Opinion on Importance of Art vs Story

[Riza_Creator]

I am planning to start a webcomic soon. I have a story and have planned it all out however I still have never drawn a comic before. Even though my art is better than most I keep thinking that if the art is not amazing people might not think it is worth reading. I know that I should start drawing it but I get discouraged when ever page of a comic I read is so visibly stunning. So I want to hear your opinions on what is more important art or story or should there be a balance? Mainly even if the art in a comic is not the best would you still read it if the story is really good? Thank you for reading!

[ar-ninetysix]

Ever heard of One Punch Man or Mob Psycho 100? These animes had these very basic, borderline ugly-looking mangas, but the stories are really what captivated the audiences. Both are amazing in their own right, in my opinion.

I don't think the art should play such a big role that it overshadows your story because if your art's amazing but the story's terrible then.. why would anyone bother to continue reading it? Of course, nothing wrong with getting both great art AND a great story. As long as both are equally good, you'll be fine.

[Luminosophy]

I would like to think that extreme examples like One Punch Man serve to demonstrate which one is more important. Yet to hear of any series or franchise that ever got famous solely off of looking pretty.

[Riza_Creator]

I have only watched the anime versions of both of those but I did hear about that. Also Thanks for the encouragement.

[Riza_Creator]

That is true I've never heard of a series liked just for being pretty.

[ar-ninetysix]

Yet to hear of any series or franchise that ever got famous solely off of looking pretty.

I'm gonna say Violet Evergarden fits this for me. I thought the art and animation were gorgeous, but the story and characters were super monotonous. I was hugely disappointed by it lol

[Kann]

Good art is one of the things that might grab readers attention, but the story is what makes them stay. So if you plan to start your webcomic, go ahead!

[Kura]

Yet to hear of any series or franchise that ever got famous solely off of looking pretty.

Most stuff by "Oh Great!"

A lot of his fans pray that he will just work with a writer and stop writing his own stuff. (Which I think he's actually doing now) Although there are still fans that think his writing is great. Ultimate fan base discourse for this guy is "can he REALLY write or are we just so in love with the art we're pretending like he can???"

[Riza_Creator]

Thank you I guess I should stop worrying if the art is perfect or if every page looks great because comics, animation, and novels are just different ways of conveying stories. So the story really should come first over art work and in my opinion you can only improve if you practice. My art will get better in time.

[SleepingPoppy]

The most important thing is art that supports the story. Comics happen at many many different skill levels, and its generally a combination of factors that help you gain and following and grow.

[dawgofdawgness]

Pretty much what @Kann said - if your webcomic has a good looking thumbnail and art style, more people will want to click on it and stick around. (Especially if the series is new) but when you’re in the middle of the story, it’s possiblt that some people will get bored if the comic isn’t executed in an interesting way. I’ve seen a good amount of comics with wonderful art that slowly lose their readership as the plot progresses. :c

[SilverLugia456]

If I may post my opinion. I think it offers a balance between both the artwork and the story, though as those before me have said sometimes its up to the reader what they value most. For me personally that balance is important when it comes to stories because sometimes when reading I like placing visuals with it.

So the artwork is what captivates the reader and grabs their attention but the story is what is going to keep the reader invested in your work. (I'm sure some others have said similar things.) As a writer I'm more experience with writing than I am with artwork. So, when writing stories I try to use visual storytelling to try to paint a picture of what the reader would be seeing. The artwork is meant to replace that visual storytelling so that your words are reflected in what you are drawing. Whether its short description or dialogue.

It also depends on what your particular style is. To post a comic or webcomic for fun I don't think anyone is going to expect professional million dollar designs. You can get better by gaining experience and continuing to work on your stories and artwork. I think that is one of the biggest benefits when you get feedback from others. Another option is in the future if you see that your skills have improved to the next level you can go back and republish your work with more updated designs than before. It shows how dedicated you are and caring towards the story you are creating.

Like I said this is my opinion towards the topic question you have asked, I hope that this is okay.

[A-weird-girler]

Idk man but so far my art freaking sucks but I have a decent story from what peer reviewers said, so I have to improve on that. I have noticed that some of the premium comics have great art but not much substance. I'm not a grass though

[Teowi]

I'd say give Violet Evergarden some credit. I think its superb art and animation really overshadowed the quality of the story and characters. It was animated in the first place because the original source material won first place in Kyo-Ani's novel competition, which was very rare (often times first place just stood empty).

[Demy]

Mob Psycho 100 actually had some pretty clever composition in some areas...

https://www.mangareader.net/mob-psycho-100/17/3

Like this is a pretty good visual representation of Teruki's world shattering while he's fighting mob. Notice how the outlines in the shattered glass on the last panel are similar outlines of the people in the first 3 panels.

I need to reread this manga lol.

https://www.mangareader.net/mob-psycho-100/97/7

Also I gotta give ONE some props here. There are still some issues but he has actually improved his artwork over the course of the manga.

Also to @Riza_Creator

To answer the question, I think that what matters in a webcomic (or a comic in general) the most is the story and how you tell it. I'm talking like composition, how you layout the panels and stuff like that. @punkarsenic keeps mentioning Understanding Comics so that's a good read. But I also recommend studying how other authors handle this. Akira Toriyama is one of the best at this if you ask me when it comes to flow in a panel.

(if you want more on this there's a channel called Strip Panel Naked on youtube)

Art is important for a first impression since that can change over time and you will improve over the course of the story.

Also for a less extreme example on story>art (sorta) I'll point you to JoJo's Bizzare adventure

The manga looks like this right now.

If ONE can do it, you can do it. If Araki can do it, you can do it (also his book on making manga is a good read)

Anyway point is, Story (and everything having to do with it) is a little bit more important than the art. Don't forget about those characters too.

[Demy]

Also yeah just write the comic you'll learn a lot too.

[Riza_Creator]

Thank you for the advise and resources I need to read more manga anyway so thanks for reading suggestions too

[ar-ninetysix]

I'd say give Violet Evergarden some credit. I think its superb art and animation really overshadowed the quality of the story and characters.

I'm not disagreeing with this! The art and animation were honestly the only thing that kept me watching the show all the way through. Story-wise.. it kept having me going "Alright, just one more chance at a new episode, and if it completely sucks, I'll drop it." I'm not saying the story was awful, it was pretty good by my standards. I'm saying that it felt repetitive after a while..Every episode felt like it had to force Violet to meet the tragedy of the week and make her cry in order to make her understand her own sadness, her anger, and her romantic feelings towards Gilbert. Like.. I get it and I understand that it works for other people, but I was over it real fast.

Also, not really important, but apart from the main story, the side characters I was actually interested in (Cattleya and Benedict) never really got a backstory ughhhhh. I would've loved to see an episode on them, at least. Even if the episodes would have to face the same problems I had with the rest of the show. The only episode that actually stood out to me in terms of feeling like "Yay, finally, a different emotion she can explore." was episode 6. It was the only one that felt positive in the whole show tbh.

[ar-ninetysix]

Mob Psycho 100 actually had some pretty clever composition in some areas...

Yeah, it does. I totally agree. I'm sure a lot of the anime was faithful to the manga, in terms of composition and tone. I just don't think the art style itself, would be easy for everyone to take in, you know? Similar to One Piece. I see a lot of people saying the art's ugly, but then I see others saying the story's great. It's kinda like that, you know? I worded my comment pretty bluntly to get my point across lol

[shazzbaa]

The most important thing is art that supports the story.

Big agree with this!! If your art isn't perfect, that's okay -- I've followed and loved several comics where the art was not what drew me to it. But if the art is so clumsily executed that like, I can't tell what's going on, or I can't read a character's facial expression, then that's going to get in the way of me appreciating the story part.

Everyone's mentioned One Punch Man and Mob Psycho, and an example I use a lot is Hyperbole and a Half. The art doesn't look like... polished, or anatomically correct, but it does a FANTASTIC job of conveying the exact emotion that's intended, and so it is well-loved. It may seem strange to say, but the art in this series is actually really good -- it's just not shiny or realistic.