What makes you click off chapter 1

[Breeze.Hill]

I was just curious what personally makes you click off of a webcomic from chapter 1, and what makes you stay and keep reading.

There is no petty or wrong answer here, just personal preference.

For example if you just don’t like the art style, that’s okay, webcomics are a visual medium and different people have different mileage when it comes to art style and skill level.

I know personally, good dialogue is important to me. I can’t take a story seriously if i’m cringing at every other awkward word coming out of someone’s mouth.

On the other side. what makes you stay. What in a first chapter consistently gets you to sit down and give the next chapter a chance.

[Oriflamme]

For me it would be lore dumping.

I dropped a lot of fantasy stories that I might have enjoyed because they started with the most boring and generic creation myth story. I don’t care how the world was created because I have no reason to care about that world. Just because Tolkien did it does not mean you should also do it.

[miuthecat]

Pretty much all premium comics look the same to me (someone's king dauthers mistress/butler/lover, etc etc)
So, pretty much I wont even bore go past page 1 even if it has 1 zillion followers.
I like terribly drawn comics with careless story, quite fun to read

[skidiggy]

Ooh, this is a great question. Usually, I click off if there's a visual or topic I don't care for in the first chapter (super graphic violence, torture, grape, that sort of thing). It may also get a pass if the POV character is despicable. Some villain POVs are great, possibly redeemable, or just fun to watch. If the protagonist is a dirtbag/horrible person, I might not return for more chapters.

I will absolutely stay for a story angle I haven't seen before. If you've got a fresh take on an old trope, I'll stick with it.

[Stargazer31]

AI written stories. Absolute nope

[BoomerZ]

Lore dumps, 3D model tracing of characters, there actually not being a story other than the artist wanted to draw pretty people, any story that is based on royalty romance... basically most Korean webcomics.

[thepenmonster]

I rarely go past the cover image. The list of reasons why I won't click are are long as the list of the comics on the front page.

What I will click on;

A strong sense of design with an attempt to present something different. Standing out from the crowd. A promise that you want to at least try to make something fresh.

Once I'm reading? If I can see more shortcuts and CSP materials than I can see the effort and pride you took in developing your craft, I'm gone.

[KevinReijnders]

Definitely art style. I want to be inspired to improve my own work when reading something. So I'm looking for works with a quality of art that I perceive to be, at minimum, equal to my own. Preferably I want them to be better than me.

Second off, dialogue. If character don't speak like actual believable humans, that turns me off so fast. I've tried a couple of comics, web or other, with fantastic art, but was so turned off by the writing that I just couldn't bear to continue.

Big lore dumps are also big no-no's for me. You will not get me invested in your world by spitting out a wikipedia entry at me. Weave your worldbuilding naturally into the story. Be that through dialogue, the setting or just pure visual design. There's so much you can do with just visual storytelling! It's a visual medium, use it.

[kyupol]

If plot is interesting enough. There's no specific criteria I have in mind. I just wanna see lots of tension going on (fight scene, verbal arguing, someone's horrible past, etc).

I hate long endless pointless small talk dialog. While I do have long patience, it does run out.

[jwabeasley]

Tolkien doesn't even do that, except in the Silmarillion which he never published. But I have to agree overall. Whenever I see generic scenes of planets next to expository narration I am immediately out.

[jwabeasley]

Dropping a title immediately? For me it's usually bad art. If the art is very amateur, and there's a lack of care with things like text/speech balloons.

With scroll comics, I'll drop it if the amount of scrolling is too high. If my thumb/mouse wheel finger gets tired because all your panels are fade to black with single words or otherwise so low information that it's not worth stopping, I'll quit right there.

I'll also usually drop a comic if there's a Q&A or a large ad (like larger than the comic) before the first chapter/story arc is complete. Dude, you have 1 'chapter' with 30 views and 2 sub4subs, let's learn more about your world before we jingle the beggar's cup and asking for the audience to have worthwhile questions about your world/process/narrative.

So, professionalism, respect, attention to detail, quality. That's the main thing.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

My react thread is just full of potential answers to this topic...but I gotta say the strongest deterrent for me is low-quality art: you 1000% have every right to start a comic even if you can't draw, but I am not going to read it. ^^;
Specifically, uncreative character design really gets under my skin, and will turn me off a comic I might otherwise enjoy. I think it shows when the extent of an artist's interest in design is just 'boots + goggles' or 'pointy ears + alien skintone', because they'll give those basic 'quirky' qualities to a couple characters, and then put everyone in plain white shirts and dark pants. Drives me up the wall...

Something that will make me stay, on the other hand, is something I've been saying for years: all it takes is for the comic writer to actually know how to write. 🥺 Like, it doesn't even have to be mind-blowing dialogue; it just has to be interesting and make sense and sound like something that would actually come out of a person's mouth. Immediately, I'll be compelled to give the comic a chance.

[EncryptedWriting]

For novels it is bad grammar. My grammar, in itself, isn't great. But lordy. The amount of novels and comics I've seen with poor grammar is harsh.

Additionally, as mentioned on here, lore dumping. I don't mind a basic set up for understanding, but if you dump a bunch of lore all at once, it feels like we don't really know the characters. I also don't like the reincarnation story with a character becoming the villainess. There are way too many out there.

For art style, I am willing to stay on if I find the story entertaining. One example of that is Trailer Trash on Webtoon. It's not quite my style of art nor story, but I am glad I've continued to read it.

[AmysGames]

Honestly, I'm fairly picky when it comes to starting a new series, so if the premise doesn't interest me, I'm not likely to check it out at all. But if I do read it and end up dropping it right away, it's probably because the actual content of the story didn't hook me as much as the premise did.

Past that, though, I'm willing to put up with quite a bit. I enjoy supporting small creators, so stuff like bad art and spelling errors don't immediately deter me.

[LunarScyphozoa]

One thing I don’t see people saying much that is the biggest one for me is the dialogue and speech bubbles. This is really picky of me, but even the most gorgeously illustrated comic full of intriguing characters and a detailed setting won’t keep me for more than five panels if there’s default premade speech bubbles, no punctuation, and typos.

[silverraven0]

When I didn't click with the characters and story immediately. I mostly will give stories I read a few chapters to get me interested, but some times, insufferable characters with no interesting characteristic that makes me says 'nope' is enough to make me quit.

[Lensing]

-generic looking / traced art style
-too dark and too saturated colors
-long explainations

What makes me stay and read?
Characters I care for.
A good hook that promises me something exciting when I turn the page

[Breeze.Hill]

Yeah, i can understand that. as a digital artist myself i am able to look at an artwork and recognize exactly which specialty brush they used and it takes me out of the story, i love drooling over amazing artwork so when i can go “oh thats the leaf brush set from clip studio by user Artq23.” Or “thats background character set from lynx9” i can’t drool over it.

[sophialyn]

Shock factors aren’t always fun when they are extremely violent or graphic. Shock me, sure, but don’t traumatize me, we just met.
Earn it- ya know?

[ArtGremlin]

When the art is difficult to read/understand or unpleasant to look at, large amounts of profanity, and mature/nsfw themes are a no for me.