Some backstory: I've been trying to knuckle down and really start work on a rather ambitious webcomic project of mine, which has been very exciting, but through the process of making the first few chapters I've realised I don't actually know much about the actual process of comic-making at all.
So, instead of working on that, I'm procrastinating practicing with making some very self-indulgent batman fancomics. This sequence I actually made quite awhile ago, but I'm still pretty proud of it, despite some hiccups here and there.
I've tried my hand at a self-critique, but there are some gaps in my knowledge due to my lack of experience with comics. Namely:
- I feel the story is super strong for the first six pages and the splash page reveal on page 6 is very effective. But, after that, things kind of fall apart. I can tell that the panelling is overall weaker and it's harder to tell what's happening but... Why exactly?
- My art has definitely improved since I drew this but I still suffer from a lot of the same problems, the most relevant being that I get lazy very easily. I know you're supposed to conserve your energy and only put in the effort needed for appropriate panels, but I do wonder if there's any way I can build up my stamina.
- Weirdly specific, but: "shouting" speech bubbles. I suck at drawing them 😭 and I'm not sure how to go about them
- I struggle really hard with scripts and have been trying to find a middle-ground between following a script entirely and making it up as I go. It sometimes works out, sometimes doesn't. I've found that rough outlines help but I haven't really found an exact workflow yet - any suggestions?
and of course, feel free to offer any additional thoughts on my work I may have missed myself, I would appreciate it lots!
I'm asking for critique for this sequence despite it being old because it's the only one I've fully coloured and cleaned up, as opposed to the rest of these "practice comics" that I plan on leaving almost entirely as just sketches. If anyone's feeling particularly generous, I am uploading the comic here and would love feedback on my more recent (unfinished) work too, but that's very much asking a lot. Please note that while there's no explicit content in it yet, I have marked the series as 18+ due to plans I have for the future.
Thanks for taking your time to read!