Value of Comics

[Froster]

I have become very interested in why we value comics, or what value we find in comics. As an aspiring comics creator, I would appreciate hearing what worth you look for from comics. I'm sure other creators would love to hear it as well. Thank you!

[Carabas]

All I want is a great story that is told with great craftsmanship, that makes use of the aspects of the comic book medium that you simply can't do in another medium.

[Kirby101]

I have become very interested in why we value comics, or what value we find in comics. As an aspiring comics creator, I would appreciate hearing what worth you look for from comics. I'm sure other creators would love to hear it as well. Thank you!

The art is primary for me. I want a good story, but with a great story there must surely come, great art.

[Carabas]

The art is primary for me. I want a good story, but with a great story there must surely come, great art.

I don't see the art and story as separate things.

And if they are separate things (say hi, Greg Land) then the comic is faulty.

[Darkseid Is]

I've read tons of novels and tons of comics. I'd consider myself a "story guy." But the art is something that makes it more personal. I can put to words why I like a certain story but I can't describe why I prefer an artist over another. For me, if I really like the art in a book it elevates it and puts it above any novel or movie I've ever enjoyed.

[Froster]

Thank you all for your comments! There is a certain relationship between the story and the art with comics that can be heavy on either side depending on the person. I am an artist, and am therefore drawn in by great art. But to keep me reading the story needs to be relatable and interesting. But we also see story and great visuals in other forms, such as prose novels or high-class films. So what makes comics different from watching a series on TV? or reading a book? What does this form offer that is different from others?

[Starchild]

Entertainment. It's as simple as that. A lot of people take comics seriously but i just look at it as something to pass the time, honestly.

[The Whovian]

Great writing is paramount. As long as the artwork is decent, great writing will keep me buying a book. Awful artwork is hard to overcome.

If I can find a book that has both amazing writing and fantastic artwork, then that's something rare and excellent.

[Kees_L]

I would appreciate hearing what worth you look for from comics.

All I want is a great story that is told with great craftsmanship, that makes use of the aspects of the comic book medium that you simply can't do in another medium.

Exactly.

So what makes comics different from watching a series on TV? or reading a book? What does this form offer that is different from others?

Mostly any creator-driven comic I've come to like will be quite particular with seeming transparently a focused effort of vision. Whereas often TV or cinema hardly shows the same particularness within one or two shots.
For example take Bill Watterson's Calvin & Hobbes, being a work which I wasn't especially looking for when I found it first, but just one or two panels of it will captivate me into reading it as something uniquely its own particular thing.
Music or books or TV/film may accomplish this in their own way - which is allright. But for me it isn't a contest between media and Hollywood certainly won't be the pinnacle of art, at all. For me it seems nice how art may come in different forms.

[Kirby101]

I don't see the art and story as separate things.

And if they are separate things (say hi, Greg Land) then the comic is faulty.

Part of what makes art great for me is great storytelling.

[Darkseid Is]

Thank you all for your comments! There is a certain relationship between the story and the art with comics that can be heavy on either side depending on the person. I am an artist, and am therefore drawn in by great art. But to keep me reading the story needs to be relatable and interesting. But we also see story and great visuals in other forms, such as prose novels or high-class films. So what makes comics different from watching a series on TV? or reading a book? What does this form offer that is different from others?

It's just that, the story and the art (when I say art I mean colorist, inkers, letterers as well). When they come together it's magic. There's nothing like it.

Also, as far as TV and movies go (other visual mediums) it's a weird medium where not a lot of people are involved in the finished product, you know what I mean? A writer, a penciller, an inker, a colorist, a letterer and an editor. Essentially six people, sometimes more, sometimes less. Probably easier to get across what you want to get across when everything clicks. Look how many people worked on the Avengers movie or Batman V Superman. Those credit sequences take longer to read than a comic haha