Making Comics

This week, we talk about dialing into a feature / detail (3:30), a Kickstarter launch delay and the reasoning (11:15), flatting pages once they're complete (18:05), returning to a daily writing routine (25:40), deciding to go with a pop culture reference (37:30), and getting your first feedback on drawing (41:00) before Part Two of the "Making your First Comic" series: world-building...

This week, we talk about more of the "office" work you have to do to make books (6:00), making pages off of a partial comic script (15:45), drawing your first page (19:00), reviewing your work to make sure every panel is essential (27:35), planning out future comics and conventions (43:00), then talk about our main topic: the idea and story structure for your first comic (49:15).

This week, we talk about reworking story pages (4:00), keeping a journal and scene scouting (10:20), knowing when the script you left in a drawer needs an update, and making revisions (17:05), figuring out the scene structure for a story (21:10), getting public feedback on cover layouts (29:00), what a professional is (48:00), and finding variant covers in your archives (54:30).

This week, we talk about the work behind "mini-documentary" pieces that tie to a Kickstarter campaign (3:20), year two of a local convention (12:15), wrapping up work before a trip (26:30) and the creativity on that trip, setting as a character (35:00), and putting the finishing touches on Kickstarter rewards (44:40).

This week, we discuss the momentum that builds through page work (4:15), the necessary work in building a publisher's reach (12:10), building an art print portfolio (20:20), putting care into the promotion for a book (34:30), preparing for a convention (42:00), and getting inspiration from your reading (47:30).

This week, we discuss problem-solving in lettering (7:30), the more involved comic pages (24:00), planning out the buildup to a Kickstarter (32:20), creating more art for a convention (42:00),

This week, we talk about productive page work (4:05), unpacking a visual style (8:30), the right time to send a story off to readers (11:20), the benefits of adding new skills to your skillset (20:45), the initial stages of setting up a Kickstarter (30:40), tabling at a one-day show (35:30), and finding what you like in a story that aged nine months (46:15).

This week, we welcome Cory Kerr ( Rage of Enlightenment ) to discuss a bunch of things, including a new Bay Area convention (6:00), being a comic vendor at a non-comic show (18:00), a rollercoaster "fan at the show" story (22:00), bringing themes to your work (40:30), studying comics to make comics (45:40), and the ideas that created Rage of Enlightenment (56:40).

This week, we talk about a fun side project (4:25), inhabiting a character's point of view (9:20), further PDF assembly hijinks (16:45), and convention prep (29:00) before our main topic: endings (37:40).

This week, we talk about the genesis of a new artistic journey (3:20), constructing a final PDF of a trade paperback (21:50), when fellow creators spot your story flaws (31:30), and making good on a (personally) important art page (42:00).

It's a seven person, live-in-the-studio roundtable! This week, we welcome creators Scott Serkland ( Young and the Dead ), Cory Kerr ( Rage of Enlightenment ), Gary Hodges ( Dinosaurs vs Marsbots ), Jim Lujan ( The Unicornians ) and Josh Kemble ( Jacob's Apartment, Two Stories ) to recap a creative retreat and discuss an inspirational 'proof of concept' piece (3:40), the nonlinear w...

This week, we discuss re-lettering (3:40), the road to improvement in your work (21:00), client work and business branding (35:00), exploring a new technology for productivity (39:10), and rethinking your story's framework (49:20).

This week, we recap our San Diego Comic Con weekends, starting with commission work and how the process streamlined (3:15), when your SDCC is meetings and panels (14:30), and selling at a table for a few hours (21:30) before we discuss the nuances of starred out profanity (31:00) and the value of thinking differently (43:00).

This week, we recap the G-Fest convention (4:00), benchmarking your Kickstarter against previous ones (16:30), getting clarity on a future project (30:20), finalizing a new cover design (42:40), and this week's main topic: staying in love with a long-term project (46:40).

This week, we talk about a new cover and changes needed for a new cover (4:35), the importance of tension in your story (25:50), going past "just okay" with every aspect of your work (35:45), undoing the profanity in a book to make it more YA-accessible (47:50), seizing the opportunity to make changes for a new printing (54:35), and careful packing strategies for conventions (59:00).

This week, we talk about thinking through and working through interesting add-ons and promo ideas for a Kickstarter (2:30), working on an animation (14:00), a recap of ALA (21:40), prepping for a campaign (29:15), thinking hard about profanity's role in your comic (33:00), and artist's block (42:15).

This week, we recap the Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con (4:15), then discuss taking time for character sheets (24:30), doing successive washes of editing to turn something that's borrowed into something that's yours (28:40), making a decision when to print a book in relation to a Kickstarter (37:45), and those times when you need to do last-minute convention prep (48:00).

This week, we visit with Scott Serkland (Young and the Dead) and talk about getting clarity on present and future writing priorities (4:00), sound effects for a book (10:40), and the excitement of a new start for a new comic (19:00) before we have a creative round table (34:00), including why comics inspire us, (49:00).

This week, we give a recap of Phoenix Fan Fusion (3:00), covering behind the scenes logistics and exhibit hall energy (14:10), and a few stories from the table (28:00), then discuss lettering (39:00), gaining clarity on future projects (42:20), and finding time to thumbnail a story (50:30).

This week, we talk about finishing scripts (3:00), running story opinions by fellow creators (13:20), hitting the due date on a commission (21:30), choosing a future project (24:45), giving writing notes (34:15), and the magic of comic art (53:00).

This week, we talk about bringing a future idea into a present story (3:00), Adding a last-minute page to a comic and finalizing a cover (13:50), remembering your most important audience (23:15), surprise additions to a project (32:20), and thinking through your projects to design a near-term release schedule (38:15).

This week, we talk about problem-solving a cover with a lot of characters (3:30), taking the best pieces of different cover treatments to build covers (19:00), forcing your way through a story problem (35:20), generating ideas for an anthology (42:15), and getting the courage to make a major project "final" (52:00).

This week, we discuss brainstorming a special cover (3:00), when multi-issue storylines mess with trade paperback continuity (12:30), when a craft lesson resonates with you (30:30), finalizing a cover (36:00), tackling a story idea that's been on the backburner (43:40), and getting in the right headspace to give feedback (46:30).

This week, we talk about finishing the art for a comic project full of twists and turns (3:00), getting the creativity you can out of feeling under the weather (20:40), Free Comic Book Day (29:15), finalizing a cover for a future project (37:00), and how the details matter (51:30).

This week, we recap the LA Times Festival of Books (3:30), rethinking a key splash page (13:40), when the "pantser" method of writing goes wrong (24:20), and thinking ahead for a 2026 project (35:30).