If someone wants to see my comic I try to find one that's easy to understand. I don't give them ones with character jokes or one in the middle of an arc. That's why, a lot of the time if they don't get the joke, I think they're a little bit thick.
i don't show my comics to anybody in the real world ! half the time i don't even look at them when they are finished
I look at my own comic, but same with lothar, I don't show my comic to anyone. I feel like you have to be a comic person to "get it" anyway, which is something hardly any of my friends are (some are though!).
Nudity, sex, violence, fantasy babes, epic fantasy? What is there not to understand?
In a story comic when reading one page I wouldn't expect anyone to get it. It'd be like opening a novel at random, reading just that page and expecting to understand the whole story.
And if anyone ever picks up on any of my inside references I'd really be surprised.
Me too. I have this strange instinct to shut my sketchbook when someone comes into teh room. I can't even help it! Does anyone else suffer from this!?
Yes. I can't stand someone watching me draw. It's like someone cracking open your head and watching you think (and of course commenting while doing so). Made art classes kind of troublesome.
Well I'd like to make political jokes in my comic but the few people who read it don't get those jokes. Also my fan base consist of like 3 DDers and 3 or 4 friends at home so when I make a joke about DD none of my friends get it and when I make a joke about home few get it here.
A. Your comic is confusing of a result of shitty writting/art. B. That person is a moron and might be illiterate. If this is the case ignore them and get away from them soon as possible. C. Your jokes aren't very funny. (If you have them)
Maybe you should ask them next time, instead of asking random people.
Me too. I have this strange instinct to shut my sketchbook when someone comes into teh room. I can't even help it! Does anyone else suffer from this!?
Yes. I can't stand someone watching me draw. It's like someone cracking open your head and watching you think (and of course commenting while doing so). Made art classes kind of troublesome.
I do that too…or minimize Photoshop when someone walks in the room. I don't really like people looking through my sketchbook, either…my logic is that for a visual person, a sketchbook is kind of like a diary.
Me too. I have this strange instinct to shut my sketchbook when someone comes into teh room. I can't even help it! Does anyone else suffer from this!?
Yes. I can't stand someone watching me draw. It's like someone cracking open your head and watching you think (and of course commenting while doing so). Made art classes kind of troublesome.
I do that too…or minimize Photoshop when someone walks in the room. I don't really like people looking through my sketchbook, either…my logic is that for a visual person, a sketchbook is kind of like a diary.
Oh, Lawdy yes. I can't stand people watching me draw, or seeing something I'm drawing before it's finished. I don't like people reading my comics (or anything I've written) in my presence, either.
If it's around friends I like to keep drawing, they make a good soundingboard for art and jokes. But if it's someone I don't know I'm starting to get into the habit of putting my art away because I've found that even though I try not to be offensive, the Christen theme does tend to offend some people. Makes for an awkward situation.
My comic is pretty much intended to be linear but still throw the reader every few pages. Whether or not people like it I have yet to determine, but generally speaking I get more questions about "wtf just happened" than "hey, that was cool"
However, the only person who ever looks over my shoulder while I draw is a graphic design major, so he cares less about what's being said than about whether or not perspectives, angles, body positioning and design work.
So really that means you should ask your friend how you can improve (I guess). But it does make you feel pretty crappy when somebody doesn't get your comic.
I've had people not get certain parts of my stuff– not my comics, so far, but the material behind it. That's a big old red flag. And god it's depressing. It's different if they don't get "the joke", but if they don't get what's happening, that can spell trouble. The question a reader should be asking themself after a story/page/comic/whatever isn't (to quote my genius professor) "what" just happened, it's "why" it just happened. And there should be some visible, understandable reason.
I actually don't mind having people watch me draw. Well, it's not like when I draw there's a throng of people encircling me, but if someone happens by, I don't care. I like compliments, and generally people won't go out of their way to insult my art (unless it's my mom, or any member of my family…) Plus, fresh eyes are usually better than tired old kristen-eyes.
A. Your comic is confusing of a result of shitty writting/art. B. That person is a moron and might be illiterate. If this is the case ignore them and get away from them soon as possible. C. Your jokes aren't very funny. (If you have them)
The reason I previously mentioned that someone has to like comics, is because a comic (whether it's a strip or a story) is a medium that one has to get used to before being able to enjoy.
I hate using myself as an example, but I made an attempt to read some American comic books after years of manga, and it was just so different that my eyes needed a few hours before I could get used to the style enough to enjoy it. At first I had to reread the pages over and over again and was thinking to myself, "I don't get it."
SO in conclusion, if your reader is someone who isn't used to reading comics, maybe the 3 reasons above don't apply (of course there are many cases where they do apply too!).
If someone read any of my work and didn't get it, I'd either be completely neutral or piss myself at the fear that I will never be understood…depending on the subject matter.
One way that I combat the 'I don't get it' syndrome, I like to plaster a lot of pages with easter-eggs. So instead of one person who 'doesn't get it' I usually have a bunch of people who overlook something(s) and then the one mad man standing in the back row, who previously happened to be in the right place and the right time to completely connect with 'it', blurts out some kind of acknowledgeable response.
ex. Scorch chapter Soul Candy, page 37 text: "No Bulbous Bouffant Tart…" is a Dr. Demento refference to The Vestibules act, by which a reader replied "Macademia!" …oh… outdated & forgotten pop culture ; p (yay for interaction)
I like this kind of interactive dialogue that is by itself a whole different language that most ppl will not get. I'd be afraid if someone didn't get my comics, where I try to be somewhat clear…the polar opposite of my incoherent being in real life…
ex. dialogue between a friend and I: me-"guess what I saw today?" her-"what?" me-"Paris Hilton, driving a dirty truck…" both of us, "ON RIMCOCK ROAD!!" *laughter ensues.
A. Your comic is confusing of a result of shitty writting/art. B. That person is a moron and might be illiterate. If this is the case ignore them and get away from them soon as possible. C. Your jokes aren't very funny. (If you have them)
Filtering just hearing the negative. ;)
Some times we may not be listening to what they are saying and they may not be listening to what we are saying. If someone says "I don't get it." It is my job to find out why and help them discover the answer.
"The art is great and the dialogue is funny. Oh I don't get that bit…" "Did you read the story?" "No, just that page." "It only makes sense in context" (real conversation with my sister-in-law, she read the rest) "I get it now it was funny why they did that."
Of course my fist responses were precisely those listed by mishi-hime. :) Grit teeth, ignore my negative catagorizing what she was saying and using it as a "teaching moment" It's not like it's calculus or rocket science, it's just story-telling.
Once upon a time I was extremely self-conscious about people looking over my shoulder as I worked. Then I purposely started doing it to get over my self-csonsciousness. Slow immersion like how you get over a phobia. Once I started doing it I had to put up with all the praise. I was wrong and I turned what I had seen as a negative into a positive. It surprised the hell out of me. :)
'Ordinary' people assume that comics have a punchline, like in the newspapers. They also are often not imaginiative, and also have no idea of the context. It may also just not be their thing.
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