Opinion: Does a Webcomic Need good art?

[Aetoras]

Good, eye-catching art definitely helps get readers' attention. People are a lot more likely to have a look at something that looks good and less likely to look at something that looks ugly or amateurish.

But I don't think (and this is just my opinion) that a web-comic needs good art. If the writing is good, you can hook a reader and keep them engaged even if the art is very simplistic or just passable. But the art does need to clearly show what the dialogue and text doesn't and not detract from the writing. I think a comic needs not so much 'good' art but to make good use of art that works with the story. It also depends on the kind of story you're telling.

[zoonland]

Not always. But it helps a lot to reach a wider audience. Art is the first thing you see and gets the potential reader in no time. Reading a story takes more time, so it's less immediate.

[fleohr]

Art style matters a lot and what your characters are too. Human looks more popular than animals, no matter if it's a cat or any other animal , hybrid humans are quite popular tho

For the art style, I think those more inclined to illustration magazines/western style are less popular than anime/manga imo

This is one of the comics that are very underrated, even though the art is good looking

Erinyes

It was one of the entries on LW contest 2015, but didn't get to the finals

[silverraven0]

As far as I go as a reader, what interest me the most is the story, plot, flow and characters development. If the story is good enough to keep me reading, the art is not a problems for me. Let me example Preta. The art is not my favourite by far, but the story is just so intriguing I keep on reading it.

But if a story have pretty decent art, or even better, it would make me more 'taken' on the story. So you could say that the art is mandatory, but balancing it would be good if you want more reader to be pulled on your series, like a bonus (said someone that always obsessing toward clean lines).

That is my personal opinion thought.

[CarolRiverArt]

It depends on the context. xD

[Rhonder]

"Need", no, although it's certainly preferable. Comics, as a mixed media using pictures and words, is a balancing act so both aspects have to be considered. As others have said, a comic with amazing art but a poor story will draw people in but not retain them (depending on how poor the story is, anyways). Likewise some people may never look at the comic with the best story in the world if the art is particularly unappealing to a lot of people.

That said, I do think that the story portion holds a little more weight. As long as the art is at least passable, a good story can easily carry a comic imo. On the flip side if the art is nice but the story not so good, I'd rather just follow the person as an artist rather than a comic author, kind of xD;;

edit: the situations in quesiton though are assuming extremely good/bad art/writing. The's definitely a wide spectrum of skill levels in between and the truth is most people falls in the middle somewhere. I don't feel as though someone has to be really really good at either aspect to make a successful comic :] and both skills improve over time/with practice.

[GrimRose]

Consistent art, that is overall fairly good is preferable. I think proper pacing and editing is esential though, but is often overlooked for a good art style and story. Bad editing/pacing can make a great story with good art, painful to read.

[baasinsimple]

I guess in a comedy one you want either consistently bad art or consistently god-like art, if I take a look at OPM I feel like I'd prefer it less if it was just serviceable For an action series I'd think the same way, because in my personal opinion, the only crime in art is that it's boring or 'serviceable' and not much else.