Which is preferred? Storyline or random comics?

Gotta know. There's pure plot like 8-Bit theater where it keeps going (multiplot possible)

then there's mixed, where it's random comics but often with week-long plots, give or take

aaand the spontaneous ones that sometimes don't even have a cast, tho they can

Shoulda been a poll...

I'm story based, but I bounce stories... I've been told that I bounce them a bit too much...

There was a thread like this very recently. I do a combo of both. Each gag has to stand alone, but sometimes they're in stories. I guess.

I enjoy both

...as long as they're done with STYLE!

Random: If the humor and creativity can keep my interest.

Story-based: Same deal.

I really no have favorite in this one. =|

It really depends on the styling of the author, but I tend to lean towards those comics with an ongoing story. For me, it is a key factor to getting me to read from one strip to another.

I can read both, but the random ones are easier to follow just because I don't have to read back to check if there's anything I missed.

The most successful comics seem to be the ones that use a regular cast of established and semi-developed characters, but don't have intricate plots. There are exceptions of course, but having to read a huge backlog of archives in order to understand what went on recently is a turnoff for a lot of people.

I favor mixed. I also do mixed. I think a week long story is the perfect amount of time to everything you need to do and then move on to the next premise.

I'm mixed, and I don't really have a preference. Plots can really add to a comic, but it also makes it hard to get back into it if I havn't read it for a while.

a little from column A
a little from column B

This was the way I did it. I like random for the sheer fact that someone can join in where ever having just discovered the comic. But, continuing a storyline every so often is a bonus for dedicated readers and forces newcomers to go into the archives to catch up.

I like characters. I'm more concerned with them rather than how you choose to present them. So I like strips that don't sacrifice characters for humor and stories that don't sacrifice characterization in favor of plot.

I suck at continuity, so it's mostly random comics each time for me

I suck at continuity, so it's mostly random comics each time for me
here, here!

i suck at randomness, so i like continuity, m'self.

but i was raised on actual comic books more then i was on strips, so that probably has something to do w/ it.

...although my dad did read me and my brother calvin and hobbes for bed time stories when we were kids.

here, here!


Where?

There!



look over there!

The most successful comics seem to be the ones that use a regular cast of established and semi-developed characters, but don't have intricate plots.
I believe that to be exactly true. I mean, Homestar Runner is HUGE, yet it is little more than random humor featuring a few recurring characters. It is like watching Friends. You don't need to know what happened in the previous episode to enjoy it. The characters are little more than familiar stereotypes - which actually helps you get into to it. I realized that AMD would never be popular in the same way. You can't just take a couple comics out of the middle and appreciate them to their fullest.

However, I think one could make a good argument for intricate plots. Even if something rewards only the patient readers, it rewards them better and for a longer period of time. For example, look at Harry Potter. It took years for the books to become popular because of the barrier of entry, but they have become part of our culture at this point. People will be talking about the Nimbus 2000, something given context and meaning through a cohesive story, long after the random humor of Trogdor fails to elicit a giggle.

Look at some of the tv shows that have survived the ages. Nobody talks about Green Acres anymore, but people still laugh about Vulcans going into heat. Popularity may mean that they die slower, but making a deep connection with the audience means that it won't die at all.

i love green acres, though.

...especially arnold the pig.

There are exceptions of course, but having to read a huge backlog of archives in order to understand what went on recently is a turnoff for a lot of people.

Agreed. Although I think it's fun when on occasion things from the past are mentioned, because if you are a regular reader of the strip and get the reference, you feel special.

I can read both, but the random ones are easier to follow just because I don't have to read back to check if there's anything I missed.

Just start from the beginning? I suppose I'm the opposite to you, in that I tend to immediately go to the first comic in an archive and will lose interest in a comic if I don't like how it started out, regardless of how swell the most recent strips may be~

Look at some of the tv shows that have survived the ages. Nobody talks about Green Acres anymore, but people still laugh about Vulcans going into heat.

Only due to insanity. Star Trek was Green Acres quality television, abd there are plenty of sitcoms with fans in modern era. Even for something as horrible as Gilligans Island.

Just once, I'd love to see some sci-fi or fantasy series get really big and gain tons of supporters and then, on the last episode, a guy with a suit walks into the screen, looks at the audience, and announces that everyone dies and that the audience wasted their lives and should get out of their parents' basement.


.... Oh, I'm sorry, this thread had a topic.

I really don't know where I stand. 8-Bit Theater and White Ninja are some of my favorite comics but they're on opposite ends of the plo/randomness spectrum. I prefer either, but most new comics are in the middle or are pure randomness. You don't see any deep story comics breaking into the business lately.

my vote goes to random. i'm not much of a comic reader, mostly i just take a look into one or another to get a giggle out of them. following storylines is way too hard doing it like that.

I don't get you people who thinks reading a plot based comic is complicated. I mean, usualy they update at the latest weekly. It's like watching a show who runs weekly, just different, and you can check back referrences anytime you want...

Besides, I too am of the type who starts at the very beginning, no matter what I start reading.

Wee !

Agreed. Although I think it's fun when on occasion things from the past are mentioned, because if you are a regular reader of the strip and get the reference, you feel special.

I love doing that. And foreshadowing. My comic rewards careful readers. You never know what is or was an important comment until too late. Then you look back and go, "gee! It was right there staring me in the face the entire time and I was just too stupid to see it!" I like my audience to feel inferior.

Rao: While that may be true, a comic like Sluggy Freelance (http://www.sluggy.com) which has had daily updates since 1997 is a nightmare for newcomers to get into and learn the whole backstory. There's even websites (http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall/sluggy.html) that break it into chapters for people to try and understand it. While character based jokes are strong, there's only so far you can go before it starts going into characters and situations that need hefty reading to understand.

Rao: While that may be true, a comic like Sluggy Freelance (http://www.sluggy.com) which has had daily updates since 1997 is a nightmare for newcomers to get into and learn the whole backstory.

It took the whole of my summer to finish all the Sluggy comics off.







I have no life...

My favorite thing to do when I find a good story based comic is to book mark it, wait till Saturday, and spend the whole day reading it. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I did that with Squidi's, with Elsie Hooper, and a number of others. Oh, and if anyone has a good suggestion for a story based comic, I'm all ears.

So my Vote goes for Story based all the way. My comic was random daily humor almost the entire first year, but then I was just lying to myself that whole time.

I prefer random myself... although comics like lizardcomics.com and some of mallmonkeys.com are story based..

I myself do a completly random comic, but sometims I will make a reference to an older strip...

Starting at the beginning of the story works for webcomics who (they almost always do) have a navigable start-to-present archive. Other media--like newspaper strips, and to a lesser degree, comic books--have a harder time with this, because the archives can be much harder to come by. So that's why you see many more self-contained stories and one-shots within those types of comics.

Squidi is 100% correct when he says that the patient, regular readers tend to be rewarded much better than ol' Johnny One-Glance. That's why I still read For Better or For Worse, even though it doesn't make me laugh all that often...the Pattersons have become like friends of the family after all these years, and just watching them move through life can be kinda satisfying.

Depends how often you update.

Daily is good for storylines or random

Monthly books is better for storlylines

Weekly or 3 times weekly or whatever is more for the random types

make a reference to an older strip...

Hail to thee o running gag.

Random comics rock my socks, but this is really only because story-based ones never seem to have "random" humour.

I've always been biased against random humor because I just can't do it. If I try, it ends up being a text heavy mess and no fun at all. Thus, I like plots. Especially long winding ones with lots of surprises.

See, I'm pretty biased TOWARDS random humor because I can't do it. I haven't really tried too many times, but when I do it feels forced and unnatural. But overall I wouldn't say I prefer random comics to storyline comics.

The comic I do is pretty much the kind of comic I like. For the most part. Characters and an occasional ongoing storyline, peppered with a few one shot gags and/or random jokes. Randomness can be good but I like to use it more as a spice, not as an entree.

I like insanely melodramatic plots with lots of evil and cliche' hero lines, "You'll never get away with this!".... then I follow a level of randomness that continues along a clear storyline organized by "Chapters". I don't have a preferance, but the comics I read are generally storybased (aka. AMD, Gods of Arkelaan,) But then I balance it out with others like BTC and captain suppository.