Making Comics

This week, we discuss a top-down writing format for comic scripts (3:50), quickly figuring out the layout for a cover (26:00), brainstorming exclusives for SDCC (36:45), and a wild search for freelance inkers (45:00).

This week, we talk about the satisfaction that comes with fulfilling every part of a Kickstarter campaign (4:00), one way to get unstuck when writing a story (9:00), coloring pages using a fresh style (14:10), spreading the word about your stories (24:15), working through art issues (32:30), and a plan to crank out a bunch of comic scripts (46:20).

This week, we wrap up Phoenix Fan Fusion (4:15), staying comfortable when you hit a wall in your story (23:20), taking time for the admin stuff (32:00), the idea of "emptying the idea tank" (35:30), and the right amount of information to give a colorist (41:10).

This week, we sit with Scott Serkland ( Young and the Dead, Hiphoptimus Rhyme ) and talk about cranking out a pre-show commission (5:00), illustrating a one-page story that's also a dream (7:45), a rush of work to finish a book to send to the printer on a tight deadline (11:30), intuitively exploring structure before you know what you're doing (24:30), when a necessary change results in a...

This week, we talk convention selling (3:30), comic show logistics (17:00), figuring out alternating character voice (33:20), getting books from the printer (40:00), and fine-tuning colors (47:50).

This week, we talk about finishing another interior page (3:35), fixing the issues that arise in a nonlinear story (15:10), leaning into the unnatural on a drawing (24:30), reviewing art pages from different artists (44:45), and a Kickstarter packing party (53:20).

This week, we talk about the admin and social media stuff that goes with being a creator (4:35), creating a detailed drawing for a coloring book (14:15), Comic Con Revolution (18:20), refining pitches (33:35), restarting the fire for drawing (43:45), and flatting pages (52:00).

Today, we talk about a record(?) week of art productivity (4:15), assembling bonus material for the back pages of a comic (13:30), chaos via issues with files for the printer (22:00), writing the correct age and digging into dialect (31:00), and rising printing costs (48:00).

This week, we discuss early story pacing (6:45), drawing interiors (14:00), compare notes on Free Comic Book Day (35:30), and behind the scenes work to finish a comic (57:30).

This week we talk about going from idea to a cover (2:40), how lettering on a comic evokes Marvel method (13:30), continuing work on interiors (23:30), the odd feeling of light notes in a workshop (26:10), preparing PDFs and files in advance of a Kickstarter finishing (30:00), and discuss current comics we're reading (41:00).

This week, we discuss the beginning of a story draft edit (6:00), making the most of extra pages in a comic (26:45), editing a comic as you letter (32:20), finishing thumbnails for common pages in a comic (40:15), the LA Times Festival of Books (44:40), and finding the right thumbnail for a cover (49:30).

This week, we discuss the second of back-to-back Kickstarters (4:45) and the tricky aspects of them (10:40), focusing on the thinking, "big" part of writing (22:00), working on the connecting talking heads scenes in a story (40:00), and getting inspired by a historical site (46:30).

This week, we discuss finishing a comic script and thinking through a limited printing of a comic (3:20), editing dialogue (17:45), the value of writing warm-ups (22:20), taking post-convention inventory (28:30), and getting feedback from readers (33:50) before this week's main topic: part three of Pixar's rules for storytelling (37:30).

This week, we talk about finishing up the first draft of a comic script (5:40), humor and jokes in your story (13:30), and performing the final chiseling of a comic script (19:00), then recap WonderCon (31:30) before we get into part two of Pixar's rules for storytelling (41:20).

This week, we cover creating a game plan for story edits and changes (5:30), settling into a fresh, changed writing process (10:20), revamping your upcoming creativity schedule (18:00), taking time away from a book for a commission (22:10), the indie mindset (36:00), and figuring out if a comic script is done or not (41:50) before we get to this week's topic: part one of Pixar's rules for...

This week, we talk about taking crowdsourcing ideas for a cover and incorporating it with other ideas (4:50), using the right symbols to reflect profanity (14:10), when the coloring stage reveals an error in the art (25:20), focusing on a commission (40:30), and talking through reader feedback on a story (44:20).

This week, we talk about finishing art for an issue however you can (4:25), the final stages fulfilling a Kickstarter (10:50), when flatting gets time-consuming (15:30), when the real world gives your writing a boost (22:00), doing your post-con inventory (31:00), finding a prospective cover artist for an upcoming comic (37:40), launching a Kickstarter (42:30), and re-evaluating the Act One elemen...

This week, we talk about what pauses mean in the audio landscape (4:00), Kickstarter prep and doing the video work (23:20), assembling a mini-comic (28:30), and working hard to complete a page goal (31:40) before we talk about carefully calibrating the sex in a story (41:00) and the gravity - or lack of - in a story (50:30).

This week, we welcome Katelyn Windels (Devil in the Herd, Veefriends) to the podcast and talk about hitting your weekly page goals (4:30), getting the feedback you didn't know you needed (13:30), brainstorming a new story in an existing comics world (20:00), one-shot stories in the current landscape (30:00), and the origin point of a story (42:30).

This week, we discuss coordinating production work for a Kickstarter (4:50), having fun with the "extra" parts of a page (19:00), reaching the point of a story where you're too close to everything (27:30), fine-tuning the color flats for your comic (33:40), daily writing warm-ups (41:15), and a potential purchase (45:00).

This week, we talk about evaluating your pages through the process (4:00), fighting through a unique problem on a cover treatment (13:00), knocking out a commission (26:05), writing a bit in multiple stories (28:50), and creating a new villain (46:15).

This week, we talk about taking time for story ideas and warm-up writing (4:00), finding a reason to draw every day (19:30), improving your speed drawing pages (24:45), firming up a revised scene that changes action after it in a story (31:00), and getting convention-ready (37:00) before this week's main topic: listener feedback on drawing, characters, and much more (43:00)!

This week, we welcome Gary Hodges (D vs. M: The Solider) and discuss a big week of panel work (4:00), and thinking your way through a story problem (14:30), before we talk process about D vs. M: The Soldier (34:00), putting yourself in your comic (46:15), thinking about the finish line for a lengthy story (54:00), and big finishes versus small finishes (1:01:15).

This week, we talk about making non-comic art for conventions (6:00), trying to time out your key reveals (15:15), fighting over-analysis for your scenes (28:00), and putting ideas together to form a story (39:30).

This week, we talk about finding the weak spots in a story (3:30), finding inspiration for layouts (14:00), outsourcing PDF creation (22:50), continuing page work (31:30), the benefit of working at half-speed (36:45), and experimenting with effects (43:30).