Saturday Revue August 27: Ten Years

Come Take A Stroll Down Possibility Lane

With

Ten Years

Should've. Would've. Could've. What would've happened if...we all ask ourselves these questions. Danny Valdez has taken it a step further, creating Ten Years: An exploration of both time and place, and the potential intersections which could have shaped my life. The story splits down two alternate routes with the opening of that dreaded college acceptance letter so many of us remember. Holding it in sweating fingers, our hero opens it and finds...well, he could have found two different things. And that's where things get going.

The Rating

I give it an A for creativity, a C for execution.

The Raves

Reading 'Ten Years' is, for a lot of Americans, like looking in a mirror. It expresses much of our collective social experience in a charming 'boy next door' way, capturing scenes that make you give a gentle, reminiscent smile and remember the time when you were in your own version of the situation.
The writing is solid; the creator is very good at encapsulating an entire social experience or life event in a few panels, and the writing flows from experience to experience in a cogent way. There's a gently affirming comfort in the work as well: even if your life didn't go exactly as you had planned, you can still find joy in it.

The art is extremely stylistic and rather flat, but also highly consistent (an image creation program I presume?) and meshes well with the story style. Nothing particularly wrong.

The Razzes

Problem is, 'nothing really wrong' and 'rather flat' sums up the entire emotional tone of 'Ten Years'.This comic is a little TOO realistic; events happen. People do things. Nothing is really resolved, and though character growth is hinted at there's nothing that calls the character to really rise or fall.

  I've lived in the Midwest, and this is the comic equivalent of sitting on a porch in a small Wisconsin town and watching your neighbors go by. There's nothing wrong with it, and on certain days it's pleasant. But it doesn't' do much beyond comfort.It is, quite simply, ordinary life in Heartland America on paper....and most of us read to get out of our everyday lives.
The creator has grasped all the aspects of comic work and draftsmanship. What they're missing is a soul. I'm hoping they'll use this as their learning project and go forward with a new idea that has a bit more zest. Everything's here but the spark.

The Revue

If you need some mental downtime, grab a seat on the porch, ma will have some iced tea for you. If you're looking for excitement, keep driving.

Backstage Pass August: Hanne DeWachter

Hey Look, I Snitched Us A Backstage Pass!

Let's Go Round The Back And Have A Cuppa With

Hanne DeWacther!

*Pours the Tea* So Hanne, tell us about yourself!

My name's Hanne Dewachter. I'm a Belgian comic artist, currently living in Antwerp. I studied Animation and graduated with a Bachelor degree in uh.. I think 2010? Since then I've been doing various jobs in animation, illustration, comics, storyboarding and just your random regular stuff.

Main Project 

My main comic project right now and for the past 4 years has been Dork Toes! To be ogled at www.Dorktoescomic.com
It's an autobiographical webcomic that started in 2012 and updates every Tuesday. So far I've been able to uphold that schedule relatively well. I've been making autobiographical comics for years before I got Dork Toes up, as a lot of other comic artists do, until I thought it was really high time to collect them somewhere neat and coherent.

Other Hobbies and Obsessions

If we disregard all things artsy for a moment, people who've read my comic in the last year or so probably know that I'm very fond of snails. Really, any creepy crawlies/slitheries you'll find when you have a random grab through the grass interest me a lot.

 I also dabble in amateur taxidermy, liqueur-making and I like to bake things that give you caries.

So, tell me about your early experience. How did you fall in love with telling
stories in pictures?

Oh, very early on. I've always been an avid reader and image-browser. I'm not sure where the interest specifically came from, most children are probably interested in pictures, but I remember taking it close to an obsessive level.

Images that told stories just popped out of my pencil naturally, as if that was the way to go. I remember one of the earliest kinds of comic I drew, when I couldn't have been more than 7 years old. It was a kind of life-cycle of a person. It included being born, growing up, having sex, having kids, and dying in a car accident. Uh. Yeah. They were very basic drawings, but that sequence could be described as one of the earliest comics I ever drew, I think. And the thematics are.. pretty telling of what I was interested in, I guess. I haven't really stopped since then.

What media and programs do you work in to produce your project?

Dork Toes is generally drawn in Photoshop or in ink on paper. Especially in the early days of Dork Toes my comics were usually drawn on paper, with staedtler ink pens and sometimes aquarel paint. Ever since I got myself a Wacom Cintiq my comics have become increasingly digital, though sometimes I do get the need for something tangible and draw a couple on paper again. I generally use some kind of brush pen now and draw on paper a little smaller than A3-size. I am a tiny person. A3 is literally too big for me to be comfortable.

Excerpt from the comic 'Scribbles'

Can you tell me about your typical day or strip-creation session? How does your
working process flow?

Generally throughout the week I'll scribble in my sketchbook and I try do draw out sketches of possible updates when I get the idea. I've found that if I keep the idea in my head for too long without getting anything on paper it tends to dissolve in my brain and be gone when I actually try to draw. Rarely when I have the time and energy I start drawing my comic on the weekend, but usually I start the comic of that week on Monday evening, and it goes live the next morning. It takes me about 2 to 5 hours to finish my comic, depending on how long it is. And it can be long. The comics generally vary from only two rows to 4 or 5 full pages in one update.

What’s the most difficult part of your work?

Ooh boy. Erm. This is a difficult question, actually, since it tends to vary from period to period. I guess you could say that updating social media and advertising myself is probably the most difficult part.
 I'm notoriously bad at selling myself, also because I don't see it as a very important part of what I do. Or rather, in a perfect world to me, it wouldn't be important. But really, being able to reach out to your fan-base or expanding it or contacting publishers or seeing new opportunities for your project to grow is a pretty dang important skill to have.
Apart from that I'm painfully perfectionistic. Curiously, in Dork Toes that part didn't really cripple me that much, maybe because the webcomic medium that updates once a week kind of forces you to let go and grow with time. I haven't started a stand-alone comic in a long time because I want the thing to be perfect from the get-go, which is a really good way to never make anything ever.

Can you tell me about your storytelling process? Do you prefer to script your
stories, fly by the seat of your pants, or somewhere in between?

Well this is kind of different for me because of the autobiographical theme. I wait until something happens and then I uh, draw it.

I never script my Dork Toes comics, I find that very uncomfortable for these types of comic. Instead I just make a relatively quick sketch in my sketchbook, which is most often “right” the first time in pacing and look, and use that sketch as the base for my final drawing. For other comics I tend to at least try to write a kind of script, but I noticed that I work better when I just start drawing instead. Less thinking, more doing.

How much of a buffer do you like to keep?

None, really. The first year of Dork Toes I tried to make some comics up front but I noticed that I find it hard to upload a comic I made previously when by that time something else has taken over my attention. I DO have multiple sketchbooks full of first sketchy drafts though, so if I'm really strapped for comics, I'll look through my old sketches and pick one that I've wanted to make but haven't gotten to.

Your comic is a very interesting cross between slice-of-life and social commentary. What gives you ideas, and how do you record them until they become strips?

Ha, thank you. I sometimes just notice when something grabs me by the back of my brain and my reflex is to turn it into a comic as a way of dealing with it. In that sense, when I'm distressed I tend to make more comics because I have stuff I need to get out and process. Making a comic is, for me, a really good way of processing what happened. It's like ruminating.

 I've often throughout my life have had the impulse to write when something is whirling around in my brain, to put it on paper gives it structure to me, and in a way making comics does the same. Giving it humour is also an easy way to make difficult things seem less serious. But like I said before, I try to just draw down a first draft in a sketchbook the moment I have the idea.

 I've recently tried out writing some short sentences as mini-scripts or reminders in my sketchbook since I sometimes don't have a lot of time to draw (also, when you work in animation you can be a little “drawn out” at the end of the day, which is sad, but it can make you draw less at home).

Your work often features your personal life;
how do your friends and family feel about appearing in your work?

I kind of make it a point of asking people if they're okay with appearing in my strips. Sometimes I forget, but over the years I've only had one person who afterwards explicitly told me to never draw them in my comic again, even though I had gotten their permission up front. But, no problem there. I would really feel uncomfortable to feature someone if they weren't on board. Also, I'm normally pretty careful with how I present people in the comics. If I draw a comic about my mom it's with a very different tone than one about a friend, at least to me.

Has anyone told you that you'll never be a successful artist and you'd be better off studying a real field and/or getting a real job?

Haha, no, actually. The opposite. Ever since I was a kid people have been telling me that I'd be “famous one day” and people have been encouraging me to keep it going all my life. .. That might have something to do with the sometimes crippling perfectionism. But really, both my parents and especially my mom are vocally of the opinion that you should always try to study something you find fun and interesting, otherwise it's kind of a waste. I'm thankful for that. And so far my studies have provided me with decent jobs, I don't think anyone right now would have the idea to tell me I should get a “real” job. Or I haven't met them, at least.

What message do you hope readers take away from your work?

Oh dear. Uhm. I try not to think of one overlapping message. I kind of hope they find pleasure in the little and big things they find recognisable and know they're not alone in many ways.

What keeps you devoted to telling the story you’re telling?

Honestly, it's almost compulsive. I know that I'll keep making comics like these even if I quit the website, so I might as well keep it going. I'm someone who does well with deadlines. Open ends make me postpone and procrastinate and overthink. Setting this weekly deadline forces me to DO. Dork Toes has been a great way to try out new styles and give me the confidence to go places and do things I otherwise wouldn't have. I'm certain I've grown a lot in those 4 years. Plus, people can be really kind. I've gotten some really wonderful reactions and messages that remind me that I'm not just imagining it or something, people really do enjoy these little comics. And that's a big drive.

Rock On Hanne! Your work makes so many readers happy, and it was lovely to get a peek behind the curtain!
Oh, and thanks for the tea!

Sunday, August 21 2016: It's Just Another Day

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today I shall regale you with the tale of Jake
And his many exes in the story...

Jake comes home to find his family being evicted from their grandfather's house. It's just another day. He breaks up with his smothering, ultra-religious girlfriend, Brianna, and has to move out of her house. It's just another day. He meets the girl of his dreams working at a local convenient store by chance. It's just another day. His father, St. Nik, has a seizure and collapses.

It's Just Another Day is written and drawn by BluRaven C. Houvener and tells the story of Jake and his quest to find love in high school and dealing with the tribulations of life at home. His family moves from apartment to apartment like vagabonds, but even with these misfortunes, Jake still holds his head up high and keeps trunking on.

Rating

It's far from just another comic...

Raves

I tend to enjoy slice-of-life work and that's an aspect of this story that appealed to me. Admittedly, when I judged the webcomic upon seeing the first page alone, I thought this was going to be some kind of "cool, strong man fights ninjas" kind of story (Jake looks pretty cool in his sunglasses), but by the start of page three you finally get to the meat of it. Fighting ninjas. Knocking someone's block off because they ticked you off. These are Jake's idle daydreams and a far cry from who he is and what his life is like, but I think we can all relate to daydreams like that. I mean, Jake's obviously a lover, not a fighter.

The writing is what makes this comic stand out and it's what kept me reading through the entire archive. Jake's narration isn't pretentious and the events and emotions from his various relationships are laid bare. The story beats move along fast and it never drags. We get to the core of each relationship he has with Brianna, Ryoko, and Nikki fairly quickly.

Brianna's relationship seemed like one of convenience. She let his family stay at her house and Jake goes between arguing with her due to their different moral compasses and enjoying the sex they have together.

Almost immediately as that relationship ends, we meet Ryoko: the hot girl. She's literally introduced as a catgirl dressed in neko-ears and a leotard, which is Jake's fetish, but her wishy-washiness and her strange relationship with another boy lead to jealously and their breakup.

Since the comic focuses on Jake and his relationships, it makes me wonder: how well does this story treat the women presented in it? I don't think we're trying to pass the Bechdel test here, since it's a portrait of Jake's life and his relationships to his family, friends, and the women he dates. The only thing I can think of in regards to women in this comic is: She's Just Another Girl.

Until we get to Nikki...

Jake thinks she's the one. They connect over the same things and their relationship grows steadily until Nikki breaks it off for reasons unknown (and through e-mail, no less). Of all the relationships portrayed, this is the one that haunts Jake and the one I found most interesting because of how it ends. It made me wonder about her life beyond the frame of the comic. What was she going through and why did she break it off? There's a great flash-forward panel later in the comic where we get a glimpse of what happened to Nikki. I wonder if the comic will ever bring her character back.

But...almost immediately after that, Jake's on to his next woman (kinda).

There's another interesting relationship that builds over the story, and it's between Jake and his father which is contentious at best. There is a cool factor about Jake's dad that he admires -- being in a biker gang and being a rock musician, but at the same time, Jake's dad also complains about his laziness and puts his son down every time he can even despite Jake's efforts to be responsible and do well.

Jake talking about his dad...

The part that hit home for me was when his father had a seizure due to his brain cancer and went into a coma. My father fought cancer for five years before passing away. I can say for certain, when something that dire happens in the family, whatever minor heartbreaks you were suffering before slip away from your thoughts pretty quick.

Jake also moves on pretty quickly...

Razzes

Most of the razzes I have concerning this comic is the art. The one thing I notice the most about the art is how flat it is. We see Jake and the other characters mostly from profile or front shots. There are a few attempts at dramatic angles, but they definitely need some reference to help refine them.

This kind of angle is hard even for me. The head looks too smushed.

Andrew Loomis has some good examples of heads at different angles

At first I thought BluRaven might not know how to draw glasses in profile because of the way Jake's glasses are drawn, but he certainly does know how to do it, because other characters look correct. There's a conscious choice to keep Jake's eyes hidden at all costs, but doing that in profile is hard. BluRaven is bending reality to hide his eyes. The sunglasses could be curved to wrap around his face, but the way they're drawn, they always appear flat.

There are some issues with head proportions, especially from profile. Sometimes it appears the back of Jake's head is too small.

Back of the skull looks too small. Could be his hair is covering it though.

I think some of the lips and eyes on various faces could also use some work as well. The lips are oddly curled when characters smile. Eyes look too almond-shaped.

When I started learning how to draw, one of the first books I had was from Andrew Loomis, and if you're looking for great instruction on drawing human heads and bodies, getting the correct proportion and how to hang figures so they all appear composed in perspective together correctly, I recommend Figure Drawing For All It's Worth. Loomis' book was reprinted a few years ago and is one of my go-to books. This is how I learned to draw heads when I began drawing 12 years ago, and I still use it today:

Revue

It's Just Another Day is a great read. It's quickly paced and you might find something relatable in Jake's life to your own. Well, unless, maybe you're one of his ex-girlfriends.

Intermission for the week of August 14th

Lads And Ladies! Your Masters of Ceremonies Need To Do A Few Things Backstage

Back With More Revues Next Week!

Sunday Revue, August 7th: Area 42

Aliens. Demons. Robots. Oh My. 

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Welcome to the crazy world of Area 42!

Area 42 is created by Mike Podgor and tells the story of Charleston Charge, an amateur paranormal investigator, and Subject M, an alien crashed on Earth. The two of them are thrown together (in side by side jail cells) and become fast friends discussing Godzilla movies and other fandom, and because of their rapport, they become apartment roommates in Area 42, which appears to be some kind of government experiment. From there, the story follows an unpredictable and increasingly surreal trajectory that vacillates between the mundane day-to-day and extraordinary moments that include fighting a succubus, demons, robots, and even a wizard.

Rating

There's a lot of promise, but the plot vacillates wildly.

Raves

In Area 42, some of the smaller story arcs in the beginning of the comic were interesting when they were about Charleston and Subject M and their day-to-day lives. Charleston and M act like normal roommates for the most part despite M being an alien. They engaged in doing nerdy things -- playing D&D, binge watching Doctor Who (Portlandia-style), and forming relationships with the people in town.

Fezs are cool.

That was a progression of events that I was able to follow and that world was growing on me. I wanted to see the relationship with Imogene and Charleston develop. I wanted to know more about Charleston's interests in paranormal investigation.

I liked the creepy story about Michael Smith and his preoccupation with being normal. 

...on being normal.

Later in these first 70 pages or so, Charleston questions his own interests in hunting paranormal activity and this idea of what it means to be normal pops up again. Trying to be normal when propped up against the fantastical side of Area 42's universe, seems like an interesting thread to follow.

As I read through Area 42, I did notice some other neat worldbuilding things, things I'd love to do for my own work. The Fictosphere contains other stories that are based around Riverwood -- the town Charleston and M reside in. Subject M appears to be in another story. Events in the comic also seem to have auxiliary notes and plot threads that live on tumblr. It seems like there are a lot of different ways to explore the world of Area 42.

Razzes

Over the course of the comic, as strange things happened to them to altered their slice-of-life existence, I began to lose the thread of the story. From a fantasy angle and a writing angle, it felt like everything and the kitchen sink was thrown at this story: robots, demons, wizards, a succubus, aliens, and clandestine X-Files styled government conspiracies. At one point M shifts into an alternate dimension dysoptia (or so I believe, since it's told to us through M's exposition) and then the comic becomes a reality TV show about interior design.

Finally, this all leads to this author note from April 14, 2015: Mike writes, "I have no idea what I’m doing or where this is going and I’m regretting my decision to make it about a reality show! Watch as I try to steer things back towards something resembling coherency, and hey, what’s more coherent than time travel?"

I stopped reading on that page.

My biggest problem with Area 42 after reading 100+ pages of it: I'm not sure where it's going or why I should care. 

As I read the comic, I also read some of the author notes, and it seems that Mike improvises pages of the comic the night before. This includes major and minor decisions about the story and it leads to some really awesome moments and plot ideas but it also leads to some big misses. 

When I was writing fiction, I remember folks talking about two main schools of thought for plotting your novel:

1. The seat of your pants. You write it word-for-word and let it go where it will;
2. You outline it and plan it out ahead of time. 

I always preferred method #1. It was fun and joyous. You put words down on page and a whole universe with characters sprang to life. You molded everything as you wrote it down. Conversations happened in realtime. It's exciting because you're in the moment of creation. 

But... it would also create some gaping plot holes. You don't really think through things in-depth -- it's all just lampshade hanging and hand-waving to move from one scene to another.

It's fun... for the writer. 

Not the reader, and I think that's Area 42's problem for me.

Whereas Area 42 might be fun to write for Mike, the whiplash from having the story change itself up so quickly really began to pull me out of it. It's like the story never found what it wanted to be and the author never stuck to it, so to fix it, why not add a new wrench -- an alternate dimension, a new character, or time travel.

It makes me wonder how much of it is thrown together as short-term filler without a longer term narrative goal in mind, and that's why I unfortunately dropped it. 

Revue

At best, Area 42 is a rough draft. There are plot threads and ideas that are interesting. There are some jokes that work. There are characters worth exploring and fleshing out, but the work needs a second pass, and that is no easy feat being a comic where hundreds of hours over multiple years have been spent to produce it. Hopefully as Mike continues to create the Fictosphere we'll get more polished pieces of work.

Saturday Revue July 30: Kila Ilo

Fire Up Those Engines!
It's Time To Fly With

Kila Ilo, the creation of  Cassie Thomas, is an offbeat jaunt through science fiction. Imagine Lilo and Stitch written for adults, and throw in a little Torchwood for good measure. Then remove all the human protagonists and replace them with truly inhuman characters. Now you're getting the picture.

Kila Ilo, the titular character, is not somebody you want to mess with. She's on the wanted list of quite a few planets and her past is...shall we say patchy? She is, after all, The Patchwork Queen. Oh, and she can and will bite. She's none too happy about ending up on a dead end contract to hunt up an ancient weapon on a dead end planet called Earth, but she's going to have to make the best of it.

The Rating

The ship's got a few dings, but she's spaceworthy all right!

The Raves

'Kila Ilo' has all the elements of a good sci-fi; a terrible ancient weapon, a motley crew of aliens, a doggedly determined law enforcement agent and a protagonist with enough skeletons in her closet to supply a Halloween fun fair. But for a snarky-sweet romp through sci-fi look no further!

I've been waiting to review Kila Ilo for some time, and it definitely met my expectations. There's a good sense of pacing to this work, with jokes at all the right moments and dialogue that keeps things moving along at a good clip. There's a dry wittiness to the work that keeps things endlessly charming and infuses old sci-fi cliches with new life. The creator's taken full advantage of their chance to comment on the absurdities of the human condition by giving inhuman characters the chance to comment on it, with delightful results.
But it's not all fun and games. A surprisingly introspective thread weaves through the snark and the silliness; in Kila Ilo the creator has explored the depths and complex meanings of friendship, loyalty, loneliness and the marks our past leaves on our personalities.

At its best, the art is stylistically interesting and eye catching, a nice stylistic balance between 90's cartoon and watercolor-inspired charm.


The vibrant color palette brings the world to life, and the slightly green tinge to the color scheme keeps strong the flavor of the odd and the otherworldly. At its best, the art is beautiful, especially in the case of singular vignettes with white backgrounds used for title pages. These pieces shine.

The Razzes

Unfortunately, the art doesn't always hit its best level. It tends to show when the creator is enjoying a piece, and when they're not, or when they've gotten out of their depth on a scene. When that happens, the art falls flat. Literally.

Despite attempts at shading, the creator often seems to forget-or grow lax on- issues of perspective and shading. The result is less than impressive compared to other areas of the comic. If the work was consistently hitting its high points, it'd be an automatic ten in my book, but pages like this example 

drag the rest of the work down. I'd love to see the creator focus a little more on their perspective and contour shading and focus on creating a truly well rounded art style. Contour shading isn't easy, that's true. But remembering where shadows fall and putting them in proper place is what gives reality to a world.
I think the creator of Kila Ilo would to well to make a serious study of the way light and shadow falls on objects. Improving their shading in general will vastly improve the overall work. If I were the creator, I'd try studying something like this photographer's guide to lighting.

 Even going back to the basics could be a good exercise. Remember 'draw shapes' and 'shade the egg' exercises from high school art class? Those exercises are still a good idea.

 We've seen what they can do at their best and it's wonderful; now I want to see their best become their standard!

The Revue

A fun and funky romp through the space lanes. Give it a read!

Monthly Matinee July: 19 Twitter Tips for Webcomic Creators!

Hurry Hurry Hurry! Curtain's Going Up!
Grab Your Seat For Today's Feature

Photo credit marccx.com

19 Twitter Tips for Webcomics Creators!

-Glenn Song-

Photo Credit www.edutopia.org

If you build it, they won't come.

It's not enough to put up a website and host comics.

I know from experience. Maybe you do too.

Eventually, I did have readers for my webcomic, and I built traction but it took time. There are many different ways to promote your comic and build an audience. Twitter is one of those channels.

I'm by no means an expert at using Twitter or social media, but I decided to start learning the ins-and-outs so I could leverage this tool better. I want to share what I learned with you in the hopes that it will give you a leg-up on how to use Twitter to better effect for your webcomic.

9 Tips for Using Twitter

You get 140 characters to say something witty.

That's about as simple as it gets.

But here's some basic and advanced tips for using Twitter.

Basic Tips

1. Hashtags

As you compose your message adding 1-2 hashtags will help it spread further in the Twittersphere. I once posted a piece of art with the hashtag "#oc" (that is, "original character") and to my surprise, it did get a like because someone searched for that specific tag. It doesn't always work like that, and this is an isolated case, but it's a way of increasing your tweet's visibility.

2. Fill out your profile

Folks do look at your Twitter profile and might follow links from it. Twitter has statistics for user engagement with your tweets, and I've always seen several hundred pings against my twitter profile. You get 160 characters for your bio so include a blurb about yourself, relevant hashtags, and a link to your webcomic.

Social Media folks also talk about having a good profile picture. This is probably more necessary if you're running some kind of consulting firm and want to show people that you're trustworthy and approachable to earn their business. But hey, if you're doing conventions it could be a way to let people know who you are.

3. The Twitter period

If you reply to someone on Twitter, the tweet will start with their handle (@AlbinoGrimby), and if that's the case you'll only tweet to that person. If you want your reply to be visible to everyone on your feed make sure the user handle isn't first. Move it to the end of the tweet or just stick a period in front of it like so: .@AlbinoGrimby and everyone will be able to see it.

4. Pinned tweets

That's how you find the pinning option for a tweet.

If you have an important tweet, such as a webcomic update or news about your Kickstarter you can pin it to the top of your Twitter profile page. This way when people visit your profile it'll be one of the first things they see. To pin a tweet, go to a tweet and click on the ellipsis ('...') and choose the option "Pin to your profile page". Twitter will want to confirm with you after you select that option.

5. Direct Messages

It's a private message on Twitter and similar to IM or texting. There's no character cap, so write as much as you'd like.

Advanced Tips

6. Link shortening

Bit.ly interface for making short links

Putting a huge link in your tweet eats up a lot of characters. Sign up for bit.ly which is a URL shortener to save characters. It can also track statistics like how many clicks the link got.

7. Hashtagify

Hashtagify for #webcomics, which gets you more hits than just #webcomic

Which hashtags will get you the most traction? Yes, you could tap into trending hashtags and if your comic is topical and timely that makes sense. If you're looking for hashtags to build audiences in certain niches, then a site like Hashtagify can help you research which tags are useful to you.

8. Tweet Scheduling

UI for Buffer. Obviously your accounts won't be blurred out. :)

It may be nice to schedule all of your comic updates all at once so you don't forget to do it later. For scheduling I am a fan of Buffer, but there's also Hootsuite and Tweetdeck. Buffer and Hootsuite also let you manage other social media profiles as well. They're all free to use but will only let you schedule a limited number of Tweets.

9. Multiple Twitter accounts

Do you have a twitter account for your webcomic, yourself, and your comic book character? It's probably a pain in the butt to log out of one and into another. You can use the Twitter app on your smartphone and stay logged into multiple Twitter accounts and switch between them easily. It does get confusing to know which one is pinging you at any given moment, but once you adapt to it, it's useful.

9 Tips for Building Engagement

1. More Than Self-promotion 

Yes, you want to self-promote on Twitter, but if you're a person reading your Twitter stream, how boring will that be if it's only self-promotion?

Engage with other folks on your feed.

Chat and share things that interest you. One of the things I enjoy about Twitter over other social media platforms is it's chatroom-like nature. It's a lot more fun when you can hit up people (or your twitter friends) for random conversations.

2. Retweeting

Retweeting helps messages and ideas gain virality. If you don't have time to compose tweets consider retweeting material in your feed that interests you, because it may interest your followers, and it's a cheap way of adding content to your stream that isn't entirely self-promotion. Your followers will definitely appreciate it if you retweet their stuff, and hopefully that means your followers will also retweet your messages too.

3. Use Images and Video

This is a no-brainer since we draw comics.

For Twitter, engagement with images or videos is often higher than text-only tweets, so I always try to include an image. If an image catches your eye it might stop your scrolling inertia. There's more of a chance you'll follow the associated link.

For webcomic updates, I wouldn't use the whole comic page unless it's a strip, but in general, you want to tease the user with something catchy to have them click and view the rest.

4. How often should you tweet? 

Let's take it from a follower's point-of-view. Someone following you may have a few hundred other people he's following and that's a lot of content in their Twitter feed. If you tweet once a day it may get lost in that flow of tweets. So tweeting a few times during the day may increase your visibility.

But, when do your followers check Twitter? On the subway to work? During lunch? On the way home? Late at night watching TV? There are tools to help you analyze the best time to tweet. You can probably also go by some common sense guides like late in the afternoon when folks are heading home. Of course, tweet when you're inspired as well.

5. #WebComicChat

@WebComicChat's profile page

#WebComicChat is an hour long conversation between webcomic authors on these days/times:

Saturdays East Coast chat at 8:30pm EST / 5:30pm PST
Sundays Central European chat at 8:30pm CET / 3:30pm EST / 12:30pm PST (keep in mind daylight savings will change the time in the US).

I recommend using Nurph: http://nurph.com/webcomicchat#

It basically turns Twitter into a chatroom and automatically adds the #webcomicchat hashtag, so that your tweet will be included in the conversation stream. This is a great way to network with other comic creators and have your ideas and voice heard. There's a new topic for every session and a bot moderates and presents a new question every 10 minutes to keep the conversation flowing. Don't be stingy with the likes, retweets, and definitely reply and engage with folks to make the most out of the hour. In other words, it's a good time to network.

I don't think this will help you build webcomic readership, because these folks are other creators like yourself, but you could look for other twitter chats like this that might help you build readership, so go forth and explore.

6. Building Followers

How do you decide who to follow? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below. I've read of many different methods. You can follow up to 5,000 users a day. There's some statistical math stating how many of those people might follow you back, but the question is: will this audience engage with you? 

You want to find like-minded folks (i.e. webcomic creators, comic readers) who will chat with you, retweet/like your work, etc. So yes, there's a spammy way of doing it and a more surgical one. The surgical one will take longer, but you may have more engagement on Twitter that way.

7. Reply Back

You have followers and you tweet about your comic, WIP art, favorite media, etc. You figured out how to schedule tweets. If folks like, retweet, or chat back with you, don't leave 'em hanging.

Reply back to them and show them you're present.

I think that's where the true power of Twitter comes into play that other social media platforms don't really have. You can hold a 1-on-1 conversation with someone even in a stream of noise. Facebook is about your friends; Instagram is photos; but Twitter is conversation (if you want it).

I realize we can't be distracted by Twitter like this all the time. If your number of followers are small then doing this 1-2 times a day won't be a chore and will pay off in the long run.

8. #ThrowbackThursday 

It's a chance for you to tweet something you've done, maybe some old artwork for your webcomic. Hashtag it #tbt or #ThrowbackThursday. This is a weekly reoccurring, global Twitter hashtag.

9. #ff for Follow Friday

On Fridays, as a way to give thanks to your followers you can do a "Follow Friday." Hashtag your tweet with '#ff' and add the handles for each person you want to share. It's a way of paying it forward. If you like someone in your twitter stream, then #ff them and allow your followers the chance to know them too.

10. Advanced Search in Twitter

Twitter's Advanced Search

Seek out engagement with new people on Twitter. You can do this by going to Twitter's advanced search and look for specific hashtags, keywords or types of tweets. You could seek out questions and engage with those users. You could find people who have something in common with your comic's theme and talk with them. This is definitely time consuming and it's using the platform in the other direction -- most of these tips are about you broadcasting to followers, but this is about searching out new people who are broadcasting out on Twitter.

Tell Us What You've Learned About Twitter

By no means is this everything you can do with Twitter -- that I know of.

If you have any Twitter tips or tricks, know a great way to connect with folks on Twitter, or have corrections or additional info to add, please share them in the comments below.

Oh, and if you want to follow us: we're on Twitter too!

Tweet to us @StripShowRevue!