Need help: Should a comic creator redo their comic or move forward?

[PorcheJ]

@Mikayi @mintycanoodles @okellymx @aronthemason Thank you guys. But yeah, these are good advice. Someone told me that I should just keep going. I have everything planned out for future series. Plus, the comic I'm uploading is years old. That's why I want people to understand that my next chapter will be better than my first one. Plus, readers will get to know the characters more in the next chapter.

You know how comics start out with a backstory before going into the story itself? At times, I feel that I should've done that. And with my characters, I just want readers to connect with them throughout the journey. I have everything planned out and just getting back on track with this comic, you know? It's my passion and I truly love doing this.

This is my very first comic, by the way.

@dratinigirl Thank you. I feel that I really want to move forward on my comic. I'm not looking for attention, no. I just want to send a good message through my comic and help those who are struggling with the lack of friends and to have courage. Especially towards young people; 15-26 of age.

[60Six]

I'm kind of in re-boot hell myself right now, but I have 0 regrets.
I had 8 chapters of my comic in black and white, written right-to-left, and littered with so many problems I can't re-read it without cringing.
But this story is my baby. I want to finish it (Even if it's gonna take years). I want it to be the best it can be. I did so many re-do's and take backs in the original version that it was such a jumbled mess (Like for example, I revealed a character and then decided "nvm it's too early for that" and went and edited a whole chapter to not reveal this character yet, but it was such a jumbled mess where sometimes people were finding the version where they were revealed and sometimes they weren't).
So from that point of view...should I have just continued the comic with all those old mistakes and styles intact? In myyyy opinion, no. It would have been such a jarring and jumbled mess for readers. I'm aware styles change and the beginning of a webcomic may look completely different from the end, but completely switching the reading format would have been a bit to extreme in my opinion.
On top of that, this started as a dinky little comic I started in high school. Since then, I've gone to school for art and learned a lot more than I knew back then about story and art, in addition to learning from a lot of mistakes from my last version (Not to say there aren't mistakes in this version too).
So that said, should I have just started a new project? I do have other stories I want to tell some day after all.
In my opinion...maybe, but in this particular case, hell nah. I love my story and characters. I don't want to abandon them until their story is told, even if it means taking another try at telling it. I don't have a TON of readers left over from the old version of my comic, but to them I do feel sorry that they're having to wait so long to see some real new content, but in the end it's for the better of this story. And even though I am rebooting the same comic, they ARE getting some new stuff. New scenes that weren't in the old version that benefit the story, things moved around, and of course just new colorful pages in a much easier to read format (Not to say black and white can't be gorgeous, but I prefer my own story in color). My few readers that have stuck around since the original version all seem to be very supportive of the reboot.

And THAT said, I'll give you another example of an experience I've had:
I did have one comic before my current one. It was semi-successful and had a decent readership, but in the end I decided to drop it for my current comic. And BOY WERE SOME PEOPLE PISSED. I'm sure they would have much rather preferred a reboot of that story than this new thing I had started.
I still don't have any regrets stopping that comic though. I still love the story and would love to go back to it some day, but for now, that one is a case of "let sleeping dogs lie." Maybe some day it'll get its own reboot as well. But why did I feel okay with calling it quits for now on that comic and not my current one?
Eeh, well I guess it's really just where your passions lie. If you really love your story and want it to be told the best of your ability and really think you can do it better than did at the beginning, I say go for it. But take some time. If you REALLY think your comic needs rebooting, those aren't plans or changes you can figure out in a week. I had one or two years in between my old comic and the reboot. I'm sure the time varies for everyone, but this sort of gave me enough time to make a much stronger story and art than I original had and was also long enough that readers were excited for any new content, even if was a reboot.
If people really love your story, they'll be excited whether it's a continuation or reboot. Think about all the reboots of cartoons lately. Granted, a lot of them have been let downs, but fans were STOKED for the Powerpuff Girls and Sailor Moon reboots (Just please do your story better justice than these did).
I know there's a Samurai Jack reboot coming up as well, and I'm actually not sure if it's a reboot or a continuation of the old show. But either way I am PUMPED! I don't care! I love Samurai Jack! I'm ready to see it again whether it's starting over or continuing!
I think comics are the same way. If readers really love your comic, they'll be excited no matter what. But just give it enough time for you to actually make the improvements and just long enough that readers still remember you and are excited when you come back.

HOO BOY! Sorry for rambling quite a bit! I hope that wasn't too wordy... :'D

[ikushina]

I would say move forward - unless you want to sell your comic and some of the first pages were terribly done

[PorcheJ]

@Riko Oh, no, no! It wasn't wordy at all! If anything, it was pretty cool. Thank you so much for sharing this though. I'll do my best to keep in mind on what you said.

@ikushina Thank you. The thing is... I'm going to a Kid's comic convention in June. And... I don't have time to change anything. Plus... I just want to move forward with my story. I want to do this because I feel that the second chapter will let the readers know the characters more.

I just want this to be a good comic. When I see everyone else's work here, I feel that I'm not doing good like them. I'm sorry if I'm comparing myself. I just want to be a good comic book creator like you guys.

[sorrelma]

imo if you have time and energy to redo early pages, it might be worth it, but story > art
like i've absolutely had to go back and change up or completely redo segments of my comics because the writing no longer reflected the direction i wanted to go with the story, but if the story is still solid, it might be better to press forward(plus you now have the benefit of scrolling through your work and seeing the wild improvement over the course of the story)
i use my comics as tools to improve my art and writing, and i've found that the best way to utilize those tools is to actually create rather than waiting out the storm and saying, "eh, i'll make the comic when my art is better" if you want to save the story until you're ready, work on something else in the meantime
too much contemplation will kill you tbh
NIKE JUST DO IT

[ryoko]

For me, I find you can fall into a bit of a trap re-doing things over and over again. All of our art improves over time the more we draw, so in a way drawing is like trying to hold onto water. It's fluid and ever changing. That being said, fixing something for consistency purposes may have to be done, but redoing everything because later pages are 'better' may not be the best use of your time. Just look at famous manga like Card Captor Sakura or any older Clamp series. The art at the beginning is great, but if you look at the first volumes compared to the last ones, there's a huge difference. Special A is a great example of how huge an improvement can be made between the first few pages and the last of a series.

From my own experience, I've redone mine numerous times over the years, but am now focusing on actually completing what I started. Sure, there's stuff that I can fix, but if I just focus on that, then the story no longer moves forward and I've condemned my characters into an infinity loop of sorts ^_^'...

I agree with sorrelma. Seeing the improvements made throughout a series makes it much more endearing and memorable. It's like the reader 'grows' with the artist as they read on.

[TrustyShamrock]

i think it deoends HOW bad the comic is. like if its a comic yur workin on and the first pages dont look as good as the newer pages i wouldnt change it. cuz then you'd end up going back and gettin better while youre redrawing pages. so by the time you finally get back to the newer pages the older pages actually look better. then you just get stuck in a endless loop. so probably dont do that
but if it really bothers you or ya just wanna reboot it cuz ya dont like it anymore and youre readers dont like it then that could totally be a good reason!

[Starfestival]

I just kept going. It was still the same story, and the art gets better progressively.

[Emberguard]

If the art quality at the start is bothering you that much that you want to redo earlier pages, then continue making new pages as your priority and in-between that re-make earlier pages and update those pages with the newer art.

The important thing is not to get bogged down with re-making everything over and over to the point where nothing gets done. Your artstyle is going to change. It's only natural to improve. If you keep redoing what you've already done without moving foward then you'll never get anywhere other then where you already are. Nice looking art is a great bonus, but a incomplete story that never gets finished with awesome art is worse then a completed story with alright art.

If you've made everything and want to print it into a comic book but then find you can't due to the format, then sure, redo the entire thing so it can be printed. But otherwise it'd be better to move on with something else or the next chapter even if you redo some pages inbetween working on newer things.

[PorcheJ]

Thank you all so much for your feedback. It's really appreciated.

When I started making Cryptic Yume, I was deeply passionate about this. But things like college, finding a job, and criticism got to me. So I was on hiatus.

Now, after learning the art of writing and practicing on my drawings, I'm back and ready to continue my story. I'm not worried about the format either (I think it's alright), rather than the pages themselves. But after reading everyone's response, I've come to a decision:

I'm keeping my old pages and moving forward on my comic.

When I look back at my older pages, I can see that I've improved with each page. And that right there is an inspiration. I don't really want to redo everything, because it'll feel like a chore instead of a fun hobby.

Thank you all again. I think I'm gonna stick with moving forward with my comic. I have so much to share with my story. Plus, I already have everything planned: From beginning to end of Cryptic Yume.

[trivialtales]

Either is fine. I'm redoing a lot of mine so I can publish it and have it not look like garbage, but it is a huge strain on time to be making something that is not new.

So it really depends how badly you want to redraw it.

[UrMom]

It depends on why you want to redo your comic, if it's for superficial reasons than I'd say to move forward, if it's something related to story that you truly have a problem with (such as if you feel your story now doesn't fit with how it was then) than I don't see any problem with going back and fixing it. I myself have a project on hold to get the first chapter redrawn, not because I thought it was ugly or anything, but my main characters now are completely different from when I first created them; and it genuinely bothers me enough that if I weren't to do anything I would completely lose interest in finishing the comic.
Sure, I'll get people who will be all butthurt about it, but you're never going to please anyone. Also it's my comic and I can do whatever I want with it, and I'd rather do something that allows me to continue enjoying the creation process, than choose to be miserable with it only to cater to my reader-base.

Do what you feel is best for your comic.

[allansardoma]

Just do whatever you want. Just consider the question: "If I redo my comics, will it improve or it will get worse?" review it a lot and think about what you want to redo with your comic and consider your reader.

[demthorshie]

It really depends on whether you have enough patience or interest to reboot an entire comic. I know for me, if I work on a story concept for too long, I eventually get bored and move on after a while. It takes a lot of time to redo a comic on the fly and unless you have plans on getting it published in the future, I wouldn't bother to redo it to be honest.

[Robosaur]

It really depends. If it's a story related issue, its probably best to fix some things here and there. But it really depends on how big of a problem it is. If you find yourself running into too many plot walls, then i think you should consider a re-do.

If what your worried about is art quality, it's best to just continue moving forward. Unlike writing, you can easily modify/improve as you go along! C: The writing is what matters the most in a story, not the art. It's like worrying about how a cake looks before learning how to MAKE the actual cake ahaha~ Of course good visuals are always great but, it all comes down to practice! Good luck!~

[ms94maychan]

Good question! I wished to hear from other too because I have my older unfinished comic that is in hiatus. I alsobyhink remake the comic to improve the quality including grammar mistakes, the art and etc. It have been 2 years and now my art improved a bit and changed in style too~ huhuuuu

[Kyosu]

always move on. never stop, if you don't like something, change it and make it better

[PorcheJ]

@Kyosu Love that answer. But yeah, thank you! Just gotta keep moving on. As you keep going, you improve more. And if you need to change something, it's okay to do so. Just don't stress out! ^_^

@ms94maychan Hey, if you want to remake it due to art and writing (maybe mostly with
the plot), then that's cool! If you want to move on to new things or finish your comic, that's okay too. There's no right or wrong. It's your comic.

[Emberguard]

Biggest problem I see with artists redoing their comics is most of them delete the previous pages but never get back to the stage in the comic they were the first time round.

Re-doing something you've already done from the very beginning can be tedious and cause people to stop working on the project.

Some people can do it, but those would be in the minority. If it's for printing purposes because the format needs fixing then sure, go for it. Otherwise you're better off just continuing with what you have so you don't get stuck in the one spot.

[PorcheJ]

@Emberguard Totally understandable. That's why I chose to continue with my comic, instead of going back and changing a lot. As I said before, I want this to be a fun experience, not a chore to clean up the mistakes I made in old pages.