Tips for Making a Comic Book

We live in an era where comic books are one of the main sources of inspiration for TV shows, movies and video games. Anyone who is skillful and creative enough has an amazing opportunity to share his or her gift with the rest of the world, and has a chance of becoming a renowned member of comic book writing community. 

If you believe that you possess certain qualities, which you can use to make a comic book of your own, you shouldn’t hesitate. Here are some tips that might be helpful if you are dealing with “how should I begin” issues. 

Creating a setting, theme and mood 

The first thing you should do is think about when and where you want your story to take place. Your settings should be something that really inspires you and something that gives you a lot of space to be creative. Medieval times or some sort of pagan mythology universe can provide you with abundance of inspiration. Just pick one setting, or create an alternative world of your own, and shape it according to your artistic vision. 

When you are done with that, think about the general mood of the world in which your story takes place, whether it is going to be a dark place, filled with melancholy, depression and suppressed anger that boils out every now and then, or for example an enchanted surrounding that resembles paradise or utopia, or perhaps a post-apocalyptic setting of general emptiness and apathy. 

After that think about the theme of your comic book story, whether your characters will go on an epic adventure or maybe they will be constantly on the move trying to survive, they can all be in one place fighting the ever present problems in their surroundings, etc. 

Create your main characters 

When creating the heroes of your story, bear in mind that they do not necessarily have to be virtuous people who are fighting for good. They can also be outlaws, mercenaries, wanderers, anarchists, etc. It is more important for you to come up with good description of their origin, and give your audience an insight of their motivation and the kind of people they are and why. 

Even if your characters are criminals, make sure that you properly illustrate their conviction and justification for the things they do. Don’t make your characters black and white, try to place them in the shades of gray which are in between, and make sure they have some sort of code they adhere to. 

Also, when you are writing speeches for your characters, be aware that there are many different types of comic worksheets and don’t forget to make some of them funny, some of them wise, make some of them formal and others colloquial, because the way they speak will also reflect their personality. 

Drawing your world

Once you start to draw your comic book, think about what is going to make your drawings unique, in other words, what is going to make them your own and give them your artistic signature. Try to add a spark that bends the rules a little, like for example, the majority of your characters are extremely thin or every drawing has more sharp angles than normal (chins, ears, eyes etc.). 

This is only a suggestion, but it is good to have a distinctive artistic style, like Genndy Tartakovsky for example. After your drawings are finished, you must find someone who can do a professional graphic design, unless you know how to do that yourself. However, it is advised to find someone who is already a professional to rework your drawings before they are printed. 

One more thing that you need to make sure of is that your comic has a great cover page, something that will draw customer’s attention and compel them to, at least, look at it for a while. Getting a good cover can really ensure the sale rate of your comic.

Don’t let your skills go to waste, you should do what you love and what you are good at, and you should always be prepared for harsh criticism, but that shouldn’t discourage you. Just take your pen and paper and bring a whole new world to life.