Doomed Endeavors

[snicks_chan]

I've been thinking more and more about starting up some kind of weekly autobio comicy thing, but I find myself waffling between two concepts:

Slice o' Life stuff:
A redux on the starfish chibis of yore (with better art?), kind of a sitcom on paper.

Pros:
-I know a lot of very witty people
-Good chance to expand on drawing body types, faces and age

Comments

[naiad_kitty]

I, of course, would love to read either comic :) I think that you're right about the fostering comic being a ball of potential. So much could be done with it! And it doesn't have to be you-centric. It could be Franny the Fosterer or whatever.

Of course, on the other hand, I love in-jokes, so the starfish comics would be right up my alley, too :)

Considering the last bit, what would be easiest to draw?

[snicks_chan]

I admit that I've thought "I could actually DO SOMETHING with this in industry newsletters!" in regards to the fostering comic. Kind of like how Knit Princess shows up in issues of Twist Collective now. The rescue community is smallish, but they put out a LOT of bulletins.

(Is it silly that most of my me-centric fears are related to the fact that I strongly resemble Hazel from Girls With Slingshots, and I'm worried about accusations? I guess that'd apply to either comic, especially if you consider the Katherine/Jamie parallels.)

I think it would be easier, from a storytelling perspective, to move through each foster as a chapter. I'm still trying to figure out how I could best translate friends-group stuff to a coherent medium (watch more sitcoms?) without confusing the hell out of readers and/or occasionally referencing serious matters.

[naiad_kitty]

But Hazel is allergic to cats, so you're ok ;) Also, I don't really see more than a superficial resemblance between Jamie and Katherine... then again, I've never heard Katherine use her "teaching voice" so maybe I would think of her less of a squirrel if I did ;)

Starfish comics don't need to be coherent! If it's funny, it's a stand alone strip! If it's not, don't include it! If it confuses the readers, well, too bad!

[snicks_chan]

I'm telling her you saaaaiiiid thaaaaat~!

In the interests of possibly reaching a wider readerbase, it has to at least make sense!

[angel_vixen]

What if you were to merge the two, since fostering is a substantial part of your life, and see how you feel after a bit? Then you could focus just on kitties or on slice-on-life, depending on what element you feel is most successful (or that you enjoy more). You might also find leavening more serious things on the fostering-end with "witty people" banter is a help.

Just my tuppence. ^_^

Also, "when do I show up?" seems kind of... I mean, maybe I'm just reading into the comment too much. But I'd be more flattered (and maybe a little "O.O You're doing what? You're drawing me and putting me on the INTERWEB?"), rather than "I've got to think of something AWESOME for her to put up."

AngelVixen :-)

[snicks_chan]

I don't think they could be merged too well, since much of the humor in autobio comics comes from a working knowledge of a character's personality, which you have to build up to. But if I went with the foster aspect, it would be easy enough to introduce people who A) have adopted my fosters or B) help out with catsitting and the like.

My hand to god, people were getting grouchy. It wasn't even a matter of being funny, it was just whatever happened to stick in my head. And while all of my friends are good people, some (Katherine, Nick, Michael) are just better at off-the-cuff hilarity.

[halofire]

Skittles.

I say also to blend both! You can always use different styles for different story threads (see Sinfest) ex: starfish for good one liners.

[snicks_chan]

I don't think I'd be using the starfish style at all. I know it was popular at the time, but go back and take a look at those strips. They are Not Good. And I think I've learned my lesson on trying to blend to many storylines (see: FAF) to think that's the best idea. If my English degree taught me anything, it's that a lack of focus and a tendency to bury the lead are my biggest weaknesses.

Now, I could do two SEPARATE comics and update on an alternating weekly schedule...but then nothing would ever get done!

[halofire]

"And now for something completely different" IS probably harder to pull off than it looks.

It sounds like, in general, sitting down and jotting down the various one-offs or storyline ideas, and start setting down a schedule might be useful (I'm not sure whether you'd have that in the pros or cons list!). It might help you balance how many characters you want to juggle, or how to space out introducing them so you don't go "omg you have to meet EVERYONEckalrpoir*piff*" and get overwhelmed.

[snicks_chan]

Bingo: how do you introduce a cast of thousands? Regardless of which way I lean, either project will at least involve the early Knit Night people (between bottle babies on Tuesdays, catsitting and eventual adoptions) to some degree, and then there are my old Pitt roomies. There's probably a line between "autobio" and "but the story makes more sense if I leave out this chunk."

Not to mention that now I'm all, "Oh hey, I don't know anything about screenwriting or directing the progression of a scene, maybe I should pick up some beginners books on that before I start thumbnailing..." So this is WORK, is what I'm saying.

[stalker1869]

I just have two words for you...

DO IT!

[snicks_chan]

Time to at least work up some preliminary doodles!

[halogencat]

I would read anything you want to draw; you are funny and talented!

Don't worry too much about starting out, since it can take a while to figure out the style and tone you want to go for. If you look back at the archives of most comics, they all change over time. You will figure out what you want it to be, and it will be marvelous.

[snicks_chan]

That's true! My comment to Michelle about GWS had me looking at the beginning of that comic just to see how it introduced its characters. Man, Corsetto really worked out a much more simplified and streamlined style over time (though her original work is beautiful)!