What Is The Most Rewarding Thing About Making Comics?

[Nivardy]

So what fires you up when creating comics?

Is it the creative process?

Is the feeling of getting something done?

Or is it your audience?

Don't be afraid to link your comics down below, I'd love to read them!

-Nivardy.

[Inspector_Spinda]

I love when I have something to work towards. Like if I know there's an especially good scene coming up in a few pages I want to draw and write extra fast to get to that point. And even when I just drawing ordinary pages I love it when I finally get one fully shaded and done. Then I go back to the first page and read through. Each time the comic gets a little bit longer and that's encouraging.

The comic I'm working on now is about a blind necromancer who can only see ghosts and nothing else. The ghosts can't talk so he tries to find out more about them, especially Parasol, the first ghost he ever summon who's been with him most of his life.

Ghost of Charles Bridge | Tapas

[Kura]

Creating and telling my stories and seeing other people enjoy them in both entertained and/or personal levels.

Getting paid for my hard work for MY OWN stuff is also rewarding. Not paying / underpaying artists is one thing, but getting paid to work on your own characters/stories/creations instead of someone elses via commissions, jobs, or prints for conventions is 10000000000x more satisfying and rewarding. Even if it doesn't pay anywhere near as much right now.

No Future | Tapas

[keii4ii]

Here's the thing. For me, the most rewarding thing =/= the most important reason why I make it.

The most important reason: because I need to, the same way I need to breathe.

The most rewarding thing: when the story resonates with other people... when other people also see why I fell in love with this story and the characters, and also fall in love with it/them. I don't think I'm far enough in the story for that to happen; people haven't seen enough of the characters to fully understand why I love them so much. But I hope it will happen in the future.

Heart of Keol | Tapas

[Exeivier]

A lot of people will agree with what I expressed in this short story but to add something, and kind of a recent story (maybe an idea for a second part?) I just finished a mini graphic novel a couple weeks ago, 45 pages. three and a half weeks of working almost everyday.
And when i started showing the story to some friends, family and colleagues, most of them would read the pages in five, three or just a couple minutes, one month of work to be read in the time you make some microwave popcorn.

but everyone loved it and told me how cute and special the little comic was. And that kind of reward put in such a weird scale made me put into perspective most of the sequential art most comic artists and writers do. It's truly a noble medium and form of art.

[Mocha]

For me it's the relief of finally seeing all those stories I've been developing in my head for years turn into an actual concrete object that other people can actually understand and enjoy.

[geraldlgler]

Getting genuine love and support from the readers ^^

[Shanny8]

Seeing the finished page, or the finished story...plus having people read and say good things about the comic.

[cleo_san]

For me it's two things:

• The moment, every piece of your story finally falls into its place. It's like a drug, you're high on happiness hormones, can't stop thinking about it and have to power to DRAW IT ALL!
  This has happened a while ago with Remember, my Fantasy manga and about a month ago for a very old story I always wanted to draw who was missing the "certain something". And now I'm as productive as never before, it's such an awesome feeling! °///°
• Second: The moment you learn that someone actually LIKES what you've drawn, the moment you receive feedback! Even if ppl tell you what they liked and what they disliked! It shows you that they have actually engaged in your story, they have thought it through, got familiar with your characters, etc... and maybe, if you're lucky, they even make fanwork =)

That being said: Share the love you've received from other artists. Whenever I get a comment on Remember, I try to answer and also check out the other person's stuff. =) I've found a great deal of awesome stories that way <3 It's basically a win-win situation! XD

[XzynderVexymous]

It is the feeling of getting something done. It's also the feeling of enjoying drawing in general.

Creativity comes from music basically for me personally.

Earth's Immigrants :: History 2 | Tapas

[punkarsenic]

i think the creative process is the most exciting thing for me; theres so much thought from so many directions that goes into making good comics, its kinda crazy. so while its really daunting, its also a real buzz once youre in the flow of, say, thumbnailing pages and youre remembering your angles and your composition and your flow and your lettering and your everything else, making brilliant pages. then you have to actually draw them.......... hm

but the joy comes back around when i get a complete scene and i can see my story play out in realtime, and share it with people. hearing people theorise and talk about my comic is really exciting too!!

[Testaccount]

I don't do comics, but I write. For me, I just enjoy getting my stories out there. I love the feeling of reading my work and thinking, "I wrote that!"

I especially love getting artwork done of my characters. When my merman character was first brought to life (character art), I was nearly in tears with happiness. Writing helps me to create the worlds and characters I want. If I couldn't write, I would probably lose my mind.

The only sad thing is I've learned people don't like my work, but I still love the stories I created.

[yoda510]

For me, I just like telling stories and making people laugh. I couldn't really afford an artist so I just started drawing them myself, even though I couldn't really draw. Most of my stories are to make people laugh and entertain. If a few people get a laugh out of it and it makes their day a little better, then I feel great!

Now, one side effect I wasn't expecting as I consistently put pencil to paper is the enjoyment I have gotten seeing my art start to improve. I am a story teller, not an artist, but it has been cool to see some improvement. Check it out, maybe it will give you a smile.

Escaped Pets | Tapas

[theladiesi]

I like the sense of accomplishment I feel from getting an idea in my head onto the page. It feels good to do something with my hands and have something to show for it.

Arcus Ink :: Arcus Ink Cover | Tapas

[Michelle]

For me, it's seeing readers talking about and relating to the characters. It's a little surreal, tbh, seeing others talk about something that for so long was an idea in my head; it's also exciting because it makes the characters feel that much more dimensional. I'm happy to stay in the background and watch the comic take on a life of its own.

Centralia 2050 | Tapas

[scarlet_wings_kaili]

I think the thing that fires me up the most is panels. I just love doing panel layouts and I'm not sure why.
Other than that, I love drawing comics because it's rewarding to create a story.

Feel free to check out my comic:

HalfSoul | Tapas

[yoda510]

I am about half way through Centralia 2050 by @Michelle, and it is awesome so far. Keep up the great work!

[erma]

The inside jokes and ridiculous MS Paint drawings my friends and I share.

But in all seriousness, what's truly the most rewarding is seeing how my readers react to the story and seeing them enjoy it. Another thing is looking back and seeing how the art has improved/changed.

Working on this comic has also led to some awesome friendships! I've met some amazing people online in the past couple of years and one of the most enjoyable things is when we're all working on our projects in a Google Hangout.

[Michelle]

@yoda510 Aaa thank you so much, that makes me so happy to hear!! <3 I hope you'll enjoy the rest of it!

[KoreanTacos]

Just knowing people are willing to give up less than three minutes to enjoy my bland sense of humor.