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[C Black TG Comics] Comics and Artwork

I recall the days when you bought comics complete and finished.
The quality from start to end was consistent.
Now we get updates even if the the Artist is unable to deliver quality that particular fortnight.

They need to pay the bills, so we have to suffer bad installments.

Patreon is sucking the lifeblood out of talent and creativity.

So many comics and Artists I stopped reading as the painfully slow update process ruins the enjoyment.

I have no idea what CBlack is going through right now, and pray CBlack isn't having personal issues.
I know the Patreon system is not helping CBlack right now.

Patreon as a system for selling one's creative endeavors commercially as a result of capitalism and a lack of a guarantee of housing, food and one's bills being paid, so it isn't like we could simply 'fix' Patreon and the issues at hand would disappear. CBlack and other creators would still be facing the same issues.

We need to create a society where people are not at risk of losing their ability to live simply because they are not producing work endlessly.
 
I think Cblack doesn't even make enough on patreon, as he as well as other authors like Caps have put previously patreon comics on TGcomics premium
 
I think Patreon and the like have created an update culture that harms the end product.

Also fostering a climate where any wannabe hustler produces content to make a quick dollar.

Same with many product/sellers markets.

KingGrim highlights a valid point, that many artists barely get by on the current system.
 
While I agree with your point, and it does feel like it's taking for-freaking-ever to get to the point, I have a competing hypothesis.

Kim was/is a cheating gold-digger. She gets her hooks into Rex, starts the con in earnest, and is moving it along. Gloria starts enabling because it's fun, and isn't too concerned about Kim's behaviour until the engagement. She then needs to ensure Rex is the right man for partner, and she thinks she's been grooming Kim to be the other half of a power couple that will inherit something she worked her whole life to make happen.

Now from a pacing perspective, CBlack needs to establish Kim is a cheater and enjoys it. Then the next beat has to be success for Kim and reinforcing her bad behaviour. Then we need the engagement escalation and the warning from Gloria. The next story beat needs to be whether or not Kim heeds the warning. So Cblack then needs to show those actions, and let the villain (Kim) rise or fall. Obviously we know what choice she makes. If it were rushed and we just saw 2 panels of her saying "fuck it, I'm cheating" it would feel less impactful, in my opinion.

I think we're just reading the weekly drops and itching to see how the resolution plays out. Patreon string-along effect is a real thing too, I just want to give Cblack the benefit of the doubt.

Personally, I would like to see Kim get found out, Rex is unaware that she's been cheating, and Kim is 'sent away' in shame, having lost everything. Rex ends up with the redhead lawyer and they go on to be happy and power-coupling it up. Kim doesn't deserve a happy ending. She's messing with real money and power and is some small time con artist. She shouldn't win.
Kim's father has been mentioned on two occassions in the story. The very first frame shows their father being morally good and cutting Daniel off for being a criminal. It's ambigious what the father does, but Daniel says he's earned "millions contracting with big pharma", so maybe he's a lawyer? Kim thinks back to her father on 1199, so it could potentially be interesting if Rex has a court case Kim decides to visit and see her father there to trigger an argument between Kim and her dad, for Rex to step in and Kim to see she's treated Rex the wrongly as he's a good cookie in the end. In a way, her father is the trigger that lead her to a feminine path so for him to trigger her into being a good person would make for a nice tied bow to her arc.
 
Kim's father has been mentioned on two occassions in the story. The very first frame shows their father being morally good and cutting Daniel off for being a criminal. It's ambigious what the father does, but Daniel says he's earned "millions contracting with big pharma", so maybe he's a lawyer? Kim thinks back to her father on 1199, so it could potentially be interesting if Rex has a court case Kim decides to visit and see her father there to trigger an argument between Kim and her dad, for Rex to step in and Kim to see she's treated Rex the wrongly as he's a good cookie in the end. In a way, her father is the trigger that lead her to a feminine path so for him to trigger her into being a good person would make for a nice tied bow to her arc.
Oh, now that would be a twist.
Subtle hints dropped and then paying off would be great.

Downside is that Kim has pretty obviously rejected her father's morals, and if Rex were to know about her infidelity and cheating proclivities, would it be realistic that he'd just forget about all that?

Kim: "Sorry I betrayed you 100 times and had no remorse about it until I got caught, but I swear I'm changed this time. Yeah, you know, I had a shady past, but that's behind me too. Yep, 100% changed human. I'm on the straight and narrow forever, from now on."

Rex: "Seems legit to me, let's sign a document that gives you half of all my stuff!"
 
Oh, now that would be a twist.
Subtle hints dropped and then paying off would be great.

Downside is that Kim has pretty obviously rejected her father's morals, and if Rex were to know about her infidelity and cheating proclivities, would it be realistic that he'd just forget about all that?

Kim: "Sorry I betrayed you 100 times and had no remorse about it until I got caught, but I swear I'm changed this time. Yeah, you know, I had a shady past, but that's behind me too. Yep, 100% changed human. I'm on the straight and narrow forever, from now on."

Rex: "Seems legit to me, let's sign a document that gives you half of all my stuff!"
I would write it slightly different. I would have her father attack Kim for being immoral, after which Rex comes to her defense and she reels him in some more before realising he's the only one to ever come to her defense and she wants to repay him for it by being loyal. She's definitely changed after that but keeps her promiscuous life a secret for him.

If that's too sweet, one could add a bit of sour to that ending and include a scene at or just after the wedding where Kim and Rex meet one of her former bed partners and she feels very guilty and confesses for some comeuppance. Who knows if they split up or work their way through it. But I feel it could show her mentality change too. 'Regret' is a word not currently in her vocabulary, it might just appear there when she realises Rex is the only person there for her and she feels some form of appreciation turning to love, only for all that to be taken away due to her short-term adventures.
 
I recall the days when you bought comics complete and finished.
The quality from start to end was consistent.
Now we get updates even if the the Artist is unable to deliver quality that particular fortnight.

They need to pay the bills, so we have to suffer bad installments.

Patreon is sucking the lifeblood out of talent and creativity.

So many comics and Artists I stopped reading as the painfully slow update process ruins the enjoyment.

I have no idea what CBlack is going through right now, and pray CBlack isn't having personal issues.
I know the Patreon system is not helping CBlack right now.
This was a sad situation.. so painful to hear from an atrist's BG...
 
The arrangement - playing with fire is kim - mind you if you looked like her you probably would too.

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That hair give me vibes from Superego
Actually, CBlack is known for reusing lots of visuals from previous stories, from clothes to hairstyles, so many characters from different stories end up looking kinda alike. I understand the reason, the models, props and such cost money, and reusing them just makes economic sense.
It's not like traditional (non-digital) artists don't do something similar... Howard Chaykin is notorious for this. I remember reading an interview in which he claimed to look at it like a film director working with the same actors...
 
Okay, wow! I figured taking a break from reading for a few weeks might let the story build up some momentum, but… nope. It’s just Kim out there living her best life, having fun, pulling the wool over Rex’s eyes, and then rinsing and repeating. Man, I’m not sure where Cblack is steering this plot. I’m really hoping we get some justice for Rex and maybe a little payback for Kim. If it ends up with Kim happily hitched while Rex is slaving away and she’s off at some wild Orgy party—yeah, this one’s sliding down my list for sure.
 
Okay, wow! I figured taking a break from reading for a few weeks might let the story build up some momentum, but… nope. It’s just Kim out there living her best life, having fun, pulling the wool over Rex’s eyes, and then rinsing and repeating. Man, I’m not sure where Cblack is steering this plot. I’m really hoping we get some justice for Rex and maybe a little payback for Kim. If it ends up with Kim happily hitched while Rex is slaving away and she’s off at some wild Orgy party—yeah, this one’s sliding down my list for sure.
Cblack stories always come around. This one is just taking the patreon filler route to the ending so I expect another 2 or 3 months of minimal effort word salad filler episodes then things will start the shift then another 3-4 months of filler then get an ending this is how it goes with patreon comics unfortunately
 
I stopped reading early in the story, I wanted to wait for the full issue. Very surprised to hear such news. I didn't expect it from C Black. Does the patreon curse affect everyone? Or are they just burning out over time and unable to consistently maintain quality content?
 
Im pretty sure this series was finished before they even posted the first chapter.
You're quite right. Throughout the years, I've been in close contact with several high tier creators, and each and every one of them were at least 8-10 months ahead of the published story, regardless of the release intervals.

It gives them some piece of mind, in case some RL interferes with the creative process, but it also allows them to adjust small things. It also allows them to do polls about ongoing stories, where they have the option to either change the content of the text balloons, or adjust something minor which can be spot-rendered and inserted in the already finished page, thus giving the reader a modicum of involvement and control.

The Arrangement is finished already, and it has been for quite some time. Maybe, just maybe, CBlack might insert, remove or switch a page here and there, or adjust one or more text balloons, but every page has been rendered, written, and edited and is waiting to be released at the appropriate time. In the meantime, he's most likely:
1. writing a new story
2. creating models/scenes for a second story
3. rendering models/scenes for a third story
4. editing scenes for a fourth story (the next release)

This seems to be the case for the majority of the (semi-)fulltime creators out there.
 
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If you put it that way, it's pretty likely for all authors who release an update every week without delay or directly publish the schedule for the next month. For example Melissa, liltkit, novelschef, publish irregularly, obviously they are not among them.
But like, CBlack, you have a reputation for so many years, why ruin it by adding unnecessary repetitive events to the story or CBlack thinks that stepping on the same rake will add drama to the story and better show the character. Like cheating once doesn't count, you can forgive, cheating many times, different matter.
 
If you put it that way, it's pretty likely for all authors who release an update every week without delay or directly publish the schedule for the next month. For example Melissa, liltkit, novelschef, publish irregularly, obviously they are not among them.
But like, CBlack, you have a reputation for so many years, why ruin it by adding unnecessary repetitive events to the story or CBlack thinks that stepping on the same rake will add drama to the story and better show the character. Like cheating once doesn't count, you can forgive, cheating many times, different matter.
I am gonna agree with you there.
CBlack isn't telling the good quality stories like he used to. Opportunities, College Life, The Princess and The Punk, A Ghost Story, and School Daze were great stories, mostly involving characters being dealt a very bad hand, outside their influence and/or control, who managed to make the best of it. They always had some kind of happy ending for the protagonist and a karmic turnaround for the antagonist.
The later stories are mostly involving morally ambiguous characters that cause their own twisted predicament, revel in what happens, add to the debauchery just for the fun of it, and still manage to come off as the "winner". These aren't quite as fun to read as the old ones were...
 
I am gonna agree with you there.
CBlack isn't telling the good quality stories like he used to. Opportunities, College Life, The Princess and The Punk, A Ghost Story, and School Daze were great stories, mostly involving characters being dealt a very bad hand, outside their influence and/or control, who managed to make the best of it. They always had some kind of happy ending for the protagonist and a karmic turnaround for the antagonist.
The later stories are mostly involving morally ambiguous characters that cause their own twisted predicament, revel in what happens, add to the debauchery just for the fun of it, and still manage to come off as the "winner". These aren't quite as fun to read as the old ones were...
True! Old cbkack's story were somthing else
 

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