Making Comics

This week, we celebrate our 300th episode by hanging out with Cory Kerr (Rage of Enlightenment), Jim Lujan (The Unicornians), Scott Serkland (Young and the Dead), and Gary Hodges (D vs M) and recapping this year's creative retreat! We start with pre-retreat work and expectations (5:30), then compare drawing tablets (16:00), and discuss pushing to finish a draft (26:50), synthesizing feedback (38:40), looking at progress a different way (54:00), and much more!

This week, we talk about writing what you can, but being okay with not having all of the answers for a comic script (3:10), making the time to create (7:30), and getting feedback from readers (13:20) before we dig into our time at San Diego Comic Con, including overall impressions (20:00), reconciling being a fan versus a creator (32:30), and staying level (45:00).

This week, we talk about getting down to the wire for a pre-con commission (3:50), enjoying the act of exploring scenes at the panel level (14:00), acting as a project manager (24:00), layering mysteries (35:45), and enjoying things you can't possibly make (43:30).

This week, we talk about working with artists to fine-tune a story and/or concepts (6:30), and working through a new print with a tight deadline (13:30) before we discuss the highlights of a chock-filled email from comic creator Josh Pasquini (20:00), including the benefits of distribution versus crowdfunding (36:20), and flatting colors (47:50).

This week, we discuss finishing a labor-intense cover (4:40), cranking through the back-end work involved in being a publisher (12:50), working on pre-show commissions for SDCC (23:00), creating an Art Variant for a limited- edition comic (34:00), and waiting on client approval to proceed to the next step on a commission (45:10).

This week, we talk about changing the look of your character when outside forces dictate it (10:45), finishing the page-level script for a new story (17:00), those times when a cover doesn't come together (25:20), and zeroing in on an inker (50:15).

This week, we discuss a top-down writing format for comic scripts (3:50), quickly figuring out the layout for a cover (26:00), brainstorming exclusives for SDCC (36:45), and a wild search for freelance inkers (45:00).

This week, we talk about the satisfaction that comes with fulfilling every part of a Kickstarter campaign (4:00), one way to get unstuck when writing a story (9:00), coloring pages using a fresh style (14:10), spreading the word about your stories (24:15), working through art issues (32:30), and a plan to crank out a bunch of comic scripts (46:20).

This week, we wrap up Phoenix Fan Fusion (4:15), staying comfortable when you hit a wall in your story (23:20), taking time for the admin stuff (32:00), the idea of "emptying the idea tank" (35:30), and the right amount of information to give a colorist (41:10).

This week, we sit with Scott Serkland (Young and the Dead, Hiphoptimus Rhyme) and talk about cranking out a pre-show commission (5:00), illustrating a one-page story that's also a dream (7:45), a rush of work to finish a book to send to the printer on a tight deadline (11:30), intuitively exploring structure before you know what you're doing (24:30), when a necessary change results in a better product (28:20), the thought process behind additional titles in your creation portfolio (35:00), and tightening the setup and buildup to conventions (45:00).