Creating a new comic book part 4
The process of turning story into comic art pages has evolved along two general camps (with multiple shades of grey between):
• full-script method: page by page and panel by panel descriptions and dialog provided by the writer. Traditional approach taken by DC and many others,
• "springboard" method (a.k.a. the "Marvel way"): writer provides a story idea (springboard) from which the penciller works out visuals. Once pencils (drawings on 11" x 17" illustration board) are done the writer finalizes captions and dialog.
There are pros and cons to each; by locking creative in at the script phase, the full-script approach can be less fluid while springboards don't allow for much beyond the superficial. Series like Allen Moore's "Watchmen" demonstrates some of the best full-scripted series can offer while, as told to me by Marvel's editor-in-chief back in the day, comic art is "filler between the ads" doing it their way.
Note: I've embraced the value of quality over quantity; the work needs to stand the test of time; missed deadlines are rarely remembered.
Having worked in film I can endorse a third approach I call the animation method. While comic books tend to be on short deadlines leading to some quick and dirty work going to print, animation is so expensive to get on the screen that a lot more time is spent on prep and execution. Pearls of wisdom I gleaned from working with Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson (two of Walt Disney's old men) on the "Rock & Rule" animated feature includes focusing the story's "business" in writing and pre-viz (previsualization using storyboards) to really bring the characters to life.
Taken to heart, I've spent a tremendous amount of work focused on making Captain Cannabis as good as it gets using a mix of all the above; the comics, films, and etc. are about great stories, not ad filler.
Starting with the script-first approach I write in a word processor or screenplay editor like Final Draft. I'm prone to making copious notes, charts and illustrations with pencil on large (18" x 24") paper as I go; quick sketches of characters, locations and props (part of pre-viz) really helps ideas flow.
Working with words frees me from "how am I going to draw that?" considerations as I find it much easier to rewrite a paragraph than redraw an illustration. It takes multiple passes through the words to get the rich interplay of characters and dialog working that's impossible to attain doing springboards.
Some technical decisions, like how many pages to write for, need to be made early. As dictated by printing processes, physical comic books require page counts to be in multiples of four so choices include 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, etc. Marvel and DC stick close to 32 pages while indies are usually less.
But wait, you protest, what about digital comics? They're not constrained by printing considerations. While correct, Captain Cannabis comics are released as physical and digital books so it makes sense to design for print and use that for digital as well.
Other print vs. digital considerations include panel size and placement as odd sizes don't read well on digital devices. Beyond the time it takes to do the work, there's no additional costs for printing a colour digital comic while ink-on-paper uses a CMYK colour space that increases prices considerably over black and white, and, etc.
I like to make it "real" by assembling a physical prototype of the book. By this I mean something I can actually hold and flip through to see what I'm creating as I'm creating it.
My prototype is a dynamic form that changes as I replace pages with more completed versions until it's ready to go to print. It's made with heavy-duty top-loading sheet-protectors (letter size) held together by two screenplay brads (brass fasteners) . For a 28 page book with cover (32 pages total) I use 16 sheet protectors.
Join me next time as I dig into filling those sheet protectors with the words and pictures soon to be appearing in Captain Cannabis No. 3!
Bye for now,
Verne taught comic book production and animation at the Vancouver Film School. An award-winning designer, his career spans illustration, animation, writing and directing with some of the best including Captain Canuck, Phantacea, Charlton, Marvel, Hanna Barbera, Universal, Ikea and Nelvana's animated cult-classic "Rock & Rule." He created the "Simply Accounting" name, designed Pigtronix's flagship musical effects pedal and launched both into successful brands.
Author: Verne Andru
Link: www.VerneAndru.com
Link: www.CaptainCannabis.com
Book: Captain Cannabis: No. 1 - 40th Anniversary
Book: Captain Cannabis: No. 2 - 40th Anniversary
Book: 420
Book: Watchmen
Book: How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way
Link: Sheet Protectors @ Staples
Link: Screenplay Brads on Amazon.
• full-script method: page by page and panel by panel descriptions and dialog provided by the writer. Traditional approach taken by DC and many others,
• "springboard" method (a.k.a. the "Marvel way"): writer provides a story idea (springboard) from which the penciller works out visuals. Once pencils (drawings on 11" x 17" illustration board) are done the writer finalizes captions and dialog.
There are pros and cons to each; by locking creative in at the script phase, the full-script approach can be less fluid while springboards don't allow for much beyond the superficial. Series like Allen Moore's "Watchmen" demonstrates some of the best full-scripted series can offer while, as told to me by Marvel's editor-in-chief back in the day, comic art is "filler between the ads" doing it their way.
Note: I've embraced the value of quality over quantity; the work needs to stand the test of time; missed deadlines are rarely remembered.
Having worked in film I can endorse a third approach I call the animation method. While comic books tend to be on short deadlines leading to some quick and dirty work going to print, animation is so expensive to get on the screen that a lot more time is spent on prep and execution. Pearls of wisdom I gleaned from working with Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson (two of Walt Disney's old men) on the "Rock & Rule" animated feature includes focusing the story's "business" in writing and pre-viz (previsualization using storyboards) to really bring the characters to life.
Taken to heart, I've spent a tremendous amount of work focused on making Captain Cannabis as good as it gets using a mix of all the above; the comics, films, and etc. are about great stories, not ad filler.
Starting with the script-first approach I write in a word processor or screenplay editor like Final Draft. I'm prone to making copious notes, charts and illustrations with pencil on large (18" x 24") paper as I go; quick sketches of characters, locations and props (part of pre-viz) really helps ideas flow.
Working with words frees me from "how am I going to draw that?" considerations as I find it much easier to rewrite a paragraph than redraw an illustration. It takes multiple passes through the words to get the rich interplay of characters and dialog working that's impossible to attain doing springboards.
Some technical decisions, like how many pages to write for, need to be made early. As dictated by printing processes, physical comic books require page counts to be in multiples of four so choices include 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, etc. Marvel and DC stick close to 32 pages while indies are usually less.
But wait, you protest, what about digital comics? They're not constrained by printing considerations. While correct, Captain Cannabis comics are released as physical and digital books so it makes sense to design for print and use that for digital as well.
Other print vs. digital considerations include panel size and placement as odd sizes don't read well on digital devices. Beyond the time it takes to do the work, there's no additional costs for printing a colour digital comic while ink-on-paper uses a CMYK colour space that increases prices considerably over black and white, and, etc.
I like to make it "real" by assembling a physical prototype of the book. By this I mean something I can actually hold and flip through to see what I'm creating as I'm creating it.
My prototype is a dynamic form that changes as I replace pages with more completed versions until it's ready to go to print. It's made with heavy-duty top-loading sheet-protectors (letter size) held together by two screenplay brads (brass fasteners) . For a 28 page book with cover (32 pages total) I use 16 sheet protectors.
Join me next time as I dig into filling those sheet protectors with the words and pictures soon to be appearing in Captain Cannabis No. 3!
Bye for now,
Verne taught comic book production and animation at the Vancouver Film School. An award-winning designer, his career spans illustration, animation, writing and directing with some of the best including Captain Canuck, Phantacea, Charlton, Marvel, Hanna Barbera, Universal, Ikea and Nelvana's animated cult-classic "Rock & Rule." He created the "Simply Accounting" name, designed Pigtronix's flagship musical effects pedal and launched both into successful brands.Author: Verne Andru
Link: www.VerneAndru.com
Link: www.CaptainCannabis.com
Book: Captain Cannabis: No. 1 - 40th Anniversary
Book: Captain Cannabis: No. 2 - 40th Anniversary
Book: 420
Book: Watchmen
Book: How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way
Link: Sheet Protectors @ Staples
Link: Screenplay Brads on Amazon.
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