Underdogs

Artist Comments: Supplement or Essential?

I have always mistrusted the common practice in webcomics where artists include their commentary directly beneath new pages. Often reading this extra material is comparable to watching a movie or television show with the commentary track turned on… and who elects for their first viewing to include commentary? It does a (sometimes minor, sometimes major) disservice to the work when you don’t allow it to speak for itself, and I’ve seen far too many comics lean on those blocks of text to actually convey what’s going on more than the page above does. This is a dangerous trap to fall into. When a comic simply doesn’t make any sense if I ignore the commentary I usually stop reading altogether. “It’s part of the presentation,” some say. So are indexes in books, and like all supplementary materials they should never be required reading to understand what the supplemented work is saying.

[Tweet “When a comic simply doesn’t make any sense if I ignore the commentary I usually stop reading altogether”]

artistcomments

What I would like to see rise in the place of piecemeal commentary on individual pages is a separate section for Creator’s Notes where an entire chapter gets mused about at once (and after its completion). I have seen the writer Kieron Gillen do this with his comic book issues and I fancy the idea of applying it to webcomics. Or maybe an audio version! There is potential there. If it’s being released once the chapter is finished then there’s also less concern on the artist’s end of tiptoeing around spoilers for the next page(s), granting an added sense of freedom because now they’ll be commenting on more than just a snapshot of the story.

Otty-Justason-blog-FakeCommentary1-TMI

*Not a real comment

 

There are people who contend that including commentary below the comic helps to spark dialogue with the readers, giving them a jumping-off point and offering them encouragement to themselves comment. I agree this is a valid usage and many artists utilize their commentary section just so, posting things like “Zukah sure is in trouble now, isn’t he?” or “Ten thousand imaginary Zukahnaut Points if you can guess what colour underwear Darius prefers!” or perhaps “I got a new puppy and named him Bloodweiser! Do you have a dog?” While I have no issues with this sort of thing, I don’t see why you can’t just say it in the comments section itself rather than present it with the comic like it’s part of the narrative package. If your goal is to have a conversation with your readers then it may be worth considering putting yourself down on their level rather than looming over them above a divider while directing the topic of conversation below.

[Tweet “If your goal is to have a conversation with your readers then it may be worth considering putting yourself down on their level.”]

Another popular usage for the artist notes is relating news. This is well and good for week-to-week happenings of a limited or urgent nature, sure, but when you’re repeating the same information over and over again why would you not just put a news section on your website? There is nothing wrong with a separate news section. Yes it will get less eyeballs on it. That’s to be expected. I don’t seek out every bit of information on most things that I otherwise enjoy very much — I just watch/read/listen to new content when it’s out, and when it’s late or I hear a rumour through Twitter or Facebook or somewhere I seek out a press release or news posting. I think it’s a safe-ish bet that anyone who would be interested in your blog or news posts will probably follow/like you on a social network or two as well. Use those channels to tease them whenever you have something to announce and then link them to the official posting if you’re worried about it not getting seen by who needs to see it.

Ultimately am I saying I wish artist commentary would vanish? No. Zukahnaut does not use one and that was our choice to make, just as whatever you elect to do is at your discretion. I would urge you to consider that there are alternatives, however, and above I have offered a few ideas for you to chew on and evaluate their taste as you will. I would be very interested to hear your own take on the best uses (or most egregious misuses) of the artist notes section in webcomics, especially if it includes an approach that I haven’t considered!

 

By Otty Justason: Creator of Zukahnaut!

makingcomics.com

11 Responses to “Artist Comments: Supplement or Essential?”

  1. Nicole_McCurry

    Personally I love it when a comic I enjoy adds a bit of lore or character backstory at the bottom. If I already know I like the person’s writing style, I want to know as much about the story as possible. I may not be the typical comic reader, and I am certainly not the target demographic of comics that focus more on art than on story; I am a huge lore nerd. When I play a game, I don’t care about points or achievements, I care about the story, and I seek out all the lore I possibly can. If I like the story, I will keep playing. Same goes with comics. If I read your comic it’s because I like your story and the way you write it. And I want to know more!

    A very good example of this is Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, and all the little footnotes he puts in. They’re really good and entertaining and only really fit at the bottom of the page. The reader on my phone puts all those footnotes in an appendix at the end and it’s horrible!

    So I say, if you’re a good writer then people who enjoy reading (especially those who enjoy your writing in particular) will want to know as much as possible, as long as it’s not too spoilery. But if stories aren’t your thing, then skip the author’s notes section. If writing isn’t your thing, then same goes.

    Reply
    • Charlie

      I like a little bit of lore in my comments too. Just nothing that’s important to understanding the story. That should be in the comic itself.

      Reply
  2. Charlie

    Good article.
    I’m one of those creators who always posts a comment in my comment section. I use it to spark conversation and to make a teaser for the next strip.
    Sometimes I’ll use it to tell readers if there’s not going to be a strip in the near future.
    It’s also a nice way to present yourself. If you keep your comments short and positive, your readers will get a nice impression of you, which will give them a better impression of the strip. There are strips I don’t follow because I got a bad vibe from reading the creator’s comments.
    I’m both ways on artist comments. On some strips I like to hear how happy the artist is with how something came out. I really don’t like self deprecating comments though. “I really screwed up that line in panel 3.” Welcome to the club. If I posted about all the things I hated about my art there wouldn’t be be room for comments.
    Two things to remember when considering comments:
    1)How is this going to shape reader’s impressions of you?
    2)Do you really want this comment around for the life of the comic? Something you wrote about may still be there years later. Is it really worth writing down there?

    Reply
  3. Marius Hjelseth

    I could definitely be more cautious with what I put in the comments section, but there is no force on this earth or beyond it that can make me stop doing it. Since I don’t do the comic for any kind of financial gain, the interraction with the readers is one of the main motivating factors I have. And it wouldn’t be as active without my comments.

    I keep in mind not to spoil anything though. And more than once I’ve used it to nudge a reader off the scent of the mystery without outright lying.

    I do see some good points in your piece,

    “But there ain’t no power in the ‘verse can stop me from posting creator comments.”

    Reply
    • Charlie

      Marius, even though you sound pretty wishy-washy on whether or not to continuing with your comments, I think you should keep doing them.
      Your comments are about the story, and, without giving anything away or adding information that should be in the strip, give readers something to think about. And a hook to hang comments from.
      Plus, you have your blog for the other stuff.

      Reply
  4. Margaret Trauth

    If I have to explain myself in the text beneath a page, that page needs fixing. In fact if I have to explain myself to a reader commenting they don’t know what’s going on, pages need fixing.

    That said I think there’s definitely room for things like “man this page took forever to draw” or “hey I’m gonna be at MonkeyCon this coming month”. Or even crazy little bits of world building, check out Kill Six Billion Demons for a great example of that.

    Me, I get to have my cake and eat it too. My chapter-oriented layout hides whatever I may post beneath the image; that text is for the dedicated reader.

    Reply
    • Marius Hjelseth

      It’s never really about explaining something that the comic itself fails to convey, at least not for me. It’s about giving an insight into the process and the thoughts behind it. It doesn’t provide narrative information, but rather explains a choice, a design desicion or the origin of an idea.

      Reply
    • d.Forrest

      I’d never dare to suggest that my pages work on their own. But still there are times where notes of interest are warranted. For instance I once had a character use a very specific kind of bow and arrow, and since I learned something new in doing my research (which lead to me using that bow) I thought the reader might be interested in the same info.

      Reply
  5. heysawbones

    I’ve been using mine to talk about stuff that has nothing to do with the comic at all. I just vomit whatever I was thinking about at the time I posted the strip.

    Reply
  6. Alexander.Hollins

    Hmm, I’ve played around with both, under the comic, and simply as a comment. I agree with you, I’d rather see those as comments, and under the comic saved for important news or links.

    That was a good insight as a reader/creator. Thanks! (man, five minutes on this website, and already good stuff)

    Reply

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