# Come critique my new online comic strip!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 19, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869 "2002-06-19T14:37:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/1 "2002-06-19T14:37:20Z")
After talking about it for nearly 8 years and actively procrastinating on it for about 8 months, I’ve finally DONE IT!
I launched my online comic strip, “Scandal Sheet!”
Here’s the URL:
[http://scandalsheet.keenspace.com](http://scandalsheet.keenspace.com)
It updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for now - once I get faster at it, I may possibly switch to a daily format.
I’m really interested in what you folks think of it, good or bad. If there’s something you would do differently, tell me! I may not use your suggestion but I still want it.
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### Author:  [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/2 "2002-06-19T14:41:05Z")
Oh, I suppose it’ll do. Geesh. 🙂
You already know my opinion but I had to check in. 😃
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### Author:  [@Pucette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pucette)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/3 "2002-06-19T14:47:57Z")
I’m really enjoying it so far, for what it’s worth. I like the drawing and the story 🙂
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/4 "2002-06-19T15:37:19Z")
So far, so good… it’s piqued my interest - I’ll be checking back for future strips.
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### Author:  [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/5 "2002-06-19T15:41:44Z")
I’m enjoying it.
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### Author:  [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/6 "2002-06-19T16:23:20Z")
Pretty good so far. I’ll bookmark it.
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### Author:  [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/7 "2002-06-19T16:30:46Z")
Good stuff! I like it.
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### Author:  [@Kiki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiki)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/8 "2002-06-19T16:37:02Z")
I really like it. I like the different views you used. Especially the June 7… looking down onto the top of Max and Foster’s heads and the open beer cans on the table. That was pretty cool… and it’s funny. I really like the humor in it. I’ve got it bookmarked so I can see how it plays out. Keep it up!
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/9 "2002-06-19T16:44:52Z")
Drew a little inspiration from the Pit for the latest strip, eh? That’s classic flamage, and I’m taking notes in case anyone drags me in there some day.
I particularly liked the “branch manager” strip–I’ve done some serious resume-doctoring in my time. 😃
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### Author:  [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/10 "2002-06-19T19:16:32Z")
Gawrsh, isn’t ANYONE going to come in here and say something like, “You SUCK! Garfield RULES!”?
Thank you, all of you, for the compliments.
**Kiki** - (you aren’t named after Kiki the ferret in [Sluggy Freelance](http://www.sluggy.com), are you?) I’m very proud of how that top-down view turned out myself - you have NO idea how I struggled with that panel. I drew and redrew and redrew it over and over. I’m glad it impressed someone. _grin_
**Balance** - Why, whatever do you mean, sir? I NEVER set foot in the Pit. _wink_ Okay, I do, but that particular flame is pure original Cheffie. For more of my flamework, do a search in the pit for a thread from a year or two ago called “Democritus - pucker up, ass slammer!” (no, it wasn’t ME calling Demo that.)
I can’t WAIT for everyone to see what’s coming in the next couple of weeks. Let’s just say that before Foster finally breaks down and apologizes to Max, he will be forced to take a job with… ironic overtones.
Remember, folks, pimp me out to everyone you know - my massive ego is demanding higher site traffic. _grin_
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### Author:  [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/11 "2002-06-19T20:34:52Z")
I like the way the characters are drawn but I think you should draw a background, it makes it look more professional.
What is the protagonist doing with his hands in the third panel of the first comic?
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### Author:  [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/12 "2002-06-19T20:38:45Z")
Well I’ll tell you like I told you at lunch the other day, your comic suc…Ooooo, shiny!
Just kidding! I’m loving it, hon.
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### Author:  [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/13 "2002-06-19T22:14:37Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by puddleglum \*
> \*\*I like the way the characters are drawn but I think you should draw a background, it makes it look more professional.
> What is the protagonist doing with his hands in the third panel of the first comic? \*\*
Well, he’s not pleasuring himself if THAT’s what you’re thinking!
_grin_ actually, he’s swinging an imaginary lightsaber. I know, the artwork is really muddy on that first strip - I was using a liquid-ink pen on paper that turned out to be too absorbent.
On the background issue, I’m trying to get better about including them, because I agree they add to a comic’s overall richness. Still, a quick perusal of my local paper reveals that less than half of those professional, syndicated cartoonists do any backgrounds at all, and of the remainder, many draw backgrounds that are rudimentary at best. So I’m in good company, anyway.
Part of the problem is that back in college, when I was drawing my first comic strip, I went WAY overboard putting in backgrounds and the result was that it took way too long and the strips were visually cluttered. I’m working on finding a happy medium.
Thanks for your input!
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/14 "2002-06-19T22:16:15Z")
I didn’t mean to imply that it wasn’t original, **Cheffie** –I merely meant that it exemplifies the style of our very finest Pit flames. Flames that are cutting without resorting to profanity are an art unto themselves.
I passed the link to a couple of coworkers I think will appreciate it. They both liked the resume-tweaking strip.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/15 "2002-06-19T22:36:07Z")
So far, so good. I’m always partial to slightly warped humor.
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### Author:  [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2002, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/16 "2002-06-19T22:48:30Z")
That’s good stuff, **Chef Troy**. I like the artwork and the writing. I can relate to the characters. I mean, I feel like you’ve done a good job of presenting their personalities.
One suggestion would be to introduce another character or two (or several). You were probably planning to do that anyway after things get more established.
Journalism is a great job for the protagonist. You’ll have an endless source of situations to put him in, based on crazy stories he is assigned to cover. And any time something wacky happens in the news, you could get him involved.
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### Author:  [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/17 "2002-06-20T01:20:30Z")
Call me a shithead if you like, but I hate scrolling (where I can avoid it). Is there a way you can keep the clarity of content but squish it down to a 1x4 rather than a 2x2?
While on a T1 connection I’m not fussed by the size of the images, but at in excess of 100K, you may be losing some viewers 'cos they won’t wait for 20 seconds for the pic to load.
Maybe a ‘tad’ more compression on the final product.
Not being American I also don’t know what a ‘Orkin Men’ are. If you are publishing on the net, then you may want to limit the Americanism’s or remove them altogether. I simply didn’t get the punch line.
I like the lack of backgrounds. Leaves the images clear and to the point.
In 20020617, is Max gay? His actions in scene 3 don’t match his words in scene 1. Don’t flame me. I know I’m sterotyping, but that’s what I saw. It may not be accurate, but it may be confusing.
Oh, and your burstnet banner isn’t working (if it’s yours).
Apart from those crits., keep going.
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### Author:  [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/18 "2002-06-20T17:41:57Z")
More thanks to the people who are bothering to look and comment.
**heresiarch** - Some new characters (albeit temporary ones) are coming in the June 28th strip as Foster embarks on what I promise will be a humiliating and hubris-destroying job search. Once he realizes he’s actually sunk LOWER than working for a tabloid and takes a job alongside Max, the remainder of the permanent cast will show up. They will include:
[ul][li] **Millard Detweiler,** the publisher of the “Comet”[/li][li]Ito Masello, who lives in the same building as Max and Foster and may be a love interest later on[/li][li]Andrea Campos, friend and co-worker to the boys and web-comic artist (we’ll see examples of HER comic, “Klee Shade,” in _Scandal Sheet’s_ space on occasion)[/li][li]Assorted employees of the “Comet.”[/ul][/li]And if you think journalism is a great vehicle for introducing wacky storylines, imagine how fun reading the adventures of a **tabloid** journalist will be. (petite spoiler: Lots of the things you read in most tabloids are made up - but the stuff you’ll be reading in the Comet is often TRUE.)
**Caught@Work:**
I understand your distaste for scrolling - but it seems to me that people have grown accustomed to vertical scrolling by and large, and it isn’t as onerous as having to scroll SIDEWAYS. (now that’s REALLY annoying!) I decided that I prefer the 2 x 2 format because it gives me more room to stretch out.
The image size worried me too… it was the result of my not really knowing my way around Photoshop. But I’ve discovered how to reduce the palette of colors to just those I’m actually using, and that makes a HUGE difference. Future strips will be considerably smaller in file size.
The “Orkin man” is the personification of Orkin, a national company here in the U.S. that specializes in pest control. The punch line refers to how frighteningly bad the cockroach problem is in Foster’s apartment building.
Re: backgrounds - see above. I intend to use them when it seems called for and keep them simple.
Okay, _wink_ get your asbestos underwear on - Max is not gay, and it’s preposterous to assume he is just because of the way he gestures in a single panel. As to what his orientation IS, well, I’m not addressing that issue just yet. (for the record, he’s waving his hand dismissively in that panel - a “pshaw” kind of thing - and who says gay guys are all limp-wristed anyway? Do you actually KNOW any? _grin_)
The banner ad is placed there by Keenspace, the site that hosts my comic. I’ve noticed it goes sour once in a while.
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### Author:  [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/19 "2002-06-20T17:57:59Z")
More thanks to the people who are bothering to look and comment.
**heresiarch** - Some new characters (albeit temporary ones) are coming in the June 28th strip as Foster embarks on what I promise will be a humiliating and hubris-destroying job search. Once he realizes he’s actually sunk LOWER than working for a tabloid and takes a job alongside Max, the remainder of the permanent cast will show up. They will include:
[ul][li] **Millard Detweiler,** the publisher of the “Comet”[/li][li]Ito Masello, who lives in the same building as Max and Foster and may be a love interest later on[/li][li]Andrea Campos, friend and co-worker to the boys and web-comic artist (we’ll see examples of HER comic, “Klee Shade,” in _Scandal Sheet’s_ space on occasion)[/li][li]Assorted employees of the “Comet.”[/ul][/li]And if you think journalism is a great vehicle for introducing wacky storylines, imagine how fun reading the adventures of a **tabloid** journalist will be. (petite spoiler: Lots of the things you read in most tabloids are made up - but the stuff you’ll be reading in the Comet is often TRUE.)
**Caught@Work:**
I understand your distaste for scrolling - but it seems to me that people have grown accustomed to vertical scrolling by and large, and it isn’t as onerous as having to scroll SIDEWAYS. (now that’s REALLY annoying!) I decided that I prefer the 2 x 2 format because it gives me more room to stretch out.
The image size worried me too… it was the result of my not really knowing my way around Photoshop. But I’ve discovered how to reduce the palette of colors to just those I’m actually using, and that makes a HUGE difference. Future strips will be considerably smaller in file size.
The “Orkin man” is the personification of Orkin, a national company here in the U.S. that specializes in pest control. The punch line refers to how frighteningly bad the cockroach problem is in Foster’s apartment building.
Re: backgrounds - see above. I intend to use them when it seems called for and keep them simple.
Okay, _wink_ get your asbestos underwear on - Max is not gay, and it’s preposterous to assume he is just because of the way he gestures in a single panel. As to what his orientation IS, well, I’m not addressing that issue just yet. (for the record, he’s waving his hand dismissively in that panel - a “pshaw” kind of thing - and who says gay guys are all limp-wristed anyway? Do you actually KNOW any? _grin_)
The banner ad is placed there by Keenspace, the site that hosts my comic. I’ve noticed it goes sour once in a while.
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### Author:  [@Pucette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pucette)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-critique-my-new-online-comic-strip/114869/20 "2002-06-20T18:53:51Z")
Cute plugette you got over at Boy Meets Boy today 😉
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