Making Comics

This week, we welcome Gary Hodges back to the show for our year-end tradition! To get things started, we discuss the compromise between productivity and perfectionism that every comic has (4:30), tackling the tough work when that's all that's left (30:10), reaching the point where creativity has to give way to research (38:30), and the importance of backing up your work (45:00) before this week's...

This week, we discuss feeding your brain with pop culture (4:15), sticking to page-a-week work goals (7:45), a different way of doing research while working on your story (12:10), when work and payment schedules don't go smoothly for commissions (24:15), and rewriting dialogue and scene descriptions for already-completed art using paper and pencil (28:20) before this week's main topic: the other r...

This week, we talk sticking to getting your page done for the week and becoming aware of a change in your style (7:00), working out an interesting way to deliver 'talking heads'-type information (11:00), working through editor feedback on your comic (20:15), writing your way through a story to figure it out (33:30), and considering a change in your daily goals (38:30) before this week's main topic...

This week, we discuss finding even better ways to retrofit prior ideas into a story (5:00), completing a panel a day while also developing your style (13:15), re-focusing your project priorities (21:30), using for-hire artists to finish a project (29:10), and getting feedback from a professional (43:00) before this week's main topic: understanding characters different from you (48:30).

This week, we talk about returning to a project with renewed energy (6:25), exploring the rules of your story world (14:00), commission updates (22:45), writing critical scenes to your story as you need to do it (25:20), and using and growing a network of contacts (37:30) before this week's topic: comic convention 101, from getting a table at conventions, to remembering the right things to bring a...

This week, we discuss the big thinking that goes into stories and repurposing prior ideas (11:30), writing as exploration (25:30), fighting to work when you're under the weather (28:55), incorporating all notes (big and small) into your comic (33:15), and working with client corrections (39:30) before this week's topic: your comic's done... now what? (43:00)

This week, we discuss the end of separate journeys; the end of a month-long panel a day project (3:45) and the end of a nearly five-year journey in completing a novel (8:00), working on different projects and the differences in them (15:20), starting a new project and consciously thinking about new processes (21:00), balancing paid work with your own projects (26:30), and seeking outside opinions...

This episode, we welcome E.Bursonson (Ed Brown) to the podcast and start with a discussion of comics we grabbed at Alakazam comics in Irvine, CA (4:00) before we discuss editing multiple comic scripts and story planning (24:40), doing the hard work on pages, so final editing can happen (37:00), and working on commissions and compensating for you own time (48:30). 

This week, we discuss the work ahead involved in Drawtober when you're using Drawtober for a project (5:45), the need for detailed thinking around your characters (12:00), a commission update (23:40), and improving a cliffhanger ending for a comic (26:00) before this week's topic: making every word (and line) count (35:05).

It's the enormous 100th episode! We welcome Gary Hodges to discuss drawing pages that involve a lot of detail (5:30), trying a new method for a backup story in a comic (11:05), and progressing through the middle of Drawtober (25:35) before Gary runs us through a series of questions on the comic process and the first 100 episodes, including the accountability involved in a podcast (35:30), the mast...

This week we recap a guest appearance on a show (6:30), different ways to approach your work when it's not flowing or feels off (8:55), preparing thumbnails for an intense Drawtober (18:30), top-level thinking around a comic involving scene versus summary (23:40), scheduling backward from a goal date (30:20), and completing commissions ahead of schedule to open up your schedule (42:30) before this...

This episode, we discuss the Amazing Las Vegas convention (4:40), the work it sometimes takes to finish complex pages (8:10), the attendance difference for top creators (12:30), a nice lesson from a popular show (25:30), and consolidating unnecessary dialogue and story (29:15) before this week's main topic: striking first and striking hard... when it comes to making your comic (34:15).

This week, we talk about work on a detailed double-page spread and its ensuing complex page (6:00), lettering (and editing while you edit) and assembling the visuals for a comic (11:20), planning out an upcoming work schedule (24:45) and how research can pay off when you least expect it (29:00), before this week's main topic: dynamic poses (39:30).

This episode, we discuss the final major hurdle in a writing project (3:55) and using the SLAC method and picking the coolest page to get your energy back on a project (12:50) before this week's main topic: submitting your comic proposal to publishers (32:00). At 51 minutes, we discuss AI art and an experiment we had with AI generators. If you want to see this art and get a visual to the discussio...

This week, we discuss tackling an issue of drawing when you can choose what you want to do (4:00), a show that reinforced proper storytelling (10:00), resetting yourself with a good adage to make comics by (15:40), and lettering your own writing and editing on the fly (20:45) before this week's main topic: writing tips from comic "prose" from an old Wizard article (28:15).

This week, we catch up on business, convention schedule planning and cover art (4:20), prepping a script for lettering (14:00), balancing commissions and your work (19:55), and knowing the right things to cut in your story (24:00) before this week's main topic: dialogue (31:10).

This week, we recap Emerald City Comic Con (3:00) and discuss the current business landscape of comic cons and how to pack for a show, building a network of people you like working with (22:25), finding real-life examples of what you want to draw (34:00), and remembering to take time to relax (35:40) and learn more about your craft (39:30) before this week's topic: anatomy, and artists that push a...

This week, we discuss making additions to a comic when the mood strikes (3:20), reviewing thumbnail layouts for a comic (13:00), trying different page layouts (27:00), putting extra effort into separator pages and covers (36:10), and backing up creator correspondence (45:00) before this week's main topic: aligning feedback with your vision and what happens when feedback doesn't align (47:30).

This week, we discuss slipcase production (8:20), putting your personal stamp on lettering (11:30), the natural evolution of your style (21:30), being productive in unusual situations (30:50), videos/podcasts we loved that will improve your craft level drawing (33:00) and writing (38:15),  before this week's main topic: building your characters (54:40).

This week, Scott (back from San Diego Comic Con) and Keith (back from a Scotland trip) recap our weeks and discuss journaling (3:55), getting creative with your vendors to get product on time (14:25), how inhabiting a place can bring a story together (25:00), mishaps in hiring an inker (31:05), changing comic artists at full speed (47:40), and the crowd at SDCC (57:55). 

This week, we discuss finishing a short-deadline cover (3:30), taking stock of your projects (16:15), choosing the right ending for your story (23:30), the value of doing as much 'extra' art as possible (32:05), and large-picture story thinking (40:30).  SPOILER WARNING for Thor Love and Thunder at 53:10, that ends at 55:15.

This week, we discuss working ahead to ramp down on a vacation (5:25), work on a one-page comic (8:10), reworking a comic so an issue ends on a good note (17:20), working on a panel until it works and quick production turnarounds (20:10), and packaging conversations (27:00) before this week's topic: part two of ten guidelines for drawing a comic book page (34:35). 

This week, we discuss late-stage edits for both a comic and a novel (4:20), editing the lettering (and art) in a book (15:30), and graphic design and Kickstarter design (21:45) before this week's topic: part one of ten guidelines for drawing a comic book page (26:50).

This week, we discuss how being under the weather can create a different kind of productivity (10:25), putting the finishing touches on a comic script (21:00), making sure the most visually interesting things are on the page (26:05), delivering work for clients (32:30), and accepting those days where you need to power down (34:30) before this week's topic (41:40): what's your comic about?

This week, Scott and Keith welcome Tim Radecki (Super-bud, Grave Brigade). We discuss the continuation of zipatones (5:45), image choices for a one-page strip (11:00), and working on writing projects in various stages and balancing time between them (13:20) before we discuss comic writing versus writing for other media and how sometimes you learn as you go (35:15), and working through writer's blo...