Sorry if this is a mundane thread or there's one existing, but I saw a thread a bit ago about things that will automatically make you dislike video games or something along those lines...It got me thinking about what I wouldn't like to see in a comic I'm reading. However, I find that a bit negative of a topic, so instead my question is as follows:

What can a comic do to make you excited for more, or even just pull you in from the start? A certain way of storytelling, an art feature, characters, or maybe even tropes you enjoy seeing. What draws you in?

Good art style, a cute heroine (Yeah, I know, I'm a simp), I generally prefer action-packed stories (Like my comic), so that I'm naturally interested in. Though comedy works in my case as well. And if it's so popular social media won't shut up about it, I can't help but see what all the fuss is about.

Utilizing enviros to create compelling compositions/ capture vibes/ give a sense of place. I really want to see the enviros doing the heavy lifting as a storytelling tool.

I love world building. So that

Dynamic artstyle that suits the mood of the story


More art than words (no 5 paragraph seminars in speech bubbles)


Extremely well done character designs


Good panel composition (This is one of the reasons I love boiichi and tite kubo so much)


Story/arc has an interesting central theme (most important thing imo)


Likable protagonist




And there you have it the 6 things that if included would make me read any comic

Likeable, well-written characters.

A fun or well-crafted story with world building and concepts that make me think. I enjoy mindless fun every now and again (I love psychological stories, mostly because I write them).

Text I can read and that is clearly expressed.

Hmm, let's see...

Likable main character(s), clean and easy to read speech bubbles, in-depth worldbuilding (if not in our world), natural sounding dialogue, a plot that keeps me invested.

I'm pretty omnivorous when it comes to comics, and as long as I can read the speech bubbles with just a glance, I'll give it a chance. (I don't like it when the font is complicated and the text is too packed, entirely breaks my immersion and ruins the pace I read in.) The art can be in any style and level of detail/skill, I don't mind at all. Same goes for the setting, plot and characters - with one exception: all female casts are a hard pass from me (excuse my gay ass).

Basically stuff I just generally like in comics, intersected with stuff I don't see often in comics or stories in general (if I just like something, it alone isn't enough to draw me in if a lot of others are doing it too ^^;). In particular:

- Immersive art (nice backgrounds etc, that make you feel like you're actually in the world)

- Cool format gimmicks (e.g. subtitles instead of speech bubbles), preferably serving a specific purpose

- Cool worldbuilding (my particular tastes are 'alien but naturalistic, preferably fantasy')

- Characters in the core cast with unusual beliefs (not stuff like 'worships a rainbow alpaca with wings', but more general, big picture stuff like 'wants to abolish all hierarchy')

- Uncommonly-represented mental illnesses (e.g. scrupulosity OCD, less-talked-about symptoms/'nonstandard' presentations of depression/anxiety/schizophrenia, etc)

- Stuff I'm planning to do in my own comics (tbh this is basically about me 'studying' other comics that do similar things, and 'scoping out the competition' XD)

- Superpowers/special abilities/magic

- Artstyles that are not a direct anime/manga style, but inspired by (the best aspects of) it

- Worldbuilding that explores new ideas, hybrid genres, it doesn't have to be realistic for me, just believable and immersive

- Little details that you might not notice, but show that a lot of love and attention has been put into the comic.

My tablet's stylus.

Not just beautiful art, but when the art pulls you in and really brings across mood, action, emotions, etc. There's plenty of gorgeously done webtoons that don't catch my eye because they all have the same style. Colors, lighting, contrast, EXPRESSION... gimme dat good stuff.

I appreciate a sense of humor! Even if the characters aren't laughing... or maybe especially if the characters aren't laughing LOL. I'm a huge sucker for characters who keep getting into worse and worse situations and their expressions match the escalating trouble

Mainly interesting characters, cool visuals, a unique sense of humor, and a fun energetic tone are enough to entice me!

If a work has heart or whimsy I'll be drawn in. A well done B&W comic does it for me too. No greys, no screen tones, just B&W.

Good establishing shots are a must for me if I can't take the world in then I won't be able to follow the story enough to enjoy it.

I'll definitely give a comic more than a passing look if I catch its characters using appropriate trigger discipline.

(if you gotta ask you aren't drawing it right lol)

Character and pacing.

One of the downfalls (or side effects) of comics in the electronic medium is that, as artists work on their material with a goal of posting a page at a time, or try to make some kind of quota over time (not unlike the old newspaper comic strips that churned out a few panels every single day!), the pacing sometimes suffers.

When I did the Ponderous Woman I certainly found that. The comic I am reposting now, the NEW Ponderous Woman was done with new characters and in a different format - but the biggest change was how I structured the story arcs into 5-part, isolated plots. This really helped me improve my pacing. I had a limited number of pages to get in all of my story beats.

If I read for 10 pages and it doesn't seem to be getting anywhere with the main characters, I will totally lose interest.