Opinion on Importance of Art vs Story

[yagisa]

I forgot what book I got this from, but basically, it says that when making comics, it's not just about being a visual artist. To create a comic, you need to be a writer and a visual artist. The writing and art of a story are not mutually exclusive to each other. Both of these are necessary elements to breathe life into a comic! It also says that the art of a comic is there to help tell the story you want to tell and not the other way around.

I may have paraphrased a lot from that book but my point still stands. Both are as equally important. Comic is a medium where both writing and art play an integral part to story telling. But this doesn't mean that you should only start making comics when you're at a specific skill level! Practice and experience is key to improving, so I say to just go for it.

On a reader level however, I'd say that story trumps a bit over art for me. Even if the art is not that stunning or catchy, if the story is compelling enough. I'll stay to read.

[kalrhungus]

depends on the story. if it's just comedy/humor -bad drawings might be okay.
if it's drama or you want believable action scenes -professional looking art becomes pretty important.

[AVXP]

I don't why so many comicheads keep making threads about this. It's like you're looking for an excuse to half-step part of your work. And naming some popular property as evidence to support a "one is more important than the other" opinion is a bad idea. You grab 5 examples of a counter-success and that serves as positive evidence over the ONE MILLION FAILURES who didn't do the basics.

YOU NEED BOTH.
Are there more famous writers or famous artists in the comics industry?
Do you go to cons to get comic books signed by the writers?
Are you copying artistic designs or writing styles?

When you started drawing your own comics, were you looking at art or reading the dialogue for inspiration?
YOU NEED BOTH.

Why skimp on either? Why even mentally consider one more important than the other?
Why are you worried about your FIRST COMIC?
Do you intend to get better?

If you are a work in progress, don't start with a massive saga that goes on for three generations.
Learn your style and develop it with shorter works. Even if they are all part of the same property, do sections or mini-stories until you get better. Doing nothing will certainly keep you in the same place.

[punkarsenic]

story is king!

art serves story - it needs to be comprehensible before anything else, and after that should build up aesthetic quality (to be story-serving before pleasing)

what id be worried about before how pretty or good your art is, is that youve never drawn a comic before. no matter how much you know in theory about comic craft, the only real way to get better at making comics is to make them. i suggest you make some shorts before getting started on your super awesome longer story - then you get a better idea of what youre up to, and what you can improve, before youre locked into a year or more long project.

not having flashy art can turn some ppl off, but most ppl who stay for flashy art will leave when the story doesnt live up - whereas a good story will keep people regardless of the art.

plus, youre just starting - its understood that youll be a bit diamond in the rough, and the massive visual improvement of webcomics over time is part of the charm of them for many people.

dont worry about it too much to be honest - in your first comic you can get away with more or less anything, and the best way to get better at drawing comics is to draw comics

[Jenny-Toons]

@punkarsenic and @AVXP hit it on the nail.

This is going to be your first webcomic (or at least the first comic you post online).

Sometimes, you have to worry less about trying to draw people in and worry more about getting your story out there.

Because, even if we talk about "which one is important", it's all subjective in a way.

I value story a bit more, but someone's going to value art more. Even if there's evidence shown through other comics, it's still based on personal taste. You can have both wonderful art and story, you can have one or the other -- but people might not like it regardless.

When we're first starting out, it's just better to dive in and get started.

If that means writing out all of the script before drawing, that's good.

If that means writing and drawing as you go, that's also a good start.

Just get started!

Experience can be your best teacher!

[silverraven0]

For me, story is the number one. If the art style is not to my liking, there's a possibility that I might drop it,but if the story is engaging for me, I would love to see where the story going.

There's a lot of case where I dropped comic with beautifully drawn artwork (not gonna say which one) because the pace is s*it and the story is just so-so.

But although I said yes, the art is not as important as the story and pace, I think 'balancing' the art would be good.

[HoodQuest]

I believe the story is more important. Art is one thing, but without a good story to tell, everything else would fall apart. I relate to this topic quite highly as someone who is not the best drawer but still makes comics.

[LordVincent]

I guess I'll be the one unpopular douchebag saying art makes up 99% of the reason I even try a comic in the first place. It's extremely rare for me to read a comic where the art doesn't fall within my preferences, because usually I get my entertainment from auditory things (music, listening to shows and videos, etc) as I rarely have time to read. So when I do read, it needs to be visually appealing since if I wanted to enjoy something where art didn't matter I could just. You know. Go listen to something instead and get some work done.

The answer will vary from reader to reader. Just do your thing and the audience that likes the thing you enjoy doing will find you.

[Nivardy]

On a completely personal level, I'd rather read a great story with mediocre art, than a mediocre story with great art. I believe that you should always try to strive to improve both. Again, on a completely personal level, a passionate, engaging story almost transcends art for me.

That being said, effort should %100 be made with art.

[Riza_Creator]

Nah opposing opinions are great because then you hear the other side of an argument. Also your points make complete sense everyone has different tastes and if the comic style is one you personal do not like you may not stay for the story. My sister does not like styles with huge eyes because she finds them creepy so even if the story is really good that would put her off from reading it most likely. So ya art is still really important. Both really go hand and hand. when your spending less effort on one but putting your heart and soul into the other you are excluding people who like a balance of both or cater to the one that you spend less effort on. I think we all just need to try are hardest in every category even if we do not have a lot of talent. Also you will never be able to please everyone so why try. Just make a work your happy with.

So effort trumps all I guess.

[Hodge]

Well I'd say the foundation of the comic is the story and the drawings combined. If you're doing it right they should be inseparable. Sometimes, especially with digital art, I think it's easy to fall into the trap of trying to cover up iffy drawings with coloring and rendering and effects. Sure, most readers will only bother if they like the art, but you can have good visuals that doesn't need to be really flashy or look like an anime screenshot every panel. It's more important that the art conveys the story and emotions to the reader. However, those drawings only really matter in relation to the story and the life it breathes into the characters.

[Klaustasya]

I'm glad somebody opened this topic, also hi there!!
Actually this was my question when i started drawing my comic.
For me, the art need to be appealing: if it's not my style, i won't read any comic.
But at the same time, story is what motivates you to keep going, but sometimes i happen to focus too much on making a penel "look pretty" that i TOTALLY forgot about the whole scene (how many times did it happen that while i was polishing a panel i noticed that i forgot to add an important feature to a character? Pff, basically always xD)

[naoro_san]

Both are important. At the end comics tell a story using images. A comic without story would be a simple drawing and a comic without art would be a novel.
I don't really like saying one is more important than the other as they go together.. What is more important water or air? You can survive more time without water than without air, but you need both of them to live. The same with story and art for a comic.

That being said, comics are a medium to tell stories so, of course, story has an important role if not the most important. Being it a simple joke or something more elaborated, any comic needs a story and in most cases the story is the reason I keep reading a comic but, at the same time, what grabs my attention at first is the art. Even if the story is good, if the page composition is bad, the art lacks dynamism, etc, it makes me reconsider reading it.

[UrMom]

For me, while I find story on a high level of importance, the art is slightly above that. They don't need to have good art (my standards for "good art" is crazy high anyway), but a comic needs to be able to carry the story because what's the point of having an amazing story if you can't tell wtf is happening visually? A great comic should have a good layout, be comprehensible with the composition, posing, angles, movements, expressions, transitions, flow and dialogue. If I can't understand what's happening in a scene at least more than once or twice, I'll drop the comic.

So the story is important, but good comic visuals are more important. (Although having basic art skills would be nice... backwards hands can be a little distracting)

[inkythoughts]

In general, good/amazing art is a hooker at the very beginning but that doesn't mean it'll stay that way as the story continues. As some already said, One-Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100 are very solid story-telling wise whereas their art isn't that great (though I also kind of fell in love with One's style..?)

I think a good balance is always good. I was surprised that my art for my first attempt on Heirs to the Crown was considered "great" and even got me a few followers because really, there aren't many pages out so it couldn't really be because of the story haha
(If you rank yourself at about this level or even better, you definitely don't need to worry about anything - I mean look at all the off-model faces :'D)

If anything, most comics can be devided between "great art but mediocre story" and "mediocre art but great story" - it is very rare to find an artist who is also a really good story-teller so it really depends on what you'd rather want to focus, what is more important to you. The longer the story, the more you probably should focus on that instead of high quality art to keep your readers intrigued. If it's a relatively short comic with a relatively simple story structure, it's easier to indulge more into the art.
Ideally, you have a perfect balance but this is the scale you're most likely moving on.

Also remember that some art styles suit this comic better, and other art styles that comic. Maybe you are unsatisfied because you haven't really found the visual language for your comic? I don't want to assume anything here, just some brainstorming what might help you loose the knot ^^

I already mentioned it in another thread but anyway, there are also a lot of comics which didn't have very great art at the beginning but then grew incredibly beautiful with later pages. That's pretty common and usually happens to everyone due to practice. But if you shy away from starting, you won't ever get there!

[hjfsdh2222]

This was the same boat that I was in but it turned out great for me

I have some really great fans now and I have had some much great feedback for my comic. I just love hearing someone say how they think my comic is interesting and unique. I greatly encourage you to do the same.

But just make sure to keep it going even if you seem to be making slow progress on pages;)

And if your interested, here’s my comic

Crime & Cars | Tapas

[Zhengo]

What @soju_and_ink said is very true. A lot of people bring up One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100 but while they both have their serious moments and can get quite heavy, they're also very comedy based. Not to mention even in those serious parts there will be moments where a gag is thrown in. ONE often uses his art style to add more punch to gags, and I'm not sure how successful his comics would have been if his stories were very heavy dramas or thrillers or just any genre where things have to be taken seriously 90% of the time with his drawings. (Though I do think he could actually be pretty good at horror since he is capable of making some pretty scary drawings).

[GesuGesu]

Art style is what attracts me to START. Story is what attracts me to STAY. However, because of my pickiness with art style, I tend not to start very many new series at all in the webcomic/manga world.

However, if the story doesn't pick up quickly or hook me within the first half of the first episode, I'm gone. I don't have the time or patience to reach the end and hope that it gets better. I regularly keep up with a lot of series/hobbies so the amount of time I'm willing to dedicate to something new and unknown is very low. To me, that first impact is important. Even if the quality drops later (like Yuri on Ice), if the first impact was strong, I will remember it and stay a bit longer.

[fleohr]

I follow many webcomics with different art styles, from magazine-ish western illustrations to manga, but there is one that was on recommended titles, which made me think something like this: "How?" I read it two days later and the story is well done imo, even though the art still need lots of work, it was the story that made me stay

I've already read a bunch of webcomics with impressive art styles, but the story was a big no to me, which is sad. I'm subbed to one I follow since March, because of the art style and a bits of the story, but recently I keep getting the feeling that the author needs more thought about their story. There are many episodes that seems off and doesn't add to the plot at all, which makes me think about unsub it

[LT1986]

Thank you for making the forum topic. I do believe that there should be a balance between the art and story. Sometimes I read web comics that have art work that some people might consider bad, but the story is good. Now even though I love art, there are many web comics that have good art work that I won't read because I don't find the stories to be interesting. It is kind of like a good singer making a song that showcases their talent, but the song isn't catchy or doesn't have interesting lyrics. Some of my favorite musical artists have songs that I don't listen to not because of bad singing, but because the lyrics, instrumentals, and vibe of the song don't intrigue me.