Huntresses Attack Monsters --in 2-D!

[Devor]

I was looking at the Webby Awards a few weeks ago, and I hate that page because of it's loading issues. But it's scroll through like your comic, going on and on through dozens of awards. Not only that, but several of the webby award winners use the same scroll-through-forever format. It seems to be the big thing of the moment. Again, I don't have a smartphone, but in my mind that would seem to validate your choice . . . although again, for me on the PC, I really hate it because of the loading issues (which was minor on your comic at the moment, but major on those other sites).

Schlock Mercenary, the web comic by the guy on the Writing Excuses podcast, does daily issues (about three little boxes) with a big Sunday strip (about three times as large as a daily strip, often with huge action boxes filling the space). So if you're thinking about doing comic enders / starters, you may want to consider how your style might also change to reflect that.

But your biggest challenge is going to be keeping up with the comic and settling into your style. I'm sure that already you're thinking things like, "I'm happier with this comic issue, and that one isn't sitting right with me, and I can do all sorts of crazy things based on what I did there." All the website stuff is nothing compared to that line of thinking that must be going through your head. You can fix the little website issues whenever - right now it's all about you figuring out how you're doing that thing you're doing that nobody else can really put their finger on. That's the important thing. Keep it up!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Scrolling forever isn't what I did because it's big. It makes sense to me. However, I need to respect that not everyone has the same tech, and there's a point where you need to turn the page. I think this strip or next is that point.

I just made prev/next buttons that go on the left side of the screen. They'll show up next time I update.



And yeah, you're right. There's a lot more on my mind than site design. But it was helpful to get the comments so I now know to stop scrolling sooner than originally planned.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

It's a bit screwy to have the buttons up now, but I decided to publish the site with prev/next buttons and a newest-strip-only page. Of course the existence of the buttons will make more sense once I have a lot of pages.

Under story, you can go to "the latest adventure" or "in the beginning..." and I'll have another subheader for the current page when page 1 is no longer the current page. Three subheaders is what I consider the max. I won't clutter the menu with page 2, page 3, page 4...

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

This week's strip is called "The Road Not Taken." It features a road.

Baldhart lives on the Iron Mountain, which is the literal translation of her last name, Eisenberg. Addison lives in the Highlands because the Lanes are probably sort of like highlanders. I put more effort into drawing places than naming places.

Since Nimue mentioned issues with loading time, this strip will be the first strip on page 2. That's right. The scrolling isn't endless because I ended it at strip #5.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Holy crap! My site is being read in 10 countries! Of course the spike was yesterday, before my midnight update to the Story, and the Blog, and the Characters page... and the Portfolio. I hope they'll check back and see all the new stuff.

How do Malaysians even know about HAM2D?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

HAM2D has visitors from 21 countries! I hope all those people know I update Friday, meaning there's new content today. Check out the Story, Blog, and Characters (People) pages, all of which updated a half hour ago.

EDIT - On a sidenote, I'm pretty happy with my image for the characters page. Normally, I just use a screenshot from an actual comic panel. For the Lanes, I pieced together two images of the dad and edited mom a bit for group-hugginess.

 

[Devor]

I just want to say that Baldhart's first expression at the dinner table is pure gold.

If you can commit to updating every Friday, you could think about posting that at the bottom of the front page.

Also . . . maybe it's me, but I kind of didn't get the last frame.

Spoiler: For those who haven't read it

Why is she surprised that chocolate is brown?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Well, there will always be hits and misses, but...

Spoiler: the answer to Devor's question

..."The Princess and the Peas" is the first revelation that the Eisenbergs are "Haves;" the Lanes are "Have-Nots."

Rainbow peas filled with chocolate is an absurd example of the privileged having access to things normal people don't know exist. Baldhart's amazed by seeing something ordinary, like green peas with no chocolate. I don't know what chocolate looks like in the Eisenberg Castle, but it's not brown.

 

[Devor]

Spoiler: What I was expecting

The wealth gap came across fine. It just looked so much like you were cementing an M&M reference that I went, "If she's not mistaking M&Ms for peas, then what exactly is she eating?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

@Devor, maybe that was poor use of emphasis on my part. Oh well. To be continued next week anyway.

@Nimue, I set up the first/last images as previous/next since, on a mobile, the prev/next buttons can't follow you making them pointless. Maybe the option to go back isn't necessary since you can use the mobile menu. But what do you think of the final image as the "next page" button. (That option was always there since I created page 2. I just didn't make the frame turn red when you hover/touch until a few minutes ago.)

EDIT - I just have last image as next button and no previous since it's totally pointless on the phone. The previous button is too easy to press accidentally, and that sucks.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

The Pointy-Helmeted Boss–er, I mean Veep–inspired me. There are a few things that happen in my strip which have perfectly logical explanations. So... new feature on the site: "Essential Questions." If you keep your cursor in the middle of the screen, some panels will turn red and a question will appear.

Huh... I think I'll go edit that now because I didn't consistently use title capitalization, but anyway, this feature will be on three strips including Friday's.

This feature is NOT available on the mobile site. It's way too easy to accidentally click on the frame if you're using a phone.

 

[Devor]

The Pointy-Helmeted Boss—er, I mean Veep—inspired me. There are a few things that happen in my strip which have perfectly logical explanations. So... new feature on the site: "Essential Questions." If you keep your cursor in the middle of the screen, some panels will turn red and a question will appear.

That is a brilliant idea!

So far I would say:

A for the artwork.
B for the humor so far, but keep it up and you'll get there.
A for the site and the logistics, although there are still site features you should add over time.
A for the characters, but you'll need more than two of them to carry the story in the long run.

TBD for the plot. This is, to me, the only big question left. Can you pull off, like, a memorable epic payoff moment? Fortunately, you don't need to for another two or three months. Web comics tend to play the long game. But I'm looking forward to seeing what you can come up with when the time comes.

I mean, really, you are doing a phenomenal job of this, John. I knew you had the potential in this area, but you've really shocked me with just how much of that you've been able to put together and deliver on.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Glad you like it.

I like it because there is so much of the story left untold. As of tomorrow, I'll have an Essential Question for every strip on page 2 (strips #6-9). If you've been keeping up, that means strips 7 & 9 will have new information. I also have a couple characters chime in in tomorrow's EQ answers. It sure is easy to add a character on a whim when you don't need to draw him/her!

For those who know who Nissa van Donk is, she enters the strip tomorrow. I was going to make her the littlest Valkyrie, but I decided that there won't be any divine intervention in my story. (Or at least not so obvious as a winged messenger of a goddess.)

The story still has just Baldy and Addy as mains, but that doesn't mean they won't have others in their adventuring party. Some of the "important people" (see characters submenu) will be the focus of some strips. The Veep will have his own strip for #11 (I think). I don't know if the fantasy high arc will end with a payoff you'd find epic, but there is an endgame I had in my head before drawing anything.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

The Veep's Iron Office Chair comes with a desk, complete with Tower Shield Desktop.

The story (such as it is) takes place back in the day that desktop meant "the top of a desk."

 

[Heliotrope]

Following along the princess and the peas? Omg I loved that! Actually laughed out loud. Scared my daughter in the bath.

 

[Devor]

I just saw that you had added an essential question to the last comic on the first page of strips, "What was the plan?"

I was amused.

You might want to put up an index listing the essential questions.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Yeah, strips 3-10 each have a question. I don't think any of them have a straight answer.

Index... coming eventually. (Reply to your PM coming sooner.)

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I don't know if I should post personal stories on a webcomic blog. But then, there are probably a lot of shouldn'ts that I'm doing on my site, so what's one more Internet faux pas? My blog is about a photo taken ten years ago today.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I was going to take a couple weeks off from the comic. Instead, I made a three-part holiday special and drew the 12-25 and 1-1 strips early. The Christmas strip is my third textless piece. I don't know if people like these, but they are fun to draw!

 

[Ruby]

Hi Legendary Sidekick! Merry Xmas and I love your cartoon strips. You're so talented! The one about the Princess and the peas is hilarious! I recognise some of the characters from our Flat Earth RPG.