Redraw or continue the story?

[feuersichel]

I've come onto a point with my comic where I'm unsure if I should focus more on redraws, what means less new pages, or just continue the story.

The point for redrawing would be: My first pages look reeeealy cringy with waay to much text and I feel that any potental reader is turned of by them.
So my question is: Would you even consider reading something with as low quality as this (example below) if the story would be interesting for you? Or are such pages just too hurtfull for the eyes?
I'm really thankfull for some opinions.

Or do you even have the same problem as I do? If so please post your examples or tips

Redrawn Version:

The story of Osram :: Page 5 | Tapas

[punkarsenic]

given you're 78 episodes in

do not redraw

it sucks time out of the comic, putting everything on standstill, and once youve redrawn once its hard to shake the itch to just keep going. youll always be improving as an artist, and the most important thing you can do is keep moving forward

also, webcomic readers love seeing a learning curve in comics, its a very big draw.

however, i understand your anxiety about giving a bad impression, and losing people in the early slog. im in a similar situation. heres one of my first pages, and one more recent:

so yeah, learning curve. some things i am doing / will do to avoid bad first impressions:

1. good up to date banner and icon! these are your very first impressions of a comic, and if people can see an artistic lean is on the way from that, theyll be willing to sift through a chapter or two of older work
2. add a disclaimer! edit into your first episode something along the lines of "hey, these first few chapters are really old, heres an example of my current work, i make the shift at x mark. i guarantee these early chapters are worth the read, but if you'd rather get to this stage, i have a chapter summary at x episode'
3. make a chapter summary that gets people up to date on all the early scenes you wanted to redraw
4. at a stretch, you could also draw up a prologue / other new early scene to jam in the front. then, youre not redrawing, youre giving something new to all your readers, but also solve the first impression issue. i wanna do this, eventually.

if youre worried about your early pages being unclear (which you shouldnt be, from what ive seen youre very clear), editing is better than full-on redrawing.

[SleepingPoppy]

My first pages look reeeealy cringy with waay to much text and I feel that any potental reader is turned of by them.

For what it's worth, most new readers pop onto your most recent pages before they go to start at the beginning. An artists growth is part of the webcomic experience, and readers generally understand and accept this. If they know your art is going somewhere they like, they probably won't mind if things start a little shakier.

The problem with redrawing old pages is that by the time you're done with them, you're going to be better again. Artists are always growing, and it's just rarely a good idea to waste time retreading old work when you could be producing new pages.

Is redrawing old pages more important than making progress on your story?

Everything @punkarsenic said is great advice. I'd just add that if a prologue would take too long, just making a new cover image for the first page with your disclaimer can be enough to show people where the artwork is heading. And really, your early art is charming, so I doubt it's going to scare anyone off that is otherwise interested. I also agree that a little editing is a better idea than redrawing.

[feuersichel]

Thank you very much for your tips! That chapter summary is a very good idea and I think I'll go for that It would save way more time than redrawing ... aaand later on I would cringe at them aswell xD

Your comic started off very solid in my oppinion. It was hard at first to understand what's happening in the beginning but the art and the way of storytelling keept me reading

[feuersichel]

Thank you Yes I knew redrawing is mostlikely not the right option and I was thinking long about it (like doing more than just the recent ones).
My fear especially (besides the art) was the writing. There is just sooo much long and unnecessay text.

For me, I think, the chapter summary is the best way to overcome this problem.

[punkarsenic]

Your comic started off very solid in my oppinion. It was hard at first to understand what's happening in the beginning but the art and the way of storytelling keept me reading

thank you! and yeah, things being confusing in the beginning is the biggest issue for me, good thing i did a summary after the first two chapters

[dots]

Continue! Only redraw it if you plan on printing your comic. Even then, I would just touch up the pages instead of redoing them.

[Allanbrito]

Continuing the story is better. Like that people can see your progretion in the art style.
You can check my comic if you want. It's in super early face, but I'm having so much fun with the story.

Motorman | Tapas

[jpnakashima]

I feel like this is a really useful answer to an anxiety many of us experience.
You should make a post out of this sometime.

@feuersichel I agree with everyone, you should continue. Series are, as said, fascinating because of evolution, among other stuff. Also, I guess we all want to tell many stories. Going forward you'll always have a chance to apply what you learned, be it in new stories or new pages

[GalacticPotato]

I actually questioned me about the same thing with past projects, with that i've learned one thing, don't go back until you're done.
If you do, you'll go back again and again, and before you notice it, you have only one page and it's not even complete!
I get it, some pages may be a little embarrasing, i feel the exact same, but going back is not going to let you finish whatever you're working on.

[Kimmicomics]

Just continue. You will Always improve.
If you might ever consider to put this into a printed book, Maybe then you can consider a redraw. untill then just continue. People really like to see the learning curve as well.

[feuersichel]

Very true. I realize this, the longer I think about it. Also making comics is the perfect way to create even better ones in the future

[feuersichel]

I wasn't aware that the learning curve might be that interesting, but you have a great point there. I also follow some comics because of that reason.

[feuersichel]

Thanks for your input it's very interesting how everyone here says to continue, but in the end it's the only reasonable solution. I recently learned the sentence: "learn to fail faster" it makes even more sence by now ^^

[feuersichel]

Thank you there arent many pages jet but it already looks very clean and interesting keep on the good work!

[Zugaikotsu]

Dude, just continue, seriously. I started to redraw mine, and it was a nightmare, I almost lost my whole audience.

[ChanYE]

actually i thin you should, but maybe after youve finished the comic so it wont take up your time.
when you finish the comic youll have all the time to touch up the pages you think need work done.

[moonfixer]

Honestly I was debating this not too long ago. I decided against it because of the time it would take and the fear of getting burnt out.