Popularity vs. Quality

[DarkestPaladin]

Does the popularity of the comic depend on the quality of the art in it? Or is a comic popular, "trending" solely because of story/character development/ genre or some other factor?

[joannekwan]

Well if you take a look at the popular and trending comics, you can see that the art varies greatly in style and skill level. Generally people will like comics for the plot and characters (or gags for gag-a-days). Good art can only get you so far. I've seen some mind-blowing art in comics that you can drool over for days but the story and characters were pretty bland and uninteresting.

[APM]

I think that it depends of the public and the divulgation of the comic. Of course that the comics need to be comfortable to read and agreeable to see, but there's a lot of people with different liking.

[Kayke]

For me, I only want to read comics that have both. I want to see good art and read a good story for long form comics.

But the art isn't as important in gag comics, in that genre the jokes are kind of the whole point so as long as the jokes are funny and you can tell what's happening the style isn't as important.

[AnnaLandin]

Good art grabs attention, but a good story keeps that attention.

You can throw as much glitter and gold paint as you want on a pile of dirt - at the end of the day, it's still going to be a pile of dirt. A really nice diamond, however, is still going to be a really nice diamond even if it's covered in dirt.

However, a good combination of both good art and good story is obviously the best - it's just that "good art" is a pretty fluid concept. A stick figure can be good art if that's what is the most effective at that moment.

[KSlinger]

I think good quality art helps with exposure but good stories are what people stick around for.

I've seen some beautiful comics on here and subscribed to them in a heatbeat, but when every update was a presentation of the same 'hot' character doing mundane things and never really getting anywhere I switched off.

Like in life, I don't fall in love with looks. I love people based on what I observe of them, and if I don't observe them doing very much that says it all.

[Edowado_Fujji]

I had said in another post how popularity do not means quality, but here some words about this.

At the same time if you make a high quality art/story I think it is impossible you do not have any recognition.

But the truth is hard, today the high seller comics is without quality because of the new comic industry system. Summing up, for you make money you need to produce, what involves a lot of work in less time, and it is hard to put together with quality.

However there is some works what can harmonize even today quality and popularity, rare ones, but is remaining few works.
Here an example what harmonize quality and popularity even today: http://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/winter-woods/list?title_no=344

[mg78]

for what i do? i aim only 2 the quality. i dont care about anything else.
what i look? quality.

today the high seller comics is without quality because of the new comic industry system

maybe online. on the paper, that's not work for sure.

[Edowado_Fujji]

I don't know any big company who works in a different way today, even is online even is Press company. You can find some old consecrated artists what work in the old way, because they are famous, but new authors only work like mad to make some little money.

[mattcleaver]

I think it greatly depends on a lot of things.

I find that in general, comedic comics can get away with a lower level of art because they are usually produced faster and rely on the gag, not the art, mainly. There are exceptions of course.

While an awesome art style is good, and it's difficult to read a comic that has art you don't like, I'd say it is storyline and character that is of utmost importance.

There have been comics with fantastic art that I kind of lost interest in because the story wasn't really going anywhere.

So in short, I'd say that it depends on the type of comic, the type of storyline, the length of the thing.... but at the end of the day, this is a visual medium, so art quality must be important or we'd all be reading novels instead.

[shazzbaa]

This is reminding me of one my college classes -- the professor overheard us discussing a comic that had "great art, but a bad story."
"No!" He exclaimed, "that's impossible! You can't have good art and a bad story. The purpose of the art is to tell the story. The art IS the story! If the art of a comic book isn't serving the story, it doesn't matter how pretty or how realistic the art is -- it's not good art!!"

[keii4ii]

If the art of a comic book isn't serving the story, it doesn't matter how pretty or how realistic the art is -- it's not good art!!

I can see where he's coming from, but this isn't the case every time. Sometimes the story it serves is just BAD. Even the best art match-up wouldn't be able to salvage it.

[Aspie_Gamer]

The meat of the story is more important than how pretty it looks imo.

[Vikiro_Hop]

I've gotten into some comics that had less then stellar art, and a lot of them got better over time, especially some of the ones that have been around for a while. There a few that even though I don't particularly like the style I'll stick with, because I really like the story. I think people are usually a lot more forgiving of webcomics than they would just comics in general.

[mg78]

new authors only work like mad to make some little money.

well, this a part of the game... sad but true. i dont like it, but i have to acept it. like everyone...

back in topic, to be honest i look to the drawing quality, at first.
but the only right point it's all in the story. if the story got a low quality, or it's stupid, childish, already seen, to me it's a game over... even with an amazing art drawing.
the funny fact is that a low quality drawing with a beautiful story it's aceptable to me. but how many great story with low drawing skill are around here or there? i remeber just few of them... maybe less then 10. so, if a webcomic think to be in that group......... weeeeell.... that a great way to be optimistic.... lol.

in the webcomic, most of the works re with a low quality drawing style just to be more active and so more popular and it's something that i HATE with all myself.
its like to be betray.
when i open a webcomic, where i recognize good drawing skill, and i discover a low quality style just to push more pages online as soon as possible, this make me mad.
and sad too, because a great story with low draw (while could be great drawing art with more patience or without selling its self) it's damn wasted.

"No!" He exclaimed, "that's impossible! You can't have good art and a bad story. The purpose of the art is to tell the story. The art IS the story! If the art of a comic book isn't serving the story, it doesn't matter how pretty or how realistic the art is -- it's not good art!!"

this make sense if, but u have to reflect about it a lot like: if the drawing or the story it's not good, there is no goal. it not "art" because its fall somewehere....

[zjwestbrook]

Talking "big company" published comics...

It depends heavily on the country. Marvel goes through these occasional renaissances where they cycle out some of the old guard that can't pull their weight anymore. Because western comics tend to be more team effort than auteur vision, like Asian comics tend towards, individual names don't become as legendary as easily. American comics fans tend to be fans of a character before a writer. I don't know anyone who started reading Avengers just because Jonathan Hickman took over from Brian Michael Bendis; nor anyone who abandoned Avengers for the same.

In Japan, as I understand it, because the titles tend to only have one (credited) writer/artist, those creators get elevated to a status similar to Hollywood directors. Somehow M. Night Shyamalan is still getting movies funded, despite a decade of movies no one liked, because everyone's hoping he'll rediscover whatever magic it was that produced 'The Sixth Sense'.

As for what makes for Tapastic success, I think it has to be a pretty heavy mixture of both, though content does hold a bit more sway than presentation. What surprises me is that frequency of updates seems to have little effect on popularity. There's one called Fisheye Placebo with 41k subs and the creator updates once a month at best.

[keii4ii]

There's one called Fisheye Placebo with 41k subs and the creator updates once a month at best.

The creator of Fisheye Placebo had built a massive fanbase outside of Tapastic, which was undoubtedly a huge factor. There are other cases like this as well.

Another factor is that on Tapastic, you don't need to keep checking back on the comic to see if it's been updated. Consistency still helps, but not having consistency doesn't hurt you as much as it would elsewhere.

[Edowado_Fujji]

Yeah, I had knew the Placebo`s author from deviantART previously. Her public come from other social medias.

[Tentakustar]

You have to have a good story over everything else in my opinion. it's just how it is. the story plays a huge part in you quality of art. the story is going to help define your art and your style. having quality by itself is almost you having one leg. you'd be imbalanced and unable to walk properly. it's somehow a little different with a story being by itself however. the quality of your art may not be at it's best but having a striking story one that people can remember and possibly touch their hearts is going to carry the quality of the art.

this fits in with how you write your characters and everything else.
the story would help give more appreciation to the quality. and i don't think this could happen the other way around. it would only just stand for what it is. quality. if people don't have any means of connecting to it, it's worthless.

Pictures by themselves should have some sort of story behind it. and because of that, people have something to connect to. people need that connection in order for something to make sense to them.