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Creating a comic?
Kshah777
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I didn't see this discussion anywhere else, so I thought I'd post it. Does anyone here have plans to create your own comic or work in the industry? Not just "oh, I've got a cool idea for a Spider-man story", I mean actually sat down and created something, wrote a script, designed a character, plotted a synopsis, maybe even had something published. I'm just curious to see, especially since a lot of posters in here seem to know a lot about what makes a good comic and what makes a shitty one. Discuss!
"He ate a moose and he ate a whale, he even ate a mountain... of shrimp..."
~"The Ballad of Morgan Brown"
~"The Ballad of Morgan Brown"
Kshah777 on
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I look forward to raping all of your respective childhoods with horrific re-imaginings of classic heroes and villains. Hey, wouldn't it be neat if Batman was a pedophile? I'm just saying what everybody else is thinking!
It's a start!
ed: Oh, and I did 59 pages for the Artist's Corner battle last year. Just quick stuff, since we only had 4 days for replies.
make Phoenix Wright comics
We have our two launch titles almost written fully, 2 mini series plotted out, and a stack of commishioned art (some of which being done by some actual professional comic artists)
If one day I get un-jailed I'll be happy to start posting more images and information (must post pictures!! acck....any mods here want to tell me how I can fix my sistuation).
In the meanwhile you should READ READ READ! There are many great online resources (i'll post some after work), but for starters try the 'write or wrong' articles on Newsarama (who often have good comic creation articles). Also read these two industry bibles: Scott McCloud’s 'Understanding Comics' and 'Comics & Sequential Art' byWill Eisner.
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=80711
also, expect to loose a chunk of money getting it done. We both work full time and this is our hobby, so we don't have the major stress (or drive, in another sense) of needing to rely on for income.
It seemed pretty good. The one section on naming characters is right when it says to make superheroes based off of names instead of trying to name your superhero.
It's so much easier that way.
It had excerpts from Fallen Angel, New Avengers #22, Watchmen #1 and 52.
As far as writing goes, I have a few ideas that I think are really cool. But I get stuck in the planning stage and never get around to actually writing them. Plus, I can't draw and don't really know anyone who can, so it's a moot point.
Hey, people come right out and say that about Batman all the time. Robin, young ward, lol!
Of course, if none of that ever works out I can always use my degree to get a 9-5 and constantly gripe about how I could've been somebody.
When I buy a new computer and get my scanner hooked up, I think I may actually solicit people on these forums for short scripts to draw, just so I can kind of warm up and get used to drawing comics, since I'm still especially poor at sequentials.
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that way they can go after you instead of you after them
As far as how-tos and reference books go, I just bought Writing for Comics by Peter David. You should also definitely check out Write or Wrong and Comic Creator 2.0 on Newsarama.
Munch: it would be awesome if you wanted to practice with our scripts. Now, if you could convince other people from Artist's Corner to do the same, we'd have a veritable orgy of comicry.
Well hey, thanks. I'm no great artist or anything, but I'm pretty decent, pretty quick and I've got a lot of free time. Plus I just think it'd be fun to see what people come up with.
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Not to derail this thread too much, and I mean this in as non-snarky a way as possible, but what's the allure of the Big Two for most of you guys? Is it the characters? The steady page-rate? It's certainly not my dream gig.
Although let me tell you, to be Brian Wood would be pretty nice. Signed to an exclusive salary with DC, but all they seem to want you to do is put out neat creator-owned Vertigo stuff. That would be grand.
That's actually not a bad idea. I'd have to play the games first, though.
I'd love to work as a consultant on Daredevil to make the lawyer parts more realistic. I'm sure it doesn't matter one iota to comics fans, but it irks me when the lawyers in the book don't really act like lawyers. Same goes for She-Hulk.
I actually see myself as a better editor than writer, because I have experience in putting out a high-quality periodical (and doing it on-fucking-time come hell or high water), editorial board experience, and copy editing experience.
The thing is the experience was on a scholarly journal, not a creative fiction monthly. I'm not sure how much that's worth to a comics publisher.
Well, for me, I think what’s most appealing is the fact that you can basically say "I work for Marvel/DC" and not only is it just really cool, I'd say there’s a better chance of getting yourself noticed. Also, if you work for one of the bigs, your characters/stories (although you most likely wouldn't "own" them) get to affect other things, and can be carried on.
I'd love to work on my own characters though, or put out creator owned stuff through a publisher like Image/Dark Horse. I don't really have any stories I'd like to tell with the Big Two's characters, although I've always had some cool ideas that I'd like to throw around (concepts for Ultimate versions of characters, etc), but nothing really big. And I guess a downside to working for the big two is basically that most of their characters are set in stone, and it's pretty hard to make any lasting change.
Once again though, I wouldn't really mind being an editor. I find it weird, but I actually enjoy correcting things, and when I find typos, errors, etc, in books/comics I get kind of angry. (I picked up one of those “DC Universe†novels about the Question, and oh my god how did that get published?) Also, editors handle continuity and how things fit in with other books, no? I’d love to do that.
EDIT:
Another "Oh man, if only I could do this" job would be working as a producer or consultant type deal for Marvel animation. I'd love to work on a JLU-stlye show featuring the Avengers (Or I guess just the pseudo-Ultimates they like flaunting around now). To be the Bruce Timm of Marvel would be badass.
Of course, I'm most likely going to wind up with a teaching or editing job somewhere else, and just brood over how awesome this could have been.
The chief allure, though, is being able to contribute to the direction of an entire fictional universe that predates your own birth and will likely outlast you as well.
From what I can see, if your interested in getting somewhere, particularly with writing, you're going to have to start doing your own stuff and getting it out there however you can; self-publishing, the internet, etc. Of course, there's a hell of a lot of competition out there, but if you can demostrate an ability to find an audience then it makes it a lot easier to approach one of the big companies for work.
Personally, I don't have a huge desire to work for DC or Marvel creatively. As an editor, it might be nice. The allure is the characters in part, and also in the recognition. Yeah, you're now telling someone else's stories with someone else's characters, but you wouldn't be there unless you were pretty good at it. I think there's a legacy thing there, too.
Just as much people want to leave a unique mark on the world, there's also a desire to be a part of something that transcends you. Writing Superman kind of speaks to that drive.
The Big Two very rarely hire anyone that hasn't at least had a few major previously published projects under their belt.
My main goal is to be en editor at either a Fantasy/Sci-Fi publisher like Tor, or even better - working at Marvel or DC on multiple series. I would be the go-between for the artist, writer, letterer, and audience. And I think that would just be awesome. This summer, I'm planning on interning at a local publishing company to get some experience in the business. If all goes well, by the end of next Spring I'll be out of college and into the workforce.
PARKER, YOU'RE FIRED! <-- My comic book podcast! Satan look here!
It's rooted in a reaction against the Americo-centric natures of the big two. Because seriously, being English, it gets a little tiring. The worst thing is when they try to write non-American characters, or even have miniseries dedicated to patriotic foreign characters. Often the lack of a key understanding of those characters cultures is obvious to the point of being painful.
Edit: To clarify, they seem to overlook the fact that the superhero is, with very little exception, a uniquely American concept. The idea is, to paraphrase a film I hold very little love for, "Superheroes, fuck yeah!". Not enough comic book writers, I think, have latched onto this idea and explored how the status of superheroes could differ vastly in opposing cultures (or at least, do so in a thoughtful way, rather than basing it on inaccurate stereotypes). If I'm wrong then feel free to correct me, but it seems to reveal a lot about the industry that in this period where the superhero genre has been maturing for twenty years, we're still yet to see a writer tackle this. Again, I hope I'm wrong, so if anyone could refer me to an example I'd be genuinely interested.
If you are serious about learning how to write comics in general, Scott McCloud, Scott McCloud, Scott McCloud. There's a lot in his work that addresses a penciler more than a writer, but it's all useful, especially in that it is going to help you talk to an artist on the page.
If you want a specifically 'big two' bent, Denny O'Neil's The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics is good foundation. And Writing For Comics With Peter David. If you can only get one, I'd probably say go for David's.
But seriously, Scott McCloud.
Look at how pages are structured. Angles, panels, everything. I've found this incredibly helpful.
Also, the second Runaways hardcover has a BKV script sample in the back.
Those are what I can tell you off of the top of my head.
McCloud's recent Making Comics was actually even better than his early efforts.
does it bother you when lawyers are totally crap in cop shows? my dad's a lawyer and he's complained so much when watching law and order or csi that now it bugs me too