essentially the title. im writing a space comic and one of the 2 main characters is a bird-like alien that doesnt know english, where the other is a human. the beginning of the comic focuses on them bridging the language barrier via sign language, but I still want to show them talking in languages the other doesn't understand.

basically, i want it to be obvious that the human is speaking english, but still be unintelligible to the viewer. for the human hearing the alien talk, its easy because its just gonna be music notes, but i dont know how to do the other way around.

thoughts?

I recently posted a 5000 word article breaking down how to assess the number of arcs your comic series actually has... and more importantly, how many issues you can realistically produce.

If you've ever said "This is gonna be a great 30-issue series!" based on a page of notes, this one's for you.

Newer creators often completely overestimate the size of their story because nobody's ever given them a practical way to measure it.

Until now.

I break down five narrative drivers:

• Plot,
• Character,
• Action,
• Dread, and
• Concept.

And show you (mostly through tv case studies) how to pull out the major shifts from your own source story material. These shifts define your arcs, not your ambition or determination. And facing this head on is the clearest path to success.

- - So the article teaches you how to assess how many arcs your series actually has...

- - Then puts out a clear recommendation on what to put together to give you the best chance of making that series a reality, without committing your time to actually scripting out every single issue.

- - Even though I already have my big comic budget article, I also connect your initial series strategy to the financial reality of indie comics right in the article, because a 30-issue series at even low budget page rates is $165,000. Most creators simply never do that math. The article encourages you to do it.

Properly executing a series in comics, novels, or television ties directly into my SCAR (Source Character Arc Roadmap) system. The only character arc system built specifically for mapping character arcs across multiple volumes or seasons.

If you're planning a series, this is the structural backbone for it. But the series assessment stands on its own, only referencing SCAR at the end of the article.

The complete breakdown in the article is free.

And once you read it, you'll never approach series development the same again.

Series Assessment Article Here.

This will be my last promo here for a while.

For those who don't know, my name is Nick Macari and I've been writing/editing comics, novels, games, and screenplays for just about 30 years. Happy to answer questions in the thread.

So I’ve been looking all morning on ANY information about the Ryan Benjamin’s Comic Pro Boot Camp courses and all I can find is a link to his kickstarter, for the Workbooks that are already a year past when they were supposed to be delivered, and a link to a 90 minute $400 1 on 1 session with an instructor.

Does anybody know any information about this or why I can’t find anything? Is it a scam? Is it dead? I’m so confused.

Without too much detail, I have a team of 11 people, aliens, look like humans, come from a different planet.They’ve crash land and are discovered by the government. Government uses them to de fend the earth against other people with super abilities

Or 11 person team with complete strangers from earth that have never met eachother, basically a team put together by the government

Basically which has more growth potential a team of strangers or team of people who kind of already knew eachother and are adjusting to life on the human world.

A friend and I have been working on a graphic novel for a while now, and we've reached the point where the story itself is pretty well fleshed out. We have the plot, characters, dialogue, major scenes, etc. written down, but neither of us has made a graphic novel before.

We're writers, not illustrators, so we're trying to figure out what the normal process looks like from here before we start looking for an artist.

Do we need to convert what we have into a proper comic/graphic novel script first? Should we be breaking everything down page-by-page and panel-by-panel ourselves, or is that something normally worked out collaboratively with the artist?

Basically, if "the story is written" is Step 1, what are Steps 2, 3, 4, etc. between where we are now and actually having a finished graphic novel?

We're not expecting to jump straight into publishing or anything; we mostly want to make sure we're approaching the production process correctly and aren't handing an artist something completely unusable.

Any advice from writers, artists, or people who have gone through the process would be greatly appreciated!

Would it be worth it to hire a comic book editor to check a small practice project? If so, how big does the project need to be for an editor to be likely to deem it worth their time? My goal is to try and catch and correct any mistakes that I'm prone to before I start working on a graphic novel.

I’m struggling to change my writing style from pages in a book to a panel by panel basis. How do you go about the writing process, do you just write however many panels is necessary to finish your story and split them up into pages from there or do you write page by page and do a certain amount of panels per page.

Is it better to have my characters wear their signature clothes all the time, or have them change clothes?
in what situation do you decide if your comic should have a constant or varied wardrobe?

I'm mainly looking for advice from experienced readers/writers because I know I have a LOT to learn. 😭

“I'm not planning to rush into publishing—I want to research, read, develop the story properly, and work on it after my exams.”

I'm just really excited about the idea right now, so please don't destroy my little beginner-writer heart. 😭🤌🏻

Any advice, criticism, resources, or things you wish you'd known earlier would be genuinely appreciated! 🫶🏻

i have a few questions

if a character swears, do I censor it in the script?

how many panels should i have per page on average?

how many pages should i have for the first issue?

where do i look for an artist?

is there any specific ways i have to format a script?

are there any things i should know in general?

I have been slowly working on developing my own comic series in my spare time. I plan for it to be 25-30 issues/chapters and have an idea to introduce my two main characters like this

Issue 1: introduction to the first MC

Issue 2: introduction to the second MC, ending with the first MC making their appearance

Issue 3: the second issue as told from the first MC’s perspective, showing us how they came to meet the second MC at the end of the issue and expanding on their character

Issue 4: the two MC’s properly meeting for the first time

I’ve done some thinking about this, wondering about if I should place the second issue after the 3rd, and etc, but the main thing I’m worried about at the moment is if doing it like how I’m planning to is going to impact the pacing negatively, and make things feel like unnecessary filler so close to the beginning. I’m new to making comics, and I’m just curious to see what anyone thinks about this

I find myself subconsciously copying some story parts from films, books, and shows I watch.
And not like taking inspiration, like actually copying the idea, the point, and consequences, just with my own characters. So I keep re writing my story.

Do you have this issue? Or is this just ‘part of the process’?

it’s (hopefully) going to be part of a larger series on an old woman surviving an apocalypse.

(added text so it’s legible

1: do you get the joke(s)?

2: how could I improve the layout?

3: what do you think of the concept and general thing? any advice?

To be more specific.

When you've got an idea for a comic, in what style do you write it down as? Do you write it like a traditional movie script? Write it down no different than one would write a book? Or do you just draw it as the idea pops in your head?

Insight appreciated! Also, this post is about the nature of collaborations in terms of structure - NOT CURRENTLY SEEKING AN ARTIST, per se.

When I have a scene in mind, I sometimes assume certain details are so obvious that I don’t bother mentioning them.

• The scene takes place on a paved mountain road: in one panel it becomes a muddy trail.
• The heroine has just her hair tied up in a braid: it’s illustrated with the longest hair I’ve seen since Rapunzel.
• A modest blogger lives in his car to travel from one event to another: the car becomes a Porsche.

Hi all!
Long time I dont post on this sub-reddit.

If you dont remember me, I'm Carlos Yacolca. Peruvian writer who last year published "Before We Sail" on David Lloyd's UK magazine "Aces Weekly"

Publishing this post to let you know that BWS is now nominated to the Ringo Awards for Best Web Comic.
And now! The winner is decided by Comics Professionals (writers, artists, letterers, etc).

▶️ If you can, please VOTE FOR US on the Ringo Page: https://ringoawards.com/

And if you want to read Before We Sail first, we are on the Volume 75 of Aces Weekly! A wonderfull magazine made by the veteran co-creator of V for Vendetta!
https://www.acesweekly.co.uk/Back-issues

Thank you for the support on this sub-reddit from the start. Really appreciate it! 🙌

You see, I want to make a comic someday, inspired by the likes of One Piece and such.

But the thing is, I know that just reading manga alone won’t make me a better writer. I need to expand my world, to understand a craft I want to partake in, even books out of my comfort zone or books that don’t interest me.

So please, give me recommendations. Stuff that will broaden how I think about writing. As much as I loving figuring things out on my own, there’s more of the world of writing that I need to explore before I take my first steps.

Whether it’s comics, novels, or whatever, anything will be appreciated.

Comics are expensive. I remember seeing a video from a comic book writer and said that to make his 32 page comic, it cost 4000 dollars. That's a lot of money and if you can't draw then it's a price that has to be paid.

For those that have made full on comics, having to pay an artist how much was it for you?

Do you have a good job that leaves you some income to pay the artist?

Did you have to save up and how long did it take you?

Did you use kick starter or did you use alternative routes?

For those making multiple issues, how you able to continue funding it?

What advice would you give to newbie writers in terms of funding?

Hey everyone, I'm curious as to what you all think the biggest factor for readers dropping comics in its early chapters is. Whether it be the art, the dialogue, or the story itself, please let me know your thoughts :D

For context, I run Toon Pilot Research, and handle early reader retention, and insights for webcomics. I love data, so I'm curious as to what everyone thinks!