What do people hate about your comic?

[kristintipping7]

So there's a thread now asking what people like about your comic, but I'm a sadist, so I want to hear about what people don't like. What aspect(s) of you comic(s), if any, have been repeatedly criticized so far? Are there any things about your comic that you feel are misunderstood?
I haven't gotten much outright hate for any of my comics, yet, but if there's one thing that 's my readers continually have a problem with, it's probably clarity. I try not to be handholdy with my storytelling, but I've learned that there's a fine line between handholdy and "wtf is going on." When I was posting Zoie I tried to put all these subtle hints about backstory and character motivations into the story, only to find that people were not only missing them entirely , but coming up with their own head cannons that were counter to mine. There's also one BSFS comic in particular that I get a lot of "I don't get it" and "This is confusing" comments on. Albeit, that one is supposed to be mysterious, but I think people were more confused than I intended.
Quite a few of my stories are about the inherent uncertainty of life in some way, and sometimes it would undermine the point to give a story a cut and dry ending. So it can be frustrating to parse when I'm not being clear enough with my storytelling and when it's just a matter of taste. Some people really don't like ambiguity, even when it's for a purpose.

[joannekwan]

Haha, some people just don't get subtext. But I guess it's permissible since they only get to read an update a week. Hopefully things are clearer with a second read-through of multiple updates.

Hm, can't say I've gotten many negative or confused comments. But I do know people who hate some of the characters. Most of the time I intend it that way as I paint these characters as antagonists but I have one reader who really doesn't like the second lead in my series Heavy Horns. They said he reminds them too much of a past relationship.

I guess that's good in a way that I'm writing him realistically enough.

[keii4ii]

Hate is a very strong word and probably not applicable in my situation. But here are some things people have pointed out more than once:

• One of the female characters has enormous boobs and is walking around in a strapless top (There's actually a reason for her dressing that way, though I could have given her top thin straps, admittedly)

• My portrayal of Asians is offensive (this one baffles me because I'm Korean, and actual Korean readers did NOT have problems when I was publishing it on a Korean site)

• The main character is just kind of there; the comic is not even his story when you look at it (this is extremely wrong, but if a large number of people are interpreting it that way, that must mean I'm doing something wrong as a storyteller...?)

• The main character's broken speech (due to not being fluent in the language) is really annoying

There have also been some one-off criticisms that were really vehement and unexpected, like "I hate that your main character is muscular white cis male." XD;;;

So it can be frustrating to parse when I'm not being clear enough with my storytelling and when it's just a matter of taste.

I FEEL YOUR PAIN.

[Michelle]

My portrayal of Asians is offensive (this one baffles me because I'm Korean, and actual Korean readers did NOT have problems when I was publishing it on a Korean site)

There have also been some one-off criticisms that were really vehement and unexpected, like "I hate that your main character is muscular white cis male." XD;;;

Goodness @keii4ii , it seems like your comic is really incurring the wrath of tumblrinas D:

No one's really expressed hate for my comic so far, though I know sometimes readers get frustrated when either of my main characters is being a jerk, haha. But if it weren't for that, they wouldn't have much room to arc, so I just hope those readers bare with it as the characters sort themselves out. :>

[60Six]

I haven't really got an abundance of anything but probably the most has been a few people whining about me advertising my Patreon (which I'm not sure really counts in regards to this thread). All I have is one little banner at the bottom of my pages and a link... God forbid, right? Thankfully, I've only gotten this complaint twice and one was just a jerk who didn't like I put anything behind a pay wall when I announced my Patreon and was griping at ANYONE who dares use their Patreon for what it's...you know, made for.

Other than that, in the PAST, I've been told my character does his little speech habit of saying "oi" too much, but I've toned that down and now I seem to get more comments from people saying they like his little speech habit, but it's a pretty fine line I gotta balance on constantly. I can see how some people might not like it but it's just a part of him I can't get rid of at this point.
Also, my updates are "too short," but that's MOSTLY exclusive to Webtoons, though I did however get a snarky comment recently from someone saying they missed "when I did what they'd consider to be full pages."
...My pages are just like how they've ALWAYS been? I had two pages in a row that were considered "slower," I guess, but literally the week before that page I had a pretty busy page full of dialogue and plenty of panels?
Granted, this was the same guy who was complaining about me daring to advertise my Patreon too.

[Michelle]

Yikes, sounds like you have one really gross entitled reader. How DARE you ask for money for this entire full-colour comic that you put out FOR FREE?! Such greed D:< Also post longer updates for free k thanks

[Aspie_Gamer]

I wouldn't say hate. Its more constructive criticism, but two complaints I've had about Life of an Aspie is that the art isn't that good (though they've also given me credit for improving a fair bit since Chapter 1, damn that chapter looks ugly now. lol) and that the other characters either feel clichéd or aren't as fleshed out as Susan (which is a fair complaint since Susan's so...different from her peers that their normalness sticks out even more than it would in any other slice of life school life comic.)

[AnnaLandin]

I haven't really gotten any hate - that's a very strong word, and 99% of my readers are downright sweethearts.

The only comments that HAVE been made with any frequency is ones complaining about - or making fun of - my repetitive use of clenched-teeth expressions on lots of characters. It's a mistake that I am aware that I commit frequently, and it stems from having partial face-blindness, and my brain getting stuck on a particular expression for some reason:

Face blindness and artists (prosopagnosia)

... most people are pretty nice about it once they get an explanation for why it happens.

Also, I got just one or two people who whined about me pushing the Kickstarter for an anthology I was part of too hard. I explained that we were having trouble meeting our goal (which we were), and that relentless self-promotion is really the only way to get a KS across the finish-line successfully - and that I would be going back and removing all of the KS-promotions from my archive once they were done.

I've honestly been spared from any kind of actual hateful comments, for which I'm grateful! I struggle with a fair bit of anxiety, and having a positive atmosphere in my comment-field is certainly welcome. <3

[60Six]

RIGHT? Granted, on the Patreon part, I think he was just complaining about me advertising it but...dude... C'mon, it's a little banner you can easily scroll past... The "not full pages" part just baffles me still though. I told him if he wanted longer updates he could read it on Webtoons where I upload 8-10 pages. But even there, I got told by someone on my last update that my updates were too short (this person was a bit more polite bout it though). :'D Apparently I can't win on the length of my updates.

[VermillionWorks]

Luckily if there's things people hate about my comic, I don't hear about it too often. XP

Sometimes people don't care much for my art style, even if they still read the comic.
I've also had some people say they don't care much for the more squicky moments, but again, they stick around to read anyway! XD ....well, MOST of the time, I think I may have lost a few readers due to the violence.

Also, sometimes people act like it's a bad thing to dislike the main character (Daniel), like by saying that I'm going to be offended and try to defend him, but heck naw! I mean, sure, it's cool to like him purely as an entertaining character (or for the character he used to be), but you don't have to like him as a person-....err, vampire, or certainly not like his actions. Actually, at this point in the story especially, it makes perfect sense for readers not to like him!

I also used to have people suggest that my comic is too predictable, but...haven't heard this one for a while?

[spadesart]

mmmmm the one complaint I've gotten a few times is that the narrative in chapter 1 of my comic switched around so much to introduce a bunch of characters in only 23 pages but that's about it, I don't think I'll run into that problem too much anymore since chapter 1 has the most narrative changes out of every chapter I've outlined.

[igneriss]

The main character's broken speech (due to not being fluent in the language) is really annoying

Wow, really someone pointed it out as annoying? For me it's part of his charm, and really adds to atmosphere of the story ( :

---

I didn't get any hate/annoyed comments so far. There was one scene where some readers were confused about what actually happened, but after a 'sudden realisation' they really liked it, so that's good. OH, maybe names- I know it's sometimes hard for readers to recall characters' names, because for some they appear only once, when they are introducing themselves. But I did that on purpose, so I have only myself to blame CX

[Kura]

That it's not Raven Wolf.

Seriously the amount of shit throwing, screaming, yelling, whining, demanding, threats, accusations and flames is from when I update No Future instead of Raven Wolf.

Other then that, a few people have commented they wish the whole comic was in colour.

That's about it.

[Ringarune]

I think for me its inconsistencies with the way I draw things. For example, someone pointed out I put ear buds in a characters bag that despises music, really stupid mistake on my part XD

[Jabbage]

I've never got any hate, but criticisms tend to be that they're short (50 pages or so each) and they're a bit ambiguous. Either you like vague endings or you hate them I think!

[Herofeeder]

text font,
quality of the drawing
and i think some want me to post more often which is kewl with me im not running out of ideas ,but im lazy and have a job that i have to work : P

[UrMom]

Not so much hate. My current comic is too young to get anything, but my other, older comic got some criticisms.

• The characters having no personalities
• None of the characters are likable/relatable
• The style is ugly, or doesn't fit with the story
• Too much detail in the characters
• Boring story
• Pacing is too slow

I'm sure a lot of the criticism will eventually apply to my baby comic, since I'm using the same style and I don't know how to comicbook. But eh, I'll get better someday.

[NickRowler]

I dunno about "hate" but some complaints I got for Crow's Worth were...

-"It's sort of like Naruto and I don't like Naruto". So they refused to read it. I do admit there are some similarities mostly because it was originally a parody comic.
-"The backgrounds need more details". I agree with this
-"Characters look stiff". I also sort of agree with this...I am trying to work on it
-"The child in only his underwear is making me uncomfortable". Um....

For Robot Zombie
-"Not funny enough"
-"Pacing is too fast"
-"Awful art"
-"People keep talking to themselves"
-"Pandering/gimmicky"
-"Make it more like Invader Zim or Assassin Classroom"...WTF comic are you reading because mine is nothing like those
-SPOILER "If you kill off your character, your comic is going to be like the infamous scene from CRL ALT DEL"

Personal issue....grammar.

[alaingrey]

People either love or hate the characters, depending on if they like good people or horrible people doing horrible things. Reasons I've heard people not liking various characters

• 'he's just icky, why is he there.'
• 'I hate him because he does drugs'
• 'so gross'

I got a lot of complaints about the lettering from friends, so I finally found a font that works <:3c

And I think the pacing of my comic is slow enough that it drives people away. It takes a long time to get to the drama, but I feel it makes it a little more impactful when something DOES happen, since most the plot is just teens being teens.

[thomasfallaeriksen]

The most common thing I hear is "nice drawings, but I don't understand anything".
Short 5 page updates on a story that will be well over 500 pages long probably doesn't make it very easy.
And it doesn't help that I'm a bit egoistic and just try to make something that I would like to read myself. Which includes only my own interests and references.
And the comics I prefer are the type that I have to read multiple times, really put myself into and maybe come up with my own theory. Moebius' "Airtight Garage" and "Aedena cycle" are a two examples of what I consider to be some of the finest comics ever made.
Another example (that is not a comic) that I find extremely fascinating is the "Don't hug me I'm scared" series.

There is always a certain story or message that I want to convey in my series, but it is so fun to try to tell it in a more symbolic and unconventional way. Where you have to read the drawings and draw your own conclusions.
But this will probably put many readers off the whole thing.