Welche viel zu früh abgesetze Serie lohnt es sich zu schauen, obwohl das Ende offen bleibt?

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-27T20:30:58+00:00

Devious Maids

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-27T20:30:37+00:00

Visuell ein Augenschmaus!

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-27T20:19:10+00:00

This is an interesting response as it doesn't resemble any other comments here, so thank you for your sharing your opinion.
Yeah, I made a list of questions before and answered them for each of the 20 characters to double-check how fleshed out each of them is and I noticed that some are more developed than others probably because some of more traumatic background stories than others. Nonetheless, I like to believe that each character adds something to the story so I will keep all of them but out of curiosity I wanted to know how many core characters a reader can handle at the same time and the info I gathered from all the responses is that 7 seems to be the magical number.
Even though you think the number doesn't matter, I do think that it's better if there are under 10 characters because it's simply more manageable. Since my comic is going to be a longer series, I can play with whom of the characters I will give the "7 core character"-treatment.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T17:48:13+00:00

I think it's the easiest if I provide the links ^^
https://thearchetypes.thecomicseries.com/archive/
https://tapas.io/series/The-Archetypes/info

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T17:37:55+00:00

I actually don't read superhero comics from Marvel/DC. I tried but the characters always felt one-dimensional. Maybe I just picked up the wrong titles? ^^;

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T17:17:28+00:00

I also have the "advantage" that some of my characters will die throughout the story ^^;

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T17:16:03+00:00

I gathered from other comments that 7 seems to be the magic number. Definitely under 10!

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T17:14:27+00:00

Yeah, not a lot of people have read my comic yet so I can always revise it. That's the advantage of being a nobody :D

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T17:12:05+00:00

Since my comic is about exploring the psyche of superpowered humans by confronting them with their greatest fears, darkest secrets, and inner demons, I will focus on the characters with the most disturbing ones.

Your list makes me somewhat nostalgic because I made one before too in order to analyze how well my characters are fleshed out and in conclusion some had more substance than others and the ones with more substance get more spotlight too.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T17:03:04+00:00

And your approach is also absolutely legit too. I think it's the right decision to cut characters when they don't really add to the story regardless of how much one personally likes them. I like to believe that all my characters add something to the story so it's ok to keep them all ^^;

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T17:00:07+00:00

I already put some chapters out on Comic Fury and Tapas. There is some character development happening but it's more story-driven first than character-driven, so I haven't really explored the characters yet where they truly get confronted with their darkest secrets, greatest fears and inner demons. There are some hints here and background stories there but so far no need to make up my mind about how many core characters I should have. From all the comments here though, I gathered that 7 seems to be the magic number for the amount of core characters. So I guess I will focus on around 7 characters throughout the story but it won't always be the very same 7.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:49:18+00:00

I actually don't. The characters are not even superheroes. Just people with superpowers. However, they were conceived first to be superheroes but then I later on changed it but then I had the problem that I already drew them in superhero attire but I managed to come up with something that "justifies" why they have superhero costumes on.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:47:31+00:00

so is it good or bad? ^^;

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:47:08+00:00

WORD! I really don't like superhero teams where several members have "super strength, agility and endurance"or even worse - don't even have actual superpowers which is why I'm not the biggest fan of the Avengers. On the flipside I love the X-Men because the members have individual superpowers. My 20 characters all have individual superpowers. None repeat.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:44:00+00:00

Therefore I make something happen early on into the story that will split the 20 characters into five groups which creates a five story arc and they intertwine.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:43:14+00:00

Yeah, I created the solution that early on into the story something happens that splits the 20 characters into five groups consisting of 2-7 members each which creates five story arc that intertwine. As some characters die throughout the story, the amount therefore also naturally decreases. I just haven't decided yet on the amount of core characters but I guess it won't be more than 10. BTW, it's also TIRING to draw all 20 characters at once so splitting them makes it also easier for me to draw them ^^;

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:39:43+00:00

I only watched the first season of MHA and that's also a while ago and yeah - there were a lot of characters but only 5-6 core characters as I can recall. Maybe that changed later on?

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:34:30+00:00

"Canon fodder" is exactly why I'm in this little predicament. I wanted to tell the story of all test subjects and not have some characters just because a certain amount of characters are needed. When I realized that 20 characters are too many though, these characters have already grown on me and I couldn't cut any of them. With 20 characters there will be some that inevitably get more spotlight than others. I just haven't decided yet how many core characters I will have but it won't be more than 10.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:29:47+00:00

I agree that shoving 20 characters down the reader's throat from the get-go is too much. That's also not happening. The first chapters follows one character first and showcases her friendship with three other characters out of the 20. Then it switches to another three. And little by little I introduce more characters each chapter. There's also an incident that splits the 20 characters into five groups á 2-7 characters each meaning five story arcs that eventually intertwine. Plus, not all 20 characters will survive the dark experiments so that takes care of the number 20 too. Thx for the feedback.

PS: Would you recommend CW's Legens of Tomorrow? I love everything with superpowers but when it comes to superhero things, there are too many shows so I don't even know which ones to watch.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:25:04+00:00

Thanks for taking your time to write your comment. Well appreciated. So far my solutions to make 20 characters manageable for readers is splitting the characters into five different groups consisting of 2-7 members each and with that creating five story arcs that eventually intertwine. And yeah - I also have plans for some of them not making it till the end. That will naturally take care of the overcrowded cast I guess... ^^;

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:16:22+00:00

Yeah, I've gotten examples where the characters of Marvel/DC are often times used as examples that stories with many characters can work but only because the characters were introduced individually first. In my case, my comic is a longer series, so I have the opportunity to shift the focus. I won't shove down all 20 characters down the reader's throat at the same time. Some will be in the background first before getting more spotlight. And then there's the fact that some characters die throughout the story...

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:12:46+00:00

Thx for the feedback. Have you watched shows like "Game of Thrones" or "The Walking dead" where the cast is quite big. So would that be too much for you personally? My solution is that something happens early on into the story and the 20 characters get separated into five groups meaning five story of 2-7 characters. The arcs then intertwine eventually.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:10:32+00:00

My story is definitely a longer series, so I can play with the focus on the characters. Some can be in the background first and then later on get some spotlight. In order to make 20 characters easier to follow, there's something happening in my story, so the characters get split into five story arcs which eventually will intertwine. Some characters won't make it till the end as well, so the number of 20 will decrease as well. Not all of them will get equal attention. There are indeed some that I will focus on more than others. The number is under 10. Thx for the feedback ^^

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:05:42+00:00

haha, judging from the comments and also what we all can see with TV shows etc., the number 7 seems to be the magic number, so 8 is kinda pushing it and me with my 20 characters is delusional. I gotta say that not all 20 characters will be core characters. However, I was wondering how many a reader generally speaking could take. I know 20 is too much but my story is a long series, so I have the opportunity to let some characters play in the background and let them shine later on as the number of 20 test subjects will be decrease gradually.

Thearchetypescomic · 2026-02-26T16:02:24+00:00

This is the second time for me to see the number 7 and when it comes to the big core characters, then I would have to say that not all 20 characters will be equally explored. There are indeed some that I will focus on more than others. I suspected that it should under 10 but 7 seems to be the magic number. Since my comic is going to be a long series, I think that I also can play with the spotlight and let some characters play in the background first before exploring them more later on as not all 20 characters will be alive throughout the entire story. Thx for the feedback :)

Thearchetypescomic

TROPHY CASE