Advice to Aspiring Comic Book Creators

As a comic book artist, I sometimes meet people with Great Comic Book Ideas. This can be irksome; they are mostly semi-avid comic book readers of the Marvel/DC stripe, and have never written or drawn a comic before (except, maybe, a short period in 8th-grade homeroom). Generally they want me to collaborate with them in developing the script, and then have me work for free on their Awesome Idea, while they sit back on a pile of money, surrounded by models.

As irritating as these people are, every now and then you find a diamond in the rough - someone with the capacity to actually create, who has within them the brick-headed, nervous drive required to be a comic book storyteller. That's why I always listen politely to the Idea Guys, praising the noteworthy elements of their concept, and then offer what I call "blackjack" advice, harsh reality padded with gentle assurances: "If you develop your idea into a script, I can take a look at it and offer technical advice". The Idea Guys, sensing that I'm not taking the bait and/or this comic book thing actually requires work, will lose interest and drift away. The actual, sincere artists will be given an objective to complete, and will begin the work required to make their dream a reality.

With that in mind, I'd like to share some advice I'd give to any aspiring comic book creator:

1) Ideas are a dime a dozen.

Face it: your one "Great Idea" was cobbled together from all the other comic books you've read. I can go down to the street corner and get a hundred Great Comic Book Ideas. But can you write a story? Do you actually know how to bring a story from concept to completion? And once you have that story, can you develop it into a comic book script? Show me that you can do these things; otherwise, I just think you're blowing smoke.



2) Simplify.

Here's your pitch: "So there's like this guy with a tumor growing out of his head that shoots knives, and he's fighting an evil Chinese conglomerate corporation bent on turning everyone into vegetables, and I've got like this scene in my head where he's like, okay, time to peel out, and knives shoot out of his rocket car..." Yada yada. And how long is this "story" going to be? "Oh, about a hundred issues." Bad start. Since you've obviously never drawn or written a comic book before, you need to start small. Sit down and write a simple story, and then draw it (or have your artist draw it). Make it about five pages. That's usually all I need to tell whether I'm interested in your story or not, the quality of your dialogue, and the depth of your characters. I don't really care about the awesome abilities of your action hero, I want to see character; I don't want to see just action or dramatic posing, I want to see the mundane as well.



3) Comics requires passion.

You won't get rich. You'll probably never quit your job. Trust me, getting big in comics is a lot harder than making it big in the music industry. It's a lot, and I mean a lot, of hard work. Why are independent comic book creators stereotyped as lonely, desperate individuals? Because the kind of people who really want to make comics aren't spending all their time and money partying - not that they get invited to many parties. This weird drawing-writing symbiosis is an outlet for their frustrations, for the worlds within that their exteriors cannot hint at. Comic book creators are driven, sometimes frighteningly so; they love what they do, and do what they love, and all the fame and wealth and other bullshit are just side effects. Not that recognition and money aren't bad motivators - honestly, I wouldn't print comics if I didn't see at least some positive feedback - but if that's your only motivator, then go play the stock market.

4) Forget about the big labels.

It's harsh, but the only way to actually get your comics out there is through self-publishing - and self-distribution. It's extremely rare that a big label, even an independent label, will pick up your series fully-formed. Remember that they are going for marketability and guaranteed profit, which amounts to a) their own superheroes, and b) whatever's hot at the moment (zombies, vampires, whatever). Even worse, getting a portfolio review - even a good portfolio review - from company representatives isn't all it's cracked up to be. Put together the best possible portfolio, with the broadest range of media and styles, with all your best work, hand it to them triumphantly...and watch in dismay as they peer at it with a puzzled, vaguely annoyed expression. Why? Because they're not looking for the best possible artist. They're looking for a cog, a person who does one thing very, very well. You're better off inking several bland panels of Superman and demonstrating how effectively you demarcate pectorals and office buildings. If you want anything more than encouragement, you have to specialize, and that means taking most of the personality out of your work and beefing up on cold technicality. And by the way, you'll still be laboring in obscurity, only now you have to do what you love for a paycheck, which curdles pretty quickly.

5) Expand your horizons.

So you want to write a story about superheroes? Pick up one of those neurotic "day in the life" comics. A fan of anime? Pick up some Allen Moore...and vice-versa. If you've got X-Men underoos and Spiderman comforters and Deadpool lampshades, and want to draw your comics because of these characters...put down the comics and pick up some literature. I'm serious. I mean, what did Bob Kane look at when designing Batman? There was certainly no precedent for a sociopathic bat-costumed crime fighter. Instead he looked at Sherlock Holmes, and was probably influenced by The Shadow pulp stories (and radio dramas). A lot of aspiring comic book creators flounder in the shallowest pool of their adopted genre, refusing to explore any further. This is a recipe for artistic failure. I'd go so far as to say that, for every comic you read, read one novel by a noted author and one nonfiction book.

6) Start cheap and experiment.

Many aspiring artists I know are obsessed with "doing things the right way", by which I mean having the right gear and using the right methods - "Just like the Pros do it". I'm here to tell you it's 90% bunk. Much of the reason you think you need that expensive technical pen is because the massive Art Supplies-Industrial Complex is telling you to. Same reason you need that super-expensive digital drawing pad and software, thinking it'll make you a better artist. Wowee! Look at all the brush effects! Shiny! Yeah, sorry, you've been duped - just like the kid who bought Air Jordans thinking he could dunk like Mike, you've confused correlation with causation, and are now staring at $300 worth of plastic you have no business using. Now, I'm not saying a good technical pen won't make your life easier, or that digital drawing isn't more efficient; all I'm saying is that an ounce of aptitude is worth three tons of equipment. Here's my equipment list for your first comic: a pencil, a ballpoint pen, a Sharpie marker, a pad of printer paper, a package of plastic sheaths, and a large 3-ring binder. Boom, you're ready. Draw that sucker up, and stick the pages in the sheaths. This is what I call the "binder comic" method, and I've used it twice; both times I didn't even have a story ready, I just started drawing and saw where it took me. They both ended up being 120-ish pages long, and the story and art were of varying quality; it doesn't matter. They were my first efforts, and they taught me a lot. I'd suggest the same thing for any aspiring comic book writer, even if you don't use a binder: just staple some pages together and start drawing. Then, once you get the hang of it, you can graduate to art board and technical pens, or possibly digital. But the main thing is, start inexpensive, because you'll be making a lot of mistakes and trying a lot of different things.


Hopefully this was interesting and/or helpful and/or doesn't make me sound like an overbearing grouchmeister (which I am). Since I'm still learning this whole "independent comics" thing as I go along, I'll be updating this post with more advice in the future. Above all I want to say to you aspiring comic book creators: hold onto your dreams like a tick embedded headfirst in the flesh of a soaring eagle - don't ever let go, no matter how gnarly it gets.

Rick Out.