Writing Out Endings to a Comic?

[ToxicRamen]

For one of my comics, I haven't thought of an ending since most of the stories for it consists of stand alone stories with some form of continuity. Considering that my comic is a sci-fi/action/adventure comic, do I need have to some epic ending with a final battle or just a normal ending?

I'm wondering how do creator here write out the endings to their comics? Do you guys plan it out or just wing it?

[Jenny-Toons]

It's all planned out for me. In fact, a lot of my endings are the first things I think of. And depending on what kinda of story I'm going for, it can get REAL epic or very soft and simple.

For My Demon Valentine, the ending was already thought of the moment I had the idea. Sandra and Adonis were gonna get together for another date, and it was heavily implied that they had fallen in love.

For Our Universe -- the ending has already been decided. Won't say much, but I will say that it's bittersweet and ends quietly.

[spadedigsbutts]

I personally try to prioritize how the characters will be by the end of the story and tend loosely plan an ending around it. I have an easier time going “x will develop this way” and then that helps me think about what kind of plot things would facilitate such a change. As for if you should have some giant ending or something more subdued, I’d say that’s up to you: what kind of themes are you conveying with the story and what are the arcs of the characters? A fun sci-fi romp might be better suited for a big bombastic ending while a character study might do better with something simple...all up to that and what you wanna see out of your work really!

[Rhonder]

The cool thing about writing is that there's very seldom anything that you "need" to do- it's all relative to what fits best with your story in fact sometimes shoehorning in things like a big epic final battle to a series that isn't really about that can make the ending weaker than if it just stayed true to itself (disclaimer: I'm not familiar with your comic, so I can't say what's appropriate for this story in particular- just something to think about.)

For my story I wrote the whole thing out from start to finish before I even picked up a pencil, so I've had that goal post in front of me throughout the process- but it's a short-ish story driven comic so it seemed sensible to plan it out like that, to me at least.

[lacoticus]

I have an ending in my mind, mostly because then i know what i can and can't do in my comic, but that doesn't mean it's my final ending. Maybe along the line a better idea comes and then i'll change it.

[Iris-Grimoire]

It really changes from story to story, but usually it's best to have it in mind before you start - not necessarily the exact scenes, but just where you'll stop once you get far enough. I've always had the ending planned out for Splitting Image even when it was a novel, and it's more of a struggle to not keep going after it since it'd just get drawn out.

[maddmoniart]

I had an ending, but now I think I want to keep the story going..sooo...I plan on watching the series finale of shows and ending of movies to see what they do.

[AbelDraws]

In my opinion, even if your series is formed of stand alone little stories, I'd advice you to put lots of thought about how you want to wrap things up so that it feels like an ending and leaves the reader with a nice feeling after finishing it. It doesn't necessarily have to be an epic battle, it just has to be interesting enough and not leave things hanging.

[gempompadour]

I have a basic outline of the plot with certain major events forming the rigid skeleton my story has to follow. Mainly specific events that have to happen in a certain order finishing off in an ending that feels like it was built towards. Everything else between the bones of the skeleton are up to change; I might drop things off, change smaller storylines, kill/ let some characters live etc. I find this type of approach to a story to be perfect for me.

[Swamp]

I think unless you’re doing straight up unconnected short stories with different characters, it’s important to know where you’re going.

A traditional novelist can wing it because they can go back later and edit the start.

Online writers don’t have that luxury. We can’t fix our beginning to match our end and readers will feel betrayed if they feel you promised them a payout that never came.

A grand finale doesn’t have to be the bigggest battle. It’s more important that it’s a good ending for your characters. You don’t need to know every detail.

It’s like driving a road trip. You don’t have to plan every road and snack break, but you should probably know your destination. Or at least make sure you aren’t driving into the ocean.

[spiceprincess]

The type of ending you story has shouldn't be defined or confined to its genre. Give it an ending that makes sense. Don't end with an epic final battle if it's not something you're naturally interested in and not something you enjoy writing/drawing. End it with the natural ending it deserves to have.
I plan out everything, but only roughly.
I think it's important to at least know where your story is going to end. To know where your characters will end up and how they get there.
The details can be added in, shifted, or changed around later, but as long as the main plot points and general idea of the story from start to finish, is there it's a good jumping off place. The ending's main job is to provide closure to the reader. Even if it's not the ending of your characters' overall adventures, tying up any loose ends of character development, relationships, or the plot in the current story should be your main focus.

[Cavechan]

For my comics...

True Power is completed and it had a battle at the end. It's not like uber epic or anything, but it's bigger than the ones before it.

True Power: MS2 will have a fight near the end, but not really a battle and it's not really related to the overarching plot. The ending itself is very normal.

Celestial Chronicle Shion will have an epic battle with a bit of clean up. Then there's an after story which does not have a battle because it's more clean up basically.

I'm most satisfied with CCS's ending, but I'm also most satisfied with it overall.

Either way, every comic has been planned out in its entirety.

[Freemints30]

go with the rule of thumb, better a predictable mediocre ending that makes sense with the plot you have written, than a overly complex, unexpected ending that contradicts and pisses on what you have established, and making very little sense with the characters.

[DiegoPalacios]

Found this gem about writing an ending, hope it helps!

[darthmongoose]

Your final climax should involve the protagonist overcoming a problem that they wouldn't have been able to overcome at the start of the story, because they lacked whatever it is that they've learned over the course of the narrative.

So if your story is about fighting and the protagonist needing to become stronger and gain allies in order to defeat the dark lord, then yeah, it might well have a big battle at the end... But if your story is about a reclusive writer who must learn to get over their fear of social situations in order to find love... errr... well the climax is more likely to be a party or a chase through a busy street to confess their love than a big fight... unless your comic is Scott Pilgrim.

The ending ideally ties up loose plot threads, and most importantly contrasts the opening in a way that shows the change to the protagonist, or if they died, the change to the world their sacrifice brought about.