Powers and Copy Right

All creators can testify to the satisfaction of making a character for their comic story.  And for the most part this is fun and always interesting.  Most indie characters end up on a self published comic of some sort and usually make their debut in a local comic convention or two.  These characters face many perils in their story but none as devastating as success.  You see once your character becomes popular you begin to gain many secret enemies.  And their weapon is intellectual copy right infringement!

First thing you need to know if you plan to make a professional character for a commercialized story, comic that you plan to sell, is that there is nothing new under the sun.  What I mean is that there are many variations of existing ideas.  what's very important to know is that you try to take very obvious elements from other characters...satire being the loop hole in all of this. 

One of the fist dangers is comes from the origin story.  Have you noticed that there aren't many "Super" anything outside of DC or that the term "Mutant" tends to stay within Marvel as "Metahumans/sapiens" deals with super heroes in DC.  These coined terms are some of the few ways large publishers can trip you up when you begin to head towards a recognizable amount of success.  Magic and religion seem still pretty open as most big publishers barrow from Greek mythology and various religions...especially in today's hot topic arena.  Topcows uses technology to explain their characters super powers and a touch of religion and magic as well.

When you start talking about where you characters get their powers, remember where the land mines are and choose a unique way to explain the source of their abilities or keep it a mystery.

 

Meet & Greet (Updated Date changed)

Attention!  Date has been changed to the following week due to Supercon!

 

Calling All Comic Book Artists/Writers Near Miramar

July 8th

 

6:00pm

 

Panera Bread on Miramar and Dykes  

Come and join your fellow artists for a simple meet and greet.  Get to know the different artists near you and their work.  Many of us know each other from several Facebook comic pages or we've run into each other at numerous conventions, but what I'm proposing is a simple meet & greet where we can bring and share our comic book art in a relaxed environment.  Bring your sketch books and enjoy some coffee with other artists.

No admission fees or booth fees.

Some where relaxed to draw and eat.

Miami is experiencing a fluctuation in creativity.  As art districts begin to pop up in many places it would seem a great time to cultivate this culture up in Broward.  There are great comic book stores in the area and a good amount of talent to work with.  Sharing our creativity in person, explaining our techniques, and stories will inspire all of us in creating better art.

Stay tuned on your Facebook page New Miami Comics for the event.


Hope to meet a lot of creative talent out here!

10 Things Every Comic Book Artist Needs To Know

 Realistically speaking (or writing) there are things an aspiring comic book artist needs to know before getting themselves into the wonderful yet treacherous world of indie comics.  The sooner you get familiar with these concepts the better off you'll be getting your at career started.  Unfortunately, these are the types of topics many people will be very political about sharing with you an opinion and sometimes they are also shadowed by the local indie comic community.  The reality is you really need to know this.

Skills

True artistic ability.  Don't kid yourself.  Can you draw or is your imagination and optimism setting you up for failure?  This and an enormous ego will seriously restrict your success in the art world.  You need to know.  Don't ask friends or family members...they will by default praise your efforts.  "Wow... did you draw that?  Very nice!"  No.  Go find other comic book artists in the level that you want to aspire to and prepare yourself to get torn up with a critic.  Don't fight it!  Get as much advice as you can and work on it.  Build up your portfolio.  Work on it constantly.  Give yourself about 3 month of hard work before you go for another critic by a different source.  Even if your art is good...keep working on it.  The comic book artist industry is very competitive.

Style

Decide on your art style and specialty.  Sounds silly?  No.  Writers often look for a particular look when they imagine their work as a graphic novel.  Draw and learn from many great comic book artists in order to grow, but in the end you need to have a consistent art style that defines you.  People should look at your art and say "Hey... that's [your name]'s style!  Pretty cool!"  You'll get closer to your personal style the more you draw.  Some artists draw in noir while others choose a light pastel feel to their art.  What ever you choose, stick to it and make it your own.

Job

Choose a position.  Know right off the bat what you want to specialize in: penciling, inking, coloring, letting...whatever you like the best and feel the most comfortable with.  Even if you like being a cover artist, choose one of these mediums as a back up for work.  I don't just mean how to do it well.  I'm talking about the whole sha-bang!  Know your turn around time (the time it takes you to complete a finished page), your page rate (the amount of money you charge per page of work), and have a portfolio of your work handy as a physical binder AND an online gallery.

Networking

The truth about networking is that it is very difficult in the indie comic industry mostly because the industry is filled with distrust, predators, lack of business knowledge or left brain thinking, and many creators are working on their own projects.  I'm not saying that people are shady...just that yeah, people are shady.  But this atmosphere changes from place to place.  I'm just mentioning what I've personally run into and the experiences of some of my peers.  Many artists don't understand the unparalleled power of the collaboration process.  Its a give and take action and a collective force to create a project.  With honesty and true expectations, a great group of individuals can come together and build a comic, agree on a starting fee, and pay everyone off with the fruit of their labor once the comic is published.  The trick is finding reliable people with strong work ethics that are willing to put in the effort into an amazing project that you can get along with and trust.  Simple enough?  You're better off working with a small group or by yourself until you establish a reasonable source of income from your work.  Then they will flock to work with you, but you will then have to review everyone's work before hand.  Not just any Jack or Sally will do.  

Comic Conventions

You need to understand where comic book conventions stand between incredible events of opportunity and total waste of time.

(Continue in Issue #1)     

Keeping an Amazing Comic Studio

The studio is where the magic happens.It is the home of the comic artist's inspiration.  Littered with comics, sketchbooks, statues, it is a breeding ground for the imagination.  Each is unique to its owner's style and a destination of pure comic delight. A well organized comic studio will help you be more productive and creative in all of your projects.

The main purpose of your studio is to support your creative endeavors.  It should be a place free from distractions, but full of motivational tools.  Keep in mind that the design of your studio will help you come up with better ideas and lot faster.  Here are some tips to consider when organizing your comic studio:

Your Studio is your research library.  It is your inner sanctum.  You should have a small collection of reference materials that you commonly use during your creative process.  This normally includes comics and graphic novels of your most inspirational artists, books on anatomy, perspective, and other "How to" art books.  I also include books on writing and publishing because its what I do.  Make sure that your collection is customized for you.

Keep you space dedicated.  Not only should this space be free from distractions, but also be completely dedicated to your comic projects.  This space can be a small desk or a full sized room.  The important part is that it is just used for your comic projects. 

If you work on different different media, keep your projects separated.  Have a section for your digital art, another for your acrylic paintings, and perhaps a section for your sketching or traditional drawing.  This way you can accommodate your art supplies in a way that make sense to your productivity.  Staying organized like this will keep you focused.

Have enough art tools out so that you can easily reach for something without losing your train of thought, but not too many supplies that it makes your creative space messy or cluttered.  Boxes and carousels make a great organizing tool for your pencils, pens, markers, brushes, and other supplies. Do not use anything toxic in your studio.  I'm talking about aerosol sprays or heavy paint thinners.  And even if they don't smell it doesn't mean that there aren't any harmful fumes.  You don't want to use that in a space that you're going to be constantly in for hours.

Here is a small list of useful thinks to keep in your studio:

• Trash can
• Adjustable lamp 
• Dry erase and/or cork board
• Computer, laptop, or tablet
• Portfolio
• Art supply bin
• Pencil/pen carousel 

Remember that maintaining an organized work space help keep the imagination flowing. 


        

Let's Celebrate Independence!

Manuel A. Carmona shared a great idea: Let's create a "Buy Indie Comics Day".  Most of us are already aware of "Free Comic Book Day" which happens to be the first Saturday in May, but this is a way to build recognition to the ever growing indie publishing section of the market.  With the combined efforts of several indie publishers, we can make this into an annual event.

CWI Comics

According to the comic book sales reported by Comichron,  indie comic book sales make up about 9% of the market for 2015, which was an increase from 8.75% from 2014 and 8.70% from 2013.  In other words the indie market is growing and with this growth comes many opportunities for upcoming artists and new publishers to put out amazing titles.  Another reason indie titles are gaining so much popularity is the availability of more resources for creators like distribution through Comixology, webcomics through Patreon and the use of crowd funding to cover printing and distribution expenses through Kickstarter.

SSF Media

And even though the big two, DC and Marvel, that propel the comic industry with it's block buster hits at the movie theaters, its the indie comics that provide the sweet and salt escape from the mainstream that several fans crave after over indulgence of popular titles and characters.  Titles like Angle Wolf by CWI Comics and Pariah Dog by SSF Comics are samples of the incredible titles out there in the indie publishing market.  Besides that, indies can take their stories and art to places that larger companies can't without the fear of market repercussions or the approval of their sponsors.  When you see diversity in comics like Centinals and NightFire by Genesis Comics you know indies are making comics for everyone to enjoy.   

Genesis Comics

Indie publishers offer a wide selection of genre's and a diverse range of characters and art to suite all audiences.  But the challenge lies in getting the word out.  It wasn't until recent years that comic book stores started carrying titles from indie publishers.  On top of that, indie creators have the challenge of competing with the marking efforts of the larger publishers, not to mention the monopoly of certain distribution channels, where the larger publishers have a higher preference.

Genesis Comics

But indies are not going down without a fight.  Many small publishers can be found in the catalogue of digital distributors like Comixology and the webcomics has many great backers thanks to sites like Patreon.  There's also many resources out there to help indies get the word out like Facebook and Twitter.  But to add a recognized day dedicated to the indie comic book market would be phenomenal!  As it stands Manuel A. Carmona suggested making the first Saturday of August as the "Buy Indie Comics Day" so lets make this official and spread the word.  Lets make this a special day so indie creators should come together and schedule an event to mark that day.