ComixStreet Recap #5
Item #1- Improve Your Lettering
Good lettering won’t make your comic, but bad lettering could break it. For a while now, I’ve encouraged aspiring comic writers to learn to letter themselves. With the prevalence of decent lettering fonts and software, there’s no reason anyone can’t train his or her self to be a serviceable letterer.
But the operative word in the above statement is TRAIN.
Lettering is still an art to be learned, and one that requires practice. Personally, my lettering has come a long way (and still has a ways to go.) Even a very well written and drawn book can be seriously damaged by less than professional lettering. Honestly, I don’t love reading early issues of my first book Super Seed anymore. The lettering is the biggest turn off for me, and I’ll be relettering the entire series when it gets collected for the trade.
Part of the problem with the Super Seed lettering was that I was using Photoshop. It wasn’t until I switched to Illustrator that I was able to take my lettering to the next level. In addition to making that move, here are a few additional resources I recommend:
- Blambot fonts are the way to go. They have a wide selections of high quality free fonts, along with affordable premium fonts. They break them down into useful categories: dialogue, sound effect, design and symbol fonts. Download, unzip, and copy to your fonts folder, and you’re ready to go.
ComicCraft’s Balloon Tales website is a great spot for advanced lettering tips and tricks. Overlapping balloons, special sound effects, and general dos and don’ts can be found there.
- A solid book on both lettering and coloring is the DC Comic Books Guide to Coloring and Lettering. It’s a resource worth adding to your library. (Now if only I could remember who it was I loaned my copy out to…hmm…)
EXERCISE: Finally, for those of you who are having trouble getting their word balloons to look right, I recommend this exercise:
- Scan in a favorite comic book page done by a professional letterer.
- Bring the scan into Illustrator, and dim the layer.
- Create separate text and balloon layers, and do your best to duplicate the lettering on that page.
Pay special attention to word arrangement and shape, balloon shape, and placement on the page. While I recognize this might seem like a waste of time, the practice will come in very handy when it’s time to letter your own page from scratch.
Item #2- Sacrifice and Breaking In
Last week, I wrote an article for Comic Related titled, “Going All In.” In it, I asked other aspiring creators to weigh in on how much they’re willing to sacrifice to “make it” in comics. The article led to some interesting discussion, and a wide range of opinions, and even spawned an entire episode of the Javiland Podcast. (Check out Episode #35: Sacrifice for a great discussion.)
Cary Kelley, creator of Fallen Justice and the upcoming ongoing webcomic Dynagirl admitted he’s willing to sacrifice “pretty much everything. I’ve been through two wives, a couple of houses, cars, the works” in pursuit of his comics dreams. On the other hand, Hotshot creator Victor Dandridge didn’t view creating comics as a sacrifice, and argued creators should work smarter, not harder. And as he often does, writer/editor Steven Forbes interjected some common sense truth:
“…There is a level of sacrifice needed for everything. No one comes out of the womb being able to create effectively. The honing of talent takes time, and the taking of that time is sacrifice in and of itself. Study, practice, research–all are investments in time, and any investment of time in those areas means you’re not doing something else that you could be doing: going out to dinner, going to the movies, reading a book for pleasure. It is all sacrifice.”
One of the pleasant outcomes of the discussion that followed my article came from Scott Dubin over at the Webcomics.com private forum, who pointed me to the essay “Breaking In Without Rules” by writer Kurt Busiek. This is must read stuff for aspiring creators.
Particularly insightful:
“…The people who break in are the people who keep trying until they find a way. They’re the people who figure out their own rules, whether it means maxing out their credit cards to make a movie or Xeroxing their own comic book to sell locally and show around. None of them have any guarantee that it will work. And for some of them, it doesn’t. But the folks it doesn’t work for either quit, or they try something else. And the ones that keep trying either figure out their road in, or they quit. Or they die still trying…
…But don’t look at the great gulf of distance between where you are and where you want to be and complain that you can’t get there without help. Look for the closest opportunity you can find, finagle or create. And go for it. Then, whether it worked or not, look for the next one. And if it takes you 18 years between deciding you want to be a comics writer and actually making a dependable living at it, well, welcome to the club. That’s how long it took me, too.”
Plenty of wisdom packed into that article. Worth reading, bookmarking, printing, and saving.
Item #3- Talent Registration for San Diego
A heads up for any creators thinking of attending San Diego Comic Con this year (July 22-25), professional talent registration has already begun. In fact, it may soon be difficult to attend the show on anything other than an pro badge, as Friday and Saturday badges are already sold out for the general public.
Online registration for Pro badges started March 9, 2010, and is free until May 8, 2010. You can find all the details to submit your pro registration requests here.
Item #4- Check Out NOLA from BOOM!
Next time you stop by your LCS or a Boom! Studios table at an upcoming con, keep your eye out for the four issue limited series NOLA, written by Chris Gorak and Pierluigi Cothran, and drawn by Damian Couceiro. Damian is the extremely talented artist I worked with on ICE: Interrogation Control Element. I said last summer I thought he was a few years away from getting regular work from the big two, so it’s nice to see he’s well on his way to making my predictions come true. I’d argue no studio took a bigger leap forward last year than Boom! Studios, and Damian hinted that he’ll be doing more work for them in the future. (Of course, I’ve got him in mind for a couple of projects, so I hope he’s doesn’t get TOO busy.)
A bit about Nola from the publisher:
After cheating death, Nola Thomas wakes up alone in a deserted New Orleans hospital. Bruised, broken, and badly burned, she emerges from the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina with one thing on her mind…revenge. From Chris Gorak, the writer/director of the critically-acclaimed film, Right at Your Door!
Having lived in The Big Easy for a few years, I’m definitely checking this one out.
Item #5- Project Rooftop
Power Girl Redesign by Ross Campbell, posted on Project Rooftop
I’m not sure how much overlap there is between the millions of comic book fans and the millions of “Project Runway” fans of the world, but I’d have to assume there is some. If I’m right, those people seriously need to check out Project Rooftop, a site devoted to Super Hero Fashion.
From the Project Rooftop blog:
Project: Rooftop is where cartoonists and illustrators bring their costume design skills to task in tribute to the superheroes and villains we’ve grown up with. This site is intended to promote the idea of superhero costume redesigning as a skill, specific to superhero media. We also aim to foster continued interest for these amazing characters and spotlight up-and-coming creators.
Project Rooftop was “created by comics creators Dean Trippe and comics journalist Chris Arrant…as a way to showcase this artform in tribute to classic superheroes, and as a catalyst to improve costume design in the industry.”
Occasionally, they run costume redesign contests, complete with prizes and great guest judges. Check out the recent Wolverine redesign contest. Some spectacular art there.
This is one comics blog that is definitely “In.” And I’m sure Heidi would agree.
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The ComixStreet Recap posts every other Thursday at TylerJamesComics.com. Pass it along if you know someone who might enjoy it. And If you’ve got a story or a link you think might interest me and the readers of ComixStreet, feel free to email me at tylerjamescomics@gmail.com, send me a Tweet @tylerjamescomic, or leave a comment below.
Previous Columns
ComixStreet Recap #1: Welcome to ComixStreet…Lee Nordling’s ComicsProPrep…DC’s Earth One…JAVILAND Podcast…Indy Comic Book Week
ComixStreet Special Comment: Webcomics.com Becomes a Subscription Service
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