Looking for other long-form comics on Tapas

fleetinginfinity 2017-08-29 18:56:17 UTC #7

@theladiesi: I can see what you mean about the prologue, it's a rather lengthy introduction. There's not more to it yet than the intro so I can't say for sure if the introduction was necessary, but definitely sure it's easier for you to find an audience now that you have as many pages up as you do. Since there's at least as much information up at once now it's more interesting, but if I was having to wait week to week for each of those might not have caught my interest.

@bracomics: You're welcome, glad I could help with some of the errors. Summaries are probably a good idea, but I'm not sure what Tapas's policy are on them.

@StopWatchers: Glad to see another black-and-white comic. I think it fits your setting and style the same way it does for mine. Could have gone with color, but do not think it would carry the same feeling even if color might grab the eyes better. Can definitely see your issue with promotion there though, definitely think you made a pretty good choice with where you started so far as I can tell right now having not read what comes after though, so could be wrong. Starts with a moment in history and a character that most people will be familiar with and grounds it pretty well with that, so that along with the action helps people to take in everything else easier I feel. Really looking forward to seeing more of it.

Daknight 2017-08-29 19:24:50 UTC #8

I read the guidelines and doesn't seem to be anything against it as far as I could see. Of course more experience creators might help out more in this department.

AmysGames 2017-08-29 19:54:00 UTC #9

My main series, Aiiro No Kunoichi, is longform!

I guess my biggest concern with it is that the first few pages look incredibly different from the most recent pages, since I started the comic several years ago and plan to keep making it for years to come. I wonder if the first few pages are a turnoff for people, though there's not much I can do about it other than try to redo them (which is generally a bad idea, lol).

I also think I might have burned through my old archives too quickly and made too overwhelming of a backlog for new readers, but oh well, too late now.

StopWatchers 2017-08-29 20:02:34 UTC #10

Thanks @fleetinginfinity ! Same with yours, I think the black and white works very well!! Really I picked to go with black and white because my end goal is to print a physical graphic novel, along with each chapter as it's own comic book along the way. Black and white is cheaper to print, which is really why I made the choice. But I'm glad I did, I agree, I think it really fits!

But drawing it as a graphic novel is tough, as I'm sure you know too. Our comics aren't meant to be read at a rate of one page a week. Ultimately I want someone to begin reading Stop Watchers and not be able to stop, read the whole thing in one sitting because they can't put it down. It's hard to build momentum when each page is it for another week. I think that's our biggest hurdle doing a long form comic over a joke of the day type one.

fleetinginfinity 2017-08-29 20:06:34 UTC #11

When you've been working on a comic for that long the quality will certainly change. Given how much you've done I definitely wouldn't suggest going back and redoing it, keep moving forward. A lot of people will enjoy watching the quality of your work growing along with the story. Sure there will be some people who won't, but most will. I know I have with a lot of the comics I've read over the years. You even see quality change in comics by the big two publishers, so if it's good enough for Marvel and DC, it's definitely good enough for webcomics I'd say. Artist and I actually completely redid ours once because of his style changing so much after just six pages, but that was wholly different. That was a matter of finding the style he wanted to use for the comic, and once he found it the first six pages really needed to be redone in the new style. We ended up redoing everything though and ended up with one more page than we initially had.

fleetinginfinity 2017-08-29 20:09:02 UTC #12

Yeah, we've done ashcans and we're looking at doing our first printing of what's called "Chapter 0" to take to a convention this month. Black-and-white has definitely made the printing a lot cheaper. It really does read a lot better to the people who can sit down with the whole of the chapter we have done right now and read through it than those who have to go through what we have online, so I definitely empathize with you there.

theladiesi 2017-08-29 20:31:36 UTC #13

Thanks for the feedback. I know readers want to get to the story which is part of the reason we did a prologue. It's a big world and we didn't want to throw a bunch of terms and backstory at the reader all at once for them to have to try to keep straight. It's sort of like throwing someone into the deep end of the pool.

But we are excited to get to the story soon. I hope the info in the prologue is useful to readers.

keii4ii 2017-08-29 21:25:39 UTC #14

The premise for Cowan's Crux seems interesting. I'll check it out!

A big archive is a double edged sword, IMO. If you have a strong insta-hook early on, then a new reader would be happy to eat up the archive. But if your hook is a more... gradual type, someone who's just started reading might go, "eh, this isn't bad, but I got better things to do right now" --before they get to the actual hook -- and put it off.

In that regard, I'm screwed because I DO NOT have an early insta-hook. lolol

My comic:

revisionstudios 2017-08-29 22:33:50 UTC #15

It definitely comes with its own set of struggles! I have a cyberpunk fantasy called Midwinter (also in B&W, I think it's a classic look!)

Like @keii4ii I don't think mine has an instant hook. I fret about that a lot, haha. Even completing volume 1 (162 pages of comic) many people will tell me that they don't think they can judge it because the story hasn't really even started... ahahaha... ha. lays down And being honest with myself, things won't start coming together in cohesion until the end of volume 2, maybe the beginning of volume 3.

I often have to remind myself that this is just a nature of the sort of story I'm writing. It's going to be like 100 chapters, 20 volumes long, and it's a science fiction fantasy with new technologies and its own magic system. There is a LOT to cover, and a lot to set up so it CAN run smoothly. Try reminding yourself of that too if you need it. :')

I've done alright for myself on Tapas imo, but my convention fans are where it's at. I have so many fans that come see me every year to get the new issue, and they probably get the best sense of the story BECAUSE they can read 40+ pages at once. Right now I'm just working on updating more frequently so we can better inspire loyalty. I think having something physical to sell with help you out a lot, especially if you have new content for them at least every year. (Or more if you can manage it)

When it comes to posting a longform story online, I would honestly advise against doing a page a week. It kills pacing for stories like ours. I update 3-5 pages in one episode every ~2 weeks, and it's done well for me. It gives my fans a mini scene to read and they don't seem to mind waiting a little extra. If you're able to swing 6-10 pages a month, maybe you can try it too? Whatever works for your schedule!

Sanz 2017-08-29 22:36:17 UTC #16

Both of my Comics are long form. Full blown long stories . Los Esmeraldas actually has three parts

I have a feeling both would be doing pretty well if I could dedicate more time to them or if I had them on other sites. Personally I don't like short comics that much I like to fall in love with characters. The thing about both my stories and my writing in general is that I try to have it so there is a question left at the end of each page. Each page brings something to the mix even if it's as small as two characters bonding when they haven't before. Or shows a trait in a character that was only slightly touched upon prior. But that's just me Los Esmeraldas starts off pretty heavy in first three pages, and the tone dies down just a tad but only to set the stage for the next the antagonist. In godtown I start off with the telling of a story and then introduce the Mc as I go on I show how that story relates to the Mc and show more about her.

spadesart 2017-08-29 22:50:46 UTC #17

my comic SPIRE is longform ! longforms unfortunately always grow slower

i really dont know if mine has an insta hook

Hodge 2017-08-29 23:37:29 UTC #18

I have a longform comic called Axis and uhh yeah building an audience on Tapas has been a struggle. Compared to Webtoons I've kinda just given up on Tapas because the format of my comic (webtoon format) makes it rather difficult for readers to enjoy on this platform for some reason.
Since it's long I try to think about my new readers that binge it as well as those that return every update. So the latter wouldn't memorize as much and might drop the series if they don't think it's going anywhere interesting. The former needs a hook (as others have said) as well as a dynamic enough story that they don't get bored after 20 minutes of reading. I try to balance between dialogue and action, and consider the pacing and timing of plot events.

UzukiCheverie 2017-08-30 00:01:54 UTC #19

lol I hook people in with a plot that seems like it's going to be about romance... and then it turns around and all of a sudden it's the living versus the undead, demon possessions, scythe murderers, and all sorts of other nonsense It can be fun to do a turnaround hook, so long as it's done right IMO (big example: Madoka Magika)

fleetinginfinity 2017-08-30 00:08:59 UTC #20

@keii4ii I read your series for a while on your main website before it went on hiatus at one point a while back. I don't think you need to worry about an instant hook, the setting and art for your comic are hook enough by themselves even without the story, which is a bit slow to pick up, but once it did I really enjoyed it.

@revisionstudios: Cyberpunk fantasy sounds interesting, definitely like the looks of it. Hoping conventions go as well for us, we're doing our first one at the end of this month. Getting prints of our first issue which is actually Chapter 0 done. Doing more pages at once might be a good idea, once the artist and I can get a good rhythm going for the pages.

@Sanz: I'm definitely more of a fan of lengthy stories myself. Followed both of your comics so I will have to give them an actual look later.

@hvh410: Definitely easier finding people on Webtoons since they're no effort to that. I do like the community here I've fund, whereas there's no community on Webtoons that I've seen as of yet.

@UzukiCheverie: Yeah, turnaround is definitely a good hook. That's a pretty drastic one, too. Will have to read later. No drastic changes like that in mine, but there is a bit of a shift later on that I think might serve well to keep people interested.

joannekwan 2017-08-30 00:12:18 UTC #21

Most of my comics are long form (of varying lengths), though I'll admit Demon House is a bit more episodic.
I try to have as interesting a hook possible at the beginning. And since none of my comics are very action-oriented, I present an intrigue factor—something that will make a reader go, "huh, that's different. Let's read more about these characters."

I've been working on HH for over 2 years. It's been a long-haul but I just keep on truckin'. It's easier as its script is pretty much complete. The first real page introduces the main characters immediately in an unusual situation, and the rest of it explores their evolving relationship with each other. Readers have responded positively to it.

My newest series, Sarota Springs, is categorized as horror. I have a little taste of that in the beginning, but it's a slow build-up to the rest of it. At this point, readers are interested in the characters, so I'll say that part is successful.

Strontium 2017-08-30 02:35:33 UTC #22

Long form comics are what I prefer to read - I love going deep into a big story. It was when I discovered long form webcomics many years ago that I decided I'd make one of my own someday.

My comic, since it's three years old and updates twice a week, has a HUGE archive and that can be daunting to new readers. The first chapter goes by faster since I uploaded most of it in batches, but I have 277 "episodes" as of writing that'll only get longer. Michael Son once said he thought the beginning of my comic was a hook, but I guess that's a subjective question!

Here's the link to my comic:

my reading list is also 85% longform comcis with various archive sizes
https://tapas.io/Strontium/reading-list

mappypaint 2017-08-30 03:59:47 UTC #23

It will be fun to look at all the other long form comics here. ^u^ I'm doing a long form comic as well, currently at 375pages of a possible 1200. Check it out if ever you have some free time.

Kabushi 2017-08-30 04:46:19 UTC #24

So much good advice here!

Our comic, Future Feline Fighting Force, is long-form but structured more like a season of a tv show. Each book (or chapter) will tell a story but also lead into the next as part of a bigger, overall narrative. So, one book is 24 pages and we have six books in our first 'season.' It's a loooooong story without updating frequently but hopefully each book provides enough of a self-contained story.

Because I knew we'd be releasing two pages in one update per week, I just tried to ensure it had or ended with a hook or at least delved a little more into the characters so (fingers crossed) people wanted to see where it'd go from there. I feel like we've only been successful 50% of the time so far. The early parts in the book were tougher to write. Now that that hurdle's over and the majority of characters are introduced, we're about to get into the thick of the story, so I'm excited to see what'll happen.

mariusthered 2017-08-30 04:47:09 UTC #25

tales from swipe city is my long form comic and i have been going for almost two years on Tapas, despite the time I don't have a massive following due to unpopular content, but I just plod on and hope open minded people will come across my work and just enjoy it for the escape from reality that it is.

franzvanderlinde 2017-08-30 13:31:33 UTC #26

My comics are going to be at least 150 pages long (hard to say yet). The next chapter will make it reach the 80, is that long?