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Matchy
September 6, 2001 5:24 PM

How about setting up some kinda thread (hopefully you'll all add to this one) that the ppl who have made loads of comics can post on, helping newbies out, developing their sense of humour..... timing and delivery skills, how to create humourous situations, etc, I'm sure I'd like some help cos mine are pretty sucky at the minute. Flame the three post newbie if you so desire (thats me btw :-p) but I'm only trying to help myself and others.......

-Matchy-

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BigEvilDan September 6, 2001 5:45 PM	It doesn't take book learnin' (or thread learnin') to be funny. Just do what comes naturally, and don't bug us about it.
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gabe_billings September 6, 2001 7:03 PM	288
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gabe_billings
September 6, 2001 7:06 PM

quote:
How about setting up some kinda thread (hopefully you'll all add to this one) that the ppl who have made loads of comics can post on, helping newbies out, developing their sense of humour..... timing and delivery skills, how to create humourous situations, etc, I'm sure I'd like some help cos mine are pretty sucky at the minute. Flame the three post newbie if you so desire (thats me btw :-p) but I'm only trying to help myself and others.......

-Matchy-

Here's the key... Don't worry about about whether other people find your comic funny or not. Make them for you. If you come up with some idea that makes you shoot milk out your nose, great. It doesn't matter if other people like it or not.

All of us make some funny comics, and we all make some shitty ones. And frequently we make comics involving myself and donkey fucking. Which really isn't too funny so I'd suggest staying away from that topic. But everything else is just great.

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Matchy September 6, 2001 7:19 PM	thats suitably deep for me to stfu now! Thanks "Snoogans" -Matchy-
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ladyjdotnet September 6, 2001 7:21 PM	Good newbie!
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Matchy September 6, 2001 7:49 PM	May I now lick your shoes oh poster of pointless additions to threads? -Matchy-
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itsclark September 6, 2001 7:55 PM	quote: And frequently we make comics involving myself and donkey fucking. Which really isn't too funny so I'd suggest staying away from that topic. Yes. Gabe takes his donkey-love very seriously.
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ladyjdotnet September 6, 2001 7:59 PM	quote: May I now lick your shoes oh poster of pointless additions to threads? -Matchy- No.
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Matchy September 6, 2001 8:01 PM	doh! btw, how the hell do you do qoutes on here? -Matchy-
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itsclark September 6, 2001 8:04 PM	quote: Click here for help with UBB codes.
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crabby September 6, 2001 8:18 PM	quote: May I now lick your shoes oh poster of pointless additions to threads? -Matchy- Looks like this kittens got claws!
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JrnymnNate September 6, 2001 8:43 PM	Um- I think he's right. A lot of people do need help here. A LOT of help/people. Most of the stuff i see scrolling throught the front page is crap. No Offense. Of course- There are times i wanna be funny and others i just and tired.
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kaufman
September 6, 2001 9:00 PM

quote:
How about setting up some kinda thread (hopefully you'll all add to this one) that the ppl who have made loads of comics can post on, helping newbies out, developing their sense of humour..... timing and delivery skills, how to create humourous situations, etc, I'm sure I'd like some help cos mine are pretty sucky at the minute. Flame the three post newbie if you so desire (thats me btw :-p) but I'm only trying to help myself and others.......

My personal philosophy (others' mileage may vary):

Good spelling, grammar, choice of words and characters enhance the quality of a comic.
Unless you have a good reason to, don't stretch the panels, especially vertically. The way the backgrounds and characters are, it makes it look amateurish. Trim the text, even if it huts, till things fit.
Maybe most importantly, don't just make it a one-gag cartoon. Throw in some goodies -- puns, inside jokes, etc. -- for the alert reader to catch.

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kaufman September 6, 2001 9:10 PM	quote: Unless you have a good reason to, don't stretch the panels, especially vertically. The way the backgrounds and characters are, it makes it look amateurish. Trim the text, even if it huts, till things fit. Even if it huts???? Witness Exhibit A above. Writing 'hurts' would have ruined it!
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israphael September 6, 2001 9:16 PM	Making comedy is as easy as following a recipe. 31801 Damn, I burnt down the kitchen again.
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ObiJo
September 6, 2001 9:23 PM

Different people find different things funny. There is no "funny" and "not funny" in a large sense because it's all relative. Many people make the mistake of thinking: I don't find this funny, so no one finds this funny. That's a load of crap.

So, I guess I'm just repeating after gabe: write what you find funny. If you're not liking what you're writing, keep trying till you do or till you find something better to do with your time, like interpretive dance or frog licking.

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wirthling September 6, 2001 9:49 PM	Here's another formula for ya... 2744
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wirthling
September 6, 2001 11:14 PM

quote:
How about setting up some kinda thread (hopefully you'll all add to this one) that the ppl who have made loads of comics can post on, helping newbies out, developing their sense of humour..... timing and delivery skills, how to create humourous situations, etc

Here's my personal philosophy:

The more one analyzes humor, the less funny it gets.
Have fun creating comics. Don't worry about what other people find funny.
That being said, I think most people find a comic funny when a "pregnant pause" is followed by a concise punchline.
A numbered list is a lousy way to summarize one's personal philosophy about most things.
Gabe Billings is an ass-spelunker.

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evil_d
September 7, 2001 6:32 AM

quote:
A lot of people do need help here. A LOT of help/people. Most of the stuff i see scrolling throught the front page is crap.

I don't think most of those people read the forums. In fact, I'm not sure they can read at all. Especially in light of the fact that so many of them talk in acronyms and l3375p33k. On the other hand, if you're referring to stuff by the "regulars" here, well, there may be no hope for us.

I agree with most everything that other people said about "how to be funny".

That said, if you've got a strip that's vexing you, and you'd like to post it and ask "what could I have done differently to make this strip better?", I'm sure you'll find that a few people are willing to give their opinions (notice I didn't say "expertise"). That's been done at least once in the past.

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boorite September 7, 2001 9:21 AM	I offer the following parable to newbies. 11006
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kaufman September 7, 2001 10:24 AM	Oh yeah, one more piece of advice. When all is written, stick a killer title on it. The title should give readers a glimpse of what they're about to see, perhaps teasing it from an unexpected angle. I'm still proud of this contest entry: 31066 not so much for the content, but for the title I finally devised for it.
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descolada99 September 7, 2001 12:12 PM	Since I am rarely funny, I don't think I'd be very good at dispensing advice on how to be funny. But I do agree with the whole make comics that make you laugh thing. That's the most important thing. Most of my crap sucks, but I snicker or even guffaw at them, so it's all good.
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gabe_billings
September 7, 2001 12:47 PM

quote:
Unless you have a good reason to, don't stretch the panels, especially vertically. The way the backgrounds and characters are, it makes it look amateurish. Trim the text, even if it huts, till things fit.

Amen to that. Sometimes I feel a little anal retentive when I do it, but quite often I'll go back and reword things specifically to make sure that doesn't happen. There are a few occaisions with the solid color backgrounds and characters with feet where it doesn't look too shabby, but it's a good thing to try and avoid. And another thing... Clango and Maura are the only characters with enough variation to let you open and close their mouths. So if you're using them, try and make sure their mouths are jiving with their speech. It makes pedantic fucks like me and kaufman happier.

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gabe_billings September 7, 2001 12:49 PM	Creative use of panel stretching... 2857
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ObiJo September 7, 2001 1:01 PM	3027 I love that strip more than chocolate.
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ladyjdotnet September 7, 2001 1:11 PM	Oh my god. That comic kicked several kinds of ass. I guffawed at work, though. I can't be low key about my internet usage if you're going to make me guffaw at work.
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evil_d September 7, 2001 1:36 PM	More than chocolate! A high compliment indeed. Here's another one in that vein that I rather like. It predates my own, but I don't think I saw it until after I'd written mine. I think Gabe's was where I got the idea. 2360
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evil_d
September 7, 2001 2:23 PM

quote:
It doesn't take book learnin' (or thread learnin') to be funny. Just do what comes naturally, and don't bug us about it.

Folks are dumb where I come from
They ain't had any learnin'
Still they're funny as can be
Doin' what comes naturally!

My good ol' buddy Tobor
Who never read a book
Knows one hole from the other
All he has to do is look!

Folks are dumb where I come from
They ain't had any learnin'
Still they joke 'bout sodomy
Doin' what comes naturally!

It's Friday afternoon.

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NeoVid
September 7, 2001 2:40 PM

quote:
Oh yeah, one more piece of advice. When all is written, stick a killer title on it. The title should give readers a glimpse of what they're about to see, perhaps teasing it from an unexpected angle.

Completely untrue! I won the comic contest where you had to use a template with this...

21534

My titles are usually crap, but my comics are funny. I assume.

So, yeah, the best advice you can get is that no people will ever agree on exactly how to do things.

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bunnerabb September 7, 2001 3:36 PM	quote: 3027 That is also one of my top ten favourite comics here, ever. Ever.
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bunnerabb September 7, 2001 3:37 PM	Here's another: 27367
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DexX September 7, 2001 4:14 PM	Shameless self-promotion... here's my old levitation comic. 1434
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evil_d September 7, 2001 7:16 PM	I knew DexX had done one, but I couldn't find it. (Because I was more interested at the time in leaving work than in searching for comics.) I had no idea my strip was so well-liked. Cool.
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