Scroll comics with good composition / flow?

akitsukino 2018-12-01 19:52:23 UTC #1

There was a forum earlier asking whether people liked scroll comics or page comics better. I said page comics for the main reason that I just don't see a lot of scroll comics taking advantage of their medium. It's usually just white space, frame, white space, frame, speech bubble. I'd heard that in South Korea webtoons get popular not just on how many views they get but also on how long people stay on the page, and the translated comics are especially where I've seen the white space problem.

I feel like I'm more likely to check out of the comic if I feel like it's forcing me to work harder to read it. Or if it's just too boring to look at. Which is sad because there's so many good things I could be missing out. But I have found some that I think use the format of scroll comics pretty well. One I can think of is Blue Wings by Xu Lu Ako, or Space Boy by Stephen McCranie (who did a lovely tutorial on how he does his webtoons) . It seemed like these comics started off as page comics and then were rearranged to fit a webtoon format. I wonder if that's why there seems to more variety in paneling and flow between things. Or even comics like Witch's Thorne witch still stack alot of frames but still mange to play around with space and flow between panels so that it doesn't feel like things are dragging. Like I said I bail out so fast so there's probably some good stuff I'm missing so I thought I'd ask you guys.

TL;DR What are some good webtoons/webcomics that you think make good use of their scroll format in telling their stories and expressing their ideas?

NanettesClouds 2018-12-01 20:00:08 UTC #2

From what I know @dojo is mostly on hiatus - but their series 18 Saints Are 18 Sinners is one of the best examples of a long-scrolly comic that I've found. It makes really great use of panel structure - as well as "dead space" to build tension (also it's just - really good...)

dawgofdawgness 2018-12-01 20:00:08 UTC #3

these are some with nice flow

SleepingPoppy 2018-12-01 20:12:47 UTC #4

I'm particularly fond of VBG's comic,

I think it's a little bit of a hybrid of page and scroll, because it's still formatted to work as a book. It doesn't read like the average comic, though, so it's a bit of it's own thing. Really gorgeous though.

unknown_user 2018-12-01 20:29:20 UTC #5

I think that those fit well to scroll format and have an interesting, properly revealed plot (I think that the "good flow" refers to plot, right?):

Last, but not the least: I should admit, that this one have escpecially good composition and make an escpecially good use of scroll format (art itself is very cool as well), even if I don't find its plot very meaningful (I rarely like typical superhero plots; consider it like a bias):

keii4ii 2018-12-01 20:41:42 UTC #6

Considering the context, I think it refers to a good visual flow throughout each "page."

Almost all of the vertical scroll comics I read are in Korean, so I don't think those would be helpful. Buuut here's a few that are in English!

Hobo Lobo (HORIZONTAL scroll) (PLEASE look at this because the visuals are sooo amazing!)

Justin Hubbell comics - Some are in page format, some in vertical scroll, some in a "postcard"-like format. It's a mix. It's also not exactly a longform narrative, more like a personal conversation in a comic form!

The Firelight Isle - an interesting example that reads much better on desktop than mobile IMO

My own comic also fits the bill, and has been praised for the use of the format!

akitsukino 2018-12-02 01:15:16 UTC #7

@keii4ii is right! Flow is a type of technique in comic pages to help properly move readers eyes from one panel to the next.

alliascompany 2018-12-02 01:46:43 UTC #8

I like to think that Kind of Confidential is a good example (It's what changed my mind about being against using the scroll format in the first place XD)

As well as Dream Constellation

And Samantha Davies' artwork really uses the scroll format to it's advantage, giving a lot of the episodes a fluid sense of movement.

Here's another good one with a more illustrated style.

Hodge 2018-12-02 02:05:40 UTC #9

Hmm one that I think did it very well was Hellper. Sakk is very deliberate with his panels and pacing, but still keeps it interesting and experimental. In particular, Ep.31 was an impressive bit of storytelling.
https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/hellper/list?title_no=185

joannekwan 2018-12-02 05:40:24 UTC #10

Great use of the scrolling format! My favorite to date.