Is SCI-FI a niche in webcomics? Why is that?

keii4ii 2016-10-25 00:02:59 UTC #6

Addendum:

Now I'm speculating that maybe 'Tolkien' is its own genre in my head. When I see a fantasy story with Tolkien elves and Tolkien dwarves, I go "oh that's a Tolkien story" rather than "oh that's a fantasy story."

@60Six No offense taken! I just enjoy discussions. =D Sorry if I sounded annoyed.

60Six 2016-10-25 00:11:53 UTC #7

No worries! I'm incredibly terrible at reading tones online and that's just further proof. :'D

On the subject though, I kinda agree with Tolkien having it's own genre. I feel the same way with Star Wars.
Honestly, sci-fi is my all time favorite genre, BUT only when it's something like...FullMetal Alchemist. Space ships in space fighting aliens in space suits just isn't my cup of tea. ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with that kind of sci-fi, but it does nothing for my personal interests, and very often neither does Tolkien fantasy. However, I love fantasy like Harry Potter.

With that said, I'm kind of curious. Do you think the abundance of fantasy over sci-fi also has to do with just the art? After all, a huge percentage of the fantasy section is amateur or beginner artists and...generally magical glows and wands are considered easier to draw than high tech guns and space ships. Could this also contribute?

keii4ii 2016-10-25 00:31:14 UTC #8

Interestingly, I classify FMA as fantasy, as it deals with "soul power," and the trained fighters' physical prowess seems to exceed that of trained fighters in real life. But its lack of spaceships is probably a factor for my subconscious, too. XD I would say it's an example where the line between fantasy and sci-fi is blurred.

FMA has plenty of science in it, for sure, and it's all very logical/internally consistent... but so does Death Note, which is CLEARLY fantasy even though internal logic is just as crucial for that story.

I don't think the ease of drawing is a big factor. It could be, but it doesn't seem that way? Chobits is sci fi. Also, steampunk is probably just as much pain to draw as spaceships, but it seems more common than spaceships? I would argue pretty much everything is hard to draw. My observation is that when someone wants to do a comic but doesn't feel confident in drawing something, they tend to just skimp on it, which is why the background is often absent or just barely there in many webcomics.

mayday 2016-10-25 00:48:51 UTC #9

Hmm. There are actually a lot of sci-fi comics in the Fantasy section, which I think is just caused by a difference in opinion on what constitutes science fiction.

This is it exactly. Sci-fi is defined as "fiction based on imagined future, scientific or technological advances, and major social or environmental changes", and while space is a common aspect, there's a ton more that people just don't realize is more sci-fi than fantasy.

spadesart 2016-10-25 01:56:54 UTC #10

My comic is in some odd place between sci-fi and fantasy so I wasn't sure where to place it. I just put it as fantasy because it focuses on my vampires (even though it has some really futuristic technology like holograms and robots and stuff.) I really do love sci-fi stuff though, I'm surprised there's so little comics for it :0

NickRowler 2016-10-25 02:09:51 UTC #11

I wrote a scifi drama about a robot from space. But because it wasn't too stereotypically "scifi", I decided to put it under drama instead.

I think because the comics have to go into one category, some people may be left choosing comedy or action over scifi.

I think scifi is an interesting genre because it usually about taking a social concept and pushing it to an extreme. And maybe some people don't really want to take on a story which has deeper philosophy weaved in.

scythe 2016-10-25 02:14:01 UTC #12

Yeah, I think it's safe to say that sic-fi is my all time favourite genre. I don't know why it's not as popular. Maybe it's the just about the type of people who read webcomics. Sci-fi people tend to be into lots and lots of details and world building, which is maybe harder to do in this format than in a novel, or at least, it can take longer. I'd say the majority of people who read webcomics are tweens who are just looking for superficial, titillating romance stories and characters they can "ship".

If I wanted to I suppose I could change my comic to sic-fi, but then I think I'd feel obligated to delve into explanations for things whereas I'd much rather focus on the mystery and drama of the plot. Plus, I'm a bit old school and believe that good science fiction should be an allegory of some kind, and while my comic explores themes, it's not metaphorical. To that end, I've kept it fantasy, even though a lot of people tend to associate fantasy with more traditional, Tolkienesque, GOT style stories.

apocryphagraphics 2016-10-25 02:19:47 UTC #13

Also, remember that the comics listed under the Sci-fi heading in the genres aren't the only Sci-fi comics on Tapastaic. There are thousands of others here. Most of us just aren't worthy of getting listed on their Sci-fi list I guess.

J.Lovelace 2016-10-25 02:20:24 UTC #14

Um I think you have to switch the tab to "BROWSE ALL" and then click the sci-fi genre. There's 48 pages of sci-fi

mayday 2016-10-25 04:26:43 UTC #15

As much as I'd like to jump in and defend my fellow teenage comic lovers... I'm forced to agree that this is what many look for in a webcomic. Romance is great and I really enjoy it if it's done well, but I don't really read stories that are purely romantic. Though everyone has different tastes, so some people might think sci-fi stuff is dumb and over complicated , preferring simpler feel-good love stories. I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with that, but I wish more of those people would give sci-fi a chance.
It's all about perspective, man.

shaneoid77 2016-10-25 04:49:27 UTC #16

Well, @vincentvenoir I haven't got any answers, but I think your work is brilliant, instant sub!

jurinova 2016-10-25 05:10:56 UTC #17

I think one of the main reasons for the lack of scifi online comics is that scifi simply isn't very popular at the moment. In the 80's and the 90's scifi was much more popular and had the internet been the way it is now there would've been a whole lot more scifi comics. Back then there was still a different view of the future and it drove people to explore it in science fiction, and now it seems apocalyptic stories have taken the place of scifi. Zombies and post-apocalyptic stories are a sure hit, though that seems to be changing slowly. Perhaps scifi will make a comeback soon.

I also agree with previous posters that the fact that comics can only have one genre in Tapastic causes a lot of scifi comics to go unnoticed. My webcomic is a space opera, so I thought about placing it in the drama genre instead of scifi. Many others probably face the same problem of deciding between genres. If there was a possibility to choose a secondary genre many more scifi comics might be found.

Michelle 2016-10-25 05:58:35 UTC #18

I agree with @keii4ii that some sci-fi stories fit better into other genres rather than just sci-fi alone.

My story is technically a sci-fi story, but it's more about the mystery surrounding the characters than the sci-fi/cyberpunk setting, hence I categorize it under the mystery genre. And while sci-fi covers a lot more themes than outer space and hyper-futuristic chrome cities, I think that's where most people's minds go when you say "sci-fi", so I tend to use the term sparingly when describing my comic.

While sci-fi has a lot of great stories within the genre, I find one of its common pitfalls (for me, at least) is the stuff that get so obsessed with world-building and tech-explanation that it forgets to tell an interesting story. So I tend to have a hard time getting into a story that purely defines itself as sci-fi.

vincentvenoir 2016-10-25 07:04:38 UTC #19

Thank you all for your answers! I'm susprised by quality of this conversation - love this place!

It's the same with me. And I'm consider about choosing action or comedy for my comic because sci-fi is only aesthetics in KOT.

sarrowsmith10 2016-10-25 15:44:05 UTC #20

I agree with this. So much about Star Wars is very much fantasy instead of science fiction. It's like a space fantasy. I'd think I'd lump Guardians of the Galaxy, Riddick, Voltron (new Netflix version) and maybe Dune with the label "Space Fantasy" rather than sci fi. Sci Fi for me is like "The Martian" or "Star Trek" or "Interstellar" "Space Odyssey" things that are based in Science rather than just space.

In many ways, my comic VSEPR is a scifi/action as its very focused on science and adventures in science and using future technology.. and its a shame because there isn't a Super Hero category either on tapastic.

vincentvenoir 2016-10-25 18:00:42 UTC #21

Exacly! You draw perfect examples except 'Dune' in my opinion. I've just read it and it's an oldschool and epic science fiction with many tribal things and planet culture which may looks like 'fantasy' medieval or rather oriental stuff. It's nothing fantasy on that, genetic telepathy instead magical powers etc

And I'm in love with space opera adventures. SAGA comic is the best one!

sarrowsmith10 2016-10-25 22:18:02 UTC #22

It's been a shamefully long time since I've watched the movie, so it was just a maybe. Hard to remember. Haha. But I think we are still on the same page.

niinasalmelin 2016-10-25 22:41:57 UTC #23

It's good point that scifi isn't just that 'hot' right now, but I feel it'll change soon with so many recent and upcoming scifi films. And perhaps the popularity of current scifi comics like Saga will give it a new boost in webcomics as well. Personally, I really really want/and will do a scifi comic one day, but first I want to get good at drawing things I would want to have in the story. I suck too hard at robots and machines at the moment ^^'

ratique 2016-10-26 02:05:41 UTC #24

Hello fellow Sci-Fi Creator!

I always enjoyed fantasy far more than sci-fi, but ended up working on the latter anyways. One thing that makes sci-fi harder to create is the fact that it is usually heavy on all things industrial - cities, buildings, robots, machines, spaceships, guns... In the past I would never have dared to touch such a subject. Drawing organic shapes and plants seems much less menacing for a beginner.

james19931234 2016-10-26 05:03:18 UTC #25

Interesting topic, I actually agree this is partly because of lot of fantasy has pre-existing and interesting lore to go off of, however in the creation of my comic it is indeed a sci-fi comic but I create it in context of how fantasy stories are told...I think I'm not sure, but since my comic series is a sci-fi series that meant I had to create over 189 different races to help develop and paint the lore...I'm not joking, I made that many races http://forums.tapastic.com/t/what-alien-races-do-you-want-to-appear-in-my-comics/11438/11 Now I find my self using both scifi and fantasy tropes in the creation of my series where I figure some aliens to be somewhat mystical or supersticious, some aliens being low-tech and I've made the use of guns and lasers kind of sparse and considered a luxury or a sign of a group having a lot of resources, a lot of the aliens and such in my series may be using melee weapons which could lead into situations where I need to use fantasy tropes instead of sci-fi ones.
But anyway I've noticed quite a few scifi comics here, I do in the future though wish to make a fantasy comic as well. One other thing I think that makes people avoid making sci-fi comics is it's easy to become cliche, due to the lack of sci-fi sources at their disposal.