Why You Shouldn’t Be Lazy When You Make Your Comic

There’s an article on the reasons why you shouldn’t take shortcuts with your work on the Bad Webcomics Wiki. Ironically, the article itself is written lazily, so I am writing my own version.

Introduction

Comics are mediums in which to communicate stories and ideas. They are primarily visual, but also incorporate written expression (optionally). A technically good work will be well-drawn and eloquently written. One caveat: though the heart of comics should be their visuals, the inadequacy of the art can be forgiven with outstanding communication.

Respectability of a comic is not necessarily determined by skill, especially initial skill. A commitment to improvement can boost the reputation of an initially rough work as demonstrated by the trajectory of Charles Schultz’s “Peanuts”: His first strips are not very well drawn, but the art gets better with time while the story simultaneously develops into something more substantial, until fame and commercialization (of Snoopy) concealed the innovation and insightfulness of the the comic.

Lazy Art

There are many sins to art. Besides bad perspective and poor anatomy, here are some signs of lazy art:

• Copy-paste images
• TRACING
• Absence of significant details/Insignificant art
• Illogical placement of characters
• Never improving if you sucked to begin with

Copy-paste images should be a no-brainer: If the panels aren’t changing chances are at least one of the drawn scenes is insignificant and does not communicate the story visually. It also makes characters look like talking statues.

Tracing might sound like the same crime, but it also encompasses the tracing of other images. First of all, that might be plagiarism. Second of all, you should definitely not be profiting off the labor of another artist if you are being a loser.

The absence of significant details and illogical placement of characters are lesser crimes that usually only result in confusion on the reader’s part. Similarly, art that adds nothing to the story doesn’t necessarily harm a story (and arguably, not lazy, just bad) but too much of it and you disrupt the story for your readers. Note: art that conveys a feeling to the readers, gives a sense of time and space, characterizes subjects etc. is not insignificant.

Finally, if you suck at drawing and never improve, it means you’re incompetent, pathetic, and despicable and should stop attempting to produce art. And no, getting better at covering up your lack of fundamentals and understanding of life with fancy-smancy digital tools does not mean you’re improving.

Lazy Writing

This might apply to novel-writing as well, but I’m not a writer so heed someone else’s words on that matter. For comics, here are some signs of lazy writing:

• Jokes that can be told outside the story
• Outside references
• Dialogue that adds nothing to the story
• Absence of planning

(While I tried to write this in parallel to the original article, I differ in opinion as to what signifies lazy writing and its consequences.)

If you are telling a story, I do hope you have thoughts you want to share. If you’re going to tell someone else’s jokes, why produce a work which is supposed to reflect your own person? Jokes, funny or not, that contribute nothing to a story are a waste of time for readers.

Similarly, outside references also do not communicate thoughts that are your own. There are always exceptions, but a good work does not depend on the wit of others. Furthermore, gimmick words and art can become dated; your writing should always make sense within the context of your work.

Dialogue that adds nothing to the story is also a waste of time for readers. All the visuals and text in a comic should be meaningful: it could convey a feeling to the readers, give a sense of time and space, characterize subjects… but it should never just be there for the sake of being there.

The absence of planning itself is not lazy writing, but a lazy act that results in disorganized storytelling. When you don’t plan your comic, what often happens is you get panels that don’t effectively showcase a vision, plot-holes, bad dialogue, or elements in the world you’ve created that you later regret. Down the line, making many bad decisions increases the number of edits you will have to make if you decide to push for good work, disrupting progress and delaying completion of the story.

Case Study

I would use other people’s work, but I fear flack if people honestly knew how I feel about their work and I’m not interested in giving free publicity to terrible artists/writers either. Here are examples of mistakes I made with my own work:

So I don’t trace because I’m against bad art. I tried it for this but I don’t have the inexperience needed to convey that awful look we’ve all experienced but may not recognize.

On the left is the original stock image. The middle is a trace, the right is a free drawing.

My trace unfortunately showcases some deft with my drawing utility, the right one showcases all knowledge I have off the top of my head that I’m willing to utilize at ungodly hours. If you only know how to plagiarize I guarantee you could not put together a Superman half as good as your trace. In my opinion, you shouldn’t trace mostly for ethical reasons, but technically speaking, an inexperienced person’s lines will usually turn out awkward and stiff.

Copy-paste. At least this comic is about lazy…

I can use the above because this comic is already famous for being crappy. I admittedly do copy-paste occasionally (mostly for animations because I lack know-how), but nothing so drastic you would notice (also, revising the copy so it looks original ends up rather effortful, so I believe I’ve earned the pass).

Joke that can be told outside the story.

I could have skipped this strip and you would have missed nothing important: you don’t learn anything about the characters’ personalities, it contributes nothing to the future of the story, and now you also have insignificant art as the sight of talking animals doesn’t communicate anything to a reader. I have wasted their time.

Absence of improvement. There IS a progression of privilege though.

Please don’t sell shitty artwork.

Insignificant dialogue (top image). Remember, every detail should contribute something to your story.

Above was the original strip I had produced for a comic. This transgender lamb is… yeah I’m not really sure what the point of this strip was. To salvage it, I modified the dialogue in the last panel so that this whole incident could foreshadow her later coming-out to her best friend. I also cleaned up my hand-writing; both the illegible text and useless panels are consequences of inadequate planning.

In conclusion,

Don’t be a lazy artist or writer if you’re going to go to the trouble of making a comic. Also, don’t be disgusting and try to make money from shitty work.

Thanks!