2. Readability

Comic panels

I don't care about the shape of the comic panels (or boxes), it's the chaining that is important. You may want to create a crazy pattern with you panels, but the panels order must be easy to follow. It must be intuitive. Don't forget, your readers don't know what's in your mind. 

Tell your readers if your comic must be read from left to right or right to left. You don't need to specify it on every page, but I suggest doing it when you start a new chapter.

If you have to stray from the intuitive way of reading a comic, then draw arrows between your panels to lead your readers in the right direction. You might have the best story, if your readers can't figure out how to read it, it's not good.

Ask someone to read your comic, without telling him/her about the plot and then ask him/her to summarise the story. Don't assume your comic is easy to read. What seems logical to you might not be for others.

Comic dialogs

Like I said in the first part, don't stuff your pages with text. Images are better. Huge speech bubbles are distracting and often boring. Like with panels, speech bubble order is very important.

Always use the same font. You can have 2 different fonts, one for the speeches and one for the sound effects. You can play with bold, italic or even capitals to show different type of speech (whisper, yelling, etc). If you have to reduce the size of the font for a bubble, then something is wrong. Maybe you didn't keep enough space for your speech or your speech is too long. Don't even reduce the size of a font for speeches. It is ok for sound effects.

Use a font easy to read, with a decent size. If you reduce your pages size for web sites, you text must still be readable.

Don't use colors in speech bubbles! Use black on white or white on black. But, white on black is a little tiring for the eye. Not all computer screens (or video cards) are the same. The colors that might looks good on your computers might not be so easy to read on another computer. People don't see the colors the same way. Some might be color blind of have some other sight problems. Colors are often difficult to read and are distractive.

The worst use of colors in speech bubbles is to change the color of the font or the bubble for each character in the story. This can be destructive on your story because the brain is more attracted to some colors than others. The reader might not read the speech bubbles in the right order because of the colors.

You can use colors for the sound effects, but not too many. Simple is better.

Now, I will step on the toes of many comic writers, but please don’t shoot me already... Semi-transparent bubbles are usually bad... For the same reason as using colors: not the same display, not the same eye sight. Some are skilled enough to make good semi-transparent speech bubbles, but many just don’t see that it affect readability a lot. If your background is very detailed or your bubbles are too transparent, it will be harder to read the text.

Some don’t have speech bubbles at all in their comic, but “floating” text instead. It is ok for comics without a detailed background. Otherwise, it might also be hard to read.

3. Keeping your readers

Obliviously, nobody can start in life with a perfect drawing technique or the best storytelling, but here are a few tips to keep your readers hooked.

Don’t change your style on purpose

Your style will get better and it’s normal. But don’t change your style totally just to change it. The style you use for you comic is a part of that comic. People are often reluctant to changes.  Don’t draw them out of their comfort zone just because you feel like it. You want to change style? Wait for the next book. You absolutely need to change? Ok… but change the style on the next chapter, not between two pages. Changing style breaks the flow of you comic. The flow must not be broken!

The plague of the redrawing of old pages

This is a calamity. They are so many comic writers that stop making new pages to redraw to old ones. Don’t do that to your readers! You old readers want to see the new pages. The new readers will be confused by old vs. new pages. They might stop to read the comic, waiting for you to redraw the remaining pages.  Worst of all, some writers seems to only be able to redraw the same 3 pages over and over and over.

If you want to redraw you old pages, don’t stop the ongoing story for that. Do both at the same time if you can or wait until your story is completed.  And you might consider uploading the revamped pages one chapter at a time and not one page at a time. It might be less disturbing for new readers and more appealing for old readers.

One finished comic is better than a bunch of unfinished ones

Like some writers keep redrawing the same tree pages, others start a lot of comics but never continue or finish them. This is very disappointing for those who like your comics and your readers will finally stop believing in you. You know... Peter and the wolf?

Arrange your comic in chapters and books

It changes nothing to the story; it’s just a tool for readers. As a reader, if I have little time, I like to read a chapter. I know then where to continue next time I will read. It is also a good way to switch to the story of another character or make a step forward in time. And many readers will like a good chapter cover art.

Navigating between pages of you comic in deviantArt

deviantArt is not a great site to display a comic, but there are things a comic writer can do to facilitate the reading.

Put all the comic pages in a specific folder, in order. It will be easier for readers to follow your comic and find where to start.

In all your pages comments, link at least the first page (or cover) and the next page. It is very annoying to have to return to the gallery and search for the next page. Your new readers will like to jump straight to the beginning and navigate through your links.

4. Conclusion

With all the webcomics available, it is hard to make his place as a comic writer. And if you really care for your readers, a comic can be a lot of work and commitment. Even if you write the best story with awesome art, you won’t please everybody and even get some nasty comments on the way. If you want to write a comic, go ahead. If you want to publish it, now you must think of whether or not you’re able to take the pressure and if you’re devoted enough to keep up the good work and finish what you started. There is too much unfinished stories in the world already.

Thank you for reading!