How to start episode one?

[Chocolate]

Hey all! I’m learning so much from webcomics by talking to other creators here. Thank you! Now onto the next topic: What do you think it’s a good way to start the very first chapter? Action? Suspense? Sadness? Etc.?

Also, what about the dialogue? In chunks to explain the worlds? Or just short and to the point? Or just pure artwork only?

🤝

[kingdavid2054]

A bit of advice I heard:

Have a character, give them a name, and give them a problem.

Now your readers know that Bob is in trouble with the Government because he refuses to pay his taxes. Bob’s going to overthrow the government so he doesn’t need to pay taxes.

Boom, you have a protagonist, you have conflict, and your readers have a reason to care (they need to know how Bob’s going to overthrow the government, or else it’ll keep them up all night!).

[LunarScyphozoa]

The start of your first episode should match the pacing of the rest of the story, a slow burn romance probably shouldn’t start with an explosion and a high stakes all everything all the time action comic probably shouldn’t start with a slow buildup. I recommend against using the first chapter as a worldbuilding dump, as it can bore the audience and get them uninvested.

[descendantsofether]

For my story, personally I liked dropping the reader into the middle of the first season with its opening scene. This allows me to a few things:

1. Establish the events leading up to this scene in the chapters to come.
2. Give the reader some power. Basically having them know the future but not knowing when the prophecy will come true.
3. Since my story takes place in multiple parallel universes, I plan on making some very subtle changes to the scene once we circle back around to it.

I personally don't like doing a huge lore dump on the very first episode. If I've learned anything from 4 years of school for game design, it's that people hate reading, even if that's the explicit action they're trying to take at the moment. So thrusting them into a situation where the reader goes "whoa what happened here?" and "whoa what's gonna happen next?" at the same time is kind of my go to method of starting a story.

[wispysing]

I guess it also depends on the genre–are you writing a romance? Epic fantasy? Sci-fi opera? From what I've seen, the first three uploads are mostly used to establish the feel of your comic and give readers an image of what to expect in future chapters.

Things I'd avoid would mainly be excessive dialogue; a massive lore dump; and introducing too many characters from the get-go as it can get a little confusing for readers.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Good luck!

[darthmongoose]

Everyone's advice here is really good; introduce some kind of problem that affects a sympathetic character directly.

So for my comic, I introduced three characters: Rekki, a wannabe magical knight who is bad magic (relateable, sympathetic main character), her BFF Sarin, who is also a wannabe magic knight but actually good at magic and is a very conscientious, kind person who maaaaybe has a little crush on Rekki (it was important to set up Sarin as basically being a really great person for later) and Urien, their mentor, a rather unpleasant narcissistic guy who tries to play them against each other to get what he wants.
I set up a mysterious ruin they're in that they're not meant to be, so the general vibe is suspense, but I also threw in some comedic moments to establish "this comic has a comedic tone" and to make people like Rekki and Sarin more (being funny makes a character likeable), and then I threw in a surprise curveball that creates suspense. The legendary sword Excalibur is in the ruin!

So in checklist form (and yeah, I legitimately did write a checklist):

• The opening will contrast the way the comic ultimately ends in an interesting way.
• The opening establishes the important conflict of the story.
• The opening establishes a point of view character and makes them either likeable or compelling.
• The opening should set the tone of the story and what sort of content to expect from it.

I generally try to keep dialogue to the same amount as in any other page of my comic. Ideally one sentence per speech bubble or two at a push, and no more than one or two speech bubbles per panel if I can help it. The text needing to be big for mobile readers honestly makes it pretty hard to break these rules!

So if you do decide to do an "opening narration crawl", break up the text and use plenty of compelling pictures. The opening of Magical Boy did it well:
https://tapas.io/episode/1051887
Lots of beautiful pictures, not too much text and then it quickly leads us into the characters, the tone and the immediately relevent conflict. This comic has to establish the lore first because we have to know that magical girls are a thing in this world so we can have the subversion: The person who has inherited the "magical girl" powers is a trans man.

As a general rule, only do a narration crawl if it is genuinely the best way to establish vital information your story cannot function without the audience knowing. Like Avatar the Last Airbender, the audience needs to know about the 4 nations, that the fire nation attacked and that there's a special magical person called the Avatar.

Do not make an opening text narration with abstract pictures, stock images or just text floating on a blank or textured background and just some vague stuff about "long ago... there were legends... but the legends.... went away.... but now... a new legend.... is beginning...?" as an excuse to put off having to actually draw characters or scenery or commit to planning out a story! (I see this so much in new creators. I definitely did it myself when I was a teenager! )

[SoulSean]

It depends on the genre of your story.
Like example;
I'm writing instead of drawing. But I think the method to make a good opening is the same.
I'm more into fantasy fanboys. So to start a new story, to bring out what you want to present to your reader;
1. The scenery, the context of narration (Avoid starting with "a long time ago...Legends has it...Deep in somewhere...")
2. Introduction to your main character. (Some started with Epilogue and some in Prologue. Depending on how many chapters will take to reach the climax of your story.) If the climax were too soon to reveal, then avoid using an epilogue.
3. I'll make an example out of my story; If the story was new to the reader and no continuing series, explain the world. Yes, not only the main character surrounding but the world itself. We always see this in the various anime adaptation. All the good stories always begin with the world and slowly explain how your main character will make a change in it. (But if you are drawing a romance story, I won't dare to give my piece of advice because I suck in this genre)
4. Two scenarios to start with the world;

• List item

Narration- Expand the view of the worldwide, explain what happens in your self-created world. (Remember to avoid the forbidden context Long time ago... Legends has it... Deep in somewhere...) Just be yourself and imagine you are standing on top of your world. Explaining everything to your viewer.
The main character - It is really hard to start with this one except you have a good narration of her surrounding. Begin to explain what happen to her surrounding as your story simultaneously expand to a worldwide viewing angle. (Usually, almost all the game trailer use this way to explain their skirmish and storyline)

Anyway, I am a new writer too. That was the advice I receive before I decided to start my series. Last but not least, sorry for the intrusion and being a busy body without having much thought and comment on your thread.

[Fafnir]

Ill just say, imo, don't start with exposition.
This might not apply, its mostly a fantasy trap. I just get very bored very fast if you overload me with worldbuilding immediately, before we even meet the characters.

[powerplantanimations]

Honestly I'd do it like those Episode ads you see on YouTube. The ones made by Tapas?

Also try finding a way that isn't TOO exposition-y? That's how I would go about it. Unless that's the joke (like how I start my comic. It's actually a running gag).

[system]

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