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Eric: And if this means we're getting back to Priscilla? YAY!
(From Kiagi Swordcat. Click in the thumbnail for full sized independent conformity!)
I like strips like the latest Kiagi Swordcat. It puts me in mind of the now famous (infamous? Who knows) open letter Pete Abrams put up, in effect copping to the problems of Oceans Unmoving. And it highlights something that makes most webcomics different than most other storytelling.
Normally, when a person writes a story these days, they sit down and they write the whole story. They then edit. They see how characters and situations have evolved, and how they're different from their original concept. And then they go back and edit the first parts of the story to match up with the end of the story, tightening and improving the whole.
In webcomics... well, most of the time we don't do that. A strip is conceived of, written, drawn, finished, processed, uploaded and posted. In a lot of ways, we're seeing the first draft of a strip as the only draft, and then it's on to doing tomorrow's strip, because the strip is hungry and must be fed.
Only... sometimes stories don't go the way we intended. Sometimes they're not what we really want to write. And sometimes they're going exactly as you planned, only you realize you don't want to do it, any more.
Aric Hooley has hit that point with Kiagi Swordcat. And today's strip is a metastrip. It's an apology and an explanation and an assertion of an artist's right to say "dude -- I don't like doing this. I'm going to do something else."
Good on Hooley. It's the opposite tack to what Pete Abrams did (though Pete's copping to the problems and asserting his intentions both for the current storyline and for storylines to follow was just as legitimate a response to it), but it's effective nonetheless. In the end, Hooley's the one who has to write and draw this thing, so it has to be something he wants to write and draw.
So, we'll see where his asserted independence goes from here. Will the story just end and the next begin? Will there be a sudden reversal or a random joke? Will there be, you know, pizza?
Who knows? Sky's the limit, dude.
Posted by Eric Burns-White at December 14, 2005 12:53 PM
Comments
Comment from: Lyndon W posted at December 14, 2005 1:12 PM
Is the same not true for print comics?
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at December 14, 2005 1:16 PM
Not to the same degree, at least at the mainstream companies. The "Marvel Method" (which DC largely uses too) isn't as ubiquitous as it used to be, but variations are still predominant.
So, a given issue of the comic goes through months of writing, and then editing, and then pencilling, which leads to more editing, and then edits with the inking and coloring and lettering, and then the final is gone over and edited and last second changes are made....
As for the newspapers -- hey, comics are done weeks in advance and go through many sets of eyes before they hit the papers.
In webcomics, you're lucky if you go through twelve hours from start to finish and you're astoundingly lucky if someone proofreads before you post.
Comment from: chalcara posted at December 14, 2005 1:43 PM
I see.
With all that editing going on, it's no wonder that the regular comics are so often crap. It must be near impossible for any artist/writer to get his/her vision onto the paper and into print.
"Too many cooks spoil the soup"
Comment from: quiller posted at December 14, 2005 3:15 PM
Sigh, I don't think I've read Kiagi Swordcat for 5 months or so now. Now I'm wondering if I should go back and catch up on it just to see the context here...
Comment from: Abby L. posted at December 14, 2005 3:23 PM
Both methods have their drawbacks and benefits. Obviously the webcomics method's not perfect, since there are piles and piles of not-very-good comics out there. Of course there are piles and piles of not-so-good print comics as well, I guess...
I'm a personal fan of my own method. I plot months comma YEARS in advance, script a storyline both before and during the time that I am drawing, (I keep ahead of myself... I'm about 2 months ahead scripting right now) pencil, ink, color, voila.
Although I can definitely see myself getting to a point where I want to just end a story and start a new one. I feel like that a lot when I'm scripting the next storyline while I'm still in the last one. I keep thinking, "Why aren't I doing THIS right now?" "Why can't this be OVER yet?"
Comment from: GregC posted at December 14, 2005 3:32 PM
I love the freedom of doing a webcomic. You also have the option of "fixing things". I deleted the first fifty pages because they were way below my current standard of quality. And it fixed a bunch of plotholes and corners-painted-into in the remainder. It must have worked because my readership has been increasing much more quickly since. I think far too few webcomic authors take advantage of being able to edit the past strips.
Of course, for an established comic that might cause problems. And having a print collection will complicate the situation further.
Comment from: larksilver posted at December 14, 2005 5:14 PM
Dammit, you've gone and made me add another comic to my trawl. I'd never heard of this one until today, and now, I've gone and read all the archives. Someday, I'm going to get in trouble for that, since I'm at work.
Comment from: AndrewWade posted at December 14, 2005 7:01 PM
And now I've got the theme song to Samurai Pizza Cats stuck in my head.
*sings along*
Comment from: Scarybug posted at December 14, 2005 8:33 PM
Whoah! You mean I *didn't* imagine the existence of the Samurai Pizza Cats?
Comment from: gwalla posted at December 15, 2005 1:42 AM
Editing has its advantages. For one, you're less likely to put out a product with "your" and "you're" confused. Also, when dealing with a shared universe between titles, as in Marvel or DC, you basically need somebody in the middle keeping track of things so the writers don't step on each others' toes.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at December 15, 2005 2:27 AM
I actually liked Samurai Pizza Cats. Because of that admission, I'm having a flashback to the last time I said that, and for the record, everyone pointed and laughed at me then, too.
Comment from: RoboYuji posted at December 15, 2005 2:41 AM
It is not uncommon to like Samurai Pizza Cats on the internet. Hell, there are even die-hard "dubs suck" dudes out there who like Samurai Pizza Cats.
So wait, how did Samurai Pizza Cats come up in this thread again?
Comment from: larksilver posted at December 15, 2005 8:41 PM
"Editing has its advantages."
Sure, when it's "editing," and not "creative control." When some guy with no sense of humor or style, but a good head for "safe business practices" takes control over from the writer/artist.. well, it's going to be the suck, as they say.
Sort of like letting the HMO guy tell the doctor that the patient who just had a heart transplant can't stay in the hospital for more than 5 days, etc. It's just.. the wrong guy callin' the shots.
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