In the Beginning

When writing prose, you have a 'hook' paragraph that attempts to capture the reader's attention. Novels have their opening chapter to convince the reader to continue. Webcomics have a few pages at the beginning of their archives. HNTRC address them when it lived, though it boiled down to "Don't break the 4th wall on your first comic."

The first pages should be indicative of the remainder. What good is it attracting readers with a single action scene at the beginning, if they'll just leave once you shift into the main subject matter? And what happens to the readers who would be interested in your comic, but left after the action scene that didn't suit them? This doesn't have to restrict your topic of the opening chapter; a battle can be written from the fast and active view of a combatant or the more reserved view of the commander.

It may even be worth redrawing/rewriting the original comics so that they don't lag behind as your style improves. Consider the following: Exhibit_A, Exhibit_B. The first one is one the right path (non-stick/sprite), but isn't anything special; the newer one certainly is worth a further look.

The opening sequence also needs to convince the reader that there is a story to be told. Consider the novel analogue: In Ilse Witch by Terry Brooks, we see the first few main characters show up immediatly along with the dying explorer and the map which sets of the trilogy. No time is wasted between the start of the book and the start of the story.

The worst opening as far as I'm concerned is a page (or more) of solid text. Numerous webcomics use their first pages explaining the history of the world, what type of technology/magic exists, the names and background of the characters and so on. Can we all hear our composition teachers shouting "Show, don't tell!" yet? After a story-arc, we'll understand the temperments of the characters, and how the world works and any relevant bits of history will come up. And they'll be that much more memorable seeing how they come into play, rather than trying to memorize from an essay. Did Tolkien spend a chapter of The Hobbit telling us of Bilbo's childhood or where Gandalf came from or what Middle Earth is?