Looking for other long-form comics on Tapas

[joannekwan]

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.

Heavy Horns | Tapas

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.

Sarota Springs | Tapas

[Strontium]

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:

Heroes of Thantopolis | Tapas

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

[mappypaint]

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.

University of Speed | Tapas

[Kabushi]

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]

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]

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?

Abismos | Tapas

[fleetinginfinity]

@joannekwan Glad to see that a horror comic that's a bit of a slow-build is doing well, that's what Cowan's Crux is. Though there's no outright horror at the start, more going for a subtle undertone at the moment. Which I guess is something that comes from the fact that I originally wrote this as a novel. Hoping it's portrayed well, i think it is at least.

@Strontium Yeah, that size of an archive can be daunting, but I know there's an audience for long-form out there as I prefer it myself. Having something that won't end too quickly and will actually explore the story and characters for a long time is more interesting to me. I don't mind a short one here and there, but I prefer the long-form as it takes you into that world.

@Kabushi When I read that name I suddenly had the Samurai Pizza Cats theme in my head. I feel like your comic with a name like that needs an awesome campy theme song. The TV show structure is an interesting plan, would be curious to know how that works out for you going forward as you're getting into the thick of the story as you pointed out.

@franzvanderlinde I'd have to read it to be certain, but 150 pages is only a volume for some comics. So I'd say that lands more on the side of short-form rather than long-form.

[TheVoidchildProject]

Hi Fleetinginfinity, my comic Voidchild has been ongoing on tapas for just over a year now. I post twice a week and the comic has reached it's third chapter (ninth 22-page issue). I don't really know what experiences I can share, outside of that it's probably a slow burn with long-form to build a base of subscribers. But to me, it's the most enjoyable form of story telling. My comic also contains the sort of meta-narrative of me trying to learn how to draw. Because I didn't know squat about it when I started!

One thing I've thought about when it comes to long-form is to be aware of the format. My comic was written up into 22-page issues (as I mentioned) and was in my mind meant to be read as I used to read comics when I was younger. But I ended up posting it with a twice/week schedule. It def changed how people view the comic, since every page probably gets more attention than when you flip through a full issue of a comic. It also demands more of me as an author to help the reader retain information. My comic contains a lot of mystery elements and I've concluded that I need to have a recap at the start of every chapter to denote what's important from previous chapters. I know that's a bit polarizing, but I feel like I can't expect readers to remember all the details of my story.

Just two random thoughts. I kinda dropped into your thread when I was coming to the forums to post my latest page. I'm all for topics about long-form comics! ^_^

[DMBrigman]

I have a fantasy adventure long form comic, that has been on tapas for a year and a half I think. I personally prefer reading long form comics, because I love getting into characters and stories. If it has very few pages it really has to grab me right away so I'll hit the subscribe button. For works that have been around longer I will read through the first chapter and make a decision from there. Being that you only have a few pages up other readers may be the same.

I know after I finished uploading my first chapter, and promoted that one chapter was complete. I saw a spike in traffic and subscribers. This happens every time I complete a chapter, as it is a good jumping in point.

I am really focused on creating a story with characters who are interesting to me, because this otherwise being motivated to work on it for so long with not much feedback would be untenable. I'm am optimist and I'm just waiting for that tipping point when my subscriber numbers will snowball.

Obscurato | Tapas

[scarlet_wings_kaili]

I'm a long-form creator too and Halfsoul is only 1/12 finished (maybe around 800 pages once done?) XD
My experience is that long-term comics do seem to have a harder time on Tapas, but I don't think that should discourage you.
I mean, at the basic level Tapas is a platform that lets you share your story. While it's easy to get caught up by the numbers and get depressed (I sure have) unless you're posting just for the views, there's another reason you're sharing the story. If you stick to that, someone else will find value in your story. The most important readers are the ones that stick around for the entire ride, so as long as you remember that, you're doing good ^-^

HalfSoul | Tapas

In terms of the best posting schedule, longer posts benefit the story better but faster posts makes you more "visible" on Tapas. This is a bit of a problem when it comes to drawing speed, so it's best to figure out where the compromise lies. Currently I'm doing 2 pages a week, and I'm probably going to try to see (soon? ish?) what happens if I make it 3 pages a week, or 4...etc.

Just my thoughts :o

[Kabushi]

@Kabushi When I read that name I suddenly had the Samurai Pizza Cats theme in my head. I feel like your comic with a name like that needs an awesome campy theme song.

Yes! Campy theme tune is a must. We totally had that and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in mind when naming the comic. It's long-ass, mouthful of a name will be a running joke in the story itself too. XD

[fleetinginfinity]

@DMBrigman Yeah, I can't imagine writing a whole story with characters that don't interest me. Was always difficult for me to write anything that I was not passionate or did not care about, felt like a chore. When I'm writing something and I'm as invested in it as I hope my readers are or will be, then I at least am happy with it. Hopefully I'll see a big spike when this chapter finishes myself, only about two months until that happens.

@kellychen 800 pages? That's impressive. I'm definitely not just posting for the views, though views would be nice since that leads to comments, which is what I'm really looking for. I want to see readers who enjoy the series enough to actually tell me what they think of it and are engaged by it. Posting beyond once a week is a difficult thing right now since both the artist and I work full-time. We'd like to move to a schedule that's more often, but have to get things organized toward that first.

[ryoko]

As a reader, I really enjoy long form comics. I like immersing myself in epic stories that build momentum over time and that has strong character development. I grew up reading, watching and playing video games in this long form style, so I tend to seek out stories like this. I like them because they sometimes have a profound effect on my way of thinking.

My comic is long form, too (400+ pages now). I think that if you have a long form style comic you need to be patient in building your reader base. I knew that interest in my comic wasn't going to be high at first because the beginning is slow and the characters are introduced gradually as the story progresses. I've been on here for almost two years and now that most of the main characters are in play, people are more interested in the current story arc and they are more interested in going back and reading the earlier chapters.

Similar to what you've done, in May I went back and started to redo all the dialouge bubbles as reading my comic on a mobile device was a bit difficult. I've fixed up to chapter 6 now since then, and it's made a difference in views, I think.

As long as you enjoy your story and characters, readers will, too. I think your comic is quite interesting and the way you're going about presenting the story is intriguing. It makes me want to read more and know why Travis is in there and why he's afraid of sleeping. Keep up the good work and be patient. I think you've got a great story to tell.

[juniorguilherme340]

Been working on my for 4 years, it currently has 23 chapters each containing around 18 pages. To build the world in my comic lots and lots of additional paper were required to write down events to take place, as well as a calendar "in comic" of what happens on that day and so on.

A map was also created because it is one of the most important things to create first for every story. Character sheets too, since I need to keep track of character looks, status, personality and such.

In short I have a small book of assets from my comic, its that big.