Changes to Comic Critics in 2009?
So with the new year almost here, Sean and I started to think about the future of the comic. So far, I think we are starting to find our voice. We are learning what works and doesn’t work in terms of the stories/jokes we want to tell so we discussed some ideas on how to improve the comic in the future.
Some of the ideas we’ve been thinking about trying in the coming months:
Leaving behind the “page” format
When we started the comic, we thought that a vertical comic page was a good way to go. It was a familiar format to people who normally read print comics and gave us a good structure to build upon. But at the same time, it forced us to sometimes stretch or cut back ideas.
We experimented with the Superman Crying comic as a way to see if a different non page bound idea would work. And for the most part, it seems people liked it.
So we are thinking of going with a format that changes depending on the idea of the comic. This way, we could have short gag strips if we want as well as longer more involved comics. Basically we would let the content lead the format and not the other way around.
This would let Sean write pretty much however he wants, and it would give me freedom to draw and pace the action in different ways. About the only restriction we would keep is it would have to be 500 pixels wide.
Increasing to twice a week
Along with the “un-formating” of the comic, we are thinking of going to a schedule of twice a week. We have been playing with the idea for a while, but we wanted to get a hold of the style and voice of the comic before we expanded.
Most likely sometime next year, we will go to schedule of two comics a week. We are still trying to figure out the best schedule. We are thinking either Wednesdays and Fridays or Tuesdays and Fridays. The second option would be a little unorthodox in terms of webcomics, but think it gives a little more room between comics.
November 26th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
This, of course, means more writing for Sean, which is distressing. Expect to see new story lines about Josh eating lasagna and Marissa yanking the football away.
November 27th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Great strip! Favorites so far are the Halloween one and the Batman porn series (in particular, September 3rd).
Can Marissa be more into alternative/”art comic”? We need the Fantagraphics/Drawn & Quarterly crowd represented.
December 10th, 2008 at 2:53 am
She sure can, Corey! As Fantagraphics is one of the few indy publishers I actually know about, it’s a certainty Marissa is into them.