Structural Integrity

We've talked many times about story structure and different elements of it. But what about structure that's specific to web comics?

If someone does a "gag" or standalone series of strips, it's one thing - but there are still questions to answer. Like, do you have a character sheet on every page, or a link to such a page, so people know who all the characters are? Do you leave it to the readers to understand the characters and the basics of their relationships?

In a longer-form story I think there are many more questions. Each page is an individual scene, or part of a scene. Do you leave it to your readers to understand the nuances of what's happening? How do you make it as user-friendly as possible for people to understand the context of each page, without alienating the people who are reading every page and know what's going on? It's impossible to understand every nuance of the history of a long-running series…so how do you find that line? Or how do you want it done when you're a reader?

There are more "structural" concepts to talk about, but let's start here, at the individual page level. Do you try to make each page its own mini-story? Or do you leave it to your dialogue and artwork to entice new readers (or forgetful readers) to click back and put the puzzle together?

Have a good day,

Banes


On a sad note…

Aron Eisenberg, who played Nog on Deep Space Nine, one of my favorite shows, passed away far too young. RiP to this great actor and many thanks to him for his wonderful character. A very sad time for his family, loved ones and many fans.