When people here used to have Paranatural threads there was constant shit-talking about the 'lazy' art from chapter 5 and onward. Rereading it now it seems like ghost train arc is where the series really picks up in terms of inking, shading and colour theory. This seems like the stuff new webcomic artists should be studying.
Can people articulate what they actually prefer about the earlier chapters without using buzzwords like 'soul'?
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>Can people articulate what they actually prefer about the earlier chapters without using buzzwords like 'soul'?
Early Paranatural had good usage of color, he wasn't afraid of saturated tones/dark blacks, whereas everything in the later comics started getting more dull, pastel, and faded. He also started relying more on gradient backgrounds rather than drawing things out.
With character designs, he started making everyone thicker, thick limbs and joints, kind of like what you see with the stereotypical "Calarts" designs. Also characters started getting more same-facey.
Lastly, the writing. I dropped it because there was just too many new plot threads being created and I knew Zack would take another 30 years to finish the story he wanted to tell at the rate he was dropping new pages, and I just wasn't interested in following a slow story with art decline when the art is what got me reading in the first place. There was also a sudden increase in LGBT and minority pandering. I'm gay and got nothing from it, it all felt very forced and poorly executed.
I see that the latest pages are just 2-3 drawn panels with text blocks in-between, and honestly, that seems like the only way the story will get done and I commend him trying to finish it, but it's just not the Paranatural I fell in love with, and I don't really have a desire to continue.
>I see that the latest pages are just 2-3 drawn panels with text blocks in-between
Hey now you are selling it short.
These aren't just blocks of text.
This is some of the god awful worst overly florid prose I have seen outside of highschool writing.
https://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-7-page-72
>Became a picture book at best
Jesus christ, I stopped at the the end of Ape and Gay glasses show chapter. I commend to Zach for trying to finish the story but...
Why many of those webcomics become picture books before just dropping it for real?
its for their lack of planning and foresight.
thats why its been stuck for years in one day at times.
Normally it's because the creator is an unmotivated piece of shit who just wants to get the story over with, which is why moving to a lower-effort text format is usually a sign that the comic's about to die. In this case specifically it's because of physical issues rather than mental issues (his wrist is still exploding on a regular basis) so there's a good chance that it'll actually carry on like this for a couple years.
>Why many of those webcomics become picture books before just dropping it for real?
Because of drunning kruger effect making them think writing will be relatively easy and effortless compared to drawing, making it the escape route of choice of the overwhelmed comic artist. After all, if Homestuck and Prequel managed to pull it off, why shouldn't they be able to too? :^)
>it's actually no longer a comic
holy shit
This pretty much explains all of my opinions on the comic. Great use of color and value in the early stuff. Poses felt very fluid and alive with the world really feeling "lived-in". The pastels are passable, but not what made me fall in love with the comic. I am also gay and the lgbt inclusions felt forced and detracted from the story. On that note, I really liked Zarei when she was introduced, but ironically she has been turned into a stereotype the more the story progressed. The flashback scene with her was an improvement though.
it had backgrounds
you know, stuff and details actually going on behind the characters instead of gradients and gradients and more gradients
>backgrounds
You haven't reread the comic in a while. Chapters 5, 6, 7 etc all have lots of backgrounds
>the comic
Got news about that, buddy
>chapter 5
>aka hitball arc
you have to learn to be a bit less obvious with your bait man
have a pity (You)
You're the one baiting, there are tonnes of pages with backgrounds amongst the pages dominated by gradients
Good use of color, light and shadow, imaginative spirits and powers, great backgrounds, well framed and energetic action scenes, decent mix of comedy and seriousness. Somebody should really give him a staff, because he knows how to make shit work, he just got tired of doing it all by himself.
>Paranatural apologist thread
Christ, right when you think the board couldn't be anymore contrarian.
>this comic I never read but other people say is bad, is bad
why
>BECAUSE IT JUST IS, OK?!
If you're not going to contribute anything why even bother posting dipshit
>You didn't read it because... I said so!
Do you think Paranatural is some sort of niche comic? It was popular as frick back when Zach didn't have Yoko holding him back.
Do his GF have his balls in her purse, because just the vibe from the comic alone screams that.
Her art degraded in the same way, and the degradation was apparently contagious
>everybody is blushing constantly
Probably my least favorite art habit, even in manga.
>https://imgur.com/a/ena2Txg
Thoughts?
I'm not opening that link. But, if that thumbnail is supposed to be a depiction of Max, then it looks like dogshit.
I miss this comic. I wish it hadn't just ended in the middle of the camping trip flashback.
I feel like something about the humor changed too, considerably for the worse. There were still good jokes here and there, but I dunno, it felt a lot weaker as it went on.
>I feel like something about the humor changed too
I'd blame his soul-sucking girlfriend for that.
that aged well.
I do dislike the more pastel direction and same face smoothness, but honestly I enjoyed how loose the comic looked in the later stages. The poses were a lot less stiff, action moved better. Lots of fun panels and stuff, even if they weren't packed to the brim with details. It's disappointing to see it go to an essay format, as Zack's writing isn't really that fun without the visual gags, but I do hope it works out. Don't really get why people hate on this so much when it's just some dude's ex-webcomic.
>Don't really get why people hate on this so much when it's just some dude's ex-webcomic.
Because his own incompetence and ego ruined what could have been one of the best webcomics of all time.
I don't know anything about his incompetence or ego, but Zach has setup Paranatural to be another Homestuck albeit he has a whole lot more artistic talent than Hussie. But regardless of having more talent, I'm not going to fricking give my heart (or money) to another product that is clearly on a Homestuck trajectory.
dodgeball arc... oh how i hate thee. i don't care about the art or writing or whatever but the fricking dodgeball arc being like 500 pages was insane. if i reread it, it might be more bearable but at the time once a few weeks dodgeball update was grueling. didn't know it was no longer a comic tho
Comic might as well be as dead as these threads
It had backgrounds and there wasn't this void background like it's a shounen manga that's been fricked due to a weekly schedule.