What do you love to see in a comic?

[Chita]

I saw the "What is your weakness?" thread an I was inspired to do this cause when I saw it I thought it meant something different (either way go check it, it's really nice!).
What I thought it was going to discuss was "What are your comic weaknesses?" What is the thing that make you fall in love with a comic? What makes you SLAM the subscribe icon? List all the tropes, character archetypes, guilty pleasures, genres... that make you stay!

For me, these are my weaknesses:
Opposite MC: give me the smol spark of joy and the big edgy character and I'll sign up. I just love two polar opposites characters leading the story.
Fantasy twist. I love sparkly magic powers, dragons, otherworldly settings. Even if it's set in the real world, I love to see some kind of fiction flare, be it powers, supernatural things, criptids... You get it.
Well made fantasy setting + worldbuilding. I love to see original twists on the medieval fantasy setting, or if it is a medieval fantasy setting give me a good worldbuilding and I'm in.
Angst. Make me cry, I won't regret it.
Characters that feel real, with real struggles aside from the plot.
Romantic subplots. Romance stories are good but I don't want just to see two characters falling in love, but I love seeing them bond aside of the main action.

What are yours?

[DualDragons]

My turn

elaborate and good-paced action scenes: i'm a sucker for some good action and fighting scenes. Especially weapon to weapon and hand-to-hand action! Give me two characters fighting with their large axes and hammers and you'll definitely catch my attention hehe

fantasy settings that stray from the traditional format: i really enjoy it when the author goes all out with their fantasy settings! Really weird creatures? Interesting ways of living? Show them!

some real villain action: I really like when the villain is not some pushover whose only goal is to chase after the main character. Give them a good motive and some lit fights and make them win from time to time.

Clever ways of winning a fight: instead of using the glorified and overdone power of FRIENDSHIP, let the mc or other characters use their mind. There are many ways a character can outsmart their opponent, with mental strategies, illusions or just predicting their actions! Be creative

[AbelDraws]

Interesting, lemme see...

Pretty art/interesting panel composition. If it catches my eyes and I can learn from it I'll at least give it a chance for a few chapters :3c

Gotta admit I'm also a sucker for edgy bastards hahahaha that character is most likely going to be my fave if they're interesting enough. That'll mean I'll be hooked forever >.>" The moment I get a fave there's no going back.

Really, just... Interesting characters. Characters that feel alive and interesting character arcs. The feels will strike 100 times harder if you're invested in those well fleshed out characters >u>

• In this same point, I really like characters that have opposite traits, it just feels very real. A person who's desperate for attention and will do anything to get it but at the same time is super anxious and gets nervous when they do get it, a person who's super cold but loves their loved ones with a passion and is actually very warm towards them.... Y'know the stuff.

The found family trope is SO good ;_;

Characters that'd literally do anything for their loved ones' sakes. With loved ones I mean anyone they consider very important to them, not only couples.

Stories that have a lot of secrets and well stablished foreshadowing I can read again and scream because of all the thought that went into it <33

[Chita]

@DualDragons I agree with all of yours, specially with the villain one and the Power of Friendship thing. I'm pretty tired of one dimensional villains and tough fights win by love and sparkles XD

@AbelDraws I see you're a woman of culture as well . I can't help to love edgy bastards as well, specially if they have a soft side . I had forgotten about the found family trope, that's full of heartwarming moments :'D and stories with good foreshadowing are always a blast to read XD

[LadyN]

I only have one flaw…

The scripting

I just suck at scrips. I could right normal novel type stuff but that’s just too time consuming. I’m not even a chapter into my script and I already hate writing it.

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

Beautifully-drawn space opera comics with really interesting worldbuilding -- that only update a few pages a year.

[Chita]

I don't know if I could wait that long without an update :'D

[Kann]

I'm a sucker for a slow burn romances of any type. I like when characters take their time to get together.

When at the beginning it's colorful and cute, but then the drama hits hard and you're left there wondering why these cute characters have to suffer.

I like fantasy settings put in the modern world.

Cheerful characters hiding sad backstory or grumpy bastards having a soft side. Or both in one story.

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

Me have a rule of thumb: If comic not update in over a year, it probably safe to drop. Outsider am one of the few exceptions.

[IdiotWithPencil]

the characters, as long as the characters are interesting or enjoyable I sub immediately, also stoic badass characters are my favorite =D

Edit: Also Machiavellian characters, and no not the evil Machiavellian the actual Machiavellian the on where they do all they can for the state and the governments people and not just for powers sake.
Only found 1 story that actually do the Machiavellian character correctly and they are very interesting and fun character =)

[Chita]

@33rdCenturyCaveman I haven't heard of that comic, I'll check it out!
@Kann Slice of Life to Drama is one of my favorite tropes if done well, it's such a great way to subbert expectations! One of my favorite comics in this site actually did that. And I love last trope you mentioned, it really helps to round up the characters and set them aside from the archetypes.
@IdiotWithPencil Since the Machiavellian archetype appeared quite a long time ago it makes sense that it has evolved to a point that people base their character on a "parody" of the actual Machiavellian character. That it's an interesting point I haven't thought about

[Kelheor]

Everything you mentioned
I actually never gave this a thought
- Awesome art. Now this is kinda subjective, but I am spoiled by the top mangakas, so I am a huge sucker for the amazing artwork.
- Good action scenes. I do love my shounen, doesn't matter if mah boys&girls are fighting or dancing.
- Hot-blooded edgy bastards with a heart of gold. I mean, duh.
- Opposite MC dynamics
- When the author knows how to make me hold my breath. This can be anything (character struggling, fight scene, sex scene, angst, random emotions), but if I caught myself not breathing with an open mouth for a few seconds, I'm probably sold

[Mira_Astralis]

when you read these and realise that a heck of a lot of things that people like are gonna be in your comic Hek yes!!

[queenue]

I am such a sucker for character-driven stories with a lot of emphasis on relationships. This is probs why 90% of what I read is realistic fic lmao.

Witty dialogue. Honestly make me laugh/smile and I will keep reading no matter what.

FOOD/BAKING! Okay, I love to cook/bake myself and after reading Bloom and Check Please! (both by First Second publishing), I have fallen in love with baking-related comics. Give me the pretty illustrations of food please.

I'm drawn to really cute/fun art styles, think retro anime inspired. Sometimes I will stare at a character's facial expression in one panel forever just because of how darn cute or funny it is.

CREATORS THAT DROP LITTLE CHARACTER HINTS. You know when authors hint at something having to do with a character? I love that. I love speculating. I love character secrets that slowly get revealed.

[Chita]

@Kelheor I'm starting to realize that many people love edgy bastards that are softies, I'm happy to know that XD
@mira_astralis Yes! I got that feeling for some posts in the past, so I thought it would be nice to make this thread so that everyone could feel that!
@queenue Small character hints are really the best way to get to know a character and love them

[Jophiel]

-Nonstandard panelling/layout, they're very inspiring and I like how many come up with ways to make the most out of their medium and formats!

-When a character who's typically happy/stoic...just gets so emotional...my heart...

-Determined characters!

-Character foils!! I feel like I do not see them alot and would love to read more! They make for a great character analysis/comparison ><

-I'd die for characters who would protect their loved ones ;___;; I really like sibling and friend dynamics too. Particularly those with an older sibling instinct and even those promoted to parent.

-I like stories where they kinda force you to see the sides in different perspectives; I don't know how to explain it but there's no right or wrong being enforced (?) and it typically erases the typical not good = evil, pure = good types.

-Deconstruction/Reconstruction of archetypes

[puddle]

oooh some favs:

lineless in color
bickering MCs
varied body types!!!!
classic buffoonery between scenes of tension

I'm also admittedly a sucker for any healthy LGBT romances depicted. There's a lot of comics that have gay pairings, but the relationship is incredibly toxic

[azzy-m]

This is specifically towards writing in general but:

When characters who are in a relationship/are most likely going to be in a relationship talk through their problems and help each other through their character arcs

That one trope where character A has a shitty nickname for character B, A never calls B by their real name; then B is either on the verge on death or about to die and in a moment of pure utter desperation A yellS THEIR REAL NAME - WHAT IS THIS TROPE CALLED

wlw couples where one is emo goth and the other is femme pink girl. I don't know whybut it's probably bc someone said this is the two sides of wlw culture when it comes to clothes and I haven't ever forgotten about it.

I said this before in another topic but two characters who are smart and clever on their own but when left in the same room alone they are reduced to the very definiton of stupidity. Friends don't let friends do stupid shit on their own, ya know

When the edgy/angry bastard who can kill people with a look secretly has a totally chill and/or domestic hobby that the other characters get to see when they aren't in danger (basically all those headcanons that say Bakugo really likes to cook. I don't watch BNHA and idk if it's actually canon but still lol)

[Bree_Mana]

Things I love

• Well written LGBT characters / relationships (Theres more to the character than just being the token gay)
• FOUND FAMILY
• siblings that rean't always on good terms with each other but will come throughfor each other no matter what
• good people accidently hurting those they love while having good intentions (Always here for that juicy drama!)
• When the character design goes against tropes for certain types of characters, or when the design suits the character's powers, personality, lifestyle realistically and changes over time
• I actually love seeing artistic progression, it gets frustrating When an artist keeps redrawing the same 3 pages
• I also like when the author leaves little notes at the end of the episode talking about their art process or leaving a little extra suspense
• My favorite genres are Slice of life, modern fantasy, and scifi

(As expected I may be a bit biased cause a lot of these pop up in my own comic TLC lol)

[Darth_Biomech]

Imaginative worldbuilding with attention to detail. I don't care if the story's shit, I don't care if the characters are boring, if there's an interesting world behind those, and you can spend some time studying the backgrounds and dropped bits of information to put it all together. It's very satisfying to see that the author not just plopped an airship into the plot, but said airship clearly designed with the questions of how it works, how it lands, and how it was constructed in mind. It appears that I'm in the minority though, which is very sad.

Beautifully-drawn space opera comics with really interesting worldbuilding -- that only update a few pages a year.

Don't know about "beautifully drawn" bit, but Leaving the Cradle has lots of worldbuilding, is a space opera, and updates on an erratic schedule. =D