Story or randomness?

[Jess98]

Do you think a comic is better with story, even if it's just a little, or perfectly okay with just random comedic events and moments?

My comic Roommates for Life so far is just random comedic events in my character's lives. Would the comic be more appealing and interesting to others if it had a bit of story to it? I have a few ideas in mind, but I would like to hear others opinion first.

[MST3KFan]

Well, randomness has its fans, but a bit of story definitely helps readers understand the characters more and make them appreciate them more.

Basic things help such their backgrounds, their likes and dislikes, their family and friends maybe... It doesn't need to be super story driven, just give the characters some 'fleshing out' as it were.

Like maybe a character is crazy afraid of mice...and you give a bit of explanation for why. Doesn't have to be full on story arc stuff, but maybe they woke up one morning with one staring right at them on their bed.

Just throwing out my thoughts here given my own comic was originally just a 'gag-a-day comedy' but I started early on giving my characters backgrounds and stuff as I felt people might like that.

[MaxAmms]

in my opinion it depends on the demographic you want to reach . some people like comics with stories to invest into some don't and just want random comedic events and moments so i would say just do what you enjoy the most and what feels right to you.

[XzynderVexymous]

Yes, it would be appalling with a bit of story.

For example, Thomas Sanders, the YouTuber and (Use to be Viner) does comedy sketches of the emotions and sides of his brain. Even though they were random, he added a bit of story to them: All of the emotions had names that he would slowly tell us.

That made his sketches even more engrossing. So yeah, even though your story is random, I suggest you add just a bit of story and mystery.

Earth's Immigrants :: Incunabula | Tapas

[FlareyWorks]

Oh yeah, @MST3KFan is so right! Even if your comic is more of a joke-at-a-time thing, giving little hints as to the characters helps pull it together - even without a story! Take mine for example, if I may? - the joke is easy to get on its own, oh no, my neat bed! But earlier epodes (bing * bang * boom) show that Kaito can be a bitter of a spanner in my works, which makes it more fun and a better joke!

Which is awesome, coz it means you can pick whichever style suits you better - linear or not - and either way you get to do character development!

[Rhombik]

I do skits but there is a very loose story running the whole way through. I think there has to be some development if you have the same characters.

On the other hand, if you're doing a Farside, Things in Squares or War and Peas style comic where the context changes every time, you can pretty much run free.

[Kura]

Reading:
Randomness gag comics I don't mind as a one time look at or a quick re-blog to make people laugh. I usually never invest more time in them than that, and if I do sub, rarely do I even bother reading the backlog at all.

Story I enjoy investing my time in and reading through.

Creating:
As for making comics I enjoy the story creating steps over any other step in the process. Every time I try a pur gag series I get frustrated and want to include a story. The jokes just seem pointless without anything else to go with them.

[theladiesi]

It probably depends on the comic. There are many successful comics on Tapas that are comedic and don't have an overarching story. If you want to add some story, it probably wouldn't hurt. Try things out and see where it goes. Just enjoy yourself and see what works for your comic.

[Jessisheron]

Gag a day is fine! i think it depends on your branding a bit? like a lot of shareable meme esque comics are just sort of their own self contained gag or thought.

BUT i do think a bit of story can really help a lot of jokes sink in even better or give you more room for say a reoccurring joke that you mess around with. This doesn't have to be a heavy deep plot like lord of the rings.

I think the best example I can think of is Azumanga Daioh? The "Story" is mostly just the friends hanging out and their interactions, maybe like "get ready for sports day" which lasts like 10-30 strips sort of thing.