Should I write a webcomic?

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Flying Omelette

Should I write a webcomic?

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Posts: 17462

(10/25/07 8:55 PM)

Frickin' Fred Durst on Stilts

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Unfortunately, this subject has come up again. I really, honestly, in my heart do NOT want to do a webcomic. However, I'm sort of being pressured into doing one.

I don't think I'm a great writer, but I do think I'm a competent one that's been improving steadily. I do not, however, think that my writing works best in comics. Sorry, but the old RAU comics were terrible (sans the one that got remade in the Annelidical Psychiatry sketch, which is actually even funnier than the comic was), and the old Image Arcane stuff was even worse. This is why I specifically chose other outlets for my writing.

But I'm not getting any headway with these arguments as others seem to be completely convinced that I could easily shoehorn my writing and characters into a three-panel strip that would eventually make enough money that I'd be able to live off it.

Honestly, I don't like the idea of it. I've never felt comfortable with marketing my characters. I don't like the idea of my characters being plastered on t-shirts, mouse pads, and mugs (really, I'd have to question the mental stability of someone who'd want to wear a shirt with one of my characters on it.) But I'm under a lot of pressure here and I don't seem to be able to make the other side understand why I feel this way. I'm probably not doing a real good job of it here, either. So maybe I'm wrong for feeling that way, which is why I'm making this poll.

It's also a huge risk. In order to do a webcomic, I'd have to quit my job. I can't work full time and meet deadlines for update schedules. So even if I do my best and the comic doesn't turn profitable, then what? It will also mean that the rest of the site will go on indefinite hiatus. I mean, I don't have time to play videogames, write reviews, rip and convert game music, put up SAB submissions, and all the other hullabaloo that goes on there, while trying to make weekly updates. It will also probably mean the end of the sketch comedy version of the series as well.

Should FlyingOmelette.com become a webcomic-only site? (Result)

"My feelings hurt, but you know I overcome the pain
And I'm stronger now
There can't be a fire unless there's a flame" - Seal

"Some try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend
Just what you want to be, you'll be in the end" - The Moody Blues

TaroSH

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Posts: 2221

(10/25/07 10:15 PM)

I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

Um, can you provide details as to what's going on? Has somebody offered you a job or money to do Image Arcane for them, or is somebody just saying "Hey, you should do a webcomic!"?

Flying Omelette

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Posts: 17462

(10/25/07 11:20 PM)

Frickin' Fred Durst on Stilts

Neither. Some people are convinced that because the authors of webcomics like Penny-Arcade, Dominic Deegan, CTRL+ATL+DEL, and Achewood make a living off what they do that there's no reason I can't do the same.

I beg to differ, but I'm not the most convincing person when I try to argue and it usually just leaves me with a massive headache the likes of which prevent me from being able to sleep (like right now), but I'm also not really an expert on the subject, so I thought I'd take a poll on it.

"My feelings hurt, but you know I overcome the pain
And I'm stronger now
There can't be a fire unless there's a flame" - Seal

"Some try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend
Just what you want to be, you'll be in the end" - The Moody Blues

CLOUDBOND007

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Posts: 10202

(10/26/07 1:34 AM)

Lunitari Mage
Moderator

I don't know much about the profitability of web comics, how much the authors of the more popular ones make, etc. I remember Clevinger asking for donations for a very long time, even after 8-bit had a pretty big following.

It does seem to me that working on a comic not because it's something you want to do, but because some people are telling you it's a good career idea... combined with the fact that it HAS to be profitable and quickly... could be disastrous for you. I'm not at all saying that you aren't capable of making a great comic, but trying to do so while being worried about money and not really having your heart in it seem like things that would seriously hurt the quality of your work.

CB007's Review & GPT Archive
CB007's Gaming BBS

James FP

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Posts: 2911

(10/26/07 12:02 PM)

Schmendrick's Nose
Moderator

You already know what my answer will be.

TWEETER911

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Posts: 4905

(10/28/07 5:01 AM)

Phantom King

THE NAYS HAVE IT. RIGHT?

Webcomics are horrible, that's why I voted no.

SHUMA-GORATH IS A HEALER OF MIND BODY AND SOUL LET HIM HEAL YOU TO DEATH WITH HIS TENTACLES

Kunagi: "GO AWAY ALREADY!!" S-G: "Eep."

My EO characters (slight wierdness)
Musings of a bird

da dick

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Posts: 1734

(10/28/07 7:49 AM)

and my bird can sing too!

well, you know achewood only exist because that guy's ex-employers paid him a ridiculous amount of money for "work" before the whole dot-com crash. maybe you should only think about this after crawl has graduated and earned some cake... i mean dough.

"Birdies!"

Flying Omelette

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Posts: 17462

(10/28/07 3:17 PM)

Frickin' Fred Durst on Stilts

TWEETER911 wrote:
THE NAYS HAVE IT. RIGHT?

Unfortunately, despite all the evidence I've tried providing to the contrary, the antagonizing party is still convinced otherwise. Antagonizing party is, for some reason, refusing to vote in this poll, as I can see by the results.

maybe you should only think about this after crawl has graduated and earned some cake... i mean dough.

Well, what I really want to do after Crawl graduates is go back to college. (And by "go back to", I mean "go to a real college and get a real education, not some 3rd-rate, unaccredited, backwater hillbilly hick town community college with incompetent teachers, some of which get fired for their incompetence halfway through the course - yes, I've had that happen twice".) I mean, we'd be in the same situation we are now, except our roles would be reversed. Unfortunately, what I'm getting in response to that idea is, "Do a webcomic instead! You'll be rich and you'll be doing something you like [sic]! Besides, you can't do college because all you can write is Image Arcane*", which I suppose, means that all those years of writing articles for this site and other websites that were not in any way shape or form related to Image Arcane** either didn't really happen or don't matter, or were somehow so terrible that you'd be willing to assume a script based on 80's cartoon, movie, and fantasy cliches written by a ten-year-old and never actually read by anyone besides me and a few people I was friends with at the time is superior.

* - This, I don't understand, either. Even people who are mostly known for only writing one thing rarely ever got rich or famous off that one thing just by starting it one day and getting it published. Many of them have been to college or even multiple colleges, and written other material for other things all their lives until they finally were able to make it on their own. Conan O'Brien didn't suddenly say one day, "I'm gonna host a zany late night talk show!" and then suddenly get recognition for that. He was a writer for many different things before he landed that role (I'm not saying I want to be in his shoes, but I can only use really famous examples because that's the only way I'd know of them is if they're famous.)

I feel like reviving the RAU was my one biggest mistake because now it seems like people have no faith in me to write anything else. Maybe they never did and I'm just fooling myself. I guess that's what I get for coming up with something somewhat original rather than just writing fanfiction or begging other sites to hire me as a writer, circa NES Scene 2001.

** - Please stop calling it this. It's "RAU Gallery" now. Image Arcane is just one character in the series, it doesn't revolve around her.

Oh fuck it. I'm just wasting my time. Antagonist is never going to be convinced otherwise, despite that I'm older, know more about this stuff, and have researched more and have generally more common sense to question the truth behind the hype. But I'm uneducated, dumb, and therefore always wrong and best to stay that way.

"My feelings hurt, but you know I overcome the pain
And I'm stronger now
There can't be a fire unless there's a flame" - Seal

"Some try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend
Just what you want to be, you'll be in the end" - The Moody Blues

Flying Omelette

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Posts: 17462

(10/28/07 5:01 PM)

Frickin' Fred Durst on Stilts

I took a look a look through my updates starting from August 2006 when I wrote the first RAU Gallery sketch (not counting The Temple of Lost Ezboard Posts, which was technically written earlier during the 2005 Hacker Attack and is the single worst sketch in the entire series), and I noticed I haven't really done much other types of writing in between then and now. I did about 3-4 game reviews, built and updated some of my shrines, and wrote some more poetry, but that's about it. So, maybe it's easy to forget that I've done stuff besides the RAU in the past, though that still seems odd to me as this is largely still considered to be a videogame site. However, I don't think it's even the RAU that's taken time away from that so much as the focus on videogame music.

Maybe what I could do is make an announcement saying that I'm not going to update the Music Downloads anymore because I want to go back to focusing on journalism.

"My feelings hurt, but you know I overcome the pain
And I'm stronger now
There can't be a fire unless there's a flame" - Seal

"Some try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend
Just what you want to be, you'll be in the end" - The Moody Blues

Akhiloth

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Posts: 63

(02/22/08 1:56 PM)

Several +es and -es.

+Your graphical talents are enough for it.
+Your unusual characters are perfect for a webcomic. Not just some old, boring humans...
+It would make Image Arcane look like shit.

-It would make Image Arcane look like shit.
-You just don't want to do it.. I'm okay with it, honey.
-Each comic would take a lot of time to make because you'll have to draw everything over and over again... You wouldn't have time to work on your awesome website.

Flying Omelette

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Posts: 17462

(02/22/08 2:04 PM)

Frickin' Fred Durst on Stilts

Akhiloth wrote:
+It would make Image Arcane look like shit.

-It would make Image Arcane look like shit.

I don't have any idea what this means. Image Arcane the character or the old series? Because, really, everything makes the old series look like shit. I wrote and illustrated it when I was a dumb little kid. The only reasons I even post my old stuff is just to show where the characters came from and how they developed, and also as proof that they're mine and were created long ago. (I've been slightly paranoid about that ever since I got accused at the Game Pond of basing the characters on people there and using them to make fun of them.)

You wouldn't have time to work on your awesome website.

Thanks, but right now my site is in limbo. I just feel like it's causing too many problems in both my personal and on-line life and it's not worth it anymore.

Think of what you're saying,
You can get it wrong
And still you think that it's all right.
Think of what I'm saying,
We can work it out
And get it straight or say good night.

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know I'm one

DEATHAMSTER

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Posts: 1399

(02/22/08 2:22 PM)

O Solo Mio

FO, you need to order a pair of these:

http://deathamster.flyingomelette.com/dbdharena/dbdhbreak.html

Really. The reason you get so stressed out is because you just don't know when to put your fingers in your ears and say, "LA LA LA LA LA! I'm not listening!"

Flying Omelette

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Posts: 17462

(02/22/08 6:37 PM)

Frickin' Fred Durst on Stilts

I don't really feel like arguing any more.

Think of what you're saying,
You can get it wrong
And still you think that it's all right.
Think of what I'm saying,
We can work it out
And get it straight or say good night.

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know I'm one

da dick

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Posts: 1734

(02/22/08 10:17 PM)

and my bird can sing too!

now say it with me... "it's just YOUR opinion!"
you know want to.

"How can we jump over our shadows when we no longer have one?How can we pass out of the century (not to
speak of the millennium)if we do not make up our minds to put an end to it, engaged as we are in an indefinite work of mourning for all the incidents, ideologies and violence which have marked it?"
- THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM OR THE COUNTDOWN , Jean Baudrillard.

Flying Omelette

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Posts: 17462

(02/22/08 10:24 PM)

Frickin' Fred Durst on Stilts

I understand what DH is saying, but this wouldn't be an issue if I was capable of ignoring it. No matter how much I say "no", sometimes the same exact issues keep coming up over and over again.

That article still makes me laugh, though...Now that's an example of Game Pond-era writing that actually was funny.

Think of what you're saying,
You can get it wrong
And still you think that it's all right.
Think of what I'm saying,
We can work it out
And get it straight or say good night.

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know I'm one

Flying Omelette

[-]

Posts: 17462

(02/23/08 1:27 PM)

Frickin' Fred Durst on Stilts

Akhiloth wrote:
+Your unusual characters are perfect for a webcomic. Not just some old, boring humans...

It seems like using non-human characters is generally looked-down upon in recent years, but I think it's what helped me avoid the trap of drawing characters who all have the same exact face...

When I was a kid, I couldn't draw human faces very well, and Chance and Sesa pretty much had the same exact face and hair. It was difficult to tell them apart if they weren't colored in.

Crawl always tells me that Cory and Nucleo have the same exact face, but I don't agree with that. It might have been true of my earliest drawings of Cory, but I think I quickly got past that.

There's natural family resemblance, but they certainly aren't identical. In fact, I think Cory's facial structure is closer to her mother's:

Think of what you're saying,
You can get it wrong
And still you think that it's all right.
Think of what I'm saying,
We can work it out
And get it straight or say good night.

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know I'm one

Crawl and 1OOO

[-]

Posts: 11013

(02/23/08 2:05 PM)

The Fuzzy Physicist
Administrator

I don't know if I said they had the *same* face, but she did look like her father. And it's not a complaint. It makes sense that there would be familial resemblance.

In this one, she kind of looks like a cross between her parents

Flying Omelette

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Posts: 17462

(02/23/08 7:40 PM)

Frickin' Fred Durst on Stilts

I think the modern one looks like a cross between them and that's really what I wanted. It's also difficult to tell what race she is if you didn't know who her parents are.

Think of what you're saying,
You can get it wrong
And still you think that it's all right.
Think of what I'm saying,
We can work it out
And get it straight or say good night.

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know I'm one

da dick

[-]

Posts: 1734

(02/25/08 8:54 PM)

and my bird can sing too!

sounds a lot more easier if you just drew them all as lemmings or hamsters.

"How can we jump over our shadows when we no longer have one?How can we pass out of the century (not to
speak of the millennium)if we do not make up our minds to put an end to it, engaged as we are in an indefinite work of mourning for all the incidents, ideologies and violence which have marked it?"
- THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM OR THE COUNTDOWN , Jean Baudrillard.

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