Apr 12 2009
Are you better-suited to write a superhero novel or a comic book?
Many authors here aren’t really sure whether they want to write a superhero novel or a comic book. Here are a list of factors you should consider when deciding which one will work better for you.
Time vs. Money: What You Need to Succeed
1. Novels take more time, because they’re drastically longer. Unless you’re writing a novel for young adults or kids, your novel manuscript should probably be at least 70,000 words or so. In contrast, a 24-page comic book script will probably range between 5000 and 7500 words (including the panel descriptions and other details that won’t make the page). Realistically, you can do a comic book script in a few months and, as you get experienced, you should be able to get it down to a matter of weeks. In contrast, a novel takes at least one year and usually longer.
2. Comic books take more startup money, probably $400 or more. If you’re an unpublished writer, most comic book publishers will only consider your proposal if it includes around five illustrated sample pages. Because those pages are so important to whether your proposal looks professional, competent and interesting, you should hire someone that’s genuinely good. (Also, this artist should be the same person that you’ll actually be working with later on; it would be seriously unprofessional to do your sample with one artist and then later try to switch to another artist without asking the publisher’s permission). Five colored pages will probably cost you at least $400.
Manuscript/Script Specifications
1. A first-time novelist has to complete his novel manuscript before he can sell it to publishers. In contrast, most comic book publishers will consider a first-time author that has completed merely a single issue. If there are additional issues, it’s usually acceptable to describe those in the synopsis without providing a full script for them.
2. For both novelists and comic book writers, it’s easiest to get in the door with a standalone work that can be expanded later. When you start throwing words like “trilogy of novels” or “ongoing series” around, it suggests that you will be expensive to work with. It also raises questions about your ability to pace a story. Publishers generally want proof that your work will actually sell before they make a long-term financial commitment to you. If you’re a new author, you probably don’t have that proof yet.
3. A comic book needs a cliffhanger at the end of each issue, something to keep readers interested. You need your readers to want to come back for more. You need them to agree that your story is worth another $4. A novelist benefits from cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, but it’s not life-and-death. When someone finishes chapter 9, you don’t need to convince them to spend more money to pick up chapter 10.
Readers/Demographics
1. Generally, the readership for comic books is pretty narrow. Most comic book readers are males between 15-30, particularly between 18-25. If your comic book’s target audience is very different from that, you will really have to work to reassure publishers that there actually is a market for your work. In contrast, novels have a substantially broader readership and are substantially more woman-friendly.
2. Comic books are mostly sold in specialty stores like Dreamland Comics; novels are mostly sold in general-interest bookstores like Barnes and Nobles. This is a problem if you’d like to sell a comic book to an unusual demographic; your prospective readers are literally not even in the store.
3. It’s a bit easier to sell digital comic books than it is to sell e-books. Right now, e-books are just absolutely a non-factor.
4. It’s much easier to find an audience for a fantasy or sci-fi novel than it is to find one for a fantasy or sci-fi comic book.
Publishers and Agents
1. There are more novel publishers, and they’re generally a bit more accessible. By impressing the right agent, you might be able to publish your first novel at an A-list publisher. In contrast, there is virtually no chance that Marvel or DC Comics will even consider an unpublished comic book writer. None.
2. I highly recommend that a novelist consider sending off queries to literary agents. That will make it much easier to get published. In contrast, comic book writers don’t need an agent and I am not aware of any agents that deal mainly with comic books.
Strengths of the Medium
1. For a variety of reasons, but mostly length and the presence of pictures, comic books handle action much better than novels. They also tend to focus more on one-liner comedy and quips. In contrast, novels tend to rely more on deeper plots, more complex characters and drawn-out dialogue.
2. There are exceptions, but successful comic books are usually set in the modern real-world. If you’d like to work with a fantasy or a sci-fi setting, I highly recommend writing a novel instead.
Visual Responsibilities
1. A novelist has very little artistic work. Your publisher will present you with a cover and you will have very little control over it. In contrast, a comic book writer usually has to lay out the panels and has a great deal of influence on the cover. Being able to tell a story with sequential pictures is the defining skill of a comic book writer. Novelists also benefit from the ability to help readers see the story, but it’s much more important for a comic book writer than a novelist.
2. If you’re a first-time comic book writer, you will probably have to identify and hire a competent artist.
Working with an artist is quite a challenge. As a novelist you have complete control. But if your comic’s artist gets a detail wrong, that could be frustrating.
Hehe. If you’re writing a comic-book script, I don’t think the sequential job should be considered a completely solo job (unless you are working alone– as both artist and writer).
The way I see it (idealy; not realistically), writers and artists should be a solid team; bouncing ideas, concepts, and layout off of each other– with construtive input and criticism. Of course, in real life, egos tend to get in the way, from what I’ve read.
Ikarus619x, are you speaking from experience? Lol. I say talk it out if things get skewed out of the way they were supposed to be. Nothing wrong with exchanging ideas, I think.
Nice number, by the way. (A Rey fan or are you from San Diego; or am I completely off mark?).
If someone became both a novelist and a comic book writer, imagine all the skills they’d pick up. That’s the main reason I want to write both a novel and a manga; there’s so much to learn.
Dforce said: “The way I see it (ideally; not realistically), writers and artists should be a solid team; bouncing ideas, concepts, and layout off of each other– with constructive input and criticism. Of course, in real life, egos tend to get in the way, from what I’ve read.”
I think that the typical writer needs time to develop a close working relationship with their first artist. When you’re laying out the first five pages, I expect that the writer will probably do a lot more than a freelance artist will for a few reasons.
1. The freelance artist will probably charge more if he has to do more work. Limiting your costs at this stage is critical.
2. You probably haven’t worked much with this artist and aren’t sure how good he is at breaking a page into panels on his own.
3. The writer has much more riding on the art being awesomely smooth than the artist does. Whether the art is less than stellar or not, the artist will probably still get his $400 for the art. The only thing he loses is the prospect of future work. If the art is less than stellar, the writer gets no money from a publisher and loses $400 to the artist. Ick.
After getting published, there is more money to go around and you’ll be more confident in your artist. So you’ll have more opportunity to let the artist lay out pages. (“At the start of this page, Agent Black gets punched and drops his gun. Black and the bad guy fight for the gun, but the criminal comes up with it. At the end of this page, the criminal is pointing the gun at Agent Black. Feel free to fill in the details however you’d like”).
In contrast, comic book writers don’t need an agent and I am not aware of any agents that deal with comic books.
http://www.fineprintlit.com/about/colleen_lindsay.php
Says that she is interested in Graphic Novels, amongst many other genres. I know nothing about her but have seen her mentioned in Spec Fic trade magazines. Fine Print Lit is a bona fide agency, so she’s apparently legit.
I don’t get the impression that Colleen Lindsay does much work with graphic novels. I notice she places graphic novels last on the list of works she represents.
I am from San Diego, nice catch. As far as writer-artist teams go, being close is quite important. With my team, we both consider it our comic. This is great because we are both passionate and therefore work harder. This is bad because we both want control. Imagine two parents arguing over what their child wears and such. If it works out you end up like Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, if not you end up broke and friendless.
Hmm. Would conceiving the entire comic book along with the artist help the writer and the artist to work better than if the writer were to hire the artist after completing the script? It seems like that would be better because the artist could give feedback based on his experience of what he can and can’t draw or of what would work in a comic book visually.
@B.Mac
It’s curious that she says graphic novels but not comics. I don’t know much about comics, but I read where they (Joe Quesada, for one) claim they don’t make anything, even at four bucks an issue. It’s licensing where they rake in the moolah. Maybe graphic novels is another area where they do make money and it pays an agent to be in the mix. Since most g.n.’s are collections of comics you must already be published, so she’s got limited interest in first timers. My guess without asking her.
According to CBG, comic books sold $435 million worth of comic books to North American stores in 2008. That’s a lot of money, but it’s probably not a market large enough to sustain a Fortune 500 company (even when you factor in graphic novels). For example, The Dark Knight generated at least half a billion dollars in ticket sales. I’d almost agree with the assessment that major publishers mainly print comics to create an audience for movies (and other licensing opportunities, like toys and TV shows and the like).
Likewise, the main function of this website is to create an audience (and content) for a book about how to write superhero stories. I can operate the website at a loss and still come out ahead on the book deal. (Probably much farther ahead than if I were to try selling the book without an established audience and platform).
Stefan said: “Would conceiving the entire comic book along with the artist help the writer and the artist work better than if the writer were to hire the artist after completing the script? It seems like that would be better because the artist could give feedback based on his experience of what he can and can’t draw or of what would work in a comic book visually.”
I think it’d be easier to find an artist to fit your story than to write the story to fit your artist. When you have a story that excites you, I’d recommend finding an artist that is also excited by it. Otherwise, you might box yourself into a situation where your artist is ill-equipped to illustrate the story that you want to write. To some extent, you could get around that by writing a story that you aren’t excited about, but it seems like a very unhappy arrangement.
The good news is that it’s fairly easy to incorporate some artistic latitude into your script. “Jacob turns into a nightmarish monster in this scene. That could be a demon out of hell, a horrifying squid beast or whatever else you would prefer.” However, if your artist comes back and says “actually, I don’t know how to do any horror,” then you’re pretty much screwed. You will either need to do major rewrites, get a new artist, or accept art that will probably be unpublishably bad.
I write my scenes like that, letting the artist have panel control. If they have comic experience, then they know what they’re doing. The only time I’m really specific is if I’m using symbolism, or need a really cool image that readers will talk about for weeks. For instance, Captain America wind-surfing on an F-22.
I’d recommend mentioning explicitly in the script anything that you need to have for plot reasons. Unless it’s in the script, you can’t count on it appearing. For example, if it’s important later on that a character has a limp, make sure you mention that early on so that your artist doesn’t forget. Otherwise, it will appear that the character suddenly develops a limp for no apparent reason. (“But he was walking normally last page…”)
Also, cultural differences might lead a writer to include too little detail. For example, I scripted a page where the President walks in a room. I didn’t describe what the other people in the room were doing. I had mistakenly assumed that my artist would understand how Americans (particularly government employees) stand up when the President enters the room. My mistake! In the art’s first draft, the two main characters (both federal employees) were continuing their conversation as the President entered the conference room. Eww. That’s a bad way to make a first impression on your boss.
Hi, I’m new here. I’m writing (and illustrating, both) my own superhero comic, and I’ve been browsing your posts to see if your tips can help me. At the very least, my visit here so far has been very entertaining! I especially enjoyed the Superhero Questionnaire.
Anyway, this post reminded me of a lot of good information that I read in a book – “The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics,” by Dennis O’Neil. It has a lot of examples taken from DC scripts, and how the artist interpreted the writer’s instructions. From an artist’s perspective, unless you know for sure that you and your artist are on the same wavelength, please include in your description everything you particularly want included in the scene/panel. The artist can’t read your mind, and is only drawing on his own experience to fill the panel. Like B. Mac’s example about the President, we all think differently. If it’s important, better to be repetitive in the instructions than to have it done wrong.
Welcome, Illustar! As you may have noticed, a lot of people here have review forums, where we post little bits of our work and get feedback from others. If you want one, ask B. Mac and he’ll set one up for you.
I definitely think I’m more suited for writing comic books, because of my artistic background. However, I definitely want to write a novel too.
Recently, I’ve lost my art mojo. Worry not! I regained about 89% of my artistic skills!
The project I’m working on, since I’ve considered the setting, themes,concepts, characters and plot development, has thoroughly convinced me to do a full-length novel.
On a more irrelevant note, I haven’t developed the patience for a comic book (but I definitely have some ideas for graphic novels and comic books).
Gurion said: “The project I’m working on, since I’ve considered the setting, themes,concepts, characters and plot development, has thoroughly convinced me to do a full-length novel.
On a more irrelevant note, I haven’t developed the patience for a comic book (but I definitely have some ideas for graphic novels and comic-books).”
Hmm. If you haven’t developed the patience for a comic book, I think completing a novel will be very difficult. A novel manuscript is about ten times as long as the script of a comic book.