Too Vanilla?
April 22nd, 2009NOTE: If you are not a fan of aimless rambling, please ignore this post.
I need to ask everyone a question: is Bug & Worm too “vanilla?” I try and make it very accessible and not overly offensive, but I’m starting to wonder if that’s driving people away. I have a habit of being weird just for weird’s sake, and I’ve tried to stay away from that as well, since it’s so overdone. I guess I’m just having trouble trying to decide what to do with Bug & Worm, since I feel like I’m getting close to repeating myself. There’s only so many times Bug can something goofy and Worm can roll his eyes…
bug (bug) n.
worm (wûrm) n.
bug & worm n.
April 22nd, 2009 at 7:50 pm
I think there is a possibility that bug and worm is getting a bit “vanilla”, as you put it. My suggestion to fixing this, is adding a new character. One that is completely different from both bug and worm, as well as being unique in comparison to other web comic characters.
You could add an undersized baby bird with a memory problem. He can’t remember that worms are what he eats for food. Bug keeps trying to convince him to eat worm. Or perhaps a really strong bull-ant that steals bug’s friendship with worm, that he has to try and impress.
Or maybe you could add a love interest for either character, someone for them to impress with their hijinks. ( though you’d have to be careful not to turn it into a romantic strip
)
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:00 am
I disagree with Orkahm52. You have several characters already, but in the end, it always comes back to Bug and Worm, introducing more characters won’t do much good, if done just for the sake of introducing more characters.
I’d say, do what you want, not what you think others would want. I happen to like the weirdness. Actually, Bug and Worm is a comic about talking arthropods, and laboratory-grown tiny sheep (and they all play in a band). Weirdness is inevitable. Holding back that weirdness is a bad idea, you get a weird comic that tries to be grounded to Earth (honestly, I haven’t ever noticed ANY normalcy in Bug and Worm).
You’re not really repeating yourself that much (any of the “same” ideas are done differently enough), but if you’re worried about that, just avoid old ideas, for example: set a rule that Worm can’t roll his eyes when Bug says something goofy ever again. That’ll keep you from following that formula!
April 27th, 2009 at 9:13 am
So no one wants to see zombie Bug & Worm attack all of the other characters and eat their brains while shouting obscenities? Or not chainsaw fights?
Thanks for the advice, guys. I’m still mulling over what I can do without being too drastic…
June 13th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
A quest! They need a quest…to find more cookies!
June 14th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Don’t we all, though? Who doesn’t need more cookies?!