How does one get into the comic industry?

[ThePhenom]

I know this question comes off as riddled with naivety (and may be in the wrong forum), but I'm curious how people generally break into the comic book world.

Not in the sense of being the next Hitch or Bendis or something, but even signed to indie labels and what not?

[mattbib]

Know someone and/or be that good. :)

[ThePhenom]

Know someone and/or be that good. :)

Aww, the budding writer in me wants to stick to books now.

But is this cynicism, or realism?

[cg_maniac]

A little bit of talent, and being in the right place at the right time (or having an editor see your work at the right time).

I've seen some books where I scratch my head at how that person got the gig, so I am saying you need, basically, luck.

so the longer you stick with it, and the more submissions you submit, hopefully improving your work, will result in something, I would think (as long as you don't totally suck at storytelling and drawing, and I mean totally).

[ThePhenom]

How do you find agents and what not?

Sorry, living in Aus, we don't have a booming comic book industry, or not to my knowledge at least...

[dragonbat]

Well, I can't say whether this works in the comics industry, but I did try writing a novel once. (There is a problem when a 19-year-old tries to write a spy thriller geared to YA's set in 22nd century Canada, and involving metahumans. Suffice to say that the concept might have been workable, but at the time I was too inexperienced to recognize the major major structural flaws and the implausibility of various plot points.) However, at the time I was so SURE that I was going to be the next Nobel Prize for Literature winner that I contacted a literary agency.

They told me that first, they'd want to see a finished product. Then we'd talk. And it wasn't a brushoff. They just didn't want to pitch something until they knew that I was going to deliver the goods.

One thing if you're looking at submitting regular novels/poetry/etc--and this may be true for comics, but I don't know for sure: if a literary agent recommends a work to a publisher, it will NOT end up buried in the slushpile. It will get read. See, a literary agent is someone who goes around trying to find the perfect fit between a writer and a publisher. So they're probably not going to try to sell a poetry collection to a publishing house that specializes in coffee-table artbooks. So when an agent says 'I think this work is something in which you'd be interested', they'll sit up and take notice. And if the agent guessed wrong, they'll usually give a detailed explanation as to why.

(For the record, I interned at a small press years ago and the kind of submissions we got were... eclectic. Everything from the 10-year-old who thought her English compositions were marketable, to novels, to comic strips, to religious tracts. And the publishing house WAS primarily putting out political essay collections and political commentary. I also took night classes to get a certificate in Publishing. The info on literary agents comes straight out of the Overview class. Despite having the certificate, I'm not working in the field. While I was trying to break in, something else came along that helped me pay the bills, and I drifted into it.)

[DLFerguson]

Know somebody or become a name in some other field such as TV, novels or movies.

[ThePhenom]

Hey thanks a lot dragonbat,

It didn't seem to help the comic stuff so much, but I really liked getting some perspective on like novel publishing and stuff, I looked into all this as well but it was good to get an actual opinion/experience.

And now I'm worried my book has implausible plot points, I don't think it does... or hope not at least. I've still got half a year til I hit 19, so I've learnt a bit ahead of time thanks to you.

:D

[Alex Dragon]

Here's the answer that most people who claim they want to get into the comic biz don't want to hear even though it's incredibly straight forward and simple.

The best way to break into the comics industry is by........making comics.

It sounds so obvious but amazingly lots of people who claim that doing comics is a lifelong dream don't actually try to make comics, they get hung up on making submissions (if they even do that). Sure, there have been people who broke in doing submissions but I don't know that many of them. It's particularly hard to get work through submissions theses days because there's no real need from the bigger companies to hire new people because there are plenty of "vets" who they know can do the job. To break in these days your stuff has to be incredibly good if you don't have some sort of track record.

Be honest and think about it for a second...Even if a person presented some solid sample pages of art how do they know that that person didn't take 3 or 4 months working and reworking those 4 or 5 pages? What happens to that person whe they're faced with a deadline? What does that person's art look like when they have to do 4 or 5 pages in a week? How do they know that person isn't a flake and will never get the work done? How do they know if that person is a total pain to deal with? How do they know that person can follow a script and actually draw what's in it clearly?

A lot of the same questions can apply to writers also. It might've taken that person 6 months to come up with their proposal, outline, treatment or whatever they turn in. How does an editor know by simply reading that if that person can turn in work on a fast consistant basis? How do they know if that writer can handle making changes in their script in a timely matter? How do they know they can handle the basics like dialogue, pacing, actually writing in comic form? It's hard to tell many of those things and a bunch more by just looking at a submission sample. No editor has the time to teach all or even some of the stuff needed to get the comic done and done up to standards.

When you do your own comic no matter if it sells or not it shows that (A) You aren't a flake who will bail when it's time to do actual work. (B) It shows that you can work with others (if you aren't doing the whole thing yourself). (C) It shows that you understand how an actual comic is put together. (D) It's much more likely an editor (or company) will be impressed by and will remember reading a comic than just another set of sample pages.

(E) Most important of all by doing an actual comic you'll be getting the type of practice and practical skills you can only learn by doing a comic. It's far better to learn and make mistakes doing you're own book than getting that big break and losing it all because you weren't ready and able to do what was neccessary to get the gig when it was offered. After you've done one comic, toss it aside and start on the next one and apply what you've learned from the previous effort. If you're doing the work and making a real effort to improve each try will be better than the last.
(F) It's possible the comic you're working on becomes something you can get someone to actually publish.

There's so many resources on the net. Artists who need writers. Writers who need artists. But so much of those resources are wasted because too many creative people are wasting time just doing enough work to toss up on a messageboard to get try and get a few compliments. Pin-ups won't get you a real comics gig. Reworking a story that's already been told won't get you a comics gig. Getting a "good job" comment from "Ilovesupermanscape445" isn't going to do much for your chances of breaking into the biz.

Find a writer or find an artist and start collaborating. Even if the person you team up with isn't that good the experience you can gain by making a comic is invaluable. Then when it's time to approach an editor or company you can hand them your comic instead of just adding to the stack of submissions that everyone handed in.

Good luck.

[Berserk]

Alex - Thanks for the tips. I think it's much more difficult for a writer to break into the business than it is for an artist, since publishers can tell right away whether an artist has talent or not, but they cannot tell right away just by looking at a sample script whether a writer has real talent. That's why you'll often see new comics with horrible writing, but it's rare to find comics with horrible artwork. Usually, the artwork is spot on because anyone can tell what's good art and what's ugly right away.

I have a bunch of great ideas for different comic stories but since I've never done anything before, most publishers wouldn't even look at my script twice. I sent in a sample script to Dark Horse a few days ago, and I think the story idea is stellar, but I won't hold my breath. If I do get hired by some lucky chance, then I'll make sure not to screw it up by being late on deadlines and such.

For anyone trying to write comics, the most difficult part is getting your foot in the door. Once you do, then it's up to you to determine what your future is. If you screw it up by being late on deadlines, then that's your fault. But, if you finish a project without any trouble, and do a few more projects, then more opportunities will open up and the editors will know that they can trust you.

[Alex Dragon]

Alex - Thanks for the tips. I think it's much more difficult for a writer to break into the business than it is for an artist, since publishers can tell right away whether an artist has talent or not, but they cannot tell right away just by looking at a sample script whether a writer has real talent. That's why you'll often see new comics with horrible writing, but it's rare to find comics with horrible artwork. Usually, the artwork is spot on because anyone can tell what's good art and what's ugly right away.

Of course it's more difficult for a writer because no one really wants to take the time and and read an outline or even a sample script. It's just seems like work. Even if someone takes the time to read it and thought it was okay it still only shows that person is good at writing an outline or a sample script. There's no real proof that person can pull off doing a real comic if they had to.

That's why I stress it's important for an aspiring writer to put their work into comic form. The practical experience is invaluable and it's something an editor or company will be quicker to read and it shows you have the skills to do the actual work.

Yeah, the big companies have submission guidelines and a place where you can send that stuff but how many people (writers especially) do you hear about getting gigs from submitting? Most of the big name writers of today's comics got hired because of the work they did elsewhere and someone liked what they were doing. Some did novels, some tv, some did "indie" comics. They got hired on the basis of their work somewhere else, not for submitting something cold.

What do you have to lose? I know it's a hassle to try and find an artist because most of them always worry about getting paid and only want to do pin ups but it's worth the time to try and find an artist. It doesn't even matter if they're that good. The important thing is the collaboration and seeing how your stuff looks and reads in true comicbook form. You don't have to start out with a whole comic at first. Write up a new 5 page story. That way you can test the waters and aren't asking for that big a commitment from yourself or the artist. If you and the artist like what the other is doing maybe you two can take the next story a bit further, if not find another artist and do it again.

If you're a writer you should be writing anyway so doing a few short stories shouldn't be a big deal. When it's all said and done you'll have some stuff to show to friends and people hiring writers or you might find out that comics aren't for you or you'll just have a whole lot of fun putting comics together. Anyway it works out it'll probably be better than what you're doing now.


For anyone trying to write comics, the most difficult part is getting your foot in the door. Once you do, then it's up to you to determine what your future is. If you screw it up by being late on deadlines, then that's your fault. But, if you finish a project without any trouble, and do a few more projects, then more opportunities will open up and the editors will know that they can trust you.

There's no need to wait for opportunities. You can make your own oppurtunities. If you truly want to write comics then put together a comic. If you truly have talent it will get noticed if it's presented in the right form. If the big companies never hire you then you'll still have had the fun and satsifaction of actually doing comics. Maybe you aren't quite ready for the big time. Actually doing comics will get you there a lot faster if you aren't. Work out all your kinks now so you'll be ready when that door cracks open.