The Webcomic Book of Sins
We often don't know what exactly pisses people off about a webcomic. Sometimes the author seems to favor his lead characters to the point of inhumanity. Sometimes we just don't get the jokes or the plot. Sometimes we are grossed out by the characters' way of speaking. These are all common faults that can bring down a webcomic. Too many of these and you might just become the next Ctrl+Alt+Del or The Wotch, or even worse, The Broken Mirror or Abstract Gender.
So, what is wrong with the picture? Here follows a list of common webcomic sins, traits that you better learn to overcome or correct if you don't want to be center of the next wave of LULZ, hate mail, or the Second Coming of Solomon. Sins are colorfully detailed with examples of webcomics, and with comments and suggestions on how to get rid of them.
- The Mary-Sue Character: Doesn't that lead character seem too much like you? And also, why doesn't he ever lose an argument? Better learn to be more unattached and fair before he becomes the god of your webcomic!
- The Wish Fulfillment: Hey, isn't it strange that, just out of the blue, JDR's husband apologized to her in that comic? He didn't? Then stop twisting reality through your little drawings!
- The Animu: Either if we confess or not, we all like Anime. But is your work truly anime/manga-style or are you just looking for some flashy material to copy? If your webcomic contains inconsistent anatomy, snout-faces and relies on over-the-top expressions as punchlines, save yourself the indignity and try again.
- The Cute And Cuddly Cast: Oh look! Cute, multi-coloured animal characters! Don't you just want to take them home and lock them in the basement and go Joseph Fritzl all on their asses? Well, if you wanna be quirky and edgy, you can give these ad'awwable little fellas some rough, badass personalities because cute but mouthy critter sidekicks are a totally original concept that no mortal has EVER done before.
- The Wall of Text: I came to read comics, not books. Besides, if you don't remember paying attention in your English class, chances are you're just dribbling excessive literary fecal matter.
- The Joke Stealing/Copycat: Hey, last week I read this LOLicious joke from my favoritest
wank materialwebcomic. Wouldn't it be great if I tried something like that, too? Haha NO.
- The VERY IMPORTANT OPINIONS: Does something about reality look so wrong to you that you have to create a world where everybody thinks the way you do and dissent - someone who just looks at you funny, for example - gets thoroughly crushed? Clearly someone has never read 1984. But then again, you probably didn't pay attention in English class, did you?
- The Lazyness: We all have trouble crawling out of bed in the morning, but that's not an excuse for being a lazy webcomic artist/writer unless, of course, you're doing it for all the wrong reasons.
- Tearing at Every Last Brick on The Fourth Wall: "Hey, dude, did you know we're in... a WEBCOMIC?!", "Yes I did, bag with which one douches, and since you started mentioning it every other panel, it's not a good webcomic anymore."
- The Unnecessary Violence/Smut: Endless, mindless violence fuels the occasional Bruce Willis sequel. But ask yourself: Is it really what my webcomic needs? And can you even fit a sex scene in a scarring flashback? Maybe that's a clue.
- The ZANYNESS: Homer Simpson is not the law. He's the exception, if not the one that proves the rule.
- Spontaneous Genre Shifting: "La-da-dee-da I'm a wacky video gamer who does wacky shenanigans that the rest of my friends have to wackily tolerate andWAAAAAAH MY GIRLFRIEND MISCARRIED AND MY PARENTS ARE DEEEAAAAD! *angst angst*"
Feel free to contribute to any of these articles, or even add your own. Maybe if aspiring webcomic artists take note of what to avoid in their future works, they will repel an early cancellation, or at least their fandom won't be something that leaves them with a bad taste of mouth.
