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Creating Comics from Start to Finish by Buddy Scalera

Part 2
A Graphic Content Review by John Wilson

Buddy next ventures into the realm of inkers. Despite what you may have heard in Chasing Amy, there is much more to the inking process than tracing. In the early days, the contribution of the inker was necessary due to the quality of paper. Over time the nuances that the bold black line created became part of the trick of the mind that causes the eye to see depth on the flat page. Now inkers are an integral part of the team, giving depth to the images, binding characters together and providing restraint to the garish colors of the superhero world.

Rodney Ramos is the talented inker of 52, Green Lantern and Transmetropolitan to mention a few. Ramos, however, never intended to be an inker at all. Beginning his art career as an illustrator who drew more from life than anything else, he soon met artist Mark Texeira and found his life going in another direction. Through Texeira, he was introduced to John Romita Sr. That meeting lead to him becoming part of Romita's Raiders, the clean-up team that was also a learning experience and proving ground for many young creators. But this still wasn't that exact moment of Ramos' inking start. He started as a penciler for both Marvel and Valiant and it was the chance meeting with Joe Rubinstein, legendary artist and inker that finally set him on his inky path. Joe complimented his work, telling Rodney that he had missed a "calling" and this put him on his path. And now that he is there you will never meet someone more serious and dedicated to the craft of inking. Ramos realizes that you can't simply sit down and ink, but instead you must realize all aspects of what is happening in the panel: the lighting, anatomy of the character and the way the clothes drape off, the mood and many more aspect to do that panel and the art work justice.

It is important to realize that there are two schools of inking. In one, the inker follows the pencils closely. Simply augmenting the work without changing the vision that the penciler is trying to convey. The other is that the inker adds another layer of artistic interpretation, changing and interpreting the art in their own unique style. The good inker can do both styles and often find themselves in high demand. As a freelancer, many inkers find themselves making the hard choice between dwelling on every aspect of the project and needing to get pages done to pay their bills. As with many aspects of the publishing world, inkers are equally subject to deadlines and maybe more so. Since they are the middle part of the process they find themselves pulling late nights and weekends and in Ramos' case, lending an inking hand for books that are late. Professionalism is very high on Ramos' priority list. "Professionalism to me is you do a good job, you have fun with it, try to bring something new to it, or you try to bring something that is solid and fresh to it". He also believes that a true professional knows when to admit he can't do the job and tells the editor the truth. Another truth is the potential advent of digital inking. While the software is not quite "there" yet, the future of inking may well find itself coming from a screen rather than a brush.

The letterer has perhaps the most difficult job of the team in terms of their work, if done correctly, should not even be noticed. Because we were taught the visual code of words at a young age, we accept the concept of reading almost automatically. In fact, once we become readers, we can't stop. In comics, the layout is different from other forms of communication. They are not regimented in strict rectangular outlines but instead are more organic and help to create the "sound" of the words on the page. Very much an artist in their own right, the letterer must make choices for the placement of the words that will interact and enhance the piece. Many artists and writers will request specific letterers who best enhance the overall look of the piece.

One of the most in demand letters currently working is Chris Eliopoulos. And unusually, he has been trying very hard for most of his career to not be noticed. "If people are paying attention to the lettering, you're not doing your job right" he says. For him, the lettering should blend in and allow the reader to get on with the story. The letterer is often called on to make up for lost time on a project. Computer advances have made the process of lettering different but no less of a challenge for many. In the early days, lettering was done by hands with an Ames guide. But now with computers, many letterers develop their own fonts and create a house style unlike any one else. Chris references the freelancer triangle, which consists of good, fast and cheap. Often you can get only two of the three and a good dash of "nice" is also important. Chris especially respects the triangle and has been able to build an impressive career for himself and members of his lettering studio. However, Chris does lament for the future of lettering as it may be venturing more into the production process but for now, it is still very much a skilled and specific art form.

While not all comics are colored, there is definitely something about color that strikes the memory of comic fans. In the past color was severely limited, hence the often garish color schemes of early comics but today's technology in both computers and printing has blown the palette wide open. The evolution of color came over time and experimentation. And the irony of the situation is that the early pioneers of comics coloring had little to do with it...they were too busy working. It fell to those coming up and just entering the world of coloring to blaze a new trail. One of the most celebrated colorists in the industry is Brian Haberlin and in a batch of equal irony, he didn't start out with the intent of being a colorist. But a Green Lantern image in incredible detail with 3-D styling brought work immediately to his table. He never had to crack open his portfolio. Haberlin further made himself indispensible at the then just opened Image Studios, specifically Top Cow, by learning and doing anything and everything that came his way. He also kept his eyes open and observed the incredible creative talent that surrounded him. He wanted to know how to do everything, no matter that he planned to do it or not. He has published comics himself, is a VP at Top Cow and was one of the co-creators on Witchblade, but he still finds the title of colorist hangs heavily on him as a "velvet coffin" at times. However Haberlin treats it and his team at his coloring studio with the same trademark professionalism that got him where he is today. He sees his part of the process as being one of time management and keeps the heat on his people to excel and thrive in the timeframes.

The most important things for colorist is to keep track of the ever changing world of technology. Of all the parts of the comic process, the colorist is the most heavily connected with the use of the computer and the need to do the work better, faster and better. As for Haberlin, he has used every kind of software you could name to create incredible 2D and 3D effects. He is an educator of coloring technology as well as a student and knows that no matter how the tech changes he must stay true to the core principles that he has always held. "I've always felt that the colorist's job is to take it one step further. Improve it. A black and white page is going to go only so far" he says.

Chapters 7-10 are best experienced rather than summarized. Buddy's analysis of alternate avenues into other ways to experience comics is spot on and I found parallels in my own journey. The next two chapters are fantastic interviews with Marvel's EIC Joe Quesada and the living legend himself, Stan Lee. Both interviews are far too good to even try to sum up in a few simple words and they are well worth the price of the book for them alone, as is the final chapter in which Buddy Scalera sums up the incredible information of the book and offers his own insights on breaking into the business. Insights from a man that has seen it all, the good, the bad and the truly ugly in terms of the mistakes that people make in trying to get noticed by an editor. He also offers invaluable advice to people who find themselves following the self-publishing path and details his own journey as a "reluctant" self-publisher. Additionally he offers several blue pages in the back of the book that offer links to further information, a self-publishing budget guide that I am sure a few of my friends wish they had years ago and a final success story from the incomparable Billy Tucci.

Bottom line on this book: If you are looking for pages of step by step pictures that teach you how to draw simple figures, you need to go somewhere else. But if you are ready to grow up and take your comics career seriously, this book is an indispensible resource for potential creators. And will even teach an old pro a thing or two.

John Wilson- John Wilson is Chief Creative Officer and Blog Master at Comic Related, Online Editor for Sketch Magazine and the Talent Coordinator for Skystorm Studios. Additionally, he is returning to his own comics work, does multimedia art and is an arts educator for a Louisville middle school. In his rare free time, he reads multiple magazines and torments his beautiful wife and their goofy dog.