Kav's Tips for Comic Artists - Collaborations
by A. "Kav" Kaviraj
Comic book artist, A. Kaviraj, continues his series of providing useful tutorials for comic book artists.
Pretty much every industry artist or writer have the same advice for aspiring artists and writers. Make comics, post them on the web, and keep producing. Marvel employs scouts to look for new talent. So the problem becomes, how do I best make a web impression in the hopes that industry scouts like what they see? It is to produce a well written well drawn comic. Hopefully with digital or very well done hand lettering. Weak lettering is a turn-off I'm told. You can check out interviews on Comic Related with videos on 'Breaking In to the Business'. Very informative. Also, the lettering on the 'Miracleman' page (right - click to enlarge) is considered bad lettering. Blambot free fonts are cool, but keep in mind if the book gets published then you have to pay a fee. [Editor's Note: Only by notable mid-tier or upper-tier companies - Blambot's license fee doesn't apply to self-publishing or small press in most cases.]
http://comicrelated.com/resources.php#breaking-into-comics
So, unless you are both an excellent writer as well as artist, you are going to need to hook up with a good writer in order to make a splash. So this article addresses how to pick a writer who will be worth your hard work. Not to take anything away from writers, but artists have to spend far more time and research to produce a page. You can write a page in 5 seconds, eg: "Splash page. Jack at grave". (See page 20 from Rapid City #2 below on left - click to enlarge) But to draw that would take a minimum of 2 hours and probably more like 5. So artists are courted by writers on sites like Digital Webbing or Comic Related forums. You get to pick, as an artist. Kinda like the pretty girl at the dance.
So, you want to hook up with a good writer. What is a good writer? it's someone who is motivated, willing to listen, has read books on screenplay writing so knows how to script a visual story. Better yet is a writer who has worked with artists before, and had stuff actually produced. there's nothing like experience to solidify writing skills. An untested writer doesn't know yet what is possible or effective visually. You want a writer with a website waiting to post his masterpieces, or the funds to print them. The writer does all the web stuff-seeks advertising, approaches publishers, etc. The artist can help with these certainly but due to time factors needs to be free to focus on drawing.
It's a good idea to read a book on screenplay writing yourself, so you'll be able to spot a good story and catch cliche or weak plot premises. "Good Scripts, Bad Scripts" By Tom Pope is good, also any books by Syd Field. You need a writer who is willing to change things if you spot plot problems. No artist wants to waste his time drawing something that rings false. If the writer wants to be in charge, and control everything because he's the writer, well, those kind of writers PAY artists. I'll draw anything if I'm being paid. But if I'm going to collaborate, it better be a damn good story and a dependable writer with good communication and the willingness to change things. Hey-as an artist I change ANYTHING the writer wants and I don't argue about it or get defensive. Why should this door only swing one way?
Let's say the writer has scripted a scene where the villain kills a witness in the hospital by injecting an air bubble into his vein. Let's not even bring up how cliche this is. It's actually impossible-you can't kill anything with an air bubble-it's one of those Hollywood myths that never seem to die. But let's say you work as a nurse to pay the bills while you struggle to break into comics. You know damn well an air bubble can't kill anyone-so you mention to the writer that this should be changed. Instead of being grateful, you find he becomes defensive and refuses to change the script. Why draw for someone like that, for free? He needs you, not vice-versa. PS this myth got started because of the way doctors squirt out some of the fluid before sticking a syringe in a vein. They do that because an air bubble can bubble out the vein and foul up the injection-not because it's deadly.
How do you hook up with a writer to collaborate with? You post an ad in a forum or respond to a writer's ad. Let's say it's an ad that pitched a story that sounded interesting. He sends you the first 5 pages to check out. Make sure right off the bat the story GRABS you. So many writers have this masterpiece epic in mind and don't care about how the story starts because 'there's so much more to this story'. Unfortunately the end reader will do the 'comic flip': read the first few pages to see if the story interests them. If it doesn't they put it down and never pick it up again. Critical. Pay special attention to the cover-this is your hook and first impression. You want it to make the reader curious, interested. A blah cover says blah story. (See Rapid City #2 cover on right - click to enlarge.) by not showing the faces this cover screams mystery, intrigue, drama and threat. the twisted perspective draws the reader in-they want to know what is going on-who are these people-what is happening? They need to read this comic!
90% of webcomics I have seen have a SERIOUS problem that no one seems to address. Most of them you have to click 'next page', scroll up, read, scroll down, mouse down to NEXT PAGE...this is WAY too much trouble for people. The sad truth is no one much reads webcomics in this format-no matter how good they are-it's just too much trouble. Imagine if to read a comic book before you could turn the page you had to stand up, turn around, and sit back down. That's how disruptive the NEXT PAGE function is for potential readers. You need a constant scroll method like SCRIBD so the reader can just keep his finger on one button and scroll down leisurely to read. See one example "Dr Death vs the Zombie' to see how easy it is to read: http://www.championcitycomics.com/2011/05/dr-death-vs-zombie-adult-language.html I say this knowing most readers will disregard my advice thinking 'my comic will be so good it will be worth the trouble'. Good luck with that.
Beware of writers with LONG panel descriptions-it actually makes your job twice as hard. The best writers I have seen keep it brief, powerful, and include visual ref pics IN the actual script.
Okay, May the Force Be With You.
Kav
http://www.championcitycomics.com/
A. KAVIRAJ: Kav is an artist, teacher, and biologist who lives in Sacramento, California. He is the artist forThe End of Paradise, Rapid City, and Dr Death vs The Zombie. He is the writer and artist for Dr. Death vs. The Vampire. E-mail: ddkaviraj@aol.com
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