If you’re a lover of comic books, you might want to create your own. With the help of digital technology, anyone can do it. However, there are a few things you need to seriously consider before you start. You want to thoroughly research how famous comics were created, from the way they were brainstormed to the reasons they became popular. There is plenty of material written about comic book history and lots of interviews with famous creators you can listen to or watch. Once that’s done, it’s time to get started!
First, you need an idea. This might seem simple, but in truth, it’s a lot harder than you think. You don’t have to stick with superheroes, but you do need a cohesive start to finish story. You have a lot of competition out there, especially with self-publishing on the rise. The more passionate you are about your characters, the more likely you are to succeed. Don’t worry about getting your characters perfect from the start. It will all evolve as you brainstorm!
After you have an idea, you need to outline it in words. Starting with pictures can be very difficult, and you might find that you’re missing crucial scenes to your story. Save yourself a lot of time and effort and write it out. Pay attention to the setting, plot, characters, narration, and overall theme.
Once you have the script, you can begin drawing a basic outline. This starts with the layout. You can choose something wholly traditional, like the four panels, and create rough sketches in each one to check the flow of your story. Many new creators end up with redundancies and have to scrap panels, making the layout wonky towards the end. Don’t let this happen to you. Carefully plan each page, and you’ll be good to go.
Be sure you’re consistent with your style. It’s jarring for a reader to stumble into a different kind of art halfway through. Once you begin drawing, you want to stick with a certain vibe. You can draw it by hand if you have an artistic background or use a digital drawing platform to ease things up a bit and easily erase any issues. It’s entirely up to you how you draw it out; just do what works best.
Now it’s time to decide if you want to publish a paper version or an online version. Both are viable options. You can create a free PDF version easily using several different apps and send it out for self-published printing or upload it somewhere so people will see your content. You can also choose whether to charge for the first copy or make it free to hook your readers.
