Underdogs

Overview Of The Comic Creation Procedure

Casual consumers of comic books around the world oft have no thought of the work involved in producing the entertainment they enjoy. Endeavor and workload aside, merely the size of the team required for an idea to manifest can boggle the listen. Dozens of people handle specialized roles from writer to penciller, inker, colorist, letterer, and editor. Printers are needed to produce the physical copies and a distribution network is required for those comics to finish up in your local comic store.

Or maybe the comic in question is of a new brood — a webcomic — and most of the jobs are handled past ane person.

This article is intended to exist a quick reference for the well-nigh common methods of comic creation, both from the professional person side of things too every bit how those methods scale when applied to smaller projects.

Stan Lee, from back in the day. Dude made a lot of comics.

Stan Lee, from dorsum in the day. Dude fabricated a lot of comics.

Breaking Down The Process

Comics become through several stages from conception to completion. Read over this sequence to familiarize yourself with the general components of comic creation, after which indicate I volition address a few elements in greater detail.

Stage 1: Ideation/Concept

  • This is the starting signal of the project. To create a groovy comic you need to outset first with a bang-up idea.
  • The central concept for a comic tin come from anyone, but is typically adult off of a writer or editor'due south idea for a storyline.

Stage 2: Plot Development

  • The basic concept for the comic is expanded past the author into a workable story outline.
  • All of the story elements are arranged with consideration for pacing and character development.
  • Recall of this as the planning stage for how the story unfolds.

Stage 3: Script

  • The writer, using the plot outline every bit a guide, writes the script for the comic.
  • At that place are two common methods for scripting a comic, the Marvel Method (plot mode) and full script (sometimes referred to as "DC style"). I volition explain the difference between the two in a flake.
  • Aside from tweaks and edits, this is the writer's primary window for determining the story. The script is the basis for everything that follows.
  • In sure cases a author may forgo this stage and instead give verbal plot notes to the artist, who develops the visual storytelling through thumbnails.

Phase 4: Art Production

  • Following the script-writing phase, multiple artists produce the comic based off of the writer'south script.
  • Pencilling happens first, followed by inking and finally coloring of the comic.
  • These steps are sometimes done digitally, in whole or in office.
  • The size of the art squad on a comic can vary greatly. In some cases, a single creator will handle all aspects of art by themselves.
  • Throughout this procedure, the editor of the comic facilitates the various contributors and oversees the quality of the product.

Phase 4a: Pencils

  • The penciller is often viewed as the primary contributing artist and determines the wait of the comic. This person lays downward the base of operations drawing upon which all farther fine art builds.
  • He or she starts by sketching thumbnails (exercise panel compositions) from the script provided past the author.
  • Later thumbnails are canonical, the penciller illustrates the full comic in pencil.
  • Some pencillers skip the thumbnailing stage and work out their panel compositions directly on the folio.
  • The advent of digital comic production affords artists the option of pencilling within a plan like Photoshop.

Phase 4b: Inks

  • The inker is responsible for taking the rough pencils provided by the penciller and using them equally a guide to produce the final lineart of the comic in ink.
  • More than than simply "tracing" the pencils, an inker makes choices based off of which lines are necessary for the finished paradigm and tin can correct before issues in the pencilling phase.
  • Inkers apply a variety of subtle techniques to affect light and shadow in a composition.
  • Some artists skip pencilling birthday and depict in ink.

Stage 4c: Colors

  • The final lineart of the comic is handed off to the colorist who uses a reckoner (in about cases) to colour the black and white images.
  • The idea for this stage is that the colors not compete with the lineart. Instead they should compliment or enhance it.
  • Comics intended to be blackness and white skip this step.

Phase 5: Letters

  • After the comic art is complete a letterer inserts dialogue balloons/boxes into the panels of the comic and places all of the text.
  • From the thumbnail stage onward, consideration is taken for proper placement of dialog balloons and then that they don't compete with the limerick or cover of import art.
  • Letterers generally piece of work on a computer although some alphabetic character by hand.

Phase 6: Editorial

  • While active throughout the comic-creation process, at this phase the comic'due south editor gives it a last infinitesimal bank check-over in lodge to set up or resolve any remaining content issues prior to publication.
  • Digital comics, including webcomics, may not have an editor or exist intended for release in impress. Because of this some or all of the following steps may exist combined or skipped.

Stage 7: Printing

  • If the comic is being sold as a concrete product, it is submitted to a printer where a sure number of copies are printed based off of sales estimates.
  • This process can take several weeks depending on the size of the order.
  • Numerous printers have pocket-size orders. Self-published comics can be financed through personal investment or fundraising through ways such as Kickstarter.
  • If your budget is peculiarly express you tin can photocopy your comic at a business that offers printing services. FedEx is one such example.

Stage viii: Marketing

  • Marketing a comic is an ongoing process that happens parallel to the production of the comic.
  • Marketing takes many forms: printing releases sent to media outlets, advertisements (both print and web), sending accelerate copies to the media, and coverage on the convention circuit.
  • As a solo creator, marketing is a different animal. Social media tin can exist wielded to locate potential audiences for your comic. If you remain active and maintain a presence on the web, you will gradually attract involvement.

Stage ix: Distribution

  • Once the initial order of your comic is printed, it needs to be delivered in some mode to the buying public.
  • Distributors — Diamond Comics primarily — have a network in place for shipping comics to local retailers throughout the United States (the downside is you lot demand to sell-through quickly).
  • There are alternative methods of distribution, such as conventions or directly sales online (through services like Comixology).
  • For DIYers, the budget and telescopic of the comic determines the distribution needs.

Those are the basic steps for comic creation simply times are changing. The makeup and process of a creative team varies wildly between traditional print comics and webcomics (or zines). I'll explicate how in only a minute, but start…

Total Script Versus Plot Script (Marvel Style)

There are two major schools of thought regarding how a writer prepares a script for the penciller to use in creating a comic. The starting time, "full script style," is traditionally how people call up of moving-picture show or television scripts. They lay out all of the descriptions of the action in full item, often with detailed breakdowns of what action occurs console-to-panel. This is a very thorough way of script-writing that leaves picayune ambiguity for the artist.

Marvel-style scripting (also known as plot script fashion) is a piddling different. In the 1960s, Stan Lee developed this method in conjunction with his various collaborators as a style of allowing one writer to juggle multiple comics at a fourth dimension. The script touches only on the basic beats of plot and activity, leaving much of the interpretation of what occurs on the page to the penciller. Then, later the art is completed, the writer determines the dialog and text for the finished page.

The pros and cons of each mode of scripting are fairly straightforward. If y'all're collaborating with an artist for the kickoff time as a writer, or are concerned that your vision may not exist conspicuously communicated with a plot-manner script, choose a full script. In near instances it's the best selection. If y'all're juggling multiple projects and need to piece of work quickly, or trust your artist to collaborate fully on storytelling decisions, consider a plot script. All that matters is that you cull a fashion of script that communicates your vision clearly through all phases of development.

Team Make-upwards

Let's say you're not developing a mainstream impress comic. What and so?

Generally speaking, most of the steps involved in producing a webcomic or something creator-driven are the same as making a print comic for a big publisher. The difference is that the size of the squad is much, much smaller. As a direct consequence of this you'll have to fill multiple specialized roles with fewer people.

One common alternative to the mainstream method is the writer/artist duo. It's largely the same breakdown except the artist handles both pencilling and inking duties, and in some rare cases might be responsible for coloring the comic also. Typically a letterer assists the duo (also as a colorist if the primary artist does not color). If the comic is destined for print at that place is generally an editor involved, with printing/marketing/distribution all handled similarly to mainstream print comics. If the comic is destined for the spider web, the duo probable acts as its own editor and either submits the comic to a tertiary party (like Comixology or Thrillbent) to be distributed or hosts the comic themselves on a privately-managed website.

Some creators work alone — treatment the script, art, and distribution/promotion by themselves. They may seek the advice of trusted friends just largely develop their comic lone. This way of working can obviously be a major challenge simply affords the greatest artistic freedom of all of the methods covered in this article. If you lot feel capable of doing all of the work yourself and have the discipline, consider giving this method a try.

The Bottom Line

Regardless of how you cull to tackle your project, the core sequence remains the aforementioned. Starting with the initial concept, develop a plot outline followed by a script. Create the fine art for the comic based off of this script past drawing in pencil, then inking, and finally adding color (if your comic is in color). Add dialog and captions to the finished artwork in a style that respects the established visual flow. Depending on the size of the team involved you may be able to skip or combine certain steps if everyone is comfy with working in a more than freeform manner. For example, as a writer, peradventure you trust the creative person you work with to etch panels without a lot of oversight. If that'south the example, the artist might skip the thumbnail stage and move straight to pencilling the folio.

Ultimately, choose the method of producing your comic that works best for you and your team.

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