Thread "Revive or start new" in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 2:07PM, Jul. 7, 2021

I used to write a pretty popular webcomic on here. But I haven't reguarlly updated it in…. about a decade. Life has just kind of got in the way.

But I'm at a point where I finally have some time to get back into comic making. I have the space and the computer to make comics again. And I think people are interested in seeing my old relic of a comic revived.

But it's a really old comic. and I know some of the content is really dated. I'm worried about new readers being turned off from what I wrote back in my teens. I don't think there's anything offensive in it, maybe insensitive, but mostly cringey.

I really love the story and the characters and I would like to finish it. Maybe I'm just old now and think my dumb teen jokes are kinda dumb, but doesn't mean people might not still enjoy them. My husband thinks I should just create a new project and not worry about any potential baggage that someone could find with it, or could be turned off by how badly some of the earlier comics were made.

But I'm really fond of it, and I think I can make it better. But would it be better to start a new project?

I know I could redo it. but I think if I redid it i'd want to do it for a potential print and I really need to practice my skills before I would feel comfortable with trying that.

Posted at 4:07PM, Jul. 7, 2021

Hello, great to hear you have the time and the interest to get back to comics.

It sounds like what you really want to do is carry on with this comic, maybe finish it as you say and after such a long break, that's a much easier way to get back into your stride than starting something new, especially if you don't have a new comic in mind yet.
You can blow the dust away by picking up where you left off and see where it takes you, putting off this decision for another day . You'll soon know if the romance is still there, or if it's time time to get it on with new idea that hasn't occured to you yet.
Chances are these questions will answer themselves once you get back into the swing of drawing and posting. Good luck!

Posted at 4:07AM, Jul. 8, 2021

Good for You !!!!!1!!!

Posted at 6:07AM, Jul. 8, 2021

Go for it! Continue on.
There's NO timelimit or expirey date to this stuff.

My FAVE example of this is the Dragon and George fantasy series by Gordon R. Dickson.
It started out as a short story written all the way back in 1957!
"St. Dragon and the George"

He didn't write the full novel version (The Dragon and the George) till 1976!!!!
And he didn't even write the sequal to that till 1990, and kept on writing till his death in 2014.

And the thing is that they're all excellent and they all carry on perfectly as if there was zero delay in between them.

SO yeah, Do it. Don't feel that stuff is out of date. Just go for it.

Posted at 10:07AM, Jul. 8, 2021

I might have bought myself a new Wacom :D

Yeah, if it wasn't for Drunk Duck I would have lost all my comic stuff. My laptops and computers have been wiped and ruined so many times. A few years ago I came on here and backed up my comic on dropbox just encase. It's so great that drunk duck hasn't deleated peoples comics. It's really a great piece of internet history.

edit: LOL gawd I'm so old calling it anything but DD feels weird >__<

Posted at 6:07PM, Jul. 8, 2021

You're in great company! haha
We all just call it DD :)

Posted at 4:07PM, Jul. 9, 2021

I'd agree with what some have said, though for my own reasons as well as theirs: don't be tempted to redo things, or else you'll probably trap yourself in a cycle of redoing and redoing, again and again.

Speaking personally, my comic Incubus Tales was one I started to post here as a mirror, and then I left off as life got in the way and other sites proved unreliable and stressful. But in the last year or two, I picked up posting it, though now it's reposting, since the comic ended some years ago! Now I post not only archives of old comics, but also new ones as well, several times every week.

It can be very tempting to go back and redo things to be more in keeping with your style and approach now, but it wouldn't be the same at all. There are memories and chronicles of your life in those pages. I know I couldn't redo Incubus Tales if I wanted to, but I really wouldn't want to. There are moments and other things that I feel, every time I read back, that simply wouldn't be there now.

And it just holds a creator back from doing something new, if all we're doing is retreading a path we already walked. It seems disingenuous to me, in a way.

I have gone back and done some new comics with old characters, and that works just fine. Very nicely, in fact! Sometimes it's very exciting to see what you can do with characters that you created a while ago. Sometimes it can help to take an old character you never managed to make happen, and now you have the skill and ability to do that! It might just be something you needed to learn or an experience you needed to have in order to do their story.

Posted at 1:07PM, Jul. 10, 2021

NPC_Girl wrote:
I used to write a pretty popular webcomic on here. But I haven't reguarlly updated it in…. about a decade. Life has just kind of got in the way.

But I'm at a point where I finally have some time to get back into comic making. I have the space and the computer to make comics again. And I think people are interested in seeing my old relic of a comic revived.

But it's a really old comic. and I know some of the content is really dated. I'm worried about new readers being turned off from what I wrote back in my teens. I don't think there's anything offensive in it, maybe insensitive, but mostly cringey.

I really love the story and the characters and I would like to finish it. Maybe I'm just old now and think my dumb teen jokes are kinda dumb, but doesn't mean people might not still enjoy them. My husband thinks I should just create a new project and not worry about any potential baggage that someone could find with it, or could be turned off by how badly some of the earlier comics were made.

But I'm really fond of it, and I think I can make it better. But would it be better to start a new project?

I know I could redo it. but I think if I redid it i'd want to do it for a potential print and I really need to practice my skills before I would feel comfortable with trying that.

I would just do it. One of the worst things you can do is make a comic just for others and not having the fun you did when you did it because you loved it, especially if no one is paying you. Don't worry about age, time, etc. Heck, you should see me!

Those who like it will come.

p.s. That said. If YOU feel it would be far better to start fresh, then start fresh. Sometimes I do that, but it's really down to you. The main thing is not to be paralysed so you sit there doing nothing.

Posted at 7:07AM, Jul. 14, 2021

I have decided to keep going. It's been really nice to draw again. I think being older makes me feel less self conscious about my art. I'd always stress about trying to get better. do better backgrounds, do better shading. and it'd take me soooooo long to do a singel page.

Now I'm like: Meh, I've got a baby and a full time job. people use to like this when it was 3 panels and terrible shading. so YOLO.

Posted at 8:07AM, Jul. 14, 2021

NPC_Girl wrote:
I have decided to keep going. It's been really nice to draw again. I think being older makes me feel less self conscious about my art. I'd always stress about trying to get better. do better backgrounds, do better shading. and it'd take me soooooo long to do a singel page.

Now I'm like: Meh, I've got a baby and a full time job. people use to like this when it was 3 panels and terrible shading. so YOLO.

Haha. yea. I know that music. Artists/writers are perhaps the most critical of themselves!

p.s. Hope your family does well into the future.

Posted at 3:07PM, Jul. 14, 2021

I think that's a good idea, and I'm glad to see you going ahead!

And it's absolutely true, creative people tend to be our own harshest critics. I hope to see your work really pick up soon! :)

Posted at 12:09AM, Sep. 5, 2021

Sorry for the late reply. I've had a really busy summer and have not been as good about checking in.

NPC_Girl, I went through something very similar. The concept for the comic I am currently working on started when I was in college - to be a semi-autobiographical slice of life that people could relate to. I drew a few strips, but only one actually survived on the internet somewhere (*cough*DeviantArt*cough*). That was…erm…a long time ago. When I hit my 30's I had the idea to revive it, but I had a lot of the same concerns. Like, could some crusty 30-yo write about safe spaces and YOLO LOL? But then I decided to have the character be roughly the same age, and instead channel my frustrations of trying to be a grown adult and deal with everyday crap. Maybe you could do something similar (you could also insert any flashbacks from any time between your last comic and your current present, if that makes sense).

I'm interested to check out your work now :).

Posted at 8:09PM, Sep. 5, 2021

L.C.Stein wrote:
Sorry for the late reply. I've had a really busy summer and have not been as good about checking in.

NPC_Girl, I went through something very similar. The concept for the comic I am currently working on started when I was in college - to be a semi-autobiographical slice of life that people could relate to. I drew a few strips, but only one actually survived on the internet somewhere (*cough*DeviantArt*cough*). That was…erm…a long time ago. When I hit my 30's I had the idea to revive it, but I had a lot of the same concerns. Like, could some crusty 30-yo write about safe spaces and YOLO LOL? But then I decided to have the character be roughly the same age, and instead channel my frustrations of trying to be a grown adult and deal with everyday crap. Maybe you could do something similar (you could also insert any flashbacks from any time between your last comic and your current present, if that makes sense).

I'm interested to check out your work now :).

You did really well with NPC girl.