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[Rone]

Humor-based comic strip webcomics seem to be the ones that gain the most popularity the easiest.  The reader does not need to slog through the archives to enjoy the humor.  The plot (if any) is easy for the mind to digest, making it something that a fan can look at quickly for a good laugh and then get back to the rest of his or her day.  A story-based dramatic comic does not have any of these advantages.

So, from what I've seen, attracting readers to an amusing comic is easier than attracting readers to a story-based non-humor comic.  (I think.  I don't know, because my own comic isn't story-based so I can't speak from experience on the humor-based.)  

So how would a story-based comic gain new readership?  Will the same methods used for a humor strip work for a dramatic story?

[Valrus]

I'm thinking maybe it would help to divide the strip into "chapters," as many story comics do, and perhaps have a page with synopses of each chapter. That way potential new readers wouldn't have to slog through hundreds of comics to catch up on backstory. Also, dividing it up would make it easier for people to take it a chapter at a time when reading older comics, rather than having to remember an exact comic number.

Seems to me that those two things would help a fair amount without being too difficult to implement.

[fenmere]

Thanks for reminding me!  I need to put synopses at the beginnings of each of my chapters!

My comic suffers from being very in-joke-y as well as having a strong story content.  What it lends itself to, though, is a cult following.  It's slower going, and may never grow beyond the few hundred readers you may collect in three to five years of comicking, but your cultish fans then reward you with the strangest, most loyal devotion you'll ever find on the planet.

In fact, I had no idea I had any readers outside my group of friends until I quit doing my comic in 2003.  Then I got mobbed by individuals seeking more comic!

Anyway, there are all sorts of things you can do to plug your comic for little to no money or effort.  Though, I did spend $10 and eight hours a week printing my comic on little brightly colored handbills and leaving it around in coffee shops all over town for a year and a half...

It's called geurilla marketting.  We should actually have a brainstorm thread for it here.  I'll contribute as soon as I can.  Gotta go out on a date! ;p

[Rone]

I already have everything divided into chapters, but putting up a synopsis for each section is a really good idea that I had never considered!  Thank you!  

The guerilla marketing idea also is very clever.  Unfortunately the town I live in right now is rather small, but I could cover every coffee shop when I visit my folks.  If I can find every coffee shop, that is.  Too...many...

What about toplists and things like that?  Are they worth the trouble?

[fenmere]

The only thing like a toplist that might be worth the trouble would be http://www.onlinecomics.net/.  Although, I supposed you could look at it from the point of view of whether or not you'd use a particular toplist.  The thing about toplists is that they are totally arbitrary and only reflect the oppinions of the people who bother to vote on them.  And the comic at the top is usually the comic that has the most readers to begin with.

Anyway, best way to pimp your comic online is to be an enthusiastic and valuable member of at least one big forum.  Put a link to you comic tastefully in your signature, but hardly ever talk about it.  If people like you, they will click on that link.

I'm also thinking of ways in which a group of online cartoonists could share geurilla marketting resources...  Like, I live in a college town with a huge turnover in population.  The people here love comics and they take them with them when they go home.  I could conceivably start a small publication here... or at the very least leave some ashcans around.

Mmmm... This gives me some more ideas.  Gotta go think about them for a bit...

[tasteslikeevil]

Personally, I find that I tend to like story-based comics more than I do gag strips. Gag strips are capable of giving you a quick fix, but the ones with story and character development offer you the real meat and potatoes, y'know? I think as long as you stick with it and keep on pumping out a quality product, popularity will come with time.

Also, I decided to check out your comic and I think it's some pretty rad stuff! So cheers!

[Rone]

Also, I decided to check out your comic and I think it's some pretty rad stuff! So cheers!

*blush*  Well thank you very much!

[SuperPablo13]

I checked out your comic and it looks really good. I've gone through the first few comics I'll probably come back to it, but right now I'm sifting through all the links in the comic pimping thread. I wish I could manage stories in my comic, but I don't do the art so it's pretty limiting. I also prefer the story based comics to the one gag ones. It's nice to have a mix, and since almost everything is free on the internet, nobody is losing out on trying new things. I've always been a story fan and it's tough trying to come up with a gag in each comic all the time. I just prefer there to be a point to everything.

[Rone]

I enjoy a good mix as well.  Some humor here, some story there, all making for a well balanced reading list.  Of course, I guess that's kinda obvious by the fact that I'm here.  If I didn't like amusing comics, chances are I wouldn't be reading QC, would I?

I really admire funny comics, tho.  I cannot for the life of me write humor.  At least, not consistently.  And definitely not every day.  So I am amazed at how some people, day in and day out, can manage to produce a good, amusing, product.  I tip my hat to you, you funny people out there.

[dingosatemybaby]

I'm the opposite way.  I can cram a funny into a strip (sometimes two) with  ease, but that story arc stuff is killer.  I mean outside of comics/GNs you've got a limited space to advance the story, keep things interesting and, in QC's case, not only slip in a funny but make sure it doesn't derail the story.

I bow to you, story-arcers (cue "real american heroes" music...)  If I can do that one day I'll be a happy man.

[Adam Murray]

I'm in no way an expert in this, but i would say this.  If you're doing story stuff (and we all should.  its a much harder skil than telling a joke in three panles or whatever)  we have to relaise the medium that we're in.  Web based stuff is very immadiate and not as intimate as say, a printed comic.  When i approach story stuff, i always remember the mantra that "every chapter is someone's first chapter"  and everything we put up has to accesiable in its own right.  I'm not saying that you should sacrifice backstory and continuity for the sake of new readers, just present each chunk in a manner that stands on its own.

I remember one of my favourite comics, The Hellboy story, "The Copse" by Mike Mignola.  It was printed originally in two page segments and every two pages, BOOM something exciting happed that made you crazy to wait for the issue.  

I guess what I'm trying to say that its diffucult to start up stories based around plot a page at a time.  But its a skill worth learning

BTW, Rone?  read your comic, great stuff.  Have you tried to get it into print?

[bev]

I work on a story based comic and am well aware of all the problems that come with gaining new readership. Firstly alot of people who are mad about story comics can also be very cynical and have pretty high standards. Since a story comic is long you have to make sure what you write is worth someones time, don't dilly dally about, make every page or strip matter. I've recently gotten into the habit of using an infinite canvas, meaning that there is no standard strip length, they're as long or short as they need to be. Working this way means that each strip is a "scene". Basically, no strip starts off mid-sentance or halfway through a conversation (except the last few). So I make sure each strip starts and ends properly, and I've had some strips end up really long just to make sure I ended a scene right.

The other thing I guess is, even though my comic is sorta serious, I have humour strips every so often, like the latest one, which are part of the story but in no way advance it. They're just there for a quick laugh.

I also have a gag strip comic which I ended a while back called Sub n' Scorps. I got more hits out of this comic than I could ever hope to get with Chooken, simply because it's a gag strip and people could get in and get out quickly, with no commitment.

Gag strips are like a one night stand, you can give them another go, and who knows, you may even end up spending all your time with them.

But Story comics are a commitment, you're in it for the long haul, and some people just don't like to commit...

[Rone]

Rone? read your comic, great stuff. Have you tried to get it into print?

Thank you for the compliment!  As for print, I've had several people ask, but I'm not sure it would make the transition well.  Most of what I've done is using natural media, and I'm not sure that it would go from computer to page very well.  That, and re-scanning all those pages (so far SoG is...300?  I think that's right) is a daunting task.  

Despite that, I'm planning to make a book once everything is finished.  Which should be in...oh...a year?  Two years?

I definitely agree with pacing story segments.  I update with anywhere from 2 to 4 pages an update, typically, because I want to try and leave it on a little hill of suspense each time.  Apparently I'm doing a decent job of it, because the few times in real life that I've met people who've read my work the first thing they do is shake their fist at me and exclaim, "Damn you!  What happens next??"

And much cackling on my part ensues.  Ah....

[bev]

You're lucky, the few people in real life I've met who've read my stuff think it's shit. But then again people in Tasmania have this chip on their little indie shoulders, they think it's cool to hate EVERYTHING.

[Vlishgnath]

A friend and I attempted an RPG-esque comic about a year ago that went... 14 comics, then a combonation of him not having any free time and me not being able to fit words within an acceptable boundary killed it.

Definately the biggest problem I see with story based comics is the necessity for rapid delivery of content.  Transitional episodes leave a lot to be desired and it's really hard to accrue an audience unless you pump out that content like a mad bastard.

Or it's simply the greatest thing in the world and everyone latches onto it ravenously.

[Luke C]

A b it of both is best in this case.

QC is good for this. Theres lots of jokes which you could read and find funny but also the recurring plot-based jokes also.

Turn Signals on a Land Raider (Warhammer 40k comic, http://tsoalr.com/) is similar but Daily Dilbert is the best of them all for this balance.

[tasteslikeevil]

Definately the biggest problem I see with story based comics is the necessity for rapid delivery of content. Transitional episodes leave a lot to be desired and it's really hard to accrue an audience unless you pump out that content like a mad bastard.

Wow, thanks Vlishgnath! Now you've got me all crazy-paranoid that if I don't update regularly, I'll lose my readership.

Jerk.  

[Rone]

I think updating regularly is important, but frequency is not so important as reliability.  If I had to do my comic on a daily basis I would never post at all.  MWF would make my posting erratic and would result in a lot of "I'm sorry but..." updates.  Twice a week just seems odd to me, so once a week it is.  Granted, I update with enough pages for a 2 or 3 times a week comic, but sometimes those pages are created over the week, and sometimes all the day before, meaning it wouldn't work for a MWF schedule.  

Many story comics have worked at once a week.  In fact, I'd say a good portion of them do.  If anyone ever read Demonology101, or are currently reading Zebra Girl, than you're already used to a once-a-week story that still keeps you coming back.

In the end, the most important schedule is one that you can keep, not one that you think your fans and potential readers want.

[Sideways]

If looking at the 'competition' on Buzzcomix, Topwebcomix, etc, is any indication... I have to say that there is an audience out there for the story-driven comics.  I wouldn't say that this audience is as abundant, comics like Penny Arcade - which use the same characters/setting to tell the joke, but don't follow a particular 'story' - show that the one-off humour comics are typically the more popular.

But look at QC, PVPOnline, CtrlAltDelete, Least I Could Do... all comics that do have a story/setting, but still manage to get tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of unique hits a day.

I think if your comic is meant to be more of an online graphic novel... that you're /just/ telling a story, and not giving people a daily punchline, then you are pretty much relegating yourself to a limited audience.

People want to laugh, that's why they are called comics.

Our comic doesn't follow a story... in fact we recently made fun of continuity in a pretty obscure way (mostly it was a comic that makes /us/ laugh, and if the audience doesn't 'get' it, there will be something new on Thursday anyway!).

[JLM]

But the problem with humor comics in general (and with Penny Arcade specifically) is that the jokes need to be universal and feel natural, not forced.  I think for the most part the P-A guys do a heckuva job, but I've noticed on more than one occassion (i.e. the recent strip regarding Jack Thompson calling them) that the strip itself requires reading the newsposts/archives that accompany them for context.  I hadn't checked the site in a week or so (or heard about his ridiculous "proposal") when that comic came up and so part of it was lost on me.  Hardcore fans may have known about it, but the casual reader loses somthing.  To their credit, they don't actually do the explanations "in" the comic, which I've seen both on the web and in the daily news syndicates (seriously, if you have to spend panel 3 or 6 or whatever having your characters make sarcastic hit-you-over-the-head explanations to point out the funny, it probably wasn't funny to begin with), but it's still somewhat poor workmanship if they're using an in-joke as the primary joke.