Questions to those who have done their own comic books

Sapphire said:

Hi folks. Long time lurker, first time poster.

I was wondering if there is anyone in the same boat as I am. First off, I have no training/schooling on writing or art, but I do both anyway. Complete amateur here. I'll just admit that flat out.

Basically, I have my own story going, I can draw pretty decently, (although if I ever pursued having it published I would much rather have an artist handle the artwork) and I know I can ink and letter. The coloring though is a different story but not a big deal.

My question is, what now? Making a living off of it is not my concern. I just want my story out there, and I know I need to do something with it because the idea won't stop bugging me.

Reading some other posts, it seems like some of you have agents or have sent to publishers, but from what I've seen, publishers aren't looking for new characters. They either want artists or writers for their own use. Am I wrong on this?

Webcomics, Zuda competition, indy publishing, search for an agent?? I'm just curious as to what you folks have done.

I'll be quiet now as I wait for your answers. Thank you!

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My advice would be to look into doing it as a web comic.

If your main concern is to just get your story out there, then this would be the cheapest and easiest way of doing it. If you do decide to go this route, then I would suggest using a Wordpress-powered blog using a specific theme designed for web comics. I know there is one out there which is free but I can't remember the name of it. A simple Google search should turn it up for you.

Hope this helped and good luck with it!

Wesley Craig Green

Comicpress!

However, there are a couple of others, including one simply called "Comic" I believe.

Agreeing with webcomic suggestion. Comicpress is pretty good to set up but if you're a little technically duh then I suggest http://www.drunkduck.com/ because they've been around longer than Smackjeeves. Unfortunately it seems Comicgen is imploding or something.

I agree that a webcomic is a great low cost solution and I'd recommend it, especially if you're just getting started.

But there are a lot of great publishers out there that publish original, creator owned work - Top Shelf, Fantagraphics, Oni, Drawn & Quarterly, First Second, Slave Labor Graphics, Image, I believe even Vertigo does some creator owned stuff these days...although you'd likely have to be established and a "get" in order for them to agree to that. There are of course many other smaller publishers - but these are a handful of the bigger independent publishers.

All those houses I listed are pretty first rate, so you really have to bring your A game...but there's no reason new authors can't get books picked up with them (especially if you're not planning to make a fortune). I have a friend that did just that with Image a few years ago (and he made very little money - but his book is out there published and on shelves).

Another thing to keep in mind is Black & White. If you're worried about color - many books are actually better in black and white anyway (depending on the material - The Walking Dead - a huge successful book for Image - is all B&W since day one) and many smaller more independent publishers prefer to publish B&W as it's considerably cheaper.

If you're hoping to work for the big two (Marvel and DC) then yes, they pretty much don't accept original material...there are several different ways to break in (slowly usually) as an artist or writer for the big two, but I don't really know of any of them that involve looking at original material - unless you publish it elsewhere and they see it and are impressed and want to bring you on board. But you should also consider, since you mentioned having your own stuff that you want to do, that if you work for DC or Marvel it's likely a long time of toeing the line and doing "their" stuff before you really get to spread your creative wings, and even then it's likely to be under pretty tight editorial guidelines.

Whatever route you choose - good luck and let us know where you end up!

This was posted back in December, and the OP doesn't have any other posts, so I'm not sure if they just went back to lurking or left altogether. In any case, these are all great suggestions! I agree that a webcomic sounds best for just starting out and not caring about making a living off of it.

I had a comic book concept and it sounds like I was in your same situation...I'm on okay artist but not nearly good for comic book material. I checked on Craigslist and Deviant Art for artists seeking writers (there are more than you think). This way you get to sort of interview and preview the artists before striking any sort of deal.

I was very fortunate to find Luis Puig (who is now also working on Heroes comics for NBC) and I am quite happy to announce that Issue #1 of our comic was finished just last week!

Barry, congrats! Keep us posted on the publishing status.

Congrats,Barry!


This thread has been very interesting. I have a manga and five graphic novels done. Well,the writing is done. I can't draw worth a damn. I might look into a partnership with an artist one day.