#I cannot recommend Lackadaisy enough

[hot-coco]

recently read through the entire Lackadaisy webcomic + extra comics, and I think I'm in love with this series.

The artwork is amazing, and the story is fantastic.

[speedofsoundsketches]

I like you’re shadow and jolt comic giving me insperstion to create my own comic with my oc and shadow tbh I pictured my oc and shadow doing the same as shadow and jolt which is giving me courage to do my own comic with them fancomic obviously but do you have any tips on how development of a comic would work how long did it take for you to plan the comic

I've been working on this comic for about five years this coming November. From the start of developing the story to when the first comics were posted, it was about a three or four month long period of early development.

To be honest, I'm never NOT developing the comic. Each update is sort of treated as a self-contained session and while I have a plan of how everything connects, you don't really know how it'll actually work out until you're making the pages themselves and piecing the puzzle pieces together to make it all coherent. If you go to my Patreon, you'll see all the raw, first drafts of my comics and how much they changed in the final pages.

The following are my personal tips but I highly recommend also reading this post by the creator of Lackadaisy on the same subject. I followed her example for my work a lot and thankfully she's open about her secrets. :)

Tip #1: Know what your End Goal is for your comic

A lot of eager hopefuls start with a strong passion for their stories and it seems clear in your head how it will pan out. Over time, your interest starts to dwindle, passion is replaced with procrastination, writer's block occurs and you wonder why this thing you loved so much has become a total chore.

This is often due to not knowing the overall POINT to making your comic at all. What's the theme? The message? What do you and your audience GET out of it?

Shadow and Jolt has a clear progression and ending in mind that all relates to the Themes and Messages I want to impart to my readers. Try dissecting your favorite Sonic stories (or any story in general) and analyze why you like them and what made them impactful to you. Determine their themes and messages then observe how each part of the story, character arcs and such were written to serve them. What were the creators trying to tell you or make you experience?

That's the difference between a story with intention versus one that's confused or directionless. Because even during writer's block, if you know what message you're trying to tell, it gives you a lighthouse to paddle towards and keep you from getting lost in the ocean of vague notions.

Tip #2: Script It Out!

Before I ever drew a single comic for Shadow and Jolt, the first thing I did to help me develop a more solid plan was to write scripts. Some were fully realized with dialogue and action sequences. Others were outlines to help me see the full picture from beginning to end.

I've written over 30 different scripts. Many are just a few pages each but some are about 50+ pages.

And guess what? Every single one of them STINK.

These are not my best work because they don't need to be. They're meant for playing around with character dialogues, motivations, relationships and manner of speech. If a script resonates with me enough, I'll try doing a draft of it in comic form to see how it feels on paper and continue tweaking things from there. It was such a horribly cliche story at first but it's ok because to determine what's wrong, I need to see it actually in front of me and not as some ethereal mess of images in my mind.

Tip #3: Gather, Research and Conceptualize

I cannot stress enough how much doing this has helped with this project.

References I used included the games I liked the most, their production history, interviews with Sonic Team, compiled images/inspirations I found around the internet, etc. I used all this material to strengthen the ideas I had so I could start drawing concepts.

Characters, vehicles, environments.... everything and anything gets concepts. Lots of sketches, sometimes with color. I've possibly gone through almost 10+ sketchbooks for just Shadow and Jolt alone. There were a lot of things that needed testing and fleshing out, especially because it's such a big project. (and I'm just one little ol' me ;-;)

From the beginning, the plan was that Shadow and Jolt would be based on the games so my research was spent digging into the entire timeline and reminding myself of what the games are about and how to capture their essence as close as I can. I'm not sure what setting you plan to base this story on but you'll have a different set of research to do if you plan to include things from something else like Archie, Boom or whatever.

Tip #4: BEWARE SCOPE CREEP

In game development, teams start by deciding on the full scope of the project and settle on what's going to be in the game. The team makes projections on how long it'll take to complete it, set deadlines and then move to act on it.

A few weeks into production, maybe you decide to add a new animated action for the main character. Maybe then you add in a new weapon that will require another full move set to program and animate. Maybe you want to add a new character that you came up with during lunch. Maybe you have a whole extra side quest that adds a whole new plot point that adds even MORE characters who all have unique functions and animations you'll have to make-

See how quickly that can happen? That's scope creep. You start adding way more than was initially planned, thus it ends up extending the time it takes to actually finish the project.

Obviously, it's less dire than a product meant for sale but the lessons are the same. With any changes you make, be mindful of how that's going to effect you getting the story done and if it even really adds anything to your End Goal.

Remember, you only have so much energy in a given day to dedicate to your comic. Manage it wisely!

Tip #5: Live life!

This is a bit of an odd one maybe but for me at least, it's super valuable.

I've mentioned in previous posts how real world experiences helped inspire my comic. Part of what makes Sonic's world feel so lived in is the dedication the team put into making each level feel that way! Sonic Unleashed is maybe the best example of this point. I feel that Sonic was made by people who not only wanted to make a fun game series but who use it to celebrate the actual act of adventure. Living life, seeing new sights, meeting new people, eating unique cuisine, you catch my drift!

Some of my best ideas came from having a lived experience. You won't be able to write authentic stories staying in a bubble of your own making. Outside of my fancomic, I like going on long walks, exploring places or simply hanging out with my friends. So my final suggestion for you is to live a full life and be inspired by it! Nothing beats reality anyway. :)

[ferkey]

#jimruggart #cartoonistkayfabe I cannot recommend this enough. The writing and visual storytelling skills are enviable! #lackadaisy #tracyjbutler https://www.instagram.com/p/B9NFU3fgH1J/?igshid=1rykvl2oi1u9p

[kansetsukiss]

A brief introduction to the gdgd Universe

By rights, this should be nothing more than a season-end review of gdMen, but the preponderance of low ratings and confused comments about the show make me want to go a bit further. I can’t make anybody enjoy a series they don’t, and I can barely in the least make them understand its ‘objectively’ good qualities, but I hope I can offer a bit more cultural context in which to place it, which may soften the criticism borne from confusion...

What is gdgd? Literally, it’s a stylised form of ぐだぐだ - gudaguda, meaning (amongst other uses) ‘tedious, repetitive, rambling.’ As for the gd-verse, I’m unable to firmly grasp it myself - no incarnation or responsible party has been successful enough in the English-speaking anime community to warrant, say, a nicely-sourced Wiki page. A cursory study tells me it begins in 2011 with gdgd Fairies, a bizarre comedy starring three fairies having tea in a forest, chatting about anything and everything. shrshr generally introduces an absurd conversational whim, timid pkpk acts as straight-man, and taciturn krkr interjects with dark non-sequiturs and punchlines. It’s cheaply animated in MikuMikuDance, but uses its low quality to its advantage - for instance, frequently relying on terrifying stock models of old men for visual gags, reminiscent of early Garry’s Mod absurdism. In a recurring segment, the three VAs improvise captions to a brief, surreal video clip provided by the animation staff: sometimes referencing characters they’ve played on other shows; sometimes having a reference censored due to licensing restrictions; sometimes birthing running jokes later referred to in the scripted segments, as if they’ve written them into the gdgd lore. Next-episode previews insert the cast into direct parodies of popular shows; season 2 opens with a press conference apologising for this silliness, followed by a smash-cut to a Lucky Star reference. Coarsely put, gdgd Fairies does what the fuck it wants.

These are all the essential qualities of gdgd - cheap MMD animation, whole segments of VA improvisation with audible laughter, pop culture and meta-references, a general freewheeling disregard for structure and convention. Other projects by studios Bouncy and Strawberry Meets (the two sharing credit for gdgd Fairies; their exact relationship is still unclear to me) manifest this spirit of gdgd even when not invoking it by name, and have generally each tackled a particular genre ripe for parody. Chokkyuu Hyoudai Robot Anime follows three robots in the far future attempting to revive and understand the ‘humour’ of ancients - it’s incredibly dry, and deconstructs joke formats to the point that even I have trouble sitting with it. Mahou Shoujo? Naria☆Girls is a vague parody of magical girl tropes, though the ‘plot’ quickly devolves into a ridiculous string of unrelated happenings, and the majority of the show revolves around the VAs improvising off terrible prompts. It’s the worst-looking show of the gd-verse, motion-capturing the VAs into incredibly janky schoolgirl models that clip through each other (which has of course, despite its humour, translated into the lowest MAL score in the gd-verse). Minarai Diva, a copy of which continues to elude me, attempted to form an idol unit and write music on live broadcasts, similarly mo-capped and apparently riddled with technical difficulties. Tesagure! Bukatsumono follows an after-school club attempting to improve generic after-school club scenarios. And this year’s gdMen puts three male VAs in the lead for a change (sexual innuendo is much more abundant here) while riffing off isekai fantasy tropes - maybe especially funny to me, being totally apathetic towards the genre.

I’m urged to apologise for the gd-verse because I constantly see viewers repulsed by its face value, refusing the spirit of gdgd to a vehement degree. I vaguely understand why - when I finished the first episode of Naria Girls, I thought I’d found the worst show I’d ever seen. Thanks to its abysmal rating, I was entering with the assumption that it would be terrible, and the loose dialogue and poor animation are definitely qualities of terrible things. By the second episode, once the shock had worn off, its self-aware lackadaisy that had been disguised as ineptitude became wholly apparent, and I allowed myself to be taken along. I quickly realised I loved it. But I’ve seen comments that hint at viewers latching on to that initial attitude - “what is this?! It’s ugly! It’s so poorly written it almost seems improvised!” - and refuse to budge, even while staring the gdgd in the face. The initial expectation that it will conform to the traditions of anime encounters the non-traditional spirit of gdgd; in this conflict lies the absurd. The typical viewer can either accept the gdgd, or come to despise it - it is so at odds with expectations that it cannot be merely rejected. It must be destroyed.* By which I mean: I can understand initial confusion, but I can’t understand the viewer that sits through a whole season of Naria Girls and at no point realises that it’s all a big joke. People hate things they don’t understand, and it’s easier (and more fun) to hate than to attempt to reconcile yourself with something new - for instance, that animation quality isn’t the only metric of merit; or that not every piece of art is asking you to take it seriously.

Let me tell you: if you’re enjoying a guide to an obscure comedy studio that’s riffing of The Myth of Sisyphus, you’ve got the spirit of gdgd in you. If you seek to explore the gd-verse with me, I recommend starting where it all began with gdgd Fairies. Let me know how you go. And to all who may be wary, I ask you to try, if only a little, to let the spirit of gdgd into your heart. You may absolutely fucking hate it, yes. You may well be changed for life.

なーんちゃって~

*I can’t help but wonder how prevalent this mindset is. Nichijou has a devout cult following, but massively tanked on release. Teekyuu has persisted for 9 seasons purely because one Blu-Ray sale funds the entire next season. Meanwhile, a billion cute-girl 4koma adaptations are pumped out yearly (not that they’re all bad, mind you). Am I overthinking things? I know I’m touting an intersectional review blog here, but I don’t want to come off as a snob.