Super Battles, Super Bust!

It would seem all the big publishers are coming out with these large scale wars between super heroes.  Its seems like only natural for the smaller indie publishers to follow.  I mean with all the super hero movies coming out and big graphic novels or comic series everyone is on a binge for comic conflict.  So why aren't you selling more books? 

One of the biggest factors that many creators fail to acknowledge is the lack of fan base to drive their comics forward.  There are many reasons for this outcome but the most common are these:

Lack of Foundation:  You have a great story and a cool group of heroes and villains but not enough going on to get anyone interested.  I'm not talking about action.  Yeah you got a 10 page battle but the real reason people aren't interested is because they have no connection to the conflict. 

Somewhere along the lines you got a little to busy with the awesome battle that you might have forgotten to show your readers why they should care.  Even more did you even evaluate the reason, did it sound concerning or believable, how about interesting?  Your story has no roots!

Build this up by creating tension between heroes and villains.  Add real problems.  Make the hard choices.  Build a history with your characters so that your readers feel like they have a stake in it. 

Great Conflict:  Heroes and villains fight all the time.  Why is this time so special.  You need to find that urgency in the problem they face.  Try to get away from cliche's...the bigger publishers have beaten that horse dead a long time ago.  Look for fresh new ideas.  Use current events as a resource.

The damsel in distress doesn't work in a world fighting for equal rights for men and women. You'll end up with a mediocre response.  Avengers: Civil War is practically about human rights.  X-Men: Age of Apocalypse is about choosing sides on morality and so on.  Find a topic to parallel and work you major conflict from there.  A lot of these topics will involve what's wrong or right scenarios and does the end justify the means type questions.

Remember to build your fan base up before releasing a major conflict title.  You can use a series of stories leading up to the major issue.  This will help get that major title off the ground when you release it since the issues leading up to it will act as your marketing and advertising. 

 

Racism and How to Deal With it in Comics

Comics are not exempt from racism, nor has it been absent from it's pages.  We all understand what it is: the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. And with recent events police shootings and other events have created a cultural divide and naturally cause an artistic individual to express themselves through their medium.  For us its comics, its the creation of stories that translate our opinions on such delicate matters.  This article was created to contain the tools necessary to express your thoughts through your comic without being offensive and carrying out your message.

I know there are readers about there that think "I don't care if I piss off some people!".  The reason this is wrong is because you'll limit your fan base and maybe put yourself in a bad situation that could cost you a publishing gig or burn some bridges with other great creators.  You can still get your message across and let people know how you feel without getting carried away.

Here are a few things we will cover:

Racial Comics vs Hate Speech
Working with Diversity and Culture
Colorful Language
Working with and around Stereotypes
Racial and Cultural Topics and Themes to Write About

This will help you navigate this complex territory without losing any friends and come out with a strong message.  Understand that racism and prejudice is making a come back so we as comic creators in touch with young readers have the opportunity to make a difference.

Racial Comics vs Hate Speech

You can write a story about racism and it will fall into one of two categories: a story about racism or hate speech.  When you write a story there's usually an under lined theme that is apparent in your story through a series of events and or actions.  The resolution should push forth that message by promoting what the theme or message is.  The messages used in racial stories illustrate the injustices faced by that particular group of people or culture BUT offer a positive resolution in the end.  It is when you finish your story with a negative message that you fall into the hate speech which will limit your success to get the book published or even read.

Working with Diversity and Culture

Understand that there are many different cultures in the world with very unique views.  If you wish to work with different cultures you must first do your due diligence and research the culture.  Race is one thing but culture is another and usually the one you represent by the way your characters act. You can have a Black, Asian, or Hispanic character but the culture could be Haitian or American Black, Chinese or Japanese, Cuban or Puerto Rican.  There are very distinct characteristics about each culture to take into account.  Lucky for you, just like you are able to read this article you are also able to search the web for information about different cultures.  You will want to research:

• Slang
• customs
• food
• history
• current events

The CIA World Fact Book online is a great place to start along with Wikipedia.

Working with Colorful Language

Most cultures have a slang that is particular to them.  By using it in context and with the guidelines you have setup for your audience, you can easily submerge your readers into a rich story filled with diversity.  Remember to include a translation near the lexicon (slang).  Some slang may not be appropriate for your audience, especially if you market to younger readers. 

(To be continued in issue #1)   

    
 

Romance for Comics

Keep your audience engaged in your comics by the spell bounding effects of romance.  Many of the larger publishers know this and use it to add drama to their stories.  Romance is an addictive element that can make your stories provocative and suspenseful.  But adding romance to your story or even writing romance stories can be challenging.

Romance is the strong and intimate relationship between people.  The drama that extends from that relationship fuel many parts of a story.  There are many emotions involved in a romance story, but to understand which ones are more apparent you should know what sub-genre you may want to focus on.  Here are a few popular ones:

• Contemporary Romance: Romance novels that are set from 1950 to the present that focus primarily on the romantic relationship.
• Erotic Romance: Novels in which strong, often explicit, sexual interaction is an inherent part of the love story, character growth and relationship development and could not be removed without damaging the storyline. These novels may contain elements of other romance subgenres (such as paranormal, historical, etc.).

• Historical Romance: Romance novels that are set prior to 1950.

• Inspirational Romance: Romance novels in which religious or spiritual beliefs (in the context of any religious or spiritual belief system) are an integral part of the plot.

• Paranormal Romance: Romance novels in which fantasy worlds or paranormal or science fiction elements are an integral part of the plot.

• Romantic Suspense: Romance novels in which suspense, mystery, or thriller elements constitute an integral part of the plot.

• Young Adult Romance: Romance novels in which young adult life is an integral part of the plot.

       Also to keep up with current trends you can explore inter-racial relations and LGBT.

Remember who your target group is and create stories that would stir up ideas, debate, and awareness.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Character Design Basics

 

Character design is very important.  As key element of your story they will add or take away from the comic.  Your audience should like or at least have a connection with your heroes and supporting cast while either understanding or truly hate your villains.  For comics, character designs also include costume design and powers.  Here's a simple guide on how to work the process.

Concept

This is the rough draft of your character.  Whether a hero or villain, you need to build them up and give them purpose.  Here's where you come up with the back story, name, powers, and motivation.  Make them interesting by getting away from stereotypes and the back stories.  Use things you know or stuff you research:

" Madeline, lost her sister in the war and blames Unicorp, a big war supporter and weapon's manufacturing corporation.  Madeline was trained to be the best infiltrator in the war and now after her sister's death she has gone rogue and infiltrates Unicorp for their true purpose in the war and to expose them to the world."

Get yourself a database of names.  many writers have a book of names from different cultures and nationalities.  Keep cultural websites book marked or keep reference material handy, especially if you plan to have authentic diversity in your comics.  You also want to have a list of super heroes and villain names that you might want to work with.  Try to accommodate the name to the super power or even function of your character

Choosing powers for your characters can be both awesome and frustrating.  The main thing here is not to over do it.  The more powers, the harder and more complex the challenges you have to create to keep your comic interesting.  Today's reader is constantly asking why or how come...you need to provide an intelligent and reasonable answer.  A quick search online will provide a list of common comic book super powers.

Costume design is important. Choose a design that builds or complements your character's role or power.   
 

7 Reasons Why Your Women Look Horrendous

There's an old saying that goes "An artist that knows how to draw beautiful women will never go hungry."  There's almost nothing more beautiful in this world than a woman.  Art attempts to capture that beauty in the form of illustration.  This is very apparent in comics through out history.  But unfortunately its a complex concept to grasp for many artists.  Drawing gorgeous women for your comic stories is more dynamic than just squiggling a couple of round boobs and a big butt.

Reason #1

The face of a women is incredibly important so if the proportions are off it will affect it tremendously.  Most artist have that down for the most part, but where it becomes insanely tricky is the expression.  A good deal of the attraction starts off in the face.  As an illustrator you must master the art of expression, specifically suggestive facial expressions.  A good exercise is to draw several faces from sexy advertising...or "other places".  You know what I'm talking about, don't make this awkward!

Reason #2

Hands.  Yes, hands.  Some new artists avoid drawing women's hands as much as Rob Liefeld did with drawing feet.  They can only hold bouquets of flowers for only so long.  I know it's a pain in the butt to draw those five to ten pages of hand studies but DO IT!  And remember to study WOMEN's hands.  Its so very surprising to see a drawing of a sexy comic book heroine with big gorilla hands.   Remember, thin and round off the knuckles a bit.

Reason #3

And while we are at it lets also mention FEET!  Same as with hands.  Go through those exercises and learn the correct positioning and movement of feet.  This is actually a big one.  Practice drawing toes from up close.  No one likes gargoyle feet on a nice looking women.

Reason #4

Character depth.  Personality.  The half nude women heroines in leotards might work well with the young adolescents but adults prefer to be romanced a bit with personality and character.  Don't make Latoya a black female just to have diversity in your comic.  Give her likes and dislikes, a genuine history, and make her real, in other words have her react to situations that stimulate mature thinking.  "No Don, I'm not going to be one of your side chicks.  Go play with your girls because you're messin' with a REAL WOMAN now!"

Reason #5

Drawing realistic and relevant hair.  You better believe it.  Women's hair is biblical.  You need to understand women's hairstyles and how to best draw those curls and shadows.  Please get out of the habit of drawing these 80's big porn star hair styles.  Your readers are palm facing and you're just not getting it.  Once again, use references.

(Continued in Issue #1) 

The Star Band Chornicles

 

If you missed your opportunity to get your copy of The Star Band Chronicle: The Fall of Anterra, well you're in luck.  The first book is available on Amazon.   The book was written by L.A. Franco and illustrated by ClickArt Studio.  

On the planet Anterra, a group of Anterrian warriors known as the Sacred Keepers maintain a vigilant watch over the ancient and legendary Star Bands. Weapons of immense power, once used to save the universe, now hidden away until needed again. But it's been almost 10,000 years and most beings throughout the galaxy have forgotten about these incredible weapons. Except for the Sacred Keepers, they know that the Star-Bands are real. They stand guard over them every day, 30 Star Bands each encased in a crystal like container. For almost 10,000 years, the Sacred Keepers have been waiting for the Star Bands awakening and training for the return of the Paladins, but no amount of training could have prepared them for what came next. Join four modern day humans selected to fight in an intergalactic battle across space. L.A. Franco is proud to present to you the new sci-fi adventure series, The Star Band Chronicles.

We know you guys are going to enjoy this story and will be eager to the next books.

Here is a link to the Amazon page: The Start Band Chronicles