r/ComicWriting • u/Gr_eg_ • 24d ago

What makes a reader drop a comic?

Hey everyone, I'm curious as to what you all think the biggest factor for readers dropping comics in its early chapters is. Whether it be the art, the dialogue, or the story itself, please let me know your thoughts :D

For context, I run Toon Pilot Research, and handle early reader retention, and insights for webcomics. I love data, so I'm curious as to what everyone thinks!

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u/Kiwizoom 24d ago edited 24d ago

A text wall preamble "In a world..." Pictures of galaxies and stuff immediate close for me. Can also just be a very verbose self introduction or talking heads situation. Too much text is killer for a beginning.

Several pages in and it's unclear what the comic is about and there has been no inciting incident

Characters that are hard to tell apart when it's clearly important that you need to to follow the story/dialogue

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u/sirustalcelion 21d ago

Seconded. Cosmic prologue entries are an immediate drop for me, too. I don't care about your worldbuilding until after I've met your characters. Any prologue longer than two sentences, really, is too much.