I know that ever DIY, small press, superhero creator envisions their creations in a fully developed universe, just like the ones that Marvel and DC spent decades developing. For those big guys, these universes provide a sense of familiarity and relevance. So much so that the little guys ape the device, often without realizing that it will not have the same effect.

I get defensive when the subject of universes comes up. Lots of creators and readers of indie superhero comics count this kind of world-building as a major draw for those comics. And, when done well, those things are cool. It is nice to know that some character who gets mentioned is not just a random name-drop, but actually someone who might show up in another book at some point. And now the defensiveness: That is not what I am doing!

The coherent world of “Rapid City” simply grew out of characters having developed and inter-related backgrounds, and a controlling metaphor across all of the stories. The metaphor acts like a lens, through which real-life people and events become story elements. In this way, back-story and character development, spread virally. At this point, with the lens firmly in place, exploring back story seems more like discovering than creating.

There are lots of stories to be told in “Rapid City”, The ones that are worth telling and depth and insight to the title’s central story. These side stories are not just about adding to this world’s fact catalog. They are about establishing different thematic elements.

Newsarama.com columnist Brian Hibbs, however, makes some very good points about diluting the brad identity. Here: http://www.newsarama.com/Tilting2_0/Tilting48.html

While I fully understand the thematic function of a “Rapid City” side story featuring minor characters and exploring a different aspect of tha individuals realtionship with power, this might not be completely clear to a reader. It doesn’t really matter if the reader fully ‘gets it’. If they enjoy that “Rapid City” off-shoot and go looking for more, only to discover the main “Rapid City” title, it is possible that it could cause confusion.

And then, instead of fulfilling my intended purpose of steadily feeding that addiction, building the world, and exploring the theme, I could be accidentally diluting the strength of teh book in the mind of potential readers.

Hibbs, and others, warn that “this comic is great, I want more” can quickly devolve into “What is this comic? Is it the same as hat one I got a few weeks ago?” in the minds of even the most indie-seeking of readers.

It makes for a very tough decision. A dilema we have not yet solved.

I have a feeling, though, that all of the new avenues that internet publication offers will more easily allow us to tuck side projects under a main umbrella. A short story published only on the web nestles much more cozily in the mind of the reader than a distinct comic fighting for shelf space with the book that spawned it.

Will we even be big enough to bother considering problems like these? Are there possible solutions? Is ths brand confusion even a real problem? I really don’t know. But I do hope that when we get to that bridge (closer every day) that we cross it well.

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So come join us at some point of this 24 hour insanity.

Visit: [ENDED]

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It occurred to us that none of you out there know anything about our process. With most comic books, the process is about the same: a writer writes it, a penciller pencils it, an inker inks it, and a letterer finishes things up.

This is not the case with us.

Our process is much more involved (re: complicated). The three of us are in on every stage of development which not only allows us to create a product that tells our story exactly the way we want it to be told but also allows us to play to our strengths.

To demonstrate, I will run you through the development of page 2 of our first issue.

Step 1

First, we begin with Josh’s script. This is pretty standard fare as far as scripts go. You might notice, though, that Josh has included statements of mood and intention for my benefit. Josh and I have been friends for many years so this sort of shorthand is for the most part legible to me. Jason, on the other hand, only cares about explosions, dinosaurs, and robots—so these mean very little to him.

Step 2

Once I get my hands on the script, I read through a hard copy of it and make notes to myself in the margins in the form of textual notes and mini-thumbnails. We have decided that I will do the main translation from script to sequentials. But we don’t want Jason being left out of the process (and it’s possible that I might misinterpret Josh’s annotations), so I crank out a very rough storyboard of how the story progresses in my mind using only text locations in roughed out page boxes.

Step 3

I do this for the entire issue in one big grid. This allows us to see how the story will pace without being hung up on graphics (which also saves me a considerable amount of drawing time. With this done and agreed upon (you’ll see that some changes were made before the next phase), I begin to rough out an actual rough thumbnail of the page.

Step 4

With a visual in hand, Josh and Jason offer their critiques. For the most part, we want to shoot for compression. Often I spend too much time dilly-dallying with inconsequential scene elements, so it’s their job to point out superfluous panels or concepts that could be combined into a single panel. Jason has a real incentive for this because every bit that stays in, he must draw in full detail down the road. Compression is our friend. Once this is worked out, I next draw up a more refined thumbnail which has all the details that I want Jason to make sure he includes.

Step 5

As you can see, this thumb is a lot more legible than the one before. You can also see how whole panels were reworked and even deleted to tighten up the story. Once we have this one in place, Jason takes the wheel. Using my tightened thumbnail for reference, he sketches out his working thumbnail from which he will work during the final pencils on Bristol.

This is the last I will see of this page until Jason gets the final pencils done. Once done, he will pack them up in a snail-mail envelope and send them to me for inking (something that I enjoy and that Jason finds artistically disturbing/daunting). When these are done, it’s back up to Jason to drop in word balloons and art design elements to make the package cohesive.

So that’s our process as it stands. It’s time consuming and involved, but it allows us to generate a product that we’re all excited to create. Rather than ship off chores to isolated departments, we work together to bring you the best comic that we can make—playing to our strengths and avoiding our weaknesses.

Love,
Micah

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So I started this sketch of Mira Vega and Hector (formerly the LT). So on the third day I finished it. But when I finished it I felt like it was seriously off in certain areas. I showed Josh and Micah and received feedback. I felt like I had/have to correct it, so I’m going to redo this sketch. So Josh suggested a ‘before & after” posting. Well here it is.

First attempt:

…and my second attempt:

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Add to that the fact that I have been working on it, in one form or another, for about 4 years.

I know these characters pretty well. In fact, I can just put them in a scene and stand back and let them talk. It comes so naturally at this point that I have to actually slow them down a little to catch it all.

My task as writer, when it comes to dialog, is not so much like construction anymore. It is more like sculpting. I take the huge messy glob of language and I trim it back and tease it until it fits the shape I need it to fit. And I am really getting into it.

It makes me feel like a writer to just open up the creative flood gates and write down everything that comes out. But it makes me feel like a good writer, a professional writer, to surgically triage which lines get to live and which lines must die.

To guide me in this I am turning back to some of the harsh, mechanical, writing principles I have picked up in books and classes over the years. To apply these ideas as more than just theoretical guidelines, i have given myself some rules.

At the top of each notebook page, I have written S.C.A.L.A.P. Start Scene As Late As Possible.

If you can start a scene without some detail, then get rid of the detail. You don’t need it. I imagine the scene, and then I pick a starting point for it. I keep moving that scene forward until it doesn’t make any sense. Then I move the start back about 1/2 a second.

Done.

Or rather, begun.

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Enjoy.

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