What elevates a comic from good to great?

[ShidoDraws]

Edit: no power system. If you can say your power level in character, I'm out.

O.O Seven Deadly Sins flashbacks*

Oh no...

[Lensing]

Great humour / funny dialogues + sexy or funny looking characters
+ erotic/sex + provocative + beautiful art.

The comic has to be easily to understand like a 2:23 minutes 1950s rock´n´roll song.
This means that I have to look at the cover and find most ingredients that I listed.
Every page has to be like that and has to be understood without explanation.

Beautiful art means beautiful lines, I prefer colors with low saturation, great value balance (which
means not too dark) I like moody panels, beautiful drawn skin, great poses, exeggerated/funny poses,
composition. I love comics which are drawn in oil / gouache or which have a very painterly feeling to it.
Easy to read dialogue. Easy to understand compostion and panel placement. If I don´t stop here then
this will turn into a book.

I don´t list the things that I don´t like, because people have a different taste and I don´t want to insult
anyone for liking what they do.

[kyupol]

When it's addictive. Hard to explain. Very few meet that criteria that's why I had to make my own. (sorry if I sound arrogant)

[rasteranime]

idk what makes that transition from good to great comic, but what makes me coming back to reading the comic is first and foremost is the humor, something like for example, i recently binge read a comic right here on tapas, name of the comic is "Baskets of guts", created Joe Duncan translated by caledfwlch, the comic literally gave me lol moments, art style was consistent, backgrounds conveyed what shit is happening at which place, pacing was good, kept me hooked (has 1474 episodes, and author didn't specifically mention, what the lead's role name was...that kinda hooked)...its hilarious comic overall imo and is must read :)...

The same thing i felt while reading Gintama, at times i felt the humor is better than one piece (now reading for sake the of mystery surrounding one piece and void century), whereas Gintama has no exaggerated power ups and the dynamics between trio and other different characters like katsura and his funny shit trying carrying out rebellion, so its again humor and how the jokes are set up...

now i am reading Dandadan, this also has that humor thing going on, but the comic has some sense of "urgency" which i can't decide whether i like or not...

i also keep going back, reading other comic formats, you know like newspaper comics, satirical political cartoons/comics and other simple 4 panel comics

so overall i must say humor and how the jokes are set up is what makes it a standout piece at least for me

btw happy holidays to you too man

[NickRowler]

Have well developed memorable characters.

If you have memorable characters, the series will build more traction with fandoms. They become more iconic and easier to recognize when shown outside the work.

I feel like most casual readers are not impressed by complex world building up front. I feel like you need to establish your plot/characters before diving into that.

[Lensing]

That doesn´t sound arrogant, that should be the reason for every creator to make their comic imo

[NutshellComics]

Okay, so my manga might be a good one meassured by your standards! Cool!

But what do you mean by "If you can say your power level in character"?
you mean like Dragonball with the scouters they used in the Namek Saga?

Because i have a very thought out power system, but it's so heavily centered around the experiences and creativity of the user, so that's merely impossible to put a number on that.

[NutshellComics]

That's why i waited during the actions scenes for the dialogues to come back, because the dialogues in Tarantino's Django Unchained are so peak!!

[NutshellComics]

Agreed to everything!!

Funny how i find my storytelling style and favors described here... just saying...
I HATE it, when a very sad moment is suddenly undermined by a silly slapstick gag or something.
That's why i watched maybe 2 Marvel movies.

That will NEVER EVER happen in my story. To disturb my characters in their darkest, saddest moments feels like betraying them. And the audience with it.

Humor should have it's own place in a story.

[NutshellComics]

Very interesting.
I also don't like it when it fels like my time is wasted with nonsense subplots and stuff. A tight and precise told story should be the goal. Sadly you'll have to wait until my manga gets colored...

[NutshellComics]

I dedicated a whole part of my manga to pure visual storytelling without dialogue to practice exactly this.
The readability and clearness of every panel and page, even without explanation.
But sadly there's nothing sexy

[NutshellComics]

We all make our own comics, bc we think or want to do the things better, that we value most in comics.
For me it's to write the ULTIMATE multiverse story.

Every second franchise nowadays introduce multiverses.
Therefore many stories HAVE multiverses, but my story is ABOUT multiverses.

Nothing arrogant with that.

[artist1]

The characters, in story dialogue, know their power level. Dragonball is an easy one (his power is over 9000!!!) but many Iseki have it. If it's just a abstract thing like mana in Freiren I'm fine. The more you explain your system, the more I won't care. The best explanation I have I will steal from a creative writing essay I read long ago about Sci-fi tech but it applies to magic: In a modern film, the hero pulls a gun. The author doesn't have to explain how gun powder works, or how the primer on a bullet ignites it, or the rifling on the barrel makes the bullet spin to stabilize the flight. He pulls the trigger and the gun goes boom. This to me applies to magic. The more you try to make sense, the more it breaks down. I am a big fan of if it doesn't NEED to be explain, don't.

[NutshellComics]

Well written humor is one of the most difficult things to achieve i think. Therefore i prefer to write adventure stuff.

And i have a very particular and situational kind of humor. Sometimes it just comes to me, what dumb and funny thing Flint, my main protagonist, is gonna say next. Sometimes a scene screams at me slapping the joke in my face almost.

But well thought out and planned humor is another beast...

[NutshellComics]

okay i'm hearing a fan of soft magic systems here.
For this kind i always loved Gandalf from LOTR. His magic isn't just not explained, most of the time you can't even be sure, if he'd just cast a spell or not. very ambiguous.

For isekai, imo it's a lazy plot device to show attack and defense stats. In my Power system there's only one thing how you COULD tell the power of your opponent, but even that can be used as a trap.

[NutshellComics]

Yeah i think so, too.
My manga has a very rich and dense worldbuilding, BUT i barely show anything of it in the whole first volume.
Because it's dedicated to introduce my Buddy Duo Flint (left) and Kelvin (right).
I really hope, that they will be memorable enough to people!

[strawbisci]

it needs to actually say something. Most comics from around the globe are content with just being popcorn entertainment, making a comic just to make a comic, people reading them just to occupy time, but when we think of the all time goats, stuff like berserk,vagabond, the climber, one piece, etc... these works don't stick with people or become so lauded simply because they're entertaining. They all impart a message (or several) onto the reader that keeps them thinking about the work long after they've finished it, often in a way that could not be fully replicated in any other medium outside of comics(especially in the cases of miura, inoue, and sakamoto). Is one piece the most popular single comic in history because it's well drawn, has great action, and everyone loves pirates? or is it because it is all of those things as well as a biting criticism of tyrannical governments and imperialism which resonates with people across the world who have to deal with these thing and their consequences on a daily basis? anyone can make a comic with solid art and writing but what separates the greats from the rest is that vision which conveys something beyond just the surface level super powers and cool character designs.

[Lensing]

It´s really beautiful and you have the ability to make a world come alive

[NutshellComics]

You nailed it imo. The core of a story is something shockingly abscent from a lot of modern popcorn entertainment.
There's a reason why we tell stories and it this:
Clashing philosophies explored by character conflicts either with a clear answer or left to be answered by the audience.
The main character's arc is only a refelection of that. And the ANTAgonist is often the twisted opposite of that.
In my case the philosophical question of my story is how to take responsibility for yourself and other people and if someone can be obligated to be responsible for others. Therefore my main protagonist Flint is a very careless and irresponsible guy.^^

[NutshellComics]

Thank you so much! Immersion is one of my KEY goals, so this compliment matters a lot to me!!