Comic medium: what makes a good comic and overall thoughts about it.

[CinPunk]

  Overall, the subject is pretty explicative from the start : what makes a comic good? (graphics and dialogues). What made you want more out of a story, what you find engaging and what you think new generations of comics lacks in? (With comics I mean webcomics and mangas too ). Examples are welcome too .

Also, are you more on the "classic" part of the medium or you search for something more experimental and new?  .  I'm more on the experimental side and I really like when people put a bit of themselves in their works. (E.G. An artist uses a particular/personal style and the topics are something I never heard about before). .   

[devils]

I could go on and on about comics... for me, a good one needs to have some «soul» to it. Doesn't matter how it's drawn or if there even is a story. I need to feel something. That's why I'm such a big fan of experimental and indie comics- a lot of them are based on deeply personal feelings. This goes for manga too, of course.

I think what's why I can't really get into mainstream superhero comics... Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good superhero stories (Watchmen, need I say more?), but the amount of stories from Marvel or DC I care about are very small compared to the amount of stuff that they publish.

As for webcomics, I'm not too familiar with them (I just prefer physical books), but I imagine the same can be said about them. Bonus points if they fully utilize the Internet to tell their story! Say what you will about Homestuck, it excelled the medium in this regard.

[larvapuppy]

I was a big webcomics and manga fan when I was a teenager. It was my dream to have a popular webcomic in those days. Comics still hold a special place in my heart, but I don't have as much time to delve deep into them anymore.

For me, it's hard to place what makes a good comic for me. I think the artwork has a lot to do with it; I need to at least like the art (this doesn't necessarily mean that it needs to be made by a master artist, just that the style needs to be interesting to me in some way). If there is a lot to look at in each panel, if the characters' clothing is to my liking, pretty colours... These details hold my attention, as someone who draws.

I'd like to echo user devils' thoughts on superhero comics and Homestuck 

This doesn't really apply to more experimental comics, but one comics pet peeve that I have is when more straightforward narrative-style comics don't place their text boxes and word bubbles in a clearly defined and flowing order. As in, (for most Western comics) left-to-right, top-to-bottom. It's made even worse when the panels are not in this order and they choose to use arrows between the panels to correct this. I just personally find it confusing and that it doesn't add anything positive to the reading experience.

That said, I'd appreciate any comic recommendations! 

[urgellx]

i feel like what makes a comic good for me is mainly the art style, the story comes later. now it's
a bit complicated to explain what makes an artstyle good for comics, but i feel like it's doing
enough to make every page interesting to take apart. i dislike older traditional styles of comics
just because they want to tell their story and the art comes later (i'll take rahan or any really
old dc comics), i feel like the art should be able to speak by itself and then, if the reader is
interested, the story should come. not that older artists aren't as good, it's just a different
style that doesn't seem to stand out to me. if i take those points for granted, what i read nowadays
online is horrible. but i feel like it's mainly being done as an illustrated story, not as a comic,
so, just like i could with rahan, i'll read them. they're just not good comics in my eyes though.

have a good day !

[tertiaryapocalypse]

I could go on and on about comics... for me, a good one needs to have some «soul» to it. Doesn't matter how it's drawn or if there even is a story. I need to feel something.

^ i second this! i find the comics ive enjoyed the most have been ones that really grab onto the reader's emotions. i don't mind if the comic is slow paced or relatively plotless (especially if the art is really pretty), but if it's not emotionally compelling, it's harder for it to really stick with me.

I think what's why I can't really get into mainstream superhero comics...

& this, lol. i think another issue i have with mainstream superhero comics is just that they're really extensive, but i find it hard to really care about the characters or the conflict? maybe it's just because i'm so used to good guy bad guy conflicts, but they're kind of boring to me.

i think it's really easy for comic characters to feel flat, especially because you aren't afforded the same look into their internal worlds that a traditional book would offer. a few writers seem to go into comics with the same mindset as someone who's writing for an entirely text based medium, which makes some sense because all of the writing advice that's easily available on the web is targeted towards that! but i think comic writing is ultimately just as comparable if not more to screenwriting or playwriting than writing novels.

a small thing, as well, but i think comics have a unique ability for certain kinds of pacing-- specifically pauses. it's really hard to pull off a long pause in an entirely written format, and it can feel really bland in screenplays, but with comics, you just make the panel big! i think if a comic artist uses the panels as their own way of pacing, framing, etc in a way that improves upon the storytelling, that alone can instantly boost a comic.

That said, I'd appreciate any comic recommendations! 

for graphic novels, my favourite so far has been forest hills bootleg society. it has really good character work! i also liked incredible doom, but i've only read volume one so far. as for webcomics, soil that binds us has a fantastic art style and is shaping up to be really cool.

[EdenInTheGardens]

I think comics are such a wide area to cover it's hard to figure out a hard rule on what makes a comic good or not !    I'm actually gonna start a comic course next year so this question got me thinking.

It's a hard question to answer for me, for example, in classes my professors will often say we need to keep the comic as readable as possible, keeping the flow of the page smooth, never putting a speech bubble in front of a character etc. So there's rules to the craft ! But following these rules or not will not actually make a comic good or bad in my opinion.

I don't find that "good art" is needed to make a comic good, from my very biased point of view, in comics, the drawings and overall art is merely the vehicle for the story, so I think it's really about the vision of the creator and what they want from it ! Like with all art it's hard to judge what's good or not because it is very subjective (i'm more of a story first, drawing second type), but if I HAD to try and judge a comic in the most objective way I can, I'd say a comic is good based on how it achieves what it wants to be.
 
Which, to come back on the comic rules my teachers taught me, sometimes, for the sake of the story you NEED to break those rules, and if your story is stronger and more compelling for it, i'd argue you achieved your goal ! Which is why sometimes more experimental comics will stick with me longer, but also, if your comic has to be more classic for any reason, it can also suffer from trying to be something it doesn't need to be.
It's a very fragile balance, but I think that usually, when the creator(s) are invested in their own art and storytelling, it works out, and even if it's not perfect, it has a lot of heart and soul, and it's always better to create your art even if you think it won't be good, than never make it at all ! 

[moonunions]

comics that don't have to rely on large dialogue bubbles and focuses on getting their point across just with art alone really draws me in. i like knowing how a character is feeling by their expressions, movements (i.e. gestures), and non-verbal interactions. for me it doesn't really matter too much if it's experimental or not, though i do tend to prefer those more often than not.

i feel differently when it comes to manga though and can read a bit more chit-chat than usual. maybe because a fair amount of western comics that i've read really push the tl;dr that ends up taking up way too much space on the page? not that manga can't fit into that category at times, but i see it a lot more in western comics, like titles from marvel or DC.

as for the actual story that draws me in, i like when i can tell from the start that it's a bit unique and doesn't follow a predictable formula. an example would be houseki no kuni by haruko ichikawa, which is about sentient rocks (gems) that are the last "living" lifeform after the earth got hit by multiple meteors. the author leans heavily into buddhism and symbolism, and i honestly could never tell what was going to happen next. while i didn't particularly enjoy some of the changes that lead up to the ending, i acknowledge that some folks weren't supposed to. the shift in the plot is a bit jarring as it progresses, and even though i have some gripes about that, i still consider it a beautifully illustrated story about change, the discovery of oneself, and the meaning of existence.

it's really fun to read about everyone's preferences!