The All-in-one Fan Comics Guide

[blueguy]

Table of Contents

The All-in-one Fan Comics Guide​

NOTE:: This thread was created so as to remove clutter from the forum, and to make information easier for users to access! DO NOT REPLY, PLEASE! If you have something you'd like to add, please PM me with your guide/whatnot etc.!

Hello there, fellow SPPf member and possible new comicmaker, and welcome to the Fan Comics forum! This thread is a collection of tutorials, advice, and knowledge from some of the veterans of this board, and it is intended to help you get a good start in comics! So, read all that this guide has to offer and you'll probably have a helping hand in becoming a good author and contributer to our forum!

-blueguy

Table of Contents

- Infinity's Fan-Comics Forum FAQ
- Controller of Flames' Parodies of Journey Comics
- Authors Are Not a Good Idea
- How to Make a Sprite Comic
- blueguy's Guide to Comics

 

[blueguy]

Parodies of Journey Comics

Controller of Flames' Parodies of Journey Comics

1) The Problem With Starting a Comic
For some reason everyone decides to start in the starting town with a starting trainer, or a recolor of him/her and let him start their quest. This is an exact copy of nearly every pokemon game, please be more original.

2) The Text-Under-Panel Problem
Many journey comics have text under the panels, which is a bad thing. If the maker of the comic decides to show two or more people in the comic at once the reader might get confused on which new person is which. Also we have the problem of the mysterious person, and if there is two mysterious people the author will have one named "Other ???", which makes it even more confusing.

3) Those Big Panels
Beco did this in his first few comics, all your panels really need to do is focus on the action, not on everything else. It is distracting and annoying.

4) Bad Effects
Some journey comics use paint and just slap on a few pixels and call it an attack. Try to put some work into it, go to a sprite website and just take a sprite that resembles the attack. The sprite doesn't even have to be from a pokemon game!

5) Recoluring Is Not a Good Idea
Some comic's, just use recoloured sprites, even ones that are not journey comics. But either way try to edit them a bit. If you do not someone might actually say this about your comic. But if you don't even bother recoluring they expect your comic to end very fast.

6) Cameos Can Be a Bad Thing
Sometimes cameo's can be a very bad thing. If you get too many you might get complaints from someone because their cameo hasn't been seen yet. Try to limit cameos and doesn’t give one to every person who gives your comic 5 stars.

7) We Already Know
This is a pokemon forum, we have all played a pokemon game here, and you don't need to tell us how it goes all over again. Try to do something more, surprising.

8) Those Bad Towns
Some people decide to make their own towns for there comic. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. If it doesn't look like it would be in a pokemon game make another town or use one from the game.

9) Overused Jokes
Many of us know the end to this joke, and I’ve seen in used quite often in journey comics due to the fact Nurse Joy frequently appears in the Pokemon Centers. Please do not do this you would not steal someone’s wallet, nor would you steals someone’s belongings so please do not steal someone’s creativity.

10) Make the Plot More Interesting
Make your cast want to get the badges in their journey, most comic’s don’t do this which makes it quite annoying and boring. Pokechow’s Marin is a good example. Marin decides to go on her quest because her mother sold the fridge. So Marin goes of on her journey so she to get money so she won’t starve. Try to do something like this so the plot itself isn’t boring.

11) Don't Mix GBA and GB Sprites
The original Gameboy was only black, white and grey, Pokemon yellow and G/S/C was 8-bit for GBC, the FR/LG and R/S/E games are 32 bit, a high leap in graphics. They look horrible when mixed, we have FR.LG maps if you want to use Kanto. There are also some people who are making Johto in FR.LG style, ask them if you can use their maps instead of the original games ones.

Sprites from The Spriter's Resource.

 

[blueguy]

Authors Are Not a Good Idea

Authors Are Not a Good Idea by Mastercougar

Call me a hypocrite if you will, but I would like to urge every single wannabe comic maker here not to EVER use an Author character in their comic.
Why? I'll give you a reason or two.

-It's very, very, very, very, very, cliche.

Since David Anez first included one in his comic Bob and George back in 2001, there have been thousands upon thousands of comics that use an Author character. The comic community (especially BnG forums) is absolutely sick of them. The thing is, the makers never tried to go anywhere with them. They just screamed, "Look at me! I can imitate Dave Anez! Yay!"

WP happens to be one who has used an Author character. But though HWWP (TC) started out a little shakily, WP managed to pull off some witty and original material. But be advised that trying to follow in his footsteps is not reccomended. It's original material that counts, which is what I'm stressing here.

-It's fourth wall abuse.

Having an Author character in your comic will inevitably lead to a continuously broken fourth wall, which is not neccesarily a good thing!

Like all jokes, the fourth wall breakage can get old if you're constantly making cracks about it. And combined with its clicheness, people are often going to just sit and stare.

Once again, let me urge each and every one of you amateur comikers to avoid using the author character, for the sake of your own humor. Thank you.

.....

Now, here's my justification of my Author usage. First, let me tell you how it came about....

When I first came to SPPf, there were a handfull of comics around, but definetly the most prominent was HWWP (TC). This had inspired various other comics, many of them using Author characters. Now WP has himself as almost the main character, and the others were copying that.

So I thought, "I know! I'll be brilliantly original! I'll use an Author character, but I'll have him only interact with the cast sometimes!"

.......That was before I had ever heard of Bob and George, of course. And by the time I had found out where Authors originated, the MC character was firmly written into my plans.

So, am I annoyed for continuing a cliche? Yes. But do I regret it? No. I think I've come up with enough unique thoughts on Authors (though many I have not yet revealed to fans) to kind of scrape by. Do I think, that for the most part, comics are better without Authors than with them? Most definitely.

Once again, thank you ladies and gentlemen, and goodnight.

 

[blueguy]

How to Make a Sprite Comic

How to Make a Sprite Comic by Davis the Gamer

Alright, I owed someone some tips to make a comic so I’ll teach you to make something like Teh one Interveiws!

Right first we’ll need a background. We’ll start by making a panel! Alright here’s a basic panel!

'Kay, now to get a background! You can make your own but we’ll use this one!

The background is bigger than the panel, so let’s put the panel on the background!

Right, now erase over the edge over the background, so it looks like this!

Now we need sprites! We’ll use ToK……and Random! Look though the spritesheets and find the poses that you want!

Now drag one sprite there! Make sure the transparency button is on!

White spaces will show through…use this colour instead of white!

Right! Now let’s make speech bubbles!
When you type the message, you have a choice on how your characters talk.

1. Avatar

2. Tailed speech bubbles!

Color it in with the color mentioned above.
3. Coloured speech bubbles!

See 2 and make the colors resemble the character.
Right! There’s how to make a panel!
Do it a couple of more times and you have your comic!

Remember this is only a guide. Everyone does their comics different! Alright, remember not to steal other people’s jokes. Make your own! Spelling and Grammar never hurt either! And try to cut down on the n00b talk and abbreviations! ToK and the Backround are MINE! PM me if you want to use them! And Random is Vaati's! The panel and color you can use though!

Peace out!
-Davis

 

[blueguy]

blueguy's Guide to Comics

blueguy's Guide to Comics (A Work in Progress)

» Lesson 1 :: Using Paint

 

[Infinity]

SPPF Fan-Comics Forum FAQ

Welcome, welcome to this crazed place we like to call the Fan-Comic forum. Here you'll meet a bunch of people, whether they are seeking this as a profession or doing this out of leisure we all love comics.

What is the purpose of the Fan-Comic forum?

The purpose of this forum is to post ORGINAL user-created comics. Generally, you will see a majority of sprite comics with a few computer and hand drawn comics thrown in every now and then.

Comic Basics

If you are completely new to comics I suggest that you read up on some professionally done comics to see what they are like. Just pick up your Sunday funnies and then perhaps you can gain some inspiration, but try not to copy off of them.
Once you have completed that task please follow the guidelines below.

Alright, what does every successful comic author need to know?

First off you need to have an idea. Spend time on that idea, like how you are going to make it funny or what am I trying to say? DO NOT simply make a comic on a whim. Think out every single little detail; it will greatly improve the overall quality of your comics. Quality > Quantity.

Now you need to basic layout in mind, create a new panel every time a new action occurs. Limit yourself on how much your characters think or talk per panel. Try not to make a comic wider than your screen. Draw your readers in by involving many curves to your plot; it would be best in my opinion if you created a new panel for it.

There are methods of communication throughout the various comics here, but I often find speech bubbles to be the most effective way of characters communicating amongst themselves. Speech bubbles are needed unless there is a white background for your comic (and you better have a darn good comic if you are using a white background). I recommend using a rounded or oval speech bubble as it signifies professionalism.

Please use computer generated text when your characters are talking or thinking; it can be hard to read if you handwrite it. Make sure your text is large enough for other people to read it. If you are forced to use smaller text please bold it.

Grammar, you need it here. Would you hand in a paper if you knew you had legions of grammatical errors on them? I would hope not. It is very unprofessional to be having all sorts of misspellings and grammar mistakes and it lowers the quality of your comic. The spellchecker is your friend.

If you can avoid it try to avoid making a "Pokémon Journey comic" because it is basically a very boring cliché, we know how the pokémon games are played out, and otherwise we would not be on a pokémon forum. Controller of Flames divulges into this a bit deeper in this thread: http://www.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?t=99139.

If you are going to incorporate backgrounds please spend some time when you are doing so (NOTE: the default Microsoft Paint colors do not work too well in backgrounds of comics).

Part of being a good comic maker knows how to take criticism; if you can’t take any criticism then you should not be here, as this is a place of growth. As stated later on there are good and bad types of criticism that should be listened to and ignored. If a good critic suggests something try to consider putting it into your comic, but if it is a spelling or grammatical issue, you should ALWAYS make sure you take care of that, run it through a Word processor if you have one, if not read it over carefully. Don’t think of criticism to be automatically a flame, critics are there to help you.

Like any good stories remember the kicker comes at the end. You will leave your readers feeling unfulfilled if you simply end it at a random thought (this is okay on rare occasions, but you must draw your reader into the plot to be successful).

When you do upload a comic try to keep in mind to update the first post with every new comic so your readers can convieantly check up on your newest submissions.

If you are still struggling while making a comic feel free to ask any of the veteran comic creators. They should be more than willing to help.

As a comic creator you should not be making comics if you have an inability to accept constructive criticism. As mean as that can sound it's true. No one is perfect and we can always move towards improvement.

Remember if you're using a sprite or background someone else made GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE.

If you are still struggling or you need to pick up some advanced tips ask for someone to help you in the Comic-Maker's Academy.

Character Development

I have to say some of the characters in many comics I see need more character development. Sterotypical heros are just boring. Some lack quirks, and they are like, “Let’s do this, beat the bad guy.” In a good story many characters are centered on one particular trait and they draw their outer traits from that. This may seem completely unrelated, but for the purpose of giving an example this will work. If you’ve seen Fullmetal Alchemist you know how rash, impulsive, and ready for battle Edward Elric is. Then you see the timid, follows along what his older brother does, Alphonse Elric. As a telepath I have a tendency to analyze emotions (their cause, why, etc.) and I’ve realized something important to any form of storytelling. Every character is influenced by one or (a couple) predominant trait(s). Both of the Elric brothers have one trait both of them are centered around; if they didn’t have it their characters would be incomplete. That trait is being a child at heart. You can draw different characters from one trait, but ultimately they will go by that particular trait in their own actions. My point is you need to give proper traits to each character and that will make them succeed. Everyone has different ways they do things and without them everybody would be alike, lackluster, and boring. If you need help with that, please ask for someone to help you in the Comic Academy.

How do I create a Sprite comic?

Davis and friends have summed it up pretty darn well in this thread: http://www.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?t=99139.

How do I create a computer/hand drawn comic?

Well, I highly recommend that you have some sort of program that is intended for art and whatnot. If you use Microsoft Paint, it usually does not come out as clean as something that Adobe Photoshop or GIMP can yield (oh and GIMP is a free program by the way).

If you are completely new to art or you want to cheat, in Microsoft Paint there are some features that allow you to draw lines according to your desire, you can use them to your advantage and then import it to your art program to tidy it up.

If you are drawing a comic by hand make sure you make the backgrounds light enough so that the characters stand out and remember you need a LOT of detail to have a respectable hand drawn comic. I recommend sketching by pencil and then going over it with a pen. Pencil drawn comics don't scan too well...

Drawing comics is a form of art and there are many styles that you could use, just remember these basic tips:

Spend lots of time making each character; put a lot of detail into them so we know what they look like and can identify their expressions so you won't have to describe it to us. Don’t use a basic circle for a head.

Make sure that your characters have dark lines on their outline so the readers can see them.

Make sure we can see your characters, shadowing is nice, but make sure the characters stand out.

Comic Fans

Evry comic maker loves their fans and they love to hear feedback, but there are some things that you must look out for. Try not to pester the creator for new comics, remember they are making their comic, not you. Rushed comics tend to have a poorer quality. As a fan you should be a critic and that is explained below.

Comic Critics

For every author on here there are at least 15 critics. Critics help build authors up into well respected comic creators. We expect a level of competence from the critics and from the authors. My point is say a little more than just "Nice update", please say why you like it or how it can be improved. Blatantly saying, "This comic sucks," is flamebait and will often result in a flame war or begrudging someone. So elaboration is your friend...

Let's try to transition some statements:

Wow, your comic is pretty neat!

Let's transition it...

Wow, I love the background it is full of life. Your characters are well defined and you can really picture meeting them in real life. I find your comic to be of the highest quality possible.

Well... Maybe not to that extent, but you get the picture.

Let's try something at the opposite end of the spectrum:

This comic really sucks, you need to stop making comics now.

Flamebait!

Well... Your comic needs a lot of work... First of all your text is very cluttered and hard to read... Also you really need to use grammar so we can follow the plotline. Also please enlarge your character sprites, as they are very hard to see.

Constructive criticism is much better than flamebait.

DO NOT give a comic a number rating without a comprehensive analysis of the comic, I’m talking paragraphs here.

If you wish to give constructive criticism to a comic please do not state that you will, instead wait until you are ready to give crit.

This is how some people start flamewars http://www.velvet.com/barb/humor/flaming.html, so please do everyone a favor and avoid doing those things on that list.

Nothing annoys me more on these forums than seeing, "Your comic r0x," or "You suck at making comics, get a day job." We are mature people here; we can critique a comic with a little more than a sentence fragment or an insult.

I have noticed some people go lightly on crit if they are the author's friend. If you wish to be a true friend you should be the one who is the most heavy on critique. Friends build each other up and make sure they help refine each other's skills.

I know it may be a bit annoying to type out more in every single reply to each comic, but it would benefit the author a bit more if he or she knew why you liked or disliked their comic and what should they continue doing or improve.

No Fighting

I have been noticing with several authors that they have been making implications through their comics at other people in this forum in a derogatory manner.

I don't care if it is supposed to be "anonymously directed", but in your mind you do know exactly who you are talking about.

If you are even making reference in your mind of a particular person at the creation of some entity in your comic, it is no different than actually giving that person's name to that character.

If you have an issue please take it to PMs, period.

Basic Comic Forum Terms
It's past 4 AM here so I assure you that I have forgotten some definitions and terms so please reply to this thread or PM me a term that I have forgotten.

Basic Microsoft Paint Colors: The colors in Microsoft Paint other than black and white found in the color bar.

Crit: Short for critique.

Flamebait: Making a post that has the potential to make one or more people angry; it may escalate to a flame war.

Flame war: A large scale argument between users, it often leads to the closing of a comic or someone getting banned.

Forth Wall: When a character signifies that they know they are in a comic.

Plot(line): The story of a comic.

Outline: a. The basic frame of a character. b. Writing out your comic before you make it (a very good idea in my opinion).

Speech Bubble: A method of communication between characters in a comic; generally in a rounded or oval shape.

Sprite: An image of lesser detail than other forms of art and it is generally small.

Thought Bubble: A character thinks to himself or herself in a comic; smaller bubbles are led from the character to the thought. It is generally in a rounded or oval shape.

TUP: Text under panels. A form of Text bubble that is frowned upon. The text is below the panel, making the comic unorganized and the actions unnoticed.