Mar 05 2009
Experimental Panel Layouts
The typical comic book page is a grid of panels. That’s fine, but it can get boring. This article will help you play around with your panel layout. Your pages don’t all have to look like this.
SLANTED PANEL-EDGES
Fighting Evolution- HAUZER by *UdonCrew on deviantART
Slanting the panels usually makes the scene look more intense and chaotic. For example, in the above page you can see that the panels are slanted only when the dinosaur attacks.
Here are a few possible situations that lend themselves well to slanted panels.
1. There’s a wild fight scene or action sequence. For example, this page uses slanted panels on a chase sequence as well.
2. The main character learns something startling or disturbing. “I want a divorce!” Slanting the edges on that panel will make it stand out in an appropriately jarring way.
3. The main character of the panel is greatly disoriented. For example, if he’s drunk, delirious, badly wounded, etc…
INSERT PANELS
Insert panels are panels that are set inside of other panels. Here are a few reasons you might use an insert panel.
1. It helps draw the reader’s attention to an important object or character that might otherwise be hard to notice.
2. You want to bring in something closer than you could “accurately” depict it. For example, in the above panel, the shot is zoomed in on a naked guy showering. It’d look creepy if the journalist were actually two or three feet away from him.
3. To make characters look farther apart than they actually are. The panel border can be used as a barrier between the characters.
4. To draw the reader’s attention to artistic contrast. For example, the colors and styles of the journalist and the showering guy above are very different. Setting the journalist in his own panel helps remind readers that that isn’t accidental; the journalist is supposed to look warmer and more decent.
INSERTED OBJECTS BRIDGING PANELS
Here are a few reasons you might try bridging your panels.
1. The scene is progressing very quickly, or more quickly than the action/dialogue would suggest. This is one way of blurring one panel into the next.
2. Bridging the panels can make them feel very crowded and uncomfortable. That might be thematically useful if a character is confined or cornered.
3. To center the reader’s attention.
4. To create distance.
5. To suggest a connection that might not otherwise be obvious. For example, let’s imagine a scene where panel 1 shows a character holding a gun on someone. The apparent victim asks him why he’s doing this. Panel 2 shows the gunman shooting the victim. The bridge might be a photograph of the gunman’s family (if he’s trying to protect them), a smiling shot of a criminal mastermind, an image that represents justice or revenge, etc.
UNUSUALLY TALL PANELS
(Art taken courtesy of Benny Fuentes; please see the original here).
Unusually tall panels are more noteworthy than wide panels because comic book pages are substantially taller than they are wide.
Here are a few reasons you might want to use an extra-tall shot.
1. You want to emphasize that one character or object is higher or taller than another. Above, we can see that the figure in black is substantially higher than the soldiers.
2. To show us a narrow slice of something, usually for frightening or mysterious effect. For example, you might have a character standing with something enormous looming behind him. We probably won’t be able to see all of the sinister creature, but that just emphasizes how big he is.
3. You want to draw the reader’s attention to something that’s narrow and tall, like a building.
Here’s another. The Bleed.
It’s a panel in which a character or object is standing outside of the borders of the panel.
Uses:
1. To emphasize space or distance.
2. To break the fourth wall if you wish.
3. To suggest omnipresence of a particular character. Although they aren’t really there they are somewhere watching what is occuring.
I love this list. Admittedly, I wasn’t very experimentatious with this first panel. I suspect I’ll take a few more risks with the next issue.
Ah, yeah. Here’s one example of that, RB.
Ultimate Fantastic Four 59 p20 by *BlondTheColorist on deviantART
Good thinking, RB. I like that style. I was kind of past my preferred word-count on this article… I had a few other ideas as well.
For example, in a typical grid, all of the space is used for panels. However, one alternative layout is to include vacuums of dead space between panels. You might do that to…
1. Make a sparse scene feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable.
2. Make it seem like more time is passing between panels. This is especially good for awkward pauses.
Another strategy you can try is having each panel overlap the one before it. The main purpose is to make the sequence seem like it’s going faster.
Aha, I recognise those Ben Urich panels from Brian Michael Bendis’ first four issues on Daredevil. Excellent art there. This article got me really interested because I’ve been playing around with ideas for a comic book but I am clueless when it comes to techniques for panel layouts. Thanks for this!
Yeah, as you can probably tell, I was reading Daredevil while I was writing this article. My other reference was our collection of comic book art on DeviantArt.
I was quite adventurous with panel layouts when I was 11. On old, unfinished comic sticks out in my mind. I had a page with a layout similar to this:
Everything was sort of happening at once. I think the middle panel showed SpongeBob being brought back from the dead, and the corner panels showed everyone’s reactions. I thought it looked really cool back then, but now I think it looked a little clumsy and weird.
I think that it’s interesting, but I’d recommend tweaking the layout so that we see Spongebob resurrecting before we see the reactions. Right now, I think the reaction in the upper-left corner is the first thing we see.
I was wondering if any of you could help me. I have an idea for a comic, superhero of course, but I have no idea how to go about it. I’ve never done comics before.
Hola, Rusty. Nice to meet you.
Personally, my story are usually character-driven, so I come up with a main character first. However, I don’t know if this a conventional way of going about starting a story. I suspect you would want to think of the types of stories that you like. Then, find a style best suited to your ability.
I think many people have a spur of the moment idea and just roll with it. They have an idea, then they get an outline for a plot, create a setting, add characters and abilities, etc.
Do you have any ideas in mind? That would really help me help you.
Enchante.
Well I have a main Character, The Watcher(a.k.a. The Dark Rider). The setting is New York City. I’ve got a plot for the first few segments and I know where I want the story to go. I’ve already come up with what I call templates for other characters, both main and sub, they’re already designed for the most part.
I was originally going to do a novel with my idea, but realized that a comic might better suit my designs.
Sorry, forgive my bad grammar in my last post.
Hi, Rusty! As RB says, the best place to start is with your story and characters – like pretty much any writing undertaking, in fact.
After that, you probably want to start with a comic book script. (RB’s review forum shows an example of one). Generally, you’d want to hire an artist (probably freelance) to illustrate it. I think that most comic publishers want at least 5 pages.
It’s best to check out what individual companies want. Each one of them will want something slightly different.
How much would you say it would cost, on average, to create a comic?
Humm . . . for the 5 sample pages, I think maybe paid $200? I’m really not sure. It depends on the artist, I think.
Dark Horse accept scripts without the sample pages, I think, but you’d have to have a very impressive script.
5 sample pages (plus the cover page) could range from $200-400, maybe $500, depending on the quality of the art and the artist. If you’re published the company pays for the rest of the comic’s production.
“Well, I have a main character, The Watcher(a.k.a. The Dark Rider). The setting is New York City. I’ve got a plot for the first few segments and I know where I want the story to go. I’ve already come up with what I call templates for other characters, both main and sub, they’re already designed for the most part.”
- How necessary is it for your protaganist to have two titles? I think one alias would be smoother.
- How dead-set are you on setting your story in New York City. It’s a bit cliche for a superhero story. I’d recommend changing the setting for freshness or coming up with a fictional city based after NYC. For example, My San Libra City is closely based after Los Angeles.
-What do you have in mind for the central story?
Dark Horse, Image, and a myriad of other companies accept scripts from first-time writers. It won’t be much a problem finding a company that you like. But as for now, I think your focus should be development. Then, you can move on to writing your script.
As RB noted, you would probably need 5 pages and possibly a cover to submit to publishers. I’d probably budget $300-500 (or $200-400 if you’re doing black-and-white). At that price-range, you can get art that is serviceable but probably not great. You probably could find someone on DeviantArt who would do it for $200, but anyone that charges so little is probably not very good.
The other requirements vary a bit based on the publisher in question and what kind of comic book project you have in mind. If you’re doing a one-shot comic, then you just need the script for the comic and a brief synopsis. If you’re doing a limited series, you’d still need a complete script for the first issue but you’d also have to have a loose idea of the main plot points for the later issues. You’d include those in the synopsis.
OK, thanks for the help.
“How necessary is it for your protaganist to have two titles? I think one alias would be smoother.”
It’s not really what he calls himself, it’s more of a given name from the public. I guess I could ditch the Dark Rider bit if it were necessary.
Here are some basic reasons why he has two names:
He’s called the Watcher because he’s, for the most part, always seen on rooftops watching the city. He’s also called the Dark Rider because, when patrolling the streets, he is riding a jet black motorcycle. His costume is also all black.
“How dead-set are you on setting your story in New York City. It’s a bit cliche for a superhero story. I’d recommend changing the setting for freshness or coming up with a fictional city based after NYC. For example, My San Libra City is closely based after Los Angeles.”
I was actually thinking of setting it in Los Angelos at one point. Perhaps if I combined the two into a fictional city?
I think the Watcher is better out of the two. Although, I’m not feeling either that much.
What are his powers and mode of operation?
His powers are enhanced strength, speed, agility, endurance, durability, and senses(hearing, sight, smell etc.). He gained these powers from an experimental syrum he created.
He only goes out in the night, during the day he spends time with his family and business associates. He prefers a cruder method of justice than the conventional heroes. Sometimes he works with a few other vigilantes, one at a time.
“Perhaps if I combined the two into a fictional city?”
I think that might be a good idea. Using real cities rarely suspends my disbelief, and after a while they stop offering much variety. Plus, I imagine it’s a little hard to reach readers from New York City when you’ve got so many bizarre events taking place in their own home.
I think it’s hard to reach readers from New York City because there are so many books/comic books/TV shows already set in NYC. In contrast, if you set it in Chicago, you’re only competing with Savage Dragon and the Dresden Files.
Chicago would be a pretty cool setting.
Besides Chicago, what about Philadelphia or some city in Orlando? They’re both pretty populated places and given the crime rates lately, there would be a lot of crime to fight.
I’m biased (given that I’m ridiculously Chicagoan), but I think that Chicago is the best of the three because it has an iconic skyline. That’s not the only consideration, but it matters to a comic book. Aside from Chicago and NYC, I think Seattle, DC, and maybe Las Vegas have particularly interesting cityscapes.
There are also cultural considerations. I think that Miami, Las Vegas and southern California get a lot of screentime in TV shows not merely because it’s easier to film in a sunny climate but also because they feel fun and loose. No one takes vacations to Salt Lake City. Well, no one but me.
How about Anchorage, Alaska? There’s a city you don’t see often.
No one’s ever around when I am actually on.
Me too. I think the problem is that my internal clock is on Baghdad time. That would be much less strange if I were actually in Baghdad.
What about New Haven City? Not New Haven, Connecticut.
P.S. Anonymous was me btw, although I think you all got that.
I’d recommend naming it just New Haven rather than New Haven City. Or, alternately, just Haven City.
(It’s Yale territory!)
I’ve been to New Haven by the way. I don’t blame you for not wanting to use it.
Well I was just going to shorten it to New Haven anyways so I guess dropping the City won’t matter. New Haven just has a better ring to it than Haven City.
Lol, yeah. Not the kind of place I want to set my story.
Well, if you don’t think the Watcher/the Dark Rider is a good enough name what are your suggestions? I should probably go more in depth with my character but I don’t have time right now.
I don’t think I know enough about the character to make a good suggestion for the name. All I know is that he’s sort of dark, rides a motorcycle, and watches the city. I’ll need a little more info.
Hence the names Dark Rider and Watcher…
How about Dark Watcher?
Rider?
Dark?
Watching Rider?
Okay I’m just messing around here.
I only knew that about him because of what you told me. What’s his personality and mode of operation?
I meant ‘he’ told me. I thought Tom was Rusty for a second.
Yeah, like I said I didn’t have time right then to go in depth and explain his characteristics. I still don’t have that much time. I’ll have to get back to you later.
Hi. I’m a friend of…Rusty I guess is the name he uses here. I was asked to talk about his character, but I don’t know exactly what you want or what he’s told you.
Alex Harding, that’s The Watcher’s real name, is probably more violent than the average hero. He believes villains (mainly of the super kind) deserve to face his own brand of justice. While in his suit he’s kind of dark and brooding, keeping mostly to himself. He rarely excepts help, but on some occasions he requires the assistance of a few other heroes who work in the city. He uses some technology weapons and equipment, ones that the average person might think of as futuristic. (For example: his motorcycle has Artificial Intelligence, like Kitt.)
Uh…I think that’s all I can remember from what he’s told me of him for the past couple months. If you ask me some more specific questions I can look at his notes and get back to you.
Rusty’s dealing with personal stuff and won’t be able to talk for awhile, in case you were wondering.
In my opinion, he sounds like Rorshach on a motorcycle. What’s Alex like out of costume?
You say that like it’s a bad thing. Rorschach=awesome. Motorcycles=awesome. Therefore Rorschach on a motorcycle=awesome SQUARED!
I hated Rorshach. He was a crybaby and a broody jerk. Motorcycles are pretty high up on the badass chart, but I don’t like them that much.
One of the things that struck me about Rorschach was that he was wildly conservative and that it’s not clear that the audience is supposed to dislike him for that. In fact, he and his newspaper friends are the only guys that do the right thing at the end, and Rorschach dies for it. He’s definitely unhinged, but it’s because he’s unhinged that he dies to do the right thing.
Other than that, I found him forgettable. His voice (particularly the monologues) is terribly overwrought and the plot didn’t give him many chances to play investigator. In contrast, the Question got the chance to plant fake clues and do all sorts of other wacky-and-brilliant stuff on Justice League.
“In fact, he and his newspaper friends are the only guys that do the right thing at the end, and Rorschach dies for it.”
I guess telling the world would be the “right” thing in an ethical sense. But I definitely feel that it would not be the smart thing. I mean, Ozy did stop America and Russia from practically blowing each other off the map. Telling the world would probably reignite angers and lead to a nuclear holocaust.
Yeah, I told him it reminded me of Rorschach. His response was “who?”. I guess he had never heard of the Watchmen before.
As far as I can tell Alex is a loving and caring family man. He doesn’t let his day work or his work as a hero affect his family life, at first. Eventually Rusty told me that he wants Alex to change for the worse, he becomes darker because of his hero work.
They don’t have to tell the world, just kill Ozymandias.
The thing that has always bothered me was that quite simply, the whole issue was created by Ozymandias, Blue Balls Manhattan was complacent, he was active, the issue with the Russians only truly became dire because Ozymandias’s machinations led to him abandoning humanity.
Alan Moore’s masterpiece wasn’t anything revolutionary at all. The villain was a villain because of his massive ego, his plot was pointless because of his massive ego, and his end game was pointless because…of his massive ego.
And in the movie, nipples.
Nipples.
Nipples.
Ozycontin wanted to save the world from a problem that he created, like setting fire to the store room so you can get a promotion for putting it out. Dreiberg and company acted like idiots, like every superhero and they did the wrong thing by doing the right thing, just like Superman has since day one by putting Lex Luthor in prison instead of throwing him into the sun, or Batman and the Joker.
The Watchmen is so well regarded because they had fetishes, and they had sex. Alan Moore didn’t tell a great or masterfully painted story, he just perved out Silver Age superheroes and the issues don’t go any deeper then that. It was new for it’s time because everyone else that came before had enough sense to think “Hmm, maybe Batman doesn’t need to suffer from erectile dysfunction.”
Is Watchmen a graphic novel or a comic.
Watchmen was originally released as a 12-issue comic series. Graphic novels are usually just compilations of the comics. Nowadays, we usually see it in the big graphic novel form with the yellow cover.
K, thanks.
Okay. For a superhero team what do you think of the name; ‘The Supers’? I had my eyes set on ‘The Ultimates’ but then I found out it was taken by Marvel.
From a legal perspective, it might be problematic that The Incredibles already used The Supers. However, I’d be more concerned that “The Supers” sounds generic and a bit forgettable. It might help to work in some defining trait about the team.
Never heard of the Incredibles before.
Also, do you think that me using the term ‘Mutants’ to describe humans that undergo genetic changes to obtain their power would be too similar to the ‘X-Men’?
Hmm. I think it might help to come up with a unique name in place of mutants. It’s a generic-enough word that you could use it without getting sued, I think, but X-Men is popular enough that it sort of has the mutant angle locked up.
Mutants is a bit generic. I would suggest:
-Genemorphs
-Abnormals
-NextGens
or something like that
How about for the team name “Guardian Force”?
Guardian Force has been done.
More than once, actually.
Yes, but not for a team of superhumans.
I’d recommend leaving Guardian Force alone because there’s a good chance of confusion. I like the word Guardians, though. You could probably take the word and complement it with something that is distinct to your style. For example, Star Wars took a word that was kind of generic (“council”) and made it a Jedi Council.
I liked Guardian Force and I’m not sure yet if I feel comfortable letting it go without an alternative.
Man, it’s hard doing panels.