Which one is more important for you?

[kavaj]

For argument’s sake let’s set aside the plot/story/storytelling because storytelling is no.1 in my list. When you read/look at a comic vs when you do your own art. Which one is a must-perfect for you, or the one that catches your attention most; the lineart/inking or the color? I’m kinda a sketch/lineart/ink person myself when i draw and also when i read. I pay attention to the lineart more, on how the angle/anatomy/composition of the characters are presented, i think. I’m more forgiving about the coloring if the lineart is just right.

[uglygirlnextdoor]

palette, and the cleanness of the lines. If you read on a mobile, too much information on the drawing makes the image to confusing and hard to read.. So cleanness and minimalist sense of the image is what catches my eye.

[cookieroach]

Lineart for sure! Perfect colouring can’t save a bad drawing for me, but I’m more forgiving if the colouring isn’t that good. I don’t like lineless/painterly styles too much.

[UrMom]

It depends on whether the comic is B&W or color. There are occasions when I pay attention to linework in color comics, specifically digital comics that have no line weight are really distracting, but for the most part I pay attention to the colors in a full color comic. B&W is all lineart so that's what my focus will be. That, and how the creator uses hatching and/or tones.

[Kelheor]

I am a manga person, so I just look more at lineart and thus prefer it, and I am also not too fond of lineless comics. I only actually saw colored comics existing in like, 2010, and saw colored webtoons in maybe 2016, so to this day it's not that important to me. Of course, if I like the not-perfectly-lined style of the particular artist or the coloring a lot, I will be more forgiving about lineart

[darthmongoose]

I don't mind what the style is, for me it's all about clarity.

Whether it's line art or lineless, colour, black and white or greyscale doesn't matter. The thing I'm looking for is how the artist uses their lines, shading, colour or tone to clearly get across things like the relation between characters and objects and the space they're in.
Can I tell who is who? Can I tell where they are in relation to each other? Do the poses and expressions read clearly so I can tell what they're feeling and doing?

Usually in comics this means the lineart is doing the heavy lifting, but in some softer or more painted styles, this falls more on the shading or tone. What I'm looking for is art that shows the artist is adept at getting across depth and volume in their chosen style.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I'm pretty much the same as @darthmongoose when it comes to reading comics. I look for good skill across the board. Well rounded art is more important to me than one aspect sticking out above the others.

[skicoak]

I follow the mantra that you build something, like a house... or art, from the foundation/structure first then at the last step you worry about the cosmetics and fancy finishes.

Line work is like the framing and drywall. If you don't do it competently, the paint no matter how expertly applied will look bad/off.

[rajillustration]

For me Legibility is the most important factor of a story-telling comic which is kinda so fundamental that I think I'll add that the second most important is if it's Entertaining or not, because you can be legible but also be very boring and samey in your compositions. I don't really care if that's done with lines or no lines, or whatever medium or style--is it composed in an interesting way? or is it just face on images over and over?