Too late to change stuff in the beginning?

[dawgofdawgness]

I know there's been a similar thread to this, but I just realized that I've missed some pretty important plot points in the beginning of my comic back when I was more inexperienced.
I realized that, since there isn't really context in the beginning, chapter 2 wouldn't make much sense, and if I randomly introduce a new concept out of nowhere, it might feel out of place.

For example, there's this whole thing with the MC's dad, who I planned on introducing in the very beginning of the comic - but I completely forgot to put it in!

Would it be too late to edit/add new pages in the beginning of my comic that introduces her dad? The thing I'm worrying about is
1) the readers noticing this and it looks pretty unprofessional
2) There would be a noticeable gap in my art improvement

I was thinking of going on hiatus after the end of Chapter 1 and editing the beginning a little bit, but that still doesn't really solve those two problems..

Advice?

[KoreanTacos]

If it's an important detail, perhaps rewriting the next chapter to incorporate that detail would be a good idea, or perhaps an extra chapter (works with anyone who comes up with last minute ideas to shove in their comics). Just two ideas that immediately come to mind.

[BraniAndNess]

If you were on chapter 5 by now I'd say okay, it's a bit late now. But you are still in chapter 1 so if you want to make those changes it's now or never! I think you shouldn't "sneak this" past readers, but rather just be upfront about it. You are doing this to improve the comic and they will understand! You can even make a little announcement when it's done to invite people to go re-read it again and get the bits they missed

We actually did something similar but on a smaller scale recently. After finishing chapter 2 of our comic, we re-released them on Webtoons so each chapter would be in a condensed episode instead of individual pages, and took the opportunity to do little fixes on the art (I drew tons of cross-eyed characters in the beginning for some reason :/) and re-draw a few panels where it was confusing what was happening. We announced it and people took the re-release as an opportunity to re-read from the beginning and refresh their memories, it was a great success and we got some lovely comments!

We are also planning to add a prologue before chapter 1 to clarify some of the world-building that's a little bit overwhelming, following some feedback we received. I think it's normal to want to improve our comics when we see ways we can do that, and since you're only in chapter 1 you're still bringing in a lot of new readers for the first time and want to give them the best experience I say go for it!

[nikaalexandra]

i agree with @KoreanTacos, it's probably best to reformat your upcoming chapters to include it in the plot. as someone who has tried and failed at adding extra pages/plot points to early chapters, it's really just not worth your time. it's difficult to match your less-experienced style, it may interrupt your already great pacing and flow, and ultimately, it might not be a great idea to throw in new stuff that readers who've already been following (but aren't likely to reread) won't recognize

what i ended up doing when i was unsatisfied with my early chapters was going back and editing the text, bubbles, and effects to make the overall comic more polished. i'm unsure if something like that would be helpful for you, but maybe adding a few lines alluding to the whole thing with the mc's dad might be helpful in dissuading any shock over the concept being introduced later without you having to... essentially restructure your comic from the ground up

[dawgofdawgness]

Aah thank you!! That was really helpful, especially the part about making an announcement to the readers - I'll definitely consider that

[dawgofdawgness]

Hmm, an extra chapter could work..
I was originally going to add the stuff into the next chapter, but I felt like it might have been a little out of place - but maybe that was just me being too nitpicky..about my own comic. Heh ^_^

[dawgofdawgness]

going back and editing the text, bubbles

This is a great idea actually!!! Now that you mention it I probably don't have much time to go back and edit things...

Thanks for the responses! I think I'm just going to go back and edit all the speech bubbles and add some episodes that will clarify the whole dad thing. Hopefully I don't come off as too unprofessional...

[DiegoPalacios]

Sometimes if you can't add a character in the first chapter for whatever reason, but they are part of the main cast life. You can make those characters that may be relevant in the future have a subtle cameo. For example: if you don't find a scene to fit the MC's dad, you can put him in the background. (if it makes sense having him where the story is happening for now)or a picture of him(it can be a cute, awkward, hilarious picture. This can foreshadow how close or distant the MC is with her father) A text message from him in the cellphone(this one also helps showing his personality).
This link has many examples in lots of media.

Early-Bird Cameo - TV Tropes

[dawgofdawgness]

A picture of him would be perfect

I should read TV tropes more...

[DiegoPalacios]

Tv tropes is an endless source of writing wisdom.

[sarrowsmith10]

A flashback might help as well. The writer for my comic did this, to cover some points that we missed at the beginning. I don't think anyone even noticed..

In our print version we are including a whole chapter/prologue to also cover some missed points, our readers seem pretty enthusiastic about that, even if its not going to be online. We are over 7 chapters into our story with over 100 pages.

[IdiotWithPencil]

sound the bell a Retcon is gonna take place,
don't go on hiatus, just re-draw the beginning when you have free time page per page and there, don't stop the story cause you want to fix the start, then you will never end T-T

[DiegoPalacios]

For example, there's this whole thing with the MC's dad, who I planned on introducing in the very beginning of the comic - but I completely forgot to put it in!

lol, before my previous post, for a second, i thought the character you wanted to add was named "MC Dad" and pictured something like this and had to share it:

[LCT_m_a_d]

Im redoing the first couple of pages for my series. I was hesitant for similar reasons though t's easier for me since I have 4 pages out. Maybe you can redo a couple important panels per page little by little to keep the art progression consistent if you've made major stylistic change. Honestly, I favor re-working earlier pages rather than trying to retcon story plots if they're significant. It's not good for every situation but sometimes you gotta rework the foundation

[dawgofdawgness]

AHAHAHA you even gave him pink hair!!

AND SOCKS WITH CROCS

thank you, I'm saving this drawing forever