While Spartachick continues to be the fun project it started out as, I sometimes wonder if I’m focussing my efforts in the right way.

I’ve said it before (but I feel like saying it again, so I will), I didn’t step into the webcomic environment with the intention of writing a major story.  My first comics were sketched in an old notebook, and dealt exclusively with the funny things that happened in my life.

I think my longest story arc was, maybe, three pages?  Nothing substantial.  Simple artwork, too, all done with a cheap mechanical pencil.  I had a lot of fun drawing those strips, and I guess Felix Marcus kind of captures what I was trying to accomplish with them.

My old comics were just a way of keeping track of my university experiences, and I feel they did that pretty well… at least in first year.  I guess I was half-decent at writing them too, because friends acted sorta disappointed when I started Spartachick.  It wasn’t funny to them, and needed to be kept up with.  Not the light, fun doodles from my sketchbook!

Before I go any further (farther? I dunno..) I’d just like to throw in a disclaimer:  Even though I put a tonne of effort into this site, story, and artwork, I don’t take myself seriously.  I mean, I know I’m small time.  I’ve got no formal training in.. anything, really; I’m not a programmer, artist, designer, or even a writer.  This is a way for me to practise, and – if nothing else – release some stress.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be any of the above-mentioned professionals, but I know Spartachick isn’t going to miraculously launch me into a job.  It’s for fun.

When people tell me they preferred my old work, or that Spartachick is lame (they never say that directly, don’t worry), I just shrug, because I know I’ve got good reasons to keep it up.  Having said that, I recognize that my stuff from first year is the material with the most potential.  Lasting experiences, that many university students can relate to (if only tangentially).

If I put the effort into Felix Marcus that I put into Spartachick, maybe I’d get noticed, attract a larger readership, find motivation to get bigger and better, and (in short) live the webcomic dream!

Yeah, no.  There are problems with life experience comics.  Firstly, you can’t be funny when there’s nothing funny going on in your life.  It might be a perspective thing, but without fresh material, you’re just going to end up with a bunch of stock characters who always do the same thing in the same way.  It’s humour like that that gets television shows cancelled.

Next: You can’t be fresh if you’re stuck in a rut.  I mean, who wants to read about the exact same experience day after day?  Let’s face it, most peoples’ professions or situations are exactly that: a repetitive list of actions that are mostly predictable.  I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, and I know we all have ways of breaking out and doing new and exciting things… I just mean that it’s hard to keep doing those new and exciting things regularly enough to warrant writing a comic.

The last problem, I guess, is exclusivity.  It takes a while for people to see things the way you do, to understand your humour.  It’s something you have to work at for a long time!  Gradually, readers will begin to notice that the things that made them chuckle in one of the first strips they read are actually presented in the same way as later work.  If that makes sense.

Basically, I do Spartachick because it’s a story, and fiction is easier to comic-ify than reality.  Even if I find myself working a McJob, in a lifeless town, experiencing nothing new.. I’ll be able to create new work.

I have so much respect for people who are able to turn even the most mundane aspects of life into a funny strip of drawings and captions.  It’s hard to keep it up, to maintain the enthusiasm.  Even comics that aren’t necessarily based on the author’s life… just inspired by aspects of it.  Tough work!

MJ