Space Repair Garage: The Comic

[Falk]

I like how it's 4 perspectives of the same thing, but it was a bit confusing what was going on before I realized it.

[ninja_bait]

I like how it's 4 perspectives of the same thing, but it was a bit confusing what was going on before I realized it.

Thanks for the feedback. I was excited about the concept but the execution wasn't perfect.

[Falk]

Looking back at the past comics I think I would have figured it out faster if I'd been reading them all in a row, but you forget details when it's strip-by-strip

[ninja_bait]

Looking back at the past comics I think I would have figured it out faster if I'd been reading them all in a row, but you forget details when it's strip-by-strip

This is honestly my struggle... I can only handle drawing strip-sized chunks but I keep trying to tell bigger sections...

[Tzan]

I've been seeing that from the beginning.
I havent been able to follow any story here, as most strips have nothing much to do with the next.

You should really write an outline of a story arc.
Then break it up into shorter stories that have mini climaxes.
Then make many strips that tell one short story.

You need to know whats going to happen as far into future strips as possible.
Then you can do things like foreshadowing.

IANAW

[ninja_bait]

Okay, yeah that makes sense.

I haven't been able to tell from this side if the problem was just an side effect of the strip format or if it's actually bad storytelling. So I appreciate the feedback from you guys

[Tzan]

I would say its mostly strip format problems.
If you want something meaningful in such a short space, its hard.

Things like Garfield are not very hard.
1 a thing happened
2 something else happens
3 stupid look on face reaction
4 punchline or visual gag

Between strips, many times, you changed subjects.
Things would be more cohesive if you let things play out over more panels.
I could say comic style, but you can do a comic style with strips, you just leave things hanging at 4, to be picked up in the next strip.

[Cakeman]

Destroyerstrip

Ahh, *now* it all comes together. Clever! Good buildup. If this was an album, it would work out. In the net format, maybe readers will choose something else before they get to this part? I was hooked on the lego, so would ofcourse keep reading but it was a bit difficult to keep track of the storylines. Maybe if their identities/locations were clearer earlier? It's a bit too obvious sometimes, but maybe the short texts "federation space" or something like that when you switch between groups?

[ninja_bait]

Destroyerstrip

Ahh, *now* it all comes together. Clever! Good buildup. If this was an album, it would work out. In the net format, maybe readers will choose something else before they get to this part? I was hooked on the lego, so would ofcourse keep reading but it was a bit difficult to keep track of the storylines. Maybe if their identities/locations were clearer earlier? It's a bit too obvious sometimes, but maybe the short texts "federation space" or something like that when you switch between groups?

Yeah, establishing shots would be helpful, too.

Between strips, many times, you changed subjects.
Things would be more cohesive if you let things play out over more panels.
I could say comic style, but you can do a comic style with strips, you just leave things hanging at 4, to be picked up in the next strip.

In my head, it's an awesome sci-fi movie with snappy cuts and overlapping story lines.

[stubby]

If this were a color comic, it'd be easy to solve - you'd give each of the four setups its own identifying color palette, and you could immediately tell which storyline each strip and each frame belonged to. Same with unique lighting setups or distinctive character silhouettes.

Since you don't have any of those tools at your disposal, the next option would be to set up very specific and very distinct environmental styles for the backgrounds. If one group was standing in a room of starfield windows and another was in a tight greeble chamber then you'd have fast context also. The trick at that point is making sure the backgrounds do their job without visually overwhelming the characters and action.

[ninja_bait]

Since you don't have any of those tools at your disposal, the next option would be to set up very specific and very distinct environmental styles for the backgrounds. If one group was standing in a room of starfield windows and another was in a tight greeble chamber then you'd have fast context also. The trick at that point is making sure the backgrounds do their job without visually overwhelming the characters and action.

That's a good idea too. I would probably just use one or two elements in the background rather than fully rendering every scene because a. I am lazy and b. it would probably get too noisy in the panels.

I maintain a buffer so you won't see the results of this feedback for a few months, but it is really appreciated! I think it will really improve the comic - especially now that I've got all the different character groups converging, I can do extended sections and try to add in those establishing shots and background elements as you guys have mentioned.

[ninja_bait]

[Kommander Ken]

Bitch better have Repair Boss's money.

[ninja_bait]

Like I said, we're still going through buffered material but anyway, here's another hard cut.

[ninja_bait]