What makes your comic unique?

@Llyrel Llyrel
Sun, 20 Mar 2022 12:07:01 +0000

@Llyrel wrote:

smokesalty:

'The Commune' is about a cult, and while that isn't that uncommon of a topic in comics, I find they usually get used as a subplot . I have a hard time finding comics about cults as their main subject matter (but fr if you know any please recommend them!)

-Cough- I have a cult in my comic, although yeah, definitely not the main subject, at least not for now the characters are only going to make an appearance starting from... I think it'll be volume 3? °° That said, they are going to be a rather important part of the story and I'm also going to explore toxic relationships, abusive family dynamics and the pressure to stay and follow the path that's expected of you

As for what I think makes my comic unique (or at very least... different, I guess? As others pointed out, achieving true originality is pretty much impossible nowadays and I certainly do not think my comic is the only one ever to talk about the following themes, it's just that, from my experience as a reader so far, the following traits seem to be a little less common in the webcomic world):

The art style doesn't fit any of the "traditional" boxes you usually see in comics. It's semi-realistic, but the overall style, inks and colors are very different from your usual Marvel and DC comics... or even Italian semi-realistic comics, for that matter. It uses colors, but it's not cel shaded and has a very textured feel to it.

A cast of older characters. Most of them are in their thirties, with only a handful of them being in their 20s and only one being a teen. Many of them are dealing with unaddressed psychological issues.

Non-canonical horror and fantasy characters. My werewolves are just a couple of nerd twins who live in a house in the middle of nowhere and just want to read their comics/sell their art in peace, my vampire is a former 90s goth who's trying to be a hero but miserably fails at long-term planning and needs constant supervision. My hunter is some grumpy biker dude who can barely afford to pay the bills and yet still decides to help (read: babysit) some drunk dude he found on the road. You don't get your typical werewolf pack with alpha, beta and omega dynamics and there are no vampire overlords who sip blood from their goblet while watching humans being eaten alive by other vampires in their underground club XD I mean, there ARE probably some people like that somewhere in my universe, but most "monsters" are just people trying to survive and adapt to the world around them.

The pacing is... pretty different from your usual webcomic. The story features a very large cast and the protagonist only makes an appearance on page 9. The full cast won't be introduced until Volume 3. Yet, I wouldn't say that the plot itself is slow at all. Actually, I'd dare to argue that plenty of things have happened in Volume 1 alone: we get not one, but two murders, we introduce about a third of the cast, there's mystery, drama, an incredibly weird dream... but still, lots of things about the plot have yet to be revealed and it's definitely different from your usual "make sure the entire premise of your comic is shown by episode 3" XD