Tools of the Trade
Hello hello!
I'm *hoping* this'll be a pretty quick blog today because I have a lot of ideas kicking around my head and want to focus on trying to write some of 'em! But inspired by the new Creator's Guide to Comics Devices (we'll get to that in a sec), I want to talk about some resources that I've accumulated over the years that can help with everything from the fundamentals of comics storytelling to good reference to software and fonts and printers and distribution platforms and more!
As a disclaimer right up top, some of these resources I have not personally used--I haven't done a lot of crowdfunding, I haven't worked with some of these smaller printers, etc--though I will say that these are things that're coming recommended to me and I'm passing along that recommendation. If you've had a really bad experience with one of these, or know some dirt, let me know! I'm always happy to stand corrected on this sort of thing.
Lastly, a number of these things I'll point out specifically as an alternative to other software or expected resources. Alright, let's boogie!
Making Art Not being an artist, I can't speak exactly to what tools will work best for you! The good news is, as an artist, you probably already know that and don't need me to tell you what sort of pencils, pens, brushes, inks, etc work best for your style. However, I will say, I've seen some glowing recs for Eon paper. If you're working traditionally in any way (I know some people work hybrid), good paper is important.
If you are working digitally, I think the two sort of biggest contenders outside of Photoshop right now are Procreate and Clipstudio. Becca uses Procreate and really likes it. The downsides are that I believe it is Apple exclusive (and not on desktop) and while I've seen plenty of pages come out just fine that were in part or fully produced in Procreate, it does sometimes lack some of the functionalities for what you might need--I know folks who've had trouble doing clean flats, for example. I know a lot of folks use Clipstudio with great success, but I also know there's a bit of controversy around some of their 2.0+ updates including only working on a subscription fee if you want to use it on a tablet or non-desktop device (and/or want the updates they release) and something about like, it not working if you aren't on wifi?
I personally have had good experience with Affinity's Designer and Photo. But I am not an artist, so while I think they're good for doing some of the production side of art--I've used them for lettering and prepping files and making little social graphics and stuff--I can't speak to how helpful they are as a full art tool. I will also say, as long as I'm talking about Affinity, their Publisher tool is pretty good too and with the Affinity suite, you can get a lot of what you would want out of the Adobe suite.
Art Reference
Look, you're smart. You don't need me telling you where and how to find reference. It's all over. There are hundreds of books and websites and resources for artist reference. You can go find some live models or pose one of those weird little wooden dolls or turn around a toy or whatever.
But! With that said, here're a couple big ones. Blender is itself an art tool! It's a lot less common for comic art to be fully produced in Blender than, say, animation, but Blender can be a really helpful way to put together thumbnails or consistent backgrounds. You can build a room and move it around for what you'd need to see in a panel and have that as a base when doing your art. You can use it for lighting studies. Lotta possibilities!
If you can be cool, you can maybe get access to Fat Photo Ref. It's what the name says, an archive of photo reference by and of fat people, who unfortunately are often not included in your standard art reference collections and books. I'll also plug that the Morpho art book series has a very well regarded Fat and Skin Folds volume. Linking specifically to that one, but you can find the whole series from the link and get it from an indie bookstore!
And as someone who has long pointed people to things like Wally Wood's 22 Panels that Always Work and Steve Lieber's 12 point portfolio critique without even looking (which I riffed on for writers here and also talk about like... finding agents) and all the thoughtful analysis on the craft and creation of the medium from Scott McCloud (I'm not linking Understanding Comics... you probably already have it), I think that the aforementioned Creator's Guide to Comics Devices is the logical progression of all of that. It is a free collaborative resource about the way comics storytelling works.
Writing, Lettering, and Additional Craft
I believe I've shared this before, and have said it's not my actual preferred format when I write, but Steenz and Camilla Zhang created a standard script template for comics. I think this is very helpful for people who don't know what a script looks like and, obviously, if you find yourself wanting to modify it to better suit your needs, you can! But this gives a really clear picture of what the general form will look like for maximum sharability with your collaborators.
Comicraft and Blambot are two of my favorite font houses (and lettering houses)! They have fonts that you see in your favorite comics for reasonable prices, including often big discounts or fonts that are free for indie use (though obvs read the terms and conditions). They have packs including like premade balloons that can help ya get started easier. Both of their books on comic lettering, Comic Book Lettering the Comicraft Way and The Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering, are excellent and should be considered the tomes they are. Sara Linsley's fonts are also great, particularly if you're doing more manga or webcomics inspired books. And if you don't want to be a person who has to spend a lot of time thinking about fonts and getting MainType or another font management software (I don't do a lot of it, but I've gotten really into teaching myself lettering and I do think it's pretty fun), do us both a favor and just hire a letterer.
But if you want to learn more about lettering, Todd Klein also has a really amazing blog!
Printing
There are a lot of professional printers that print comics. Many of them that are printing for publishers have a very high threshold for minimum orders. If you aren't printing 2K copies, they aren't going to print your book at all because that's how they have to ration their paper and run their business.
But I know of a couple of printers that do smaller print runs for indie comics. I've heard really good things about RA Direct and about Comix Well Spring. Something I'll flag right here and now is that whether it's one of these or another printer, early in the process--before you pay for anything--you should take some time to email the printer about any potential issues you might have. This can be anything from confirming your specs are correct and you've got the right overprint on your blacks to checking if the printer has any sort of issue printing 18+ sexual material or dismemberment or if you have anything that might be on the line of fair use. Like, it'll help you both out to get that sorted early and easily.
As a brief detour, I've also heard good things about both Alibaba and have used Vograce with Becca, if you're looking for merch for shows--y'know, keychains and pillow covers and pens and pins and whatever else you may want to create with your art that is not strictly comics themselves.
Distribution - Subscriptions
I'm talking specifically digital subscription platforms that are not webcomics hosting sites and that are subscription sites of any sort, not just stores/places your art lives. So no like Webtoon or Artstation or Shopify or whatever. Basically, your Patreons (you know Patreon, but you could sub to mine) and uhh... Substacks. But maybe better than those options...
I host this blog on Patreon, that's true. I also have it on Tumblr and on my website. And I sent it out as a newsletter through Buttondown! They are super friendly and concerned with making the service work! It's awesome and I highly recommend it over Substack which, as you may recall, I have some issues with. My Buttondown is free, but you can have paid subscriptions. I've also heard some folks say good things about Ghost as a similar sort of alternative. I can't speak to that the same as I can Buttondown, which, again, I really like, but I know some people who use Ghost.
In terms of Patreon alts, options are not great, TBH. Kofi has memberships (plugging mine which is membership-less). But I believe Kofi is also a lot stricter about what sort of content you can post and host--similar to the sorts of questions I was suggesting you ask a printer about earlier. Fanbox through Pixiv is something I see some folks use. I think it's largely international folks. I also, again, think it has some content restrictions though I'm not entirely sure how enforced they are. I feel guilty enough using Patreon (lol this being posted there), but I really can't recommend Subscribestar. I've heard good things about them as an alternative--like, I hear they're maybe the closest in practical functionality and are a lot more adult material friendly than some competitors, but I have a lot of the same problems I have with Substack and Patreon with them. Like, Patreon isn't perfect, but some of the more horrific elements of humanity that cannot operate on Patreon have found a home there and that stinks.
The one non-subscription option I will highlight is, and again, I don't think it's perfect, but I know people who have had good experiences with itch.io. If you're looking for a place to sell some digital comics outside of your own website, there are far worse options.
Crowdfunding
I think we've all ceded IndieGogo to the worst parts of comics. Obviously, Kickstarter is still the big one that people really think of and like many of these prominent versions of the service, it has its good and bad. There is name recognition and a track record of projects getting funded and paid and completed, and there are criticisms. But that's true of lots of things.
There are also a few options that're a bit newer in the space. Backerkit has been a part of a lot of fulfilment of Kickstarter campaigns for a long time and now operate their own crowdfunding platform. I know Iron Circus uses them. I've heard a little bit about Crowdfundr and am pretty sure I know some folks who've given that a shot. And I know one of the co-founders of Zoop and they've been helping get a lot of really cool projects made recently.
Final Recs
BLEH! This ended up taking a lot longer than I expected! Oh well. You don't know. You're reading this and it is not happening in the realtime it took to write it. So, final resources I'm going to throw your way as jumping off points for more!
1. Cartoonist Cooperative! Guess what, for basically everything I just said, they have EVEN MORE RESOURCES! They also do mutual promotions and support and are a really great community based initiative!
2. Creator Resource! Similarly, they also have even more resources! Their database/articles include a lot of stuff like more about finding agents and publishers and page rates and marketing and this that and the other thing. Between the two of those, you're going to have a lot of whatever you would need to get started and have not just a rounded out knowledge, but access to a knowledgeable community.
3. Curiosity's Corner from Wildstar Press! Wildstar's mission is really cool. They're an indie publisher that focuses on helping new creators get their first publishing credits and work they can share to get more jobs. And they've recently started a guide that's not dissimilar to this blog on how to get started on having a comics career.
4. This is just a general reminder. Make a website that has a way to contact you. Make an email that maybe can be public facing but that you're comfortable using for work and dedicate it to that. If you're going any place where you think you might make industry contacts, bring business cards. We live in the future and you can put your portfolio or samples on a QR code on your card. Find or make communities. I'm not great about it myself, TBH (and that's a little intentional because being an editor, working at a publisher, there are reasons on both sides to create this distance), but like... I dunno. Get on Discord or something. Have a group text. Like, have a way to reach out to your peers.
Like I said earlier, if you have corrections to be like "nah, this thing sucks, don't recommend it" or if you have additional recommendations, please share them! Don't DM me because I've been very bad about answering those because I am going to be shuttering Twitter soon, but y'know, if it's something you can share publicly, reply on post where you saw it or on the website (comments in a rare move are open on this unless something happens). If you want to share anonymously (or like... invite me to a Discord or something), there's always my contact page.
Okay, I'm off to write fiction now! And should probably reach out to some folks to draw it soon.
L8rs!
What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Solve This Murder (Podcast), One Piece (Manga), Sonic Superstars (Video game), The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon (Book), Reverse 1999 (Video Game), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video game), Last Week Tonight (TV show), The Simpsons (TV show), I said Thirsty last week, but I meant Steamy, the last book in the trilogy from Space Between, but it did make me go back and read Thirsty and Cheeky again too (Comics - Adults only), Five Nights at Freddy's was fine but like... I don't think I'm the target audience and we only saw it because we pay for Peacock and didn't give additional money to the bad man creator (Movie), Phantom of the Paradise (Movie), Scream 3 & 4 (Movies), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Cartoon), Joe Pera Talks with You (TV show), Witch Watch (Manga), Halloween, Godzilla Day, Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion (Video game... well, until I got too spooked), wanting to write.
New Releases this week (11/1/2023): No new books from me this week. Don't worry, next week makes up for it.
Final Order Cut-Off next week (11/6/2023): Godzilla Rivals: Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon (Editor)
New Releases next week (11/8/2023): Godzilla Rivals: Round Two (Editor on most of it) Sonic the Hedgehog #66 (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: Knuckles' Greatest Hits (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: The IDW Art Collection (Editor)
Announcements: I might be done for the year? If you'd like to have me on your podcast, Twitch stream, at your convention, signing at your store, talking to your students, whatever, feel free to hit me up, but I don't think I have anything else public for the rest of the year, though knowing us, Becca and I will probably a local market or something.
Wanna support me? Visit my webstore, the previously linked Patreon or Kofi, or my eBay. And you can always visit Becca's portfolio/shop/Patreon/Twitch streams too. Streams will be returning soon. Been having technical difficulties of late.
And of course, things are bad. Call for a ceasefire and urge your reps to stop the Palestinian genocide. Fight back against whatever terrible policies are currently up in your local or national area--from trying to ban books to criminalizing transness to further criminalizing homelessness to whatever. Support SAG-AFTRA as they're still on strike, and support all the other strikes and union actions happening across the country and across the world. Just be kind to people.
Pic of the Week: It's my favorite green heroes, the Warrior Mans!
