What is your opinion for Self-insert comics?

[DoubleSea]

There is a widespread negative stigma against stories having a character as a self-insertion, or even making oneself the main character in a written story; characterizing them as being a sub-par piece of literature. Although, I have not really seen such attitudes in the comics sphere, it instead is its own solid genre. Any complaints I have seen have been primarily about overused, or not funny, jokes.

So I was wondering, what is your opinion on the subject?

[keii4ii]

Depends on how it's done!

If we're talking about Mary Sue type self insertions, of course they'll never be great characters. But if we're talking about autobiographical comics? That's like any other type of comics: it can certainly be done well, but you have to know what you're doing. Any genre has its share of the bad, the mediocre, the good, and the truly awesome.

[Drezz]

There's a difference between using yourself as a reference point, and using your comic as a vehicle to play out all of your fantasies and expect people not to feel like the character is shallow.

There's a stigma attached to the Mary-Sue type character because the artist often creates them as infallible, perfect things. No matter how badly they act towards others and no matter the circumstances - everything turns out for the benefit of that character. It's like a projection of what the artist feels is would be a perfect version of themselves in a perfect life.

Now - you can use your own experiences, feelings, looks, etc to influence your characters - because, let's face it - no one knows you better than yourself, right > what better reference! But don't get too carried away making that person a perfect piece of work - because people won't be able to relate to this imagined ideal of a person.

[NPC]

Like others have said, it's really dependent on how it's done. There is the wrong way to do it, which is making a story where everything goes right for an idealized perfect version of yourself. The right way to do it is to take elements from yourself and from your life to make the story real.

Take popular cartoons like Gravity Falls, Regular Show and Adventure Time. These shows were all influenced by elements of the creator's life and that really makes them ring true.

Pretty much don't just make a comic to toot your own horn.

[nikacomics]

Everything I know about Mary Sues I learned from TV Tropes. Always worth a read / re-read

So I guess the question is what you mean by "self-insert". I personally have no problems with a story whose protagonist is obviously based on the author, as long as 1) it's either humorous, or 2) the protagonist is sympathetic. And what makes a character sympathetic is that we see them struggle and sometimes fail, which makes their successes all the more satisfying.

[Amymone]

I agree, the reception of the insert character highly depends on their role in the story. I'm actually doing two versions of this right now, with my current title.

• In comic extras, my insert interacts with the characters outside of the storyverse and exchanges feedback with them. (and I know other artists are doing something like this right now, don't any of you lie about it!) Having a walk-in, walk-out cameo insert character like this can serve as a reminder to the audience that the author exists and has a opinion about their progress thus far. I find I only hate cameos like this if all the author-insert does is abusively talk down to their characters.
• In the storyverse, I have a gender-bent self-insert that has developed into his own person. He is pretty much now just a character like any other, but just sporting my old pen name. (the only thing we have in common now is that we like eating the same food) For inserts like this, it's highly recommended to have them bound and governed by the limitations of the storyverse like the rest of the cast. Most people hate it when the insert has a god-like ability to exceed all in-world limitations.

I'm not sure if there are other ways to serve up an insert other than these two (feel free to add your own variations) unless your insert is a combination of the two- like an author that's literally sucked into the storyverse they are writing and gives feedback about their own plot progression as they go (pretty sure this story idea's been done before) then you might want to be weary of the pros and cons of both.

[keii4ii]

No matter how badly they act towards others and no matter the circumstances - everything turns out for the benefit of that character.

There is the wrong way to do it, which is making a story where everything goes right for an idealized perfect version of yourself.

There are tragic Mary Sue stories, too. >_> Bad things happen to the Sue, but their sole purpose is to make the character seem more noble: Martyr Sue.

[ametueraspirant]

I always imbue my characters with a bit of me, it's like breathing life into them because I can build off of something I'm familiar with and make much more realistic characters, as their reactions will be consistent and more importantly, meaningful.

[michaelson]

http://tapastic.com/episode/77748

There are also other times when the story gets a little meta where the characters actually meet the creator ala Animal Man and Grant Morrison or this one which I think is very well done by Brian Canini (as it hits a pretty good emotional beat in part 2.

[sarahrebecca58]

Well I think self-insertion characters are a moot point if it's biographical (or even partially). The main thing (as mentioned above) is not depicting them as infallible.

Specific novels that come to mind where it's done well: Mary Poppins. Of course in that one, while kind of a Mary Sue, Mary herself I think would be widely agreed to be very flawed.

[Creaux]

I wouldn't understand the stipulation of negativity with self-inserts in comics. I guess as long as you're not over-glorifying yourself as some super hero/whatever? Even then, it's 100% your comic. No one can really weigh in on what you do with it or how it goes, and if they try they're not worth your time.

That said, if the insertion makes the comic bad, or compromises the story, people might be put off. But no one actually KNOWS you enough to know about self-insertion soooo.... Go for it! After all, you know no one better than yourself. Hahaha

[jessiepolfliet]

Well a lot of Slice of life comics have the author as the protagonist. I think that works fine because they use there own flaws to make it funny and also to relate to them. But yeah you have authors that use the same jokes as everyone uses, you laugh the first time but that's it. But I also come across those people that have a really interesting and a life to relate to they want to share with us. Not as a mary sue but as a flawed but human being.

[Sidulus]

Yeah, I'm pretty much gonna echo what's been said about. For me, the idea of self-insertion or autobiographical comics are not inherently bad... nor is giving characters traits that draw from your experiences. One of the most successful examples of this being done well is Charles M Schulz who drew from a lot of personal experiences when writing for the character of Charlie Brown.
Another good example of what could be called a "self-insert" comic done right is the webcomic Whomp!.
It all really depends on how your portray the character who can be seen as the self-insert. Do they have good qualities and flaws like everyone else? Do they make mistakes, grow, and learn as any other human being?
Or are they always liked and act as a mouthpiece for the author's opinions or personal fantasies?

I'm guessing a lot of "self-insert" comics have a bad rap because some of the most infamous examples of self-insert comics (coughCADandSYAC) are the ones that seem to instantly spring to mind when someone talks about self-inserts in the webcomic community. Or at least that's how my experience has gone.