Comic Lab

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,  Dave and Brad talk about a hot topic in art — NFTs. We'll discuss what it is and whether it's the future of valuing digital art. Questions asked and topics covered... NFTs — Nonfungible Tokens How to get st...

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,  Dave and Brad talk about how bad their early comics were. Plus — the comics your readers love best can sometimes be the ones you put the least work into. Questions asked and topics covered... Dave's childho...

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,  Dave and Brad discuss the difference between Mirror Research and Market Research. Questions asked and topics covered... Dave discovers the "meet cute" Mirror Research vs Market Research Clubhouse Texting so...

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. Dave and Brad share their favorite books about comics history, including: The Ten-Cent Plague Marvel Comics — The Untold Story Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-Year Battle Between Marvel and DC Comics, The Complete Collec...

We're thrilled to welcome our new sponsor, Bonjoro  — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. Dave and Brad discuss the difference between the Goal of an artist — and that artist's Job. The two aren't always the same, and resolving that conflict leads to better work. Questions asked and topics covered....

Dave and Brad discuss the importance of "luck" in your creative career — and how you can increase the chances of that happening. Questions asked and topics covered... Dave Kellett gives advice on getting lucky When it's OK if your work changes over time When it's not OK when your work changes over time Eisner submissions are due! The dangers of mixing friends and business Brad and Dave talk about...

Dave and Brad ask, "What's your motivation to create?" Are you doing this for the "right" reasons? Questions asked and topics covered... Creative motivation Line width Releasing a book exclusively on Amazon? You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 — Early access to episodes $5 — Submit a question for possible use on the show AND get the exclusive ProTips podcast $1...

Dave and Brad  talk about the best advice they never wanted — those "truth hurts" moments that changed their careers. Questions asked and topics covered... Have you ever gotten advice  you didn't want to hear? How do you change specific aspects of your drawing style? Amazon Advantage Which syndicated cartoonist would have made a good webcartoonist Should you change the spelling of your name to inc...

This week, Dave and Brad  take several questions about self-publishing. From the best way to build an audience to handling overseas shipping — it's all about getting your work into print! Questions asked and topics covered... What's the best way to build an audience for a book release?  Is there a way to circumvent the rising prices of international shipping? Color printing — is it worth the incre...

This week, Dave and Brad  talk about making plans in 2021. Will there be a return to conventions? Will Kickstarter remain reliable? How will global finances affect independent creators? Questions asked and topics covered... Assessing 2021 and planning for success What didn't we accomplish in 2020? Is "webcomic" an outdated word? How to change a Patreon without angering current backers Selling digi...

This week, a listener asks about origins the "paying it forward" nature of Brad and Dave. So they spend the first part of the show talking about their mentorship philosophies. Questions asked and topics covered... Paying it forward If you were to name a living cartoonist for the MacArthur Genius Grant, who would you name? Quality vs. speed What to work on improving first You get great rewards when...

This week, Brad and Dave discuss "slice of life" comics — and why using that term might not be the best promotional strategy. Questions asked and topics covered... Slice of Life comics Creative page layout — and why to avoid it NSFW comics advice How to get into the mood for comics You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 — Early access to episodes $5 — Submit a que...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! To help ring in 2021, let's take one more look back at some of the moments that made us happy to be creating comics during a particularly challenging year. You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 — Early access to episodes $5 — Submit a question for possible use on the show AND get the e...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, Brad and Dave have some thoughts about finding success in the new year. Questions asked and topics covered... How to be successful in 2021 Making conscious improvements on art How soon is too soon for print? Posting on the weekend? You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 — Ear...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, Brad and Dave talk about crafting names for the characters, places and objects in your comic. Questions asked and topics covered... Naming things "Do you ever get the urge to draw something else?" Squarespace adds an exclusive-content tier The difficulties in writing stories from personal experience Sci-fi wr...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, Brad and Dave devote the entire show to one topic — Getting started. They have ten suggestions for anyone who wants to start publishing their own comic on the Web. Getting Started... Starting with the Right Attitude Don't Wait for the Right Time Update schedule: Consistent, Frequent, Significant Using Social...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, Brad inaugurates a new segment called "And That's Why I Self-Publish!" Next: A site that scraped exclusive Patreon content bites the dust, and we learn from the experience. Questions asked and topics covered... And That's Why I Self-Publish Patreon content-scraper folds When to make s Patreon post public Repe...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, the guys talk about blessings in disguise — moments when they didn't achieve a goal they greatly desired... and later found out that succeeding would have made their lives worse. Questions asked and topics covered... What thing did you really really want for your career, that didn’t happen...that only NOW do...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, a ComicLab listener asks if it's better to write from anger or from love. Also: Is January a bad time to launch a new webcomic? Questions asked and topics covered... Which do you find more effective as a writer — comedy born from anger at something or comedy born from affection? Is January a bad time to launc...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, a ComicLab listener writes in to inform Dave and Brad that neither of them "actually have a cartoonist's job." To put it lightly, the guys disagree. But first, Brad creates a socially distant candy chute for Halloween --  Questions asked and topics covered... Dave delivers a Zoom lecture to art students What...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, a ComicLab listener who is just starting out in comics asks how they can build an audience on social media. Also: how do you cover the second print run after you sell out of the copies from the first run? Questions asked and topics covered... How can a beginner build a following on social media Dave complimen...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, a ComicLab listener asks for the story behind Brad and Dave's friendship. Then the guys discuss whether it's OK to use photo reference. Questions asked and topics covered... What is the history of Brad and Dave's friendship? Is photo reference cheating? How do you manage multiple projects? How should you ackn...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, a ComicLab listener asks Brad and Dave about their philosophies on mentoring and coaching other cartoonists. And another listener asks if Brad's advice makes it harder to succeed. Questions asked and topics covered... How to be a good mentor and coach Does Brad's advice make it harder to succeed? Is it possib...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! This week, we're thrilled to welcome our friend Keith Knight to the 'Lab. Keith's new TV series, based on his comics, is premiering on Hulu right now. We talk about "Woke," Keith's journey in comics, and the creative process of adapting comics for television. You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on...

Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One ! A ComicLab listener is trying to decide on a domain name for their comic, and Brad and Dave have some advice.  Then, Brad has an easy way to tell if your promotional outreach is actually spam. Questions asked and topics covered... Choosing a domain name "Am I a spammer?" Drawing/sketching for fun Time management You get...