Because comics are so time-consuming to create, revision is not usually an option. At least that was the case when all my comics were ink on bristol board. The dialogue was a unified compnent of the overall comic, as intrinsically vital as the art. Once written, it was almost impossible to rework.
However, with Clench & Cheese being a digitally-created strip, the possibilities for revision have really opened up. These comics were originally written between 2006 and 2008 at an average of one full-color strip every weekday. The hasty production often led to to some slipshop work, particularly in the writing and pacing. Another difficulty comes about because these comics were originally designed for the web, so each individual strip was paced to be essentially self-contained (much like a four-panel comic in a newspaper). While that formula has its advantages, it can definitely interrupt the flow of a longer story. And because the artist can't rely on the assumption that the reader has been closely following the entire story, a certain amount of repetition is required.
Thus, when revising for a comic book, I am needing to pretty much rewrite a large amount of the story to improve both its pacing and its overall impact. While not as time-conuming as drawing each panel from scratch, it still is eating up several hours. I hope that the resulting effort is worth it.
Comments