T w e n t y S i d e d

I actually made today’s comic twice. The one I posted is the second version. Below are a few observations about making comics and using different layouts, as well as the original cut of today’s comic.

People have been emailing me links to various other webcomics and putting the occasional link in the comments, and so I’ve been reading through a bunch of webcomics I’ve never seen before.

The obvious uh, observation, is that the ones with a non-grid layout are a lot more interesting to look at. They are more exciting, more dramatic, more whatever-the-artist-is-trying-to-do. The less grid-like the layout, the better. EXCEPT: If the layout is too formless then it becomes difficult to read. I’ll jump to the wrong panel, read the punchline in the middle of the joke, or get confused about who is talking. If this happens then the layout is far, far worse than a plain-Jane grid. I have this problem with mainsteam comics all the time. There will be several partly-overlapping panels in a crazy top-left to lower-right diagonal and I’ll get confused or lost.

I doubt either style makes a strip more or less funny. Provided the information still makes it across, the joke is the same.

Still, just to amuse myself I’ve been trying to break out of the grids, but Comic Book Creator is my enemy here. The layouts are stored in XML pages. So, when I start a strip I have to know ahead of time that I want the 6-panel, or the 5 panel one with a huge closing frame, or whatever the situation calls for. There are a lot of arrangements to choose from, but you can’t edit them on the fly. If I decide I want to steal some space from Faramir’s panel and give it to the next frame, the only way to accomplish this is to edit the XML document to put the frames where I want, and then start the comic over from the beginning.

Because of this, I end up abandoning my fancy-pants layout and going with Yet Another Grid Comic. This was fine at first, but the longer I do this the more it bugs me. Now I’m wondering if there is any other comic software out there? I’m using a PC, so Comic Life isn’t an option.

For comparison, below the fold I have the original “grid-style” layout of today’s strip.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Alternate DMotR #40”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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Hat Tip: James Hudnall

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

I love the feeling when I open my eyes in the morning and the light in the room is totally different. It’s brighter than it should be, and the light coming in the window is uniform instead of directional. When I see this I know that it snowed overnight, and that the snow has stuck.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.