Magravan:Kupocake:
For Mushroom Go, interesting! I think I can see that viewpoint. If a new artist came on board that was even grittier than the original artwork, do you think it'd have the same backlash?
Yes and no.
Another aspect to the story of Mushroom Go's thing was that it was in response to finding his site on a webcomic slagging site (Which I wont dignify with a link, and wouldn't suggest anyone go looking for it either), and finding that they weren't sure if it should be there or not... So I would have been disappointed that he bowed to pressure from some jerks on the internet in a desire to make the comic 'better' at the expense of getting better himself over a longer period... One of the things I like about webcomics is the closer relationship between creator and reader, and I wanted to see how he improved as much as I wanted to see the next strip...
I guess the part of it that bothered me was that it felt like he changed to cater to the trolls. He's a decent artist in his own right, and his style fit the story he was telling. Would I have liked a better, grittier thing? Maybe. More than what it actually changed into, definitely. But at the same time, it was like it took out the soul of the project in order to buff the body.
So in my opinion, it would have been better than the art that they went with, but worse than if Morgenstern had just kept drawing it himself. I would have preferred to continue the journey through his world at the same time that we watched him progress in skill.
I'm glad you mentioned this, Mags. I just re-read TOGM last week and was struck by the fantastic progress of Skrael's art. It progressed more slowly when I read it the first time, but when reading it back to back, the change was remarkable. 0_0
It almost improved too much. That's not a criticism, just an observation. I found myself fondest of the art in the latter half of book two, which had a light cartoony feel to it, but still looked clean and professional. It seemed to fit the story best. (Art like in your banner.) But, as Skrael improved to near anotomical perfection, especially with Chad, Beth, and Sylene, the cuteness of the characters seemed, for me at least, to dim a bit.
I realize that the comic had progressed from a more humorous, semi-comedy to a much more serious plot-centered yarn, but I liked the art best before Skrael read all those anatomy books. ;)
I generally agree with
KentuckyFriedPopcorn's view... that the art and story should suit one another. Art that's too good for the writing can throw the story off as much as poor art can ruin a well written strip.
I try to balance the two in my own cartoon, though I don't know if I succeed or not. It's a struggle all of us go through, I suppose.
In the end, it all boils down to personal taste.
By the way... what the heck is slagging?