Robobo - Now with more designs!

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Originally Posted by MechDeus

Seeing as how that wasn't a lot of thought, I would hope you'd put in at least that much.

But the point was, similar to what I said before, it didn't flow. Jimmy gave no indication that he was talking about movies or whatever, he just sounded like he suddenly had diarrhea of the mouth. It came off as though he was talking about something going on on-stage (I knew that he wasn't, but the writing gave absolutely no clue of that).

It's the same thing as with my questions about who Grace is: you're giving no indication as to what the hell is going on and what the relationships are. Just adding a couple words here and there can give a frame of reference that could help out tons. You could've shortened what Jimmy had already said in that paragraph and added a line at the beginning like, "You mean like on 24 last night where..."I really wish you'd shut up about those references because:
1.) It makes you sound like you're just trying to be a copycat;
2.) You're nowhere even close to being within a long shot of the quality of any of those products.

You like the Simpsons. We get it. Now go make your own comic.

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I'm not allowed to mention the things that influence me?
You again seem to think that you are the only person I need to worry about who sees my comic. Mzo got the Popcorn Piledriver comic, I'm sorry if you didn't.
The fact is that we only have 4 comics, how can you expect to have wonderful personalities based off a short reign of 1 day open?
You could easily go to the characters section and get a bit more information on the characters and see that Grace is Jimmy's girlfriend and Jimmy is in fact not a child but just a short dude. That section is there to get a bit more information on the character's while we build our comic library. Thing is we both work 40 hour weeks and have other things to tend to (like girlfriends.) We don't have time to write and draw 20 comics for opening just so that people won't confuse Robobo for an old stuffy man. That understanding will come over time.
I'm not comparing my comic to Seinfeld or anything like that, I'm simply mentioning that these things influence me and I really see nothing wrong with that. I really don't think anyone would read Robobo and go 'OMG YOU COPIED TEH SIMPSONS'.
The fact that you missed the queue that they were sitting beside a wrestling ring, and then in a movie theatre is not really the writers, or artists fault. There is a point where the viewer takes a little bit of responsibility for paying attention to the actual comic.

I really think you are being a little bit hard on our comics for some unknown reason. It's your opinion and I respect that but saying things like 'I had no idea he was talking about movies' while they are all sitting in a movie theatre watching a movie makes me wonder not about my writing but about the fact that maybe just maybe you were watching Emeril Live while reading our comic and didn't give it a fair shake?

I got the part about it being unfunny and confusing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../thumbs-up.jpg

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Originally Posted by jonas

I'm not allowed to mention the things that influence me?

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This isn't the first time you've listed them, it's not even the first time in this thread you've listed them, and you've got a sig dedicated to the Simpsons. It's fine that you mentioned them, but it also seems that whenever your comics are brought up you mention those as if they'll somehow redeem you. Your influences don't need to be mentioned time and time and time and time again.

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Mzo got the Popcorn Piledriver comic, I'm sorry if you didn't.

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He wrote the exact same thing about Jimmy's comments that I did. Where the hell did you get that idea?

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The fact is that we only have 4 comics, how can you expect to have wonderful personalities based off a short reign of 1 day open?

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Read what I write before you comment on it. What I kept mentioning was that they were inconsistent, not how wonderful their personalities were. Those aren't the same thing.

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You could easily go to the characters section and get a bit more information on the characters and see that Grace is Jimmy's girlfriend and Jimmy is in fact not a child but just a short dude.

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I shouldn't have to go to a seperate section for basic information that should be relayed in normal conversation. None of that was conveyed in the comic, hence why I kept bringing it up. Jimmy and Grace don't act like boyfriend and girlfriend and no one has even mentioned her name yet. I'm commenting on your comics and how they're written, not whatever half-assed bandaid you've tossed up on seperate pages to cover bad writing.

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We don't have time to write and draw 20 comics for opening just so that people won't confuse Robobo for an old stuffy man.

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Then work on it before you release anything. I have the beginnings of multiple comics done but I haven't posted of the actual pages or strips. You know why? Because I feel they aren't up to snuff. If you don't have the time to learn how to convey basic ideas through art and words then you need to go learn that before you try.

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The fact that you missed the queue that they were sitting beside a wrestling ring, and then in a movie theatre is not really the writers, or artists fault.

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The movie theater looked exactly like the wrestling ring and the former was amazingly bright for a dark room with a single light source. Yeah, that was 100% completely and totally the artist's fault. Also notice how wrestling is mentioned in the first panel but no frame of reference is given in the second.

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I really think you are being a little bit hard on our comics for some unknown reason.

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I'm critiquing exactly how I see it, I'm not being overly hard in any way. You, on the other hand, need to learn how to accept criticism, especially when you specifically asked it for from me.

When I posted stuff in the Artist's Block Furyfox looked at my drawings and pointed out everything I did wrong, all my bad proportions, the muscles I screwed up, etc. He wasn't being overly hard, he just looked at where I needed to improve and pointed those out. For the most part the art here is fine for a webcomic (no offense, but it's not good enough that I would ever buy it) but it still has a long way to go before it looks as good as, say, Kidnemo's comics. The writing, on the hand, is terrible. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, but that's as truthful as I can be.

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Originally Posted by MechDeus

For the most part the art here is fine for a webcomic (no offense, but it's not good enough that I would ever buy it) but it still has a long way to go before it looks as good as, say, Kidnemo's comics.

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That's nothing to aspire to. Kidnemo's comics are funny, but the panels are boring as hell and usually identical to the one before it with a differenct facial expression.

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Originally Posted by MechDeus

This isn't the first time you've listed them, it's not even the first time in this thread you've listed them, and you've got a sig dedicated to the Simpsons. It's fine that you mentioned them, but it also seems that whenever your comics are brought up you mention those as if they'll somehow redeem you. Your influences don't need to be mentioned time and time and time and time again.He wrote the exact same thing about Jimmy's comments that I did. Where the hell did you get that idea?Read what I write before you comment on it. What I kept mentioning was that they were inconsistent, not how wonderful their personalities were. Those aren't the same thing.I shouldn't have to go to a seperate section for basic information that should be relayed in normal conversation. None of that was conveyed in the comic, hence why I kept bringing it up. Jimmy and Grace don't act like boyfriend and girlfriend and no one has even mentioned her name yet. I'm commenting on your comics and how they're written, not whatever half-assed bandaid you've tossed up on seperate pages to cover bad writing.Then work on it before you release anything. I have the beginnings of multiple comics done but I haven't posted of the actual pages or strips. You know why? Because I feel they aren't up to snuff. If you don't have the time to learn how to convey basic ideas through art and words then you need to go learn that before you try.The movie theater looked exactly like the wrestling ring and the former was amazingly bright for a dark room with a single light source. Yeah, that was 100% completely and totally the artist's fault. Also notice how wrestling is mentioned in the first panel but no frame of reference is given in the second.I'm critiquing exactly how I see it, I'm not being overly hard in any way. You, on the other hand, need to learn how to accept criticism, especially when you specifically asked it for from me.

When I posted stuff in the Artist's Block Furyfox looked at my drawings and pointed out everything I did wrong, all my bad proportions, the muscles I screwed up, etc. He wasn't being overly hard, he just looked at where I needed to improve and pointed those out. For the most part the art here is fine for a webcomic (no offense, but it's not good enough that I would ever buy it) but it still has a long way to go before it looks as good as, say, Kidnemo's comics. The writing, on the hand, is terrible. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, but that's as truthful as I can be.

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You haven't hurt my feelings. Andrew asked for your opinions not me.

The fact is, you talk as if you are everyone and I've already stated that if you don't like our comic - then fine, move on. I can't please everyone and I don't expect everyone to enjoy our type of humour. That's fine with me.
What I want you to realize is that you gave your opinion and it came off as seemingly put that it is the only one that matters. There are 4000 members on TNL alone. I'm sure a good portion will enjoy our comic. That's exactly how this whole world works. To each their own, right?

Accepting your criticism doesn't mean I have to agree with it. I'm not Andrew. I don't just accept it and hope to benefit from it. I try to challenge you into maybe giving something another chance from a different mindset. Although like I said before you seem to have something against Andrew anyways.

Not a fan. First thing that turned me off was the art. My qualms:

1. Poor linework and character design. Everything and everyone is pretty ugly, and not in the sketchy, hand-drawn way...more like the unsure, shakey hand way. Also, I think you should draw things bigger and then scale them down for the webpage...some frames look like you were working small.

2. Plenty of "classic" art errors in perspective and anatomy (yes, even cartoon characters need proper proportions and design in regards to the standards of their universe). It's not like a comic strip needs great perspective, but then avoid frames where it's an issue.

3. I don't like the different fonts for different voices. That trick works sometimes, but only sparingly.

4. The coloring is sort of grotesque. This may have to do with your knowledge of photoshop or whatever you use, but it looks like everything was shaded with the dodge/burn tool. Color choices are hard to take as well, particularly the skin tones. Steal skin tones from photographs if you need to. Also, you make effort to add highlights or indicate light sources, but it's not consistent in a given frame. Again, I'd improve it or just forget about it; sometimes it's best to start simple and then build up as your skill improves.

5. The conveyor belt image at the top of the screen is slanted upward on the right. It may be intentional, but it doesn't look intentional. It's very easy to adjust with photoshop.

6. Don't make your dialogue balloons perfect ovals. You have text too near the edge and unnecessary blank spots. Go ahead and deform you balloons a bit to make them look more natural and fit the text better.

As for the writing, I'm not sure where to start. You guys seem pretty inclined to believe that there is some audience for this type of "humor", and maybe there is. It's not like most the people here at TNL don't find the same mainstream things funny that you do....I think what we're witnessing here is just a flat out failure at humor. Others have already said as much, I'm not sure what to add, but the timing, delivery, and content of each comic is abyssmal.

I think having some sort of theme in the characters' happenings and dialogue would be a good start. So far, it's pretty random. Granted, there's only a few to start with, but if I ever try for an online comic, I won't go public unless I have two dozen solid entries. Chances are, once I generated that many, half of the first ones I made would be discarded in light of what I came up with later. But, establishing some motif or general theme would be a major improvement and something to expand from once your readers were comfortable with the characters.

Ultimately, I find the art to be so off-putting that I wouldn't bother reading it to find out if it was funny or not. The pictures have to be funny and attractive themselves, otherwise why even have it be a comic. Then I'd worry about having something to say and being "funny" with punchlines and set ups...something like the Far Side often got away with no dialogue at all (and a single panel), just something to think about.

Let me just ask a simple question.

Do those of you who don't like our comic like say Penny Arcade or PVP? Do you think they are funny all the time? Or very hit or miss?


I really want to practice getting my writing to reflect my true humor but sometimes I find it is hard to do in only 3-4 panels.

I would say that those comics are consistently amusing, and occasionally outright funny. In Penny Arcade's case, the strips are almost always fun to look at, even if the punchline is just some violence and/or swearing, which as others have mentioned, does get tired. You'll notice that in both those cases, the frames are much cleaner and simpler than in Robobo (especially in regard to background details).

I feel the same way about Penny Arcade. It and Achewood are the only online strips that I check up on every once and awhile for a laugh, even if their methods are pretty low brow sometimes.

I think you should redesign Grace also, because I thought she was a middle-aged woman from the way she's drawn. I assumed she was the mother from the bath comic. I think it's mostly her cheekbones and height difference.