It's been noted in quite a few place, most notably in the popular Webcomics Weekly podcast, that long form comics have less of a chance at succeeding financially using the current business models of daily comics. The main reason is the slow pacing of a story-driven weekly (or even tri-weekly) strip as opposed to the read-and-be-on-your-way pace of a gag-driven daily strip.

I think I've found an obstacle that could be avoided in order to up your chances at succeeding with a long form comic. The problem lies in the attempt at mixing humor/gags into a plot-driven story. It's something that isn't easy to do - keep your story moving while bringing in the laughs.

First of all, lets establish that moving a story along is difficult enough when you're only publishing three strips/pages a week. I know this from experience. It's even more difficult when it's a weekly gig; you need to make sure your story is solid enough that people will keep coming back (take a look at Earthsong; Lady Yates recently dropped down to one update a week, but I can guarantee her readers will keep coming back because of her strong storytelling skills, not to mention artistic ability).

Now let's add humor into the mix. The trick is to only add what you need. It's tough, because, let's face it, you've got a thousand jokes and lots of witty dialogue you want to share with people. But the reality is if you start dropping that stuff, the story takes forever to move forward.

Case in point - College Roomies From Hell!!! This is a comic that I've gone back and forth on (for reasons outside of this subject), but today I came to the realization that the comic suffers from a slow pace because Maritza drops too much humor into the strip. Sure, the dialogue can be funny, sometimes witty, always absurd, but a lot of the time it's forced into the strip, pushing the story to the side. Update days will go by and nothing will happen, except characters talking. Now, if the comic didn't rely so heavily on plot and subplots, this wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. But Maritza chose to give the comic some meat, in the form of relationships, good vs. evil themes, and all sorts of other dramatic elements. Also, if the comic updated daily, or even five times a week, she could get away with the way she currently does CRFH!!!, although I still wouldn't recommend it. There has to be some compensation to allow for pacing.

Now let's look at a comic that succeeds in this realm - Girl Genius. The Foglios only update three times a week, but they manage to keep the story moving and make us laugh at the same time. They've succeeded in finding a formula of humor and story that works to keep the pacing of the comic marching forward without too many sluggish moments. They keep the plot and action in mind, even when the characters are conversing with each other. Very little of the dialogue is ever dedicated to "fluff talk".

In summary, your best chances at gaining and securing a readership and potentially making money off of said readership when you're doing a non-daily, story-driven comic lie within making sure your pacing is spot-on. If things move too slowly because you're inserting too much fluff into the story, people will lose interest or won't be interested in the first place. Remember two things, and I constantly push for both of these: 1.) Less is more, and 2.) KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Oy vay, I think I was right to worry about the current events (7/20/07) in Dominic Deegan. Even the attempt to make the costume thing a gag came out kind of lame. Mookie, please ditch the SuperGreg thing! It's not too late!

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I'm going to have to backpedal slightly concerning my comments yesterday about College Roomies from Hell!!! My original statement implied that the author was forcing Dave's misery-inducing situations. However, as we can see from today's strip (7/20/07), Dave is bringing it on himself (which was also something I touched upon). While you do find yourself feeling sorry for Dave, you can't help but realize that sometimes he's just as dumb as shit, you know?

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Misfile is a webcomic that I just recently started to read. I'm kind of lukewarm on it at the moment - not sure if I like it or dislike it. It has it's entertaining moments, and the characters can be pretty fun to watch (how could a pot head angel not be?). I've realized that my reluctance to accept it as an enjoyable read comes from the writer side of me. I think Chris Hazelton suffers something that a lot of writers suffer - ignoring what the characters want to do and forcing his will on them.

Now, obviously this is a judgement call; I didn't create the characters, so I can only base my reactions on what I've learned about them through reading the comic. However, recently a little tiff started up regarding a post on Tangents (scroll down to the 7/9/07 post), which is good considering how easily things get turned into full-blow shitstorms on the internet. The post in question was in regards to this strip being seen as fan service. I'm not going to go into the events that lead up to that strip; if you're really interested, read back several strips.

I don't see it as fan service, but I do see it as a vehicle for a gag or two. Unfortunately, because the whole scenario felt forced, those gags fell flat on their faces. As unrealistic as I personally feel the situation was, it could have been better handled over the course of more pages rather than rushed in a couple. As a writer, you need to let your characters act the scene out and not force them forward.

I think it's ironic that I'm starting my LiveJournal off by doing something that I've ranted about other webcomic sites for doing - talking about Achewood. It gets talked about a lot, and sometimes I get tired of hearing about it, but the fact remains that it's a damn funny comic. Today's strip proves that. Chris Onstad has become the master of taking absurdly surreal material and making it laugh-out-loud funny. I mean, come on, a childhood drum? For a moment you scratch your head and raise an eyebrow, but then you just accept it and laugh. I think what dominates the obvious silly nature of it is the character responses to the situation. We can overlook the fact that we have no idea what a childhood drum is because Ray and Cornelius do and are very serious about it. That's what I like to call good writing.

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I mentioned this in my own forum, but Wednesday's Dominic Deegan strip has me a bit concerned that Mookie may have jumped the shark. I'm hoping that the SuperGreg thing is a one time gag because if Mookie sticks with it... well, I know Dominic Deegan is supposed to be a funny strip as well as a serious one, but this is going over the top with the goofiness (not to mention the anachronisms, although that may be the wrong term to use; I'm referring more to the pop-culture references being used in a world that is obviously not our own). I'm going to give Mookie the benefit of the doubt, at least until I can read further into the storyline. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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Conflict is the basis of a good story. This is one of the fundamental things I've learned over the years as I've studied writing. However, I've always felt that conflict can go too far. When you have a main character that you keep putting into negative situations, eventually it just becomes abuse. I'm starting feel that way about Dave from College Roomies from Hell!!! Dave has long been the subject of bad things, which is understandable as he is one of those people that invites misery into his life and wallows in it. However, I feel like Wednesday's strip may lead to even more misery. Poor Dave has suffered enough. As much as he's an angsty son-of-a-bitch, I've invested myself in his character, and I really want to see that misery end at some point. It's been happening for what feels like forever. I thought allowing Blue into his life would bring some happiness, but now it looks like it's just going to be more trouble. I hope I'm wrong.

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This Sheldon strip made me laugh. Dave Kellett is awesome at magnifying the annoyances in our society and making fun of the people who perpetrate them. He previously went off on people use Bluetooth (I can't find the strips in the archive, but they're there, I promise) and that was funny as well.