thomas and Rick). So I started writing their backstory and expanding them. I'm also into boyXboy stuff and found a nice niche in that area. I actually did a small part of it in 2009 and I decided to revamp it and make it less smut and actually focus on story.

Currently, I keep myself motivated by knowing I told watcher I'd update every week. I also find that by doing illustration and MAKING the time for myself to practice I get energy from it, I'm more social at work, and much happier. Just doing design work (note: I work on boring stuff like retail elements you see in stores) doesn't cut it for me. I get really depressed just doing that. Also it helps me to see a future where I could be freelancing and publishing my own work and getting money for it.

[StevenDacasin]

Simon Nero was created about two years ago after watching a Naruto episode with that fight between itachi and Sasuke vs Kabuto. For some odd reason this sparked inspiration to create Simon Nero and only amplified when i took a creative writing class soon after.

[yossraesaid]

The initial Idea for Raedus came to in spring 2012. I had been in a period where I had created very few comics and focused on building my fundamental art skills. Before making Raedus, I really missed making comics, and had also been eager to finally try painting them.

Raedus was first meants as a one-shot-comic, but a Swedish comic magazine picked the comic up and kindly requested me to make at least a second part for an exibition. Both chapter 1 and 2 were published in 2013!
After that, the world and characters stuck with me, so I finished writing the story and now it is the comic you see today!

[KSlinger]

West began in October 2014, so not that old. Sometimes I wonder if I've made enough progress in ten months.

I lost someone important to me not long ago, in a slow and agonising way, and if that experience has taught me anything it's that death doesn't piss about. Being a successful artist won't save you. Being a millionaire won't save you. Beautiful people die and clever people die. No one is spared, you won't escape, and I can't pretend I'm invincible any more. The last few months have been waves and waves of total clarity. Like...shit. I could die at any time. In the blink of any eye. And, if I go, West does too...All those things I planned, all those moments I have in my head-- the funny ones, the scary ones, the ones that make me want to cry--- unless I do them justice NOW.

So I will do that. Or I'll take you all with me. Either one is fine.

[mimsybrez]

I drew the first few pages of my comic Undone a couple of years ago and abandoned it for other ideas, which I abandoned for other ideas, and so on. I joke that i should create a comic called "24 first pages of comics." But a friend of mine discovered Tapastic and I've become a little more disciplined since way back, so I pulled out the old inked drawings and started to color them. I have two pages up so far, and it's really fun having set project to work on. And the self-prescribed goal of posting twice a week helps me to focus on one story at a time:)

[gateofselidor]

I started posting my comic Lemongrass online in March 2013, and I got the idea for it maybe a year or two before that. Once most of the planning was done, I spent a lot of that working on the early pages so that I could work out how I was going to colour it, and see how easily I could keep things consistent between pages.

I have older comic ideas, but I came up with a lot of it as a teenager. Having grown up since then, I can't really relate to the stories in the way that I used to.