Comic Lab

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  This week, we're discussing the recent exodus of top talent from corporate comics to Substack, a subscription-based email-newsletter platform. Questions asked and topics covered... What is Substack? Substack is an online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastruct...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  This week, we've devoted the entire show to Kickstarter — what's working, what's not, and how you can improve your campaign! Questions asked and topics covered... Kickstarter is the most tangible, real-world, evidence-based way to show how impossibly HARD it is to reach people, even with a focused...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  This week, we're talking about posting your very first comic, and later we'll talk about how to write a good ending. Questions asked and topics covered... Making that first post Matt Forbeck (@mforbeck) explains why his gaming company will discontinue shipping to the EU Q3 Estimated tax payments a...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  This week, we're talking about building your email newsletter. Questions asked and topics covered... E-mail newsletter management Ending your comic and starting something new Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Patreon backers at that level will get exclusive...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  This week, we're talking about the ideal career path for comics Questions asked and topics covered... Kickstarter strategy of "fun" Stretch Goals Ideal comics career path  "Pro-am status" Is "do a good comics" really all there is? Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $1...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  This week, we're talking about juggling multiple projects.   Questions asked and topics covered... Juggling two projects Sound effects Patreon solves VAT dilemma for its creators Running out of Patreon rewards Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Patreon backe...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  This week, we're devoting a special hour-and-a-half episode to advice for exhibiting at comic conventions! Questions asked and topics covered... Exhibiting at your first comic con  Hidden costs you need to be aware of Why Dave does comic conventions What Dave won't do at shows Hot Nerd Summer — ho...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  This week, Dave shares his strategy for meeting his Kickstarter goal in the opening days — and juicing the algorithm — by using Patreon! Questions asked and topics covered... Reaching a Kickstarter goal in the opening days — using Patreon Finding your voice as a writer Schulz Museum What if comic...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  Are you self-conscious about self-promotion? Brad has a suggestion: Talk about your Pride or talk about your Joy. It's a bulletproof marketing technique! Questions asked and topics covered... Pride & Joy The history of Dave's sci-fi comic, Drive Paywalling the archive — pros and cons Today is a gr...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  What's your elevator pitch? If you had to sum up your comic for a new reader, could you do it effectively in under 60 seconds? Questions asked and topics covered... Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning Attracting collaborators Writing process — paper or software? How to maintain standards withou...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  What's your elevator pitch? If you had to sum up your comic for a new reader, could you do it effectively in under 60 seconds? Questions asked and topics covered... How to write an Elevator Pitch Bookshop.org partners with Kickstarter Selling books at comic conventions and beyond A storyline drive...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One !  Delaying gratification is extra hard when you're a comics artist. Also, Brad is seething with jealousy when Patreon asks Dave to be an ambassador. Questions asked and topics covered... Patreon Ambassador Delaying gratification  How much story per panel? Digital lettering Copyrighting the name of a...

Are you obligated to accept criticism from... anyone?? Also, we'll discuss Kickstarter's new Add-on feature and the benefits of both digital and traditional coloring techniques. Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions — and an archive of previous livestreams! Question...

Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions — and an archive of previous livestreams! If there was ever a pivotal year in webcomics, it was 2014. Ad-blockers, social media, crowdfunding, and so much more happened in exactly the right order to deliver independent cartoonis...

Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions — and an archive of previous livestreams! Impostor Syndrome — what is it, and how can we, as creative professionals, battle against it? In 2018, an art teacher wrote in to ask why it was that they could never seem to finish a co...

Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions — and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, exactly one week after Brad lectures on the dangers of getting distracted, one of his TikTok videos goes viral — and he spends the next two weeks... getting very, very distrac...

Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions — and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, Brad and Dave discuss the fine art of not getting distracted by "shiny objects!" Questions asked and topics covered... How to avoid getting distracted Should you be using vert...

Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions — and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, Brad and Dave discuss writing your comics with other media in mind. Also: Artfol... is it the next big social media for artists? Questions asked and topics covered... Seeing y...

Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions — and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, Brad and Dave discuss writing through story beats. Questions asked and topics covered... Story beats pencilling problems low reader interaction drug use in comics emphasizing...

Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions — and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, Brad and Dave discuss building a comics business with multiple revenue streams. Questions asked and topics covered... Suriving a 30% revenue dip Many legs under the table Judg...

Today's episode is sponsored by   Bonjoro  — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Brad and Dave talk comics with Nick Seluk, creator of The Awkward Yeti  and   Heart and Brain . Questions asked and topics covered... Nick Seluk Faceless comics Work/Life balance You get great rewards when y...

Today's episode is sponsored by   Bonjoro  — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Brad and Dave discuss how to get started when you're launching a new comic. Questions asked and topics covered... Launching a new comic: Where to start? "Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering" by Nate Piek...

Today's episode is sponsored by   Bonjoro  — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Brad and Dave talk about the cartoonists who — knowingly or unknowingly — guided their careers. Plus — is it better to work on comics piece-by-piece or set up an assembly line? Questions asked and topics cov...

Today's episode is sponsored by   Bonjoro  — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Brad and Dave welcome "Crabgrass" creator Tauhid Bondia. Plus — how do you know if you're good? Questions asked and topics covered... How do you know if you're good? "Crabgrass" creator Tauhid Bondia Tax tim...

Today's episode is sponsored by   Bonjoro  — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. As Twitter launches a subscriber service, we discuss how every platform is introducing subscriptions. Also, after a decade of social-media dominance of the Internet, what happens NEXT? Then, we spend the rest of the ho...