What are People more Passionate about?

[Tentakustar]

Just thought I'd ask this question. It's a topic I've been kinda wanting to talk about! With Animation, Video games and Movies. I don't really feel people are as passionate as they are with those things in comparison with comics! I tend to feel people might feel more passionate about making comics than reading them. Maybe I feel this way since I don't really have any friends I know that are really into comics that would choose that over everything else. My question is, is it just me that's feeling this? And am I just not surrounded by the right people? or is this an actual thing? The value in video games, animation and movies feels so much stronger than comics.

[keii4ii]

It's an actual thing depending on the culture you're in. In the United States, for example, people don't think much of comics, and there are unfortunate but understandable reasons for that. But in other societies, comics may be on par with, or even dominate over animation/movies.

[indagold]

Because it's a medium you don't have to sit down and read and the industry in the US as of now is past the golden age of comics and no longer is really the big thing it once was. I love them equally but even i'm aware you can't make a living off them. At least the others have an actual job market.

[hushicho]

It just depends on the people you're around. That's basically all of it. I don't think it even has to do with geographic location necessarily, so much as it does immediate surroundings such as the people you hang out with and have most regular contact with.

There's also "corporate machine" production and more independent production by smaller studios; you see a lot more passion in projects that a person or a small group of people conceive and see through, as opposed to something that was presented to a committee, green-lit, corporate-funded, and built by a group of people who have no more feeling for the project than they do when deciding where to go for dinner any given night. "Nerd/geek culture" is profitable at the moment, so of course you're going to see that promoted all over the place, whereas comics that aren't done by a big company looking to cash in on the trend aren't going to have the immediate recognition and energetic embrace that comes from a multimillion-dollar marketing department.

The value is what one gets out of it, so that really depends on that person.

[Ospare]

You can see something interesting with comics (and art in general) in France: there is something called classism which is the idea that some works or art are normative: they posits basis for the future of the media/art form.
There are classics of litterature, classics of cinema, classics of comics (called Bande déssinée over here),
BUT. These classics are not seen as inspirationnal to the new authors and the public: it's like the Bible, they want to talk about it, quote it, use it in arguments but no one think about creating a work that would be different, there is no major spotlight for Contemporary Art in france (except the high society bourgeois who live in their own secluded elitist communities)

People don't see Comics as a carrer in France, or as a serious work.
It's at best an Art (so, untouchable according to them) and at worst a distraction (not-serious).

[joannekwan]

I would think people, creators specifically, are more passionate about making comics than reading them! People generally like what they themselves create and have a deep connection with their stories and characters. They want to see their work come to fruition and exist and have others appreciate it.

Then there are those people who don't create (stories and characters at least) and would rather consume, that's the general market. So of course they'll eat up any media that piques their interest.

Of course there can be overlap between the two, but ya get the gist.

Most of my irl friends don't draw or write, so I see where you're coming from. I can't rant about comic-making with them. That's what the internet's for. And since I started being active and having a web presence, I've met many great creative people.

[SleepingPoppy]

I think people are passionate about storytelling, and from there it just depends upon what media they consume. Movies, tv, and video games are main stream, so they're the most pervasive and accessible. But I think an individual that reads comics, books, watches tv and movies, plays video games, is not necessarily any less passionate about their favorite comic then their favorite movie!

Though its also worth remembering that most of these other mediums deliver a relatively instantaneous completed story, while a web comic you often get only a page a week and may wait years for completion.

These are all just different ways of delivering stories, at the end of the day. So even if your friends aren't as in to comics as you, they should still be able to empathize with your passion for a particular story and its art.

[Ambat]

I'm an animation student, and I'll be completely honest, I'm not really all that interested in comics. I never have been--I've always preferred animation above all other storytelling methods. The only reason I started making a comic was because I wanted to tell a story and work on my storytelling skills (I want to be a storyboard artist in my career), and webcomics are much more feasible for a single-person team to take on as opposed to an animated series or a complete and full game, etc.

The reason I prefer animation to comics as a storytelling method is due to it's added dimension of sound, voice, music, timing, etc. There's really only so much you can convey with still images on a confined page, and for me, all of the subtleties that go into an animation that make the world in said animation feel more "real" is what pushes it way over the edge. Of course there are comics that try to include animated panels (I personally find these distracting, actually) or background music to pages, but it doesn't come anywhere close to animation for me.

As @SleepingPoppy mentioned, people are just passionate about storytelling in general, and I'd argue that comics are pretty much one of the easiest ways to go about it, save for writing a novel. Just because it's easy to start doesn't mean that it's easy to do WELL or SUCCESSFULLY, but it's not as daunting for someone with very little storytelling/drawing experience to pick up a pen and start doodling a comic as opposed to starting an animated film or programming a game with little to no experience.

The nice thing about having started a comic is that it's given me an opportunity to read other comics I probably never would have touched if I hadn't started, and I'm glad to have that opportunity because I've been introduced to a lot of very talented artists with very unique and interesting stories. However, I'm pretty sure comics will never become my absolute passion in terms of what I'm seeking as a consumer or what I'd like to create as my magnum opus in the future as a creator.

[Tentakustar]

I live in the U.S which sounds like that could be the issue. Comics are at least from what I see on the east side seems to do better depending where you live. Like, how webcomics in Korea are taken more seriously and how Japan has Manga which is usually discovered before the actual anime. People seem to know about the manga first before the animes.

[Tentakustar]

Hmmm... so would you say comics would have some level of appreciation like video games, movies...etc?

[Tentakustar]

I always felt that was one of the reason why people would prefer animation, video games..etc over comics because they provide less 'imagination' if that makes sense? there's less trying to figure something out in animation since all that stuff is already provided for you. You also brought something interesting up in regarding you starting to make comics. I ended up in the same way once I started to make comics. because I started to make comics, I started to read them more too! so I'm curious if creators are more of the readers here.

ALSO please forgive me everyone If I don't reply back! I just don't have an answer to your message that's all!^^;

[keii4ii]

I always felt that was one of the reason why people would prefer animation, video games..etc over comics because they provide less 'imagination' if that makes sense?

At the same time, novels are still going strong and are not going to die out anytime soon. So I don't think the limitations of comics have to be truly limitations. It's like how B&W artworks continue to be made, as an artistic choice, even though color art materials are very accessible today! It depends on the story and the execution.

[Tentakustar]

Hmm very true! I was just thinking of that a while ago! I'm guessing maybe I'm just not surrounded by the right people who are very passionate in comics...which is pretty unfortunate to me.

[SleepingPoppy]

Hmmm... so would you say comics would have some level of appreciation like video games, movies...etc?

Value? Yes. Appreciation? No. People appreciate main stream stories. They're more accessible. Comics just aren't that main stream. They might never rival juggernauts like big budget movies, but that doesn't mean they're not important and valuable.

[dojo]

Yeah you definitely just aren't around the right people because a good number of even my non-artist friends are way into comics. No, it's not the norm in the US, but there are definitely crowds that hold an appreciation for them.

As for the rest of the country, however, I really think comics COULD become important to a wider audience if we figured out a way to actually market them to appeal to anyone. Cuz seriously, webcomics are especially perfect for those short downperiods where you don't have time to step into something long, but you do have time to read a couple pages before your next meeting at work or something like that. It's already becoming more acceptable to talk about whatever "nerdy" thing you're into so I do feel like it's very likely our culture could shift to allow it more in the future, but for now we just continue to twiddle our thumbs and do what we can.

[lunaartemisasama]

At least regarding my FB the list goes like this:
1) Going out (parties, concerts, movies)
2)Travel (and photography)
3) Manga/ anime / k pop...
4) Video games

I think people are more passionate about escaping from reality lol, which is not a bad thing. In the end after a day of work people just want to de-stress, some people might enjoy going to bars, some others read comics or novels, and some others to create things, or just watch Netflix. It depends of the personality of each person I suppose.

[Tentakustar]

but that doesn't mean they're not important and valuable.

I'm not sure why but this makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. possibly because it's the thought that we do value them. it's just since I don't have a group that's really into comics. it feels so undervalued... so reading that really brighten me up a bit haha!

@dojo Hmmm... think so too! All we can do is keep trying!

@lunaartemisasama that's an interesting point! it sorta goes back to what @SleepingPoppy was talking about value. the way I see it. at least for me of course, most people like comics but might not really be the 'THING' that they are super into!

[Rueleer]

It's all to do with what stories the medium has to offer. (imo \D)

For example, I consider myself very passionate about manga and anime, but have only just started becoming truly invested in webcomics/comics. That doesn't seem to make much sense at a glance, since they're both the combination of story and art. But it's the /type/ of stories that the medium tends to tell that makes me passionate about them.

I am not very interested most video games or western animation, for the sole fact that I don't often resonate with the stories they tell. But, if I found stories that did click with me in those mediums suddenly, then I'd probably start investing in them a lot more. Hell, that's how I started getting into Visual Novels.

As for what other people are invested in, I really do think you're just in a crowd that's doesn't hold the same interests as you (within the topic of art/entertainment at least X'D)

You also have to keep in mind that comics are kind of 'kid of the kiddies' when it comes to entertainment, and the less popular/known a medium is in an area, the less you'll find people passionate about it.