Short answer:

1. Script of the first issue. 
2. Synopsis of the larger work (either the first issue, arc or series as a whole). 
3. Sample pages inked, colored and lettered. 

For a more detailed look at these three items, I’ll focus on Dark Horse specifically because I think DH is pretty standard.  But always check the publisher’s submissions page.  For example, Dark Horse’s submissions page is here and Image’s is here. 

Dark Horse provides a formatting guide here.  If a publisher provides a formatting guide, I would recommend sticking to it.  If not, I think using DH-formatting is okay.  As long as it’s easy to understand for the editor to mentally translate the script to a page, the format you use shouldn’t be an issue for the editor. 

Then I’d recommend making sure that the company in question publishes the story you’re going for.  Do they do stories with the same tone and target audience?  What about issue length?  With Dark Horse, I would strongly recommend submitting a comic book script at 32 pages. Almost every DH series publishes at 32 pages. If you try submitting to other publishers, you can vary the script based on their preferred page-ranges.

Once you’ve finished the script, I’d recommend making sure that it does each of the following:

1. Introduces an interesting and likable protagonist.
2. Gives the protagonist urgent and high-stakes goals. (Danger is not necessary but it helps).
3. Ideally, introduces the overarching goal for the hero. For example, the Punisher really wants to kill/maim a lot of criminals, particularly the gangs that killed his family. Spiderman cares as much about crime as he does about regular stuff like his girlfriend and job. The Fantastic Four do as much exploring and research as crimefighting. Etc.
4. Features your very best writing– in particular, MAKE SURE THAT THE SPELLING AND CAPITALIZATION ARE CORRECT. (Otherwise you will come off as an incompetent amateur). I’d recommend having at least two really trusted friends or teachers go through it line-by-line.
5. Shows rather than tells. Generally, it’s better to give the reader information through actions rather than dialogue and worst to give the information through narratorial exposition. So, if a character is angry, it’d be much better to show him glaring or punching the wall than to say “I’m angry!” and absolutely awful to have the narrator say “John is angry!” Comic books are primarily a visual medium and it’s really important to show as much as you can visually.

Besides the issue script itself, you also need to do a synopsis.  For DH, this is 2-5 pages if you’re proposing an arc of issues and just one if you’re trying to sell a single issue. It’s usually easier to get publishers to sign off on a single issue as a pilot because it entails less of a financial commitment.  

Many publishers, but not DH, require that the author have a set number of pages fully inked, colored and lettered. For example, Image wants to see 5 pages as they will appear in print, as well as the cover. To do so, you would need to obtain the services of 1-3 professional-grade artists. If you know any professional artists (artists that have done at least thousands of dollars worth of business), I’d recommend asking them first.  If not, then you probably need to hire a freelancer.  As soon as the script and synopsis are done, AND NOT BEFORE, I’d recommend going on a site like DeviantArt and posting a help-wanted note for an inker/colorer (or an inker and colorer separately).  If you’re interested, you can see the job listing I did for a colorist here. 

If you get the colorer and inkist separately, I would expect that any colorer or inkist good enough to get professionally published will charge at least $60-75 a page. I’d recommend budgeting $600-$750 for a five page sample. If this is not financially viable for you, your best bet is probably to apply to a company like DH that does not require finished pages as part of the submissions process. Alternately, you can probably reduce the cost somewhat by having a single artist serve as both inkist and colorer. In that case, I think you could get the price down to something around $100 a page. I highly recommend against doing your own illustrations unless you are a professional artist. 

If you liked this article, I’d recommend reading “How to Communicate with Editors and Agents,” given that you need to impress an editor to get your comic book published.

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