What draws you or turns you away from a comic/story?

[kalmia]

When you open that novel/comic and start reading, what are the things that really get you interested make you think, “I really like this!” or “I want to know what happens next!?”. What things make you put the book down and decide it’s not for you? Maybe it’s certain tropes, maybe it’s a really good opening line, or perhaps it’s the art style.

Onee thing that really hooks me into a story is if the characters are good, and by this I mean they make me feel something and make me care about them. If i’m 3-4 chapters/episodes in and Im barely interested in the main character, then I usually have a hard time throughout the rest of the story. But If I can sympathize with the character and they have great personalities that make me care about them, then i’ll stick around for as long as possible!

Something that turns me away from a story is when the first episode or chapter, maybe even the prologue, is just one long info dump. Often times it goes along the lines of: “Once upon a time, our world was run by many gods, but then there was a war…” or something like that. The last thing I, as a reader, want to read in the very first chapter is all the background information about a world you haven’t even introduced me to yet. It’s a lazy writing trope and I can usually tell the writer/artist is pretty inexperienced with storytelling and inserting information throughout the story. It’s just not for me.

So what about you? What are things that make you like a story and what are things that turn you away?

[Lensing]

There are some things which turn me away:

-cold, stiff looking art without expressions / feelings
-too dark colors
-font size too small
-prologues

[Dei]

What makes me invested in a story:

• Literary Style.Think Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Gregg Hurwitz, etc. I like a mature style and/or tone as I am not so much into juvenile writing styles or YA. I'm way past those themes. I still tend to read such if written decently.
• Sometimes, I like a light hearted comic/read so I tend to browse some shojo/slice of life manga as well. Horimiya for one. Good art style is always a bonus.
• Characters with appropriate and understandable state of psychological dispute.
• Polished characterization.
• Writer knows how to Show and not Tell.

What makes me raise an eyebrow behind the screen:

• Smut driven romance stories and the characters barely know each other. I can almost roll my whole head at this. C'mon, be realistic. IRL this doesn't really happen unless you're a red-light district worker. But even they don't usually find that kind of romance. I like romance in my reads, but if it's heading in this direction, eh, well they had their chance.
• Punctuations. Improper and the no usage of such. Please have mercy on me.
• Yes, info dump at the very beginning. Give me action, interaction, anything to introduce me to the character I'm supposed to meet. If there's history written deftly and appropriately, I wouldn't mind. But trying hard to explain things, maybe not so much. I like that info in bits throughout the story, just not in one sitting.

[DualDragons]

At the risk of sounding like a jerk: art style. The art impacts me much more than the story at first and if it is shite I will most likely not give it a chance.

That said, in the end it is the story that grips me and decides whether or not I stay

[thepenmonster]

Doing the same shit as everyone else. Be it an office romance set in Seoul, a nerd finding an elf harem after Truck-kun kills him, dumb fight comics, or... apologies to whoever needs one: fanfic comics. (I already saw The Last Airbender. I don't need to read your version.)

Art style I can be flexible on but if it bleeds the eye I'll see if there's growth going on. Then I'll come back for the next project with the better skills shown. However, and this is a flaw with the webtoon format: Too much empty space is merely padding that it offends my sense of aesthetics. I will bounce.

[NickRowler]

Things that turn me away from a story…
- too much fluff or padding
- bad story flow, not easy to follow, and/or different to read (bad font)
- characters, I know it’s subjective but if I don’t like them, I don’t want to read the story
- the use of gore or offensive material for shock value. Not a lot of Tapas series are like this. Never cared for things that’s main appeal is that they are “edgy”.

[GodbreakerComic]

Sexual assault being used as a joke or as a hero's call to action.

So god damn stupid. And it's such a commonly used trope in manga and anime. Absolutely hate it.

[pixxiepinks]

Turn away - "False Advertising."

In the sense that a story is marketed and framed in a certain way, but that's not at all what the story is about. I find romances tend to suffer from this the most, portraying a "good wholesome romance everyone wants!" but when you actually read it, the love interest is a walking red flag and does things that would definitely get a real person arrested.

The thing is I don't mind reading dark stories, in fact, I really like reading dark stories, but tell me it's a dark story, don't try to pull a 50 Shades of Gray on me and lie about how this is sweet. If you want to write dark themes, then let the audience know, don't trick younger readers into thinking certain behavior is okay in a partner or trigger someone who didn't know certain content would be inside.

This obviously applies to other genres as well, but I've found the female lead romances to be the most problematic.

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Draws me in - "Relationships"

Not in the sense of romance (though that is one kind of relationship). I mean the connection between characters. If the MC doesn't feel like they are attached to anyone or anything (a common problem I find in fantasy works), then I don't want to read it. But this also applies to MCs who have relationships that feel unnatural and/or stiff.

I like seeing the interconnections between people build and change. How a group of strangers can become each other's family, or how a friendship can be torn apart by different ideals. It doesn't even have to be healthy relationships, I just want realistic connections. I want to be able to believe the story being told, and personally, a lot of the story depends on how well a character fits into the larger narrative based on the other characters tied to them.

[harlan]

Draws me in:

Action right from the start while not knowing what's going on but finding out as I read. Cool characters, preferably a bit morally grey. Hints of complex plots. Introduction to the world/story by immersion, not exposition, a mystery.

Can (but don't necessarily) turn me away:

Overpowered MC, shallow characters, very slow or mundane start.

[powerplantanimations]

If your damn comic reads like your Life is Strange's, your Forespoken's, your Star Trek Discovery's, your Rick & Morty's, your Netflix's Cowboy Bebop's, your She-Hulk's.... you know... THAT dialogue...

If it has a lot of toilet humor in it.... yeah. THAT'S PROBABLY THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO TO MAKE ME FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE. I can sit through the bloodiest, most offensive stuff... but the moment you do the SIMPLEST type of toilet humor I'm like "I'm out". Low-hanging fruit.

If you don't know how to swear.... you can tell if a person lives a very sheltered life through their swearing. Hazbin Hotel is a huge example. Spoilers: most people who do don't do it very often when talking on the regular.

Literally anything else draws me in since I believe in blending different ideas to get something new. Just to know more about me. My thought process is when something says something I don't like I'm like "Welp... I might as well see how it ends and then have a direction of what not to do".

[morganicfoods]

Yep me too. I have an unbridled hatred for exposition dumps. Especially at the beginning of a story. Huge no. Might stick it out if I'm interested in the concept, but generally, I leave upon seeing an exposition dump.

What draws me in is how much the writers displays that they show, not tell. I am a Show Don't Tell extremist, and I don't want you to tell me any damn thing. If you’re able to give me an idea of what's going on naturally, I'm already hooked.

[DualDragons]

Oh I completely forgot to name something that draws me in a story

Well it's moreso something that probably happens deeper in a story but I like the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" trope, teaming up to defeat a bigger evil

[BoomerZ]

turn offs:
Info dump of the worlds massive history means I stop reading immediately. How can I care about your world, it's an inanimate object. It's a setting not a story.

No story. The main characters are just milling around looking for a story to find them. This usually happens when a writer wants to write a fantasy/romance/whatever novel but doesn't actually have a story to tell. Then call it slice of life to cover why you don't have a story.

Lots of medium shots of characters from the waist up talking to one another. This shows the artist hasn't looked into framing and composition. Makes for a boring read.

Characters talking in monologues of word vomit. The dialogue should be tight and to the point.

Things I love:
A good black and white art style that is clean. Bonus point for tones.

Normal people being put in extraordinary circumstances. Easier to wonder what they are going to do if they just can't punch/fight/etc their way out of it.

Cell shaded, simple but effective.

[sams_cartoon_shack]

Turnoffs:

• Info dumps

• Fantasy and romance stories with long titles using words such as "dutchess" and "vilanness" with a generic manwha style.

• Ugly art -- Although I think good writing saves a story with poor art, if it displeasing to the eye, then it's not going to draw me in.

Draws Me In

• Beautiful and stylized art

• Characters that hook me by the first few chapters.

• Good sense of humor

• Show, don't tell

[cherrystark]

Turn On - Engaging plot, clear stakes, characters making logical/realistic choices for the situation they are in, and realistic dialogue. A lot of the time, characters' dialogue and actions seem very fake to me. It makes me lose interest. Even if a plot is relatively simple, if the characters act "real" or believable to their situation, I will always keep reading.

Turn Off - Overdramatized stories that play too long. While these stories may be grammatically fine, they are in desperate need of an editor to trim down the run time. For example, in an office romance, the MC could be head over heels in love with their boss. Instead of a 2-3 paragraphs to bridge the gap between the important scenes, we would get 2-3 chapters worth of filler scenes and character internal monologues. Or two characters are arguing, instead of using body language to convey anger - everyone is shouting monologues at each other for a chapter and a half. It's also part of the reason why I stopped enjoying first-person POV because the writer always gives them 20 minutes of internally monologues for a 2 minute action sequence.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

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[Nugtown]

Most of all it's stories that are paper thin excuse for sexual fetishes, and to top it all off while that not being the point of the story the author writes like we're too dumb to notice.

When that's not the case I think I have to agree with pretty much everyone else here that expansive world building expo dumps are a total killer. I also don't like stories that also feel like they are written with a tiny worldview where the author is writing like he obsesses over going back to high school every day of his life, or can only write the most sterile basic fantasy stories. Stories that are basically just "well yeah but what if they had POWERS" instantly make me look away.

I will read a lot of comics but don't stay for most of them. I think what I look for is either a lot of expressive artwork, an interesting premise or a compelling narrative. It doesn't need to be action packed, it just needs to have emotional impact and real weight. Stories like that feel like they heal the soul.

[darthmongoose]

Turn-offs:

• Opens with a long monologue about world history, "Long ago, the humans and the dragons lived in peace, but that peace was shattered when blah blah blah and now the world awaits a new hero to awaken..." bonus points if the next thing that happens is the main character wakes up from a dream, or we see this tale is being told to the main character as a child. These are almost never good, and especially when they're accompanied by rough, scribbly art, because the creator has no idea how to make old-looking or simple story-book looking art and uses it as an excuse to just make lazy art with sloppy silhouettes or vague stick-people and often bad stock fire effects and things. It's so often a red flag that screams, "this creator didn't have a plan for how best to tell this story." and the bad art suggests the creator really didn't think about their work's first impression.

• It's literally just someone's OCs hanging out and there's no plot established and it starts with the main character just getting out of bed and talking to their mum or housemate and then everyone just stands around and talks for a while and then there's another scene of everyone standing around talking and maybe a funny/cute conversation or one vaguely dramatic moment as though the creator just thought of a bunch of cute scenes, wrote them out largely for their own entertainment, didn't curate the experience for an audience by adding a story structure or cutting out superfluous stuff, but still thinks I ought to read it and give it attention because they worked hard drawing it all and it's of their precious OCs who I ought to love because they love them. I want to be entertained, dammit! Tell me a freakin' STORY!

• No banner, lazy cover, series title/logo written in default Windows fonts or scruffy handwriting, and a vague blurb that says things like "Who knows what will happen...?. If you don't care about presenting your work, how do you expect me to care about your work? If's like having a table at a convention and not having a tablecloth, just dumping all your stuff on there in random piles and wearing grubby old sweatpants and not brushing your hair.

• Terrible spelling, punctuation and grammar. I know a lot of people aren't native English speakers, so I'm forgiving of occasional slip-ups, typos and the like, but when the dialogue is just totally incomprehensible, I'm sorry, I can't read that. I'm a native speaker with fluency in a second language, so I totally get how hard it is, and I'm pretty lenient and used to trying to work out the intended meaning, but it will have a negative effect on my ability to just get lost in a comic's story if characters keep saying things like "Ohno! is he is running away now fast we must stopped him"...because even though I can understand that what the creator meant was something like "Oh no! He's running away! We'd better stop him, and fast!" I'm taken out of the action for a moment working that out, and reading the words in a character voice in my imagination it's unintentionally comedic.

Turn-ons:

• Cover has nice, big, clear typography and shows the main character/s in a way that gets across something about the artstyle, vibe and concept. There is a banner that matches the look of the cover. There's a blurb and it explains, concisely, what the story is about.

• Within the first ~10 pages or 50 panels, we have established: A main character, an interesting scenario they are in that promises excitement, and a source of tension that makes me concerned about how that scenario may play out.

• The art is easy to read and well-presented; characters stand out clearly from backgrounds, I can tell what their expressions are meant to be, and what is happening in action panels. Panel borders are consistent and it's easy to tell where a panel ends and another starts. Lettering is large enough to comfortably read on a tablet, or ideally, a phone and in nice, neat bubbles and a font that fits the feel of the comic. Extra credit if the art is a really good match for the tone, and also if the art uses varied and appealing panel compositions.

• The vast majority of speech bubbles have no more than 1-2 sentences. Writing is never used to convey something that could be shown with art. If you have to write "stands up" or "really angry" like it's a sound effect next to a character, or have a narration box saying "Jim stood up", "I was furious"...ugh... not a fan. If you can effectively get across that a person stands up or is really angry with just the art, that's some good comicking!

[TheLemmaLlama]

Draws me in:
A clear sense of vision. A comic captures me when it gives me the impression that the creator knows exactly what they're going for, they want to make me feel X and they're going to deliver.

• If I open the comic and I immediately get hit with vibes, or feel something
• If I see a piece of conventional wisdom being subverted right out of the gate, in a way that feels like there's a coherent stance behind the subversive take that will get gradually revealed
• If I immediately see something unusual/resonant about a character's personality/attitude/etc, that feels like part of a coherent psychology that will get gradually revealed
• If I see an interesting piece of worldbuilding (that feels like part of something greater that will get gradually revealed yada yada XD)
• Interesting format lmao
• Plot hooks I guess, but honestly not required if you nail one of the above instead? XD

I'm probably being a nebulous, but it's really not a clear-cut thing; no-one ever said drawing people in will be easy! XD

Turns me away:
There are two main ways to get me to drop a story; (unrewarding) mental load and boredom. The former works faster than the latter, but the latter will still cause me to slowly drift away

Mental load is about how difficult it is to get through a story without giving me a headache. If it's too confusing or takes me too much effort to understand what's going on right from the start, I'm gone :'D Common culprits include:

• infodumping
• corollary: too many characters/etc introduced at once
• hard-to-follow format, hard-to-read texts etc
• If you think judging comics by art skill is rude, wait till you hear that I'm more likely to drop a comic if it's black-and-white :'D (For some reason, my brain just finds it harder to parse black-and-white images T_T)
• Too mysterious; I have literally zero idea what's happening and why
• Purely visual comics (no dialogue/narration) where the art is not skilled enough to convey what's happening

Boredom basically happens when there's an extreme lack of that vision I mentioned above. Stuff can happen on paper (e.g. characters fighting), but if I see no purpose behind it, not connecting thread, no particular thing you're trying to evoke by showing me those things, I'm gone

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Might also be worth noting that while lack of boringness draws me to a story, lack of imposition on mental load by itself does not. A comic can be very easy to read, something I can pick up and breeze through, but I might still drop it if I feel like I have better things to do. I personally don't tend to marvel at technical competence like "wow, this comic has clear presentation and readable text! I really like this! I want to know what happens next!?”