Aug 12 2010
I'm a former assistant editor with advice about how to write novels, comic books and graphic novels. Most of my content applies to fiction-writing in general, but I also provide articles specifically about superhero stories.
The New York Times uncovered evidence of serious detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay:
How do you break a suicidal terrorist? Find something worse than death.
Aug 04 2010
As if the nipples on the Batsuit weren’t bad enough. To be fair, though, it was the 1950s (Detective Comics #241).
Aug 01 2010
1. Use a style appropriate to your series. Ideally the title identifies something about the series even before the viewer reads the title.
DISTINCTIVE:
TOO BLAND:
Jun 29 2010
I saw this today on LinkedIn:
I paid a name artist five months ago in advance for a pin-up for [series name]. In fact, I’ve had several artists, mostly old friends… all consummate professionals.
Just this one artist, who seems to be a bad actor. At the time he said contact him in two weeks and he’d give me an update on the status. Two weeks later I emailed him — nothing. I’ve been emailing him every few weeks very politely at first. Still no response at all. My last couple of emails were more strongly worded and in my last one I told him I’d be telling everyone I know on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our blog about it and name him by name. Hell, I’m thinking I’ll put out a press release, too.
What do you think? Does he get away with it, and I have a lesson learned, or do I go nuclear on his ass?
Don’t go public about backstage drama. It can only make the situation worse. First, verify what you can. Is he actually being delinquent? You would look like a damn idiot if you accused your artist of going AWOL and it turns out that he was actually in an emergency room after getting hit by a car. (It happens). At the very least, do not stumble into a slander lawsuit until you actually know (rather than suspect) what is going on!
If you have an editor/publisher, address any concerns to them and discuss whether you need to replace your artist. Unlike publically accusing your artist of fraud, replacing your artist does not open you up to a slander/libel lawsuit if it turns out his absence was totally innocuous. If you don’t yet have an editor/publisher, make the determination on your own. It will cost you time and money and you’ll probably have to scrap most of the work by the original artist. It’s highly bothersome and usually unprofessional for an artist to go missing for several weeks, but switching to another artist may well be a cure worse than the disease.
Finally, besides getting back at your original artist, going public doesn’t actually help you in any way. It certainly doesn’t make it any likelier that he’ll come up with the art for you. It may raise questions about your professionalism and will probably make you look inept. (Don’t give yourself a reputation for workplace drama).
Some other general ideas to minimize problems with your teammates:
Jun 19 2010
This is a pretty awesome collection of concept art. Pretty much all of it is kickass, but here are a few pieces that caught my eye. Hat tip to David Thompson’s Culture, Ideas and Comic Books.
Jun 16 2010
Jun 09 2010
1. Market what you have. The genre should be clear at a glance and the artistic should be consistent with the mood and content. For example, if the story is a grim and macabre horror, you’d probably want something that suggested what danger(s) the protagonist will face. Some possibilities that come to mind include a creepy mansion looming in the background, fog obscuring something sinister behind somebody, some supernatural creature, etc.
2. It needs to stand out at a distance of 10+ feet. The single most important audience segment for most comic book covers is prospective readers browsing through a comic book store. Before they examine the product, you have to grab their attention. Bold color combinations are one effective way to do so. I find that scenes involving motion (particularly extraordinary motion, such as a Batman karate leap) tend to be more eye-catching. Obviously, it helps if something interesting and/or unexpected is happening. More on that here. Finally, the title/logo should be legible across the room (at least 10 feet).
Jun 05 2010
Unfortunately, it’s $200 for the upgrade. Ouch. Nonetheless, some of the features look like dynamite. Here are some that might help your comic book work.
May 04 2010
I’m getting ready to launch a separate website for my fiction work. Here’s a rough draft of the header for The Taxman Must Die. What do you think? (Note: it’ll probably be cut off because it’s wider than the viewing area. If so, you can click on it to see all of it).
I’m still waiting on the background and I think I can redo the text when I return home a few weekends from now.
Apr 22 2010
I saw this today on a comic book forum: “searching 4 artists who want to draw my comics’ covers. its NOT be a paid Job, but ur name will be mentioned with the artwork, and yes, it will commence our long term professional relationship.”
Artist: “Umm, how about you commence our long-term professional relationship by paying me? Also, why would I want to work with a writer that writes worse than I do?”
Feb 18 2010
Feb 14 2010
The Taxman Must Die is a wacky mix of an office comedy and a national security thriller. Two unlikely secret agents– an accountant and a mutant alligator– have to save the world. From themselves, mostly. If you’ve ever wondered why it’s so easy for supervillains to break out of prison or why black heroes die so quickly, you will probably enjoy it. Here’s the scene where the two main characters first meet!
Feb 14 2010
I was doing my sample pages on Photoshop today and they looked fairly sober. When uploaded, they look like Pokemon on LSD. Emily was having similar problems. Any ideas?
UPDATE: The problem was that we were saving the files as CYMK rather than RGB. CYMK is the default setting on Photoshop because it prints out more cleanly, but uploading CYMK photos can cause color distortion. If you’re suffering from similar problems, go to Image > Mode > RGB in Photoshop.
Feb 11 2010
Here’s an experiment to help you get into the time-strapped mindset of the publisher’s assistant or assistant editor evaluating your manuscript or comic book submission. You’re an art editor that needs to select six works for the next stage of review. But you only have one minute to decide. To make things easier on you (and my bandwidth), your boss has given you only an eye from each artist’s portfolio. Pick your six favorites candidates and reject the rest.
Okay, do you have your six favorites ready? Then I have one key question for you…
Feb 09 2010
1. Most artists won’t work with authors that write worse than they do. When you post your job listing on a website like DeviantArt or LinkedIn, you will be judged on the quality of your writing. I’d recommend proofreading it. Avoid extraneous details that won’t matter to an artist. Also, list your published works, if any. (Experienced partners are usually less risky).
2. The more specific, the better. “John has adventures” says much less about the art you want than “Haxley is a barbarian that has to mangle his way to the throne.” If you have a two-sentence synopsis, use it. For more advice on doing two-sentence synopses, please see this.
3. What exactly do you need from the artist? If you’re doing a color comic with just one illustrator, you need pencils, inks, colors and letters. How many pages do you need? If you’re looking to put together a sample for publishers, you’ll probably want around 5 pages and possibly a cover. Check the submissions guidelines for each publisher, of course. If you’re self-publishing, you’ll need the entire issue, which will probably be 32+ pages per issue.
4. Describe the sorts of characters and creatures you’ll need illustrated. Just regular humans? A superhero whose power sets him on fire? Supersoldiers in powersuits? Fantastical creatures like griffins and dragons? Werewolves and vampires? Angels and demons? Hydras and Zeus? Eldritch horrors? Eldritch horrors tanning on the beach? Before you hire an artist, make sure he’s comfortable with every major character and the mood of the work.
5. Will you need unusual props? For example, if you’re writing military sci-fi set in the 23th century, your artist will do a lot of exotic vehicles and weaponry. If you’re writing a romantic comedy starring me, probably not so much. Except for the Pimpmobile.
Feb 09 2010
Check it out here!
Feb 06 2010
Jan 29 2010
When your team is putting together the comic book, you need to identify potential problems as soon as possible. If you decide that there’s a problem with the outlines but you’ve already gone to coloring, you’ll have to throw out some coloring work and probably some inking. Here are some problems that you need to spot early.
1. Check for continuity. Are the dimensions of the room consistent? Are the characters consistently portrayed? Are the characters as tall and wide as they’re supposed to be? Also, in the toning and coloring stages, please make sure that the lighting sources are consistent.
2. Character placement. Does the placement of the characters make sense? For example, if two characters are walking somewhere but only one of them knows the way, he should probably be in front. Does each character have enough space to perform his later actions? For example, we once had to redo a page because we were boxed in by the walls–it was impossible to have a superhero drop behind a character that was leaning against a wall.
3. Are the character expressions consistent with their lines of dialogue? One particularly tricky area here is when the character’s emotions change dramatically mid-panel. If your script goes something like this, you’re screwed.
Panel 1.
WIFE, annoyed: Your boss kept you late tonight. What gives?
HUSBAND: I got a promotion!
WIFE, excited: Hooray!
Since it’d be very difficult to show the wife being annoyed and excited at the same time, this panel is pretty much doomed. This is a problem that you need to solve before the page goes to your artist. For example, you could break this into two panels so that she can emote her annoyance and excitement separately.
4. Is the amount of dialogue consistent with the panel’s pacing? For example, if you’re doing an action panel of someone leaping at an enemy, giving them 25+ words of dialogue will damage the pace. No one can plausibly say that many words in the span of a jump. Too many words will make the action feel slower and less exciting than it should be. As a rule of thumb, the more intense and involved the action, the fewer words you should use.
5. If something changes, like a character drawing out a prop or something, is it clear where the change came from? For example, if John is unarmed in panel 1 and wielding a gun in the next, readers might wonder where the gun came from. You could solve that by adding an intermediate panel of him reaching for the gun, or by using motion lines to show that his hand is moving from where his gun used to be. Alternately, just show time passing or the scene changing. For example, if panel 1 shows us a police officer driving with his gun holstered, it’ll make sense if his gun is drawn when he gets out to storm a building in panel 2. We didn’t see him draw the gun, but the situation has changed–now he’s in a much more dangerous situation.
6. If a character has a prop or accessory, does it appear consistently? It’s really easy to lose track of what each character is holding. Be careful.
Did this article help? If so, please submit it to Stumble!
Jan 20 2010
Below the fold, I have uploaded Rebecca’s pencils for the five sample pages I’ll be submitting with my comic book script. I really like how they’ve turned out! What do you think? (If you’d like to see the script for these pages, please see this comment).
Jan 17 2010
I’ve uploaded the thumbnail sketches for my five sample pages on Flickr. If you hold your mouse over a panel, you can read the panel description from the script. What do you think?
Jan 10 2010
I sent out my script to Rebecca for thumbnails tonight. I’ll submit as soon as the five sample pages are fully inked, colored and lettered (preferably within 2-4 weeks). Below, I’ve included the script for the five pages, 27-31.
Jan 04 2010
Characters doing a usual activity in a way or setting that is unexpected.
Dec 30 2009
I decided to swap out the US flag for a background more recognizable as a writer’s background. Also, I swapped out the red-to-blue title gradient for just blue. I think it’s easier to read. What do you think?
ORIGINAL VERSION
NEW VERSION
I think that Lash (the black guy) sticks out much more smoothly than he did before. And the new SUPERHERO NATION title text is significantly cleaner and easier to read. (My grasp of Photoshop has gotten a bit better; can you see that the new version’s title text is a bit more three-dimensional than the original version?) However, I think that Gary (the white guy) sticks out less. Aside from that, I think that the new background is an improvement because it indicates this is a writing website more effectively than the US flag did.
Nov 18 2009
Emily is the first of three prospective colorers that I’m evaluating for my comic book series. What do you think about this page? (Note: if it’s cut off, just right click it and hit “View Image”).
Below, I’ve included the script for the page.
Continue Reading »
Oct 27 2009
After you’ve written the script for a comic book page, I would recommend doing a rough sketch of the page before you give the script to your artist for pencils. That will help you identify staging problems early. Here are a few examples.
1. Will the panels have enough space to comfortably fit the content? As a rule of thumb, I think it’s especially important to check this if if the page has 7+ low-action panels or 4+ action panels. (Low-action panels, like most dialogue, usually require less space because they don’t need to show as many things happening. For example, a dialogue panel might just have a person’s head, whereas an action shot of two boxers going at it will probably include at least the upper bodies of two men).
2. Will the panel’s perspective portray everything you want to show? For example, if two characters are facing each other, it can be quite tricky to show their expressions, particularly if you’re trying to focus on one. 90 degree side-shots get boring fast and have trouble emphasizing either subject.
Oct 26 2009
If you’re here because you’d like to color the comic book I’m working on, please keep reading. If not, you’ll probably find this pretty boring.
Oct 26 2009
I’m a few days away from completing my first issue’s script and I’m gearing up to complete the art sample for publishers. This is the sort of style I’m going for– realistic with mild stylization. Phoenix Wright is another example of that.
Unfortunately, the artist that did the coloring here (Rebecca) isn’t actually available to color the comic because it would take too much time and she’s already doing the comic’s inks. So, barring some significant advancements in the field of cloning, I need to take on a colorer. I posted on a few boards have gotten about 60 responses.
In particular, I’m looking for…
I narrowed it down to seven applicants so far. Here’s a sample work from each. What do you think?
Sep 22 2009
In most cases, a comic book writer will have the text describe what is visually shown in the panels. For example, if two characters are speaking, usually the panel will show the characters as they speak. But there are some great reasons you might want to consider using removed narration, where the speakers are out of the panel.
For example, Gotham Central includes a scene where an officer is describing a raid to Internal Affairs off-panel. On-panel, we see the raid happen in a totally different way. That’s effective storytelling because (short-answer) it shows us that the cop is lying about what happened. If we only saw the cop as he talked, it wouldn’t be as clear or as striking as seeing the truth.
Here are some reasons you might want to consider removed narration.
Aug 26 2009
Many first-time comic book writers mistakenly think that it’s okay to give their character bland costumes and let other factors make up for it. While other aspects contribute to the overall success of a superhero, the costume is critical because it’s the first thing a reader sees. Don’t blow your only chance at a first impression by making your hero look like a bum. Here are some tips to design effective and stylish costumes.
1. Keep it functional. When a costume doesn’t feel practical, it will probably make the character seem less realistic and/or competent. For example, if your hero wears a large cape, it’d be hard to believe that he never gets caught on anything. And if it doesn’t, the character may come off as a Mary Sue.
2. Be bold. Don’t be afraid to let your creativity flow when designing a costume. If you have a idea for something that could be interesting try to work it into the costume without compromising functionality. Personally, I prefer to start with an outrageous costume then take away until I find balance. Play with colors, patterns, styles, layers, and accessories until you find the perfect costume exhibiting style and functionality, but…
Jul 23 2009
Randy Stradley, one of Dark Horse’s editors, has some portfolio review tips here.
I’d like to add a few of my own.
1. Include a good mix of regular people, cities, cars, and trees/plants/landscapes. Many artists focus on closeups of superheroes and, frankly, that’s only one part of the art that goes into a superhero comic book.
2. Show that you have a well-rounded grasp of human anatomy. In particular, a lot of artists have trouble with legs and feet. If an artist’s portfolio didn’t include any shots that showed at least a bit of human anatomy from the waist down, I’d assume that the artist wasn’t ready yet. Backshots are also sometimes a problem.
Jul 15 2009
Joe Jusko did his best with a rather strange comic book cover. Please describe what you think is happening in the issue. Take as much space as you need.
Jun 24 2009
In visual media, motion usually makes a scene more interesting. It’s particularly important in a cover because you have to catch the reader’s eye.
For example, let’s say we have two covers that use the world as a soccer ball. (The issue’s title is Americans Don’t Play Soccer, and the issue is about Darfurian genocide and other things very far removed from the typical American’s life. For ideological balance, we might add a thinly veiled Obama vis-a-vis the Iranian democracy movement).
Cover #1: On a soccer field, the villain is standing next to a globe. In the background, the hero is the only thing between him and the net. The villain’s pose would probably look lifeless, like these.
Cover #2: On a soccer field, the villain is doing an insane flip as he punts the world at the hero. The cover would probably look a lot more energetic and stylish. This is particularly important because the cover will probably show the villain from the back. It’s quite hard to strike an immobile pose from behind.
It would probably also help if the hero/goalie had some action. Bracing himself for impact is a little bit banal, so I’d like something that’s striking and makes it clear that this comic isn’t really about soccer. So let’s say the hero is bracing himself behind a transparent SWAT shield.
May 23 2009
I found this dangerously amusing. “Ah, excellent. Simmering sexual tension is my specialty.” Please look past the awful production values; they’re part of the humor.
Apr 20 2009
This time, we changed SUPERHERO NATION. We tested out two new fonts: VTC Supermarket Display and Rifleman. We also added a few minor effects that are probably pretty hard to notice. (We strengthened the drop-shadow and altered the blue-purple-red gradient). What do you think?
I’ve included some before-and-after shots beneath the jump…
Apr 14 2009
Last Friday, we switched headers. This is what it used to look like.
And here’s the new version. The only noticeable difference is that the bubbles have been redrawn.
Apr 07 2009
Hmm. For the first time ever, I’ve tried contracting out a letterer to do our header’s balloons. He threw out a few ideas here. What do you think?
Apr 03 2009
Now we have a tiny favicon to help you keep track of which browser tab belongs to Superhero Nation. Favicons are only 16 pixels by 16 pixels, so they’re very hard to read. Here’s the 64 by 64 version.
I was mulling over a few alternatives, but they were fairly uninspired or unworkable: a book, a cape, something with a pen, etc. I’ll let you know if this significantly affects user-retention rates.
What do you think?
Apr 02 2009
(Picture taken courtesy of The Baltimore Sun; you can read their review here).
This novel has been published by Harper-Collins, so I’m sort of surprised by how unappealing the cover is. It looks like it’s been slapped together for a self-published novel. There’s a typo on the cover. (“a terrific send-up not only superheroes in general” is missing the word “of”).
What do you think? What worked and what didn’t? What would you have changed?
UPDATE: The author of this book has contacted us, saying that the cover is an “uncorrected draft.” Erm, the book has been out for two months. Isn’t it well past time to correct it? Moreover, what were the circumstances that led a publisher to rush out a book that didn’t have a good cover ready?
Mar 21 2009
I’m planning for the contingency that someone beats me in our proofreading contest next month. So I need to design the t-shirt that I might give out. My original plan was to just give out a generic Superhero Nation t-shirt, but I’d like to design a separate “I Beat B. Mac” t-shirt.
On the front, I think it will have something like a Che Guevara-esque drawing of me with the caption “I Beat a Professional Proofreader And and All I Got was This Lousy T-Shirt.” That’s kind of cliche, so hopefully one of you can suggest something more stylish.
There will be text on the back. For example, something like “What are you waiting for? Beat B. Mac and win this shirt on SUPERHERONATION.COM”
Mar 16 2009
Feb 25 2009
I’m very fond of Spiderman Loves Mary Jane, particularly the way it ends its issues. The last page of each issue wraps up the plot of that issue and foreshadows the next issue. The cliffhangers are usually pretty strong and make the reader want to keep going. For example, check out these sample concluding pages.
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