4:00 PM – 5:00 PM (PDT) |  Friday 24 July 2020 (6:00pm – 7:00pm)

Panel Description: Wanna learn how to make a comic? Where to start? How panels work? What does one letter with? Does it need to be in color? And much, much more! Acclaimed industry pro Brian Haberlin (Spawn, Witchblade, Sonata, The Marked) will take you through the process using his Image Comics creations as examples and will touch on the whole process from soup to nuts! Join for a LIVE Q&A session after the panel. Details at https://www.instagram.com/brianhaberlinofficial/ (Link:  https://youtu.be/NVskunRro4Q)

This panel is a base overview of making a comic. The host recommends reading “The Making of a Comic Series” on waitingfortrade.com. There you can see each step in the process of comic creation and the discussions that go on during said process between team members, on one’s own, and more. Design, layout, scripting, etc. 

Start with an idea! The host carries a notebook with them at all times and writes in it whenever he gets an idea for a potential story, chapter, statement, etc. Ideas are sometimes just images or writing, and his notebook is filled with both.

Once you have that idea and have formed a story, you need to make it interesting. Sketching and posting online can bring people coming week to week. Think about the pottermore website (original version) in which the further you traveled into the world, the more pop-ups you found image wise, text wise, etc. These little parts are interesting and may bring in new readers to the full work. 

Starting with the writing of that story, don’t focus on grammar and spelling at first. Just focus on getting it all out into your writing document. After, you can go in and correct the story, correct the plot, grammar, spelling, and so on. 

Next you start flushing out characters. Who are they? What makes them who they are? What do they look like? And so on. 

Once you are getting closer to the full story, find someone to share it with. Not your best friend or parent or someone super supportive–look for an editor or critic that will rip into it and give fresh ideas or a fresh look. An outsider may see something appearing in the story that you haven’t. 

Pick your format. Four panels? A manga form? Consider art style. Should you have coloring? *Note: Black and white does not tend to sell as well as color, particularly in an American/Western comic industry. HOWEVER, some comics “need” to be told in black and white. Remember that comics are a visual media so you, the creator, must decide.

Make sure you think about layout before sketching. You don’t want to plan a two page spread right where people turn the page. Think like a cinematographer or a director by changing the “camera” angle, changing sizes, and entertaining the eyes. Now start drawing! Get your page layouts, sketch, ink, color…. 

Lettering? Comic Life (https://plasq.com/apps/comicdraw/ios/) is a cheap, yet amazing program for lettering, and more. 

Don’t forget to market! Especially prior to the release as that will ensure better sales post-publishing.