What damages a comic's reputation?

[Tweekling]

Basically everything Andrew Dobson/Tom Preston and Christopher Hart does and has done. I don't condone the ridiculous amount of backlash they're getting for their behavior now but damn.

1. Being a dick to fans. Like you have to REALLY be a dick. Not just something out of context, they seriously continuously have to be a dick and I have to see proof first because waayyyy too many times have I seen artists get BLASTED over a misunderstanding.

2. Personally attacking individuals. (Such as, when someone gives a critique said person -cough- Hart -cough- goes after their art and points out it's flaws in retaliation or laughs at them bragging about being a published artist and they're not hahahahahaha.) That kind of thing.

3. I agree with the spam messages thing. I totally understand self promoting but anyone who deliberately comes on one of my pages to advertise and try to get exposure from the people who follow/watch/sub me -cough- this happens on DA -cough- I do not read that comic. If it's some poor 13 year old just starting out making comics I'm not going to say anything... in fact I won't say anything to any of these people regardless but mannnn it doesn't make me want to read.

[bakasama25]

Andrew Dobson, now that's a name I thought I never would see here. That guy is an example of how NOT to be an artist. I'm not listing why he's a bad artist, just google his name and read the results.

[jordanthelass]

For me ...

1.) Following a "trend" such as that ridiculous April Fools day comic.
2.) Lack of consistent updates. Even if you miss a day, at least put in some filler to explain your absence.
3.) Not focusing as much on the art as the writing. There needs to be a balance between the two. I don't like when a comic is all scribbles and doodles.
4.) More on the author's part: If you've got a Patreon account .. don't be aggressive with it. For example, don't make your readers pay for answers to a Q&A, or content you won't release unless they donate, etc.

Now I'm the jerk. XD Teehee.

[Vikiro_Hop]

A lot of people covered what I was going to say, the short of it being when creators or fans take the comic too seriously.

The long story being Sinfest one of the first webcomics I fell in love with and the first to set me up for confusion and ultimately disappointment. The comic had been going on for a long time and I slowly slogged my way through it and even bought a couple of the books made of it, then when I caught up the author went off the rails a bit.

The author went from making a lighthearted commentary on contemporary ideals to basically blasting the reader with radical left rhetoric, confusing plot lines, and obtuse character development. It was a pretty quick and dramatic change too which pretty much flipped most of the characters on their heads and became a mess of apologies and condemnation. The author had always been left leaning, but never really took sides and made fun of everything. The humor was quickly replaced with venomous rants, and there I was trying to figure out what the hell happened. He posted a lot of strips basically mocking any fans criticizing his new take by labeling them perverts and bigots, and pretty much undid a lot of what made the comic fun in the first place.

Basically an author can do whatever they want with a comic I believe that. BUT taking established characters and tone and flushing it away so you can turn a your comic into a mouthpiece to voice your agenda is really irritating and stupid. I guess I'm just disappointed because I expected better.

Sorry had to vent.

I admit I'm bitter.

Apparently in recent comics its been toned back and such, but I think the damage has been done, and I would rather remember the comic for what it was rather than the mess it became.

[kristintipping7]

I agree with the venting about people the author hates thing wholeheartedly. The only time I can remember consciously deciding to unfollow a comic (aside from a couple I just got board with) was when an auto-bio comic I was reading slowly turned into a series of ugly rants. It was just page after page about people and things (mostly people) the author hated and why she was way better than them. It might have been fine if she had done it in a funny or clever way, but it just ended up feeling like I was listening to someone standing on a street corner and shouting at passers by. I can see how if would be therapeutic to write, but it wasn't very fun to read and just made the author seem really bitter.