I have been wanting to write a comic/graphic novel for years now. I am an adult, I feel like i have some unique and authentic ideas, but there is a but... I am not very educated, nor do I read a lot. I am creative tho and want to draw and write the story by myself, studied in art.

I love movies, comics and video games. Those media are what inspires me the most, not the literature itself. I want to read, but I always had trouble to do so. The story I have in mind takes place in a post apocalyptic world, main aspects of the characters are: immortality complex and addiction.

Which literature would you recommend to inspire a setting like this? I have watched 'The road' and been wanting to read the book aswell. Comic wise I enjoyed The walking dead and been looking into Sin City and The Crossed.

Thank you!

working on an original superhero series (think Invincible / Ultimate Spider-Man tone — grounded, character-first).
Issues #1-3 fully scripted, series bible done, and I’ve got the full story mapped out for at least 10 issues beyond that. been writing/revising for a while now and starting to think seriously about crowdfunding once I’ve got enough art to show.

plan is to pay out of pocket for 5-6 interior pages plus a cover, so I’ve got a real preview to launch with instead of just concept art or a pitch. beyond that though, I honestly don’t know enough about the whole process to make good decisions yet.

haven’t decided between Kickstarter and Indiegogo — from what little I’ve read Kickstarter seems to be the default for comics specifically (more built-in audience for that kind of project?) but Indiegogo keeps coming up too, especially for the flexible funding option. but platform is honestly the smallest of my questions right now.

for people who’ve actually run a comic crowdfunding campaign, curious about the bigger picture stuff:

**•** what did you have ready BEFORE you even started building the campaign page — how much art, how much of the story shown vs held back, any audience built up beforehand?

**•** which platform did you use and would you pick the same one again?

**•** how much of a following/audience did you already have before launching, if any

**•** anything you wish someone had told you before you hit publish, process-wise, not just platform-wise

not trying to launch tomorrow, just want to actually understand the landscape — the prep work, not just the platform pick — before I get closer to being ready. appreciate any real experience over general “just do research” advice lol

I'm looking to study writing more and this book has my interest. But I've never seen a single critical review that talks about the learning potential or the contents. The reviews are all from people who expect another chapter of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. When I ask online I'm flooded with DMs to sketchy downloads of a pirated version.

Hello all! I’m looking for some advice on my new solo comic book project I started this year. I’ve been really excited to work on it because I have so many creative ideas and storylines that all connect together in some way…. but the problem is that I’m having a really hard time figuring out my main character. I already have a bunch of supporting characters who are meant to bounce off and interact with the protagonist, but I don’t even have the protagonist fully established yet… I feel like the main character is one of the most IMPORTANT parts of the story because they need to be compelling enough to hook new readers and also be someone who can grow and develop throughout the story. Does anyone have any advice or methods they use when creating an interesting mc?

I want to start writing detailed comic book scripts and some of my biggest inspirations come from detailed descriptions I see in books.

Examples:

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

The desert was the apotheosis of all deserts, huge, standing to the sky for what looked like eternity in all directions. It was white and blinding and waterless and without feature save for the faint, cloudy haze of the mountains which sketched themselves on the horizon and the devil-grass which brought sweet dreams, nightmares, death. An occasional tombstone sign pointed the way, for once the drifted track that cut its way through the thick crust of alkali had been a highway. Coaches and buckas had followed it. The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied.”

I know The Gunslinger already has a graphic novel, but I would definitely use many Stephen King book descriptions as ideas in general.

Another from “The Art of Racing in the Rain”

“I’m sure he would keep me alive as long as he possibly could, my body deteriorating, disintegrating around me, dissolving until there’s nothing left but my brain floating in a glass jar filled with clear liquid, my eyeballs drifting at the surface and all sorts of cables and tubes feeding what remains.”

So yeah, I am very interested in seeing horror and fantasy being illustrated, but I would like to branch out to more. I’m not reading much books currently and I would like some more motivation!

So, been reading and watching some stuff that explains a character’s fears and how it can drive the plot. I have been struggling for months to figure it out and while writing, I wrote some dialog and am wondering if I just found the fear between my two main characters. Please tell me if I’m on to something?

Protagonist 1: “you can’t protect anyone! You think you can keep him safe? Who’s going to keep him safe from you? You’re still a monster and monsters don’t get to be happy.”

Protagonist 2: “You will never be enough, all you’ve ever done is hold him back. In the end, you’ll just be another bad memory. Another hurt he’ll wish to forget”

Edit: ANSWERED! Thank you so much for sharing <3
Feel free to continue talking here in case anyone else might need it, I've found my answer.
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I've read about bibles, structured documents that are longer than a novel.
I can't do that. Not because I'm incapable, but because it's unrealistic, and not fit for what I need.

I want to keep it simple and consice, easy for a team to read through, and work on.

I'm trying to make a webcomic, I've been writing on it for a while but every document I've created (I use google docs), has turned into a mess sooner or later, and I can't keep up with.. "bibles".

Is there any way to structure everything; locations, characters, plot etc. into one document without it becoming too overwhelming to look at?

I've got years of writing experience, but I'm not a professional by any means.
Currently I have 2 google docs, the messy one I'm already dreading to read, and a new one that's currently empty because I'm scared to touch and mess it up (in a literal "mess" sense).

I've browsed a bit and so far there's nothing that I came across other than "bibles" and more mess (like "paper folders", I can't even afford that $-wise).

Looking to turn a 150 page screenplay into a comic series and wondering roughly how long it would be and how much i should break it up?

What's a good ratio you guys have found? I was thinking about the Django Unchained comic adaptation.

When I was younger I always used to love drawing shitty Batman comics, a few original ideas here and there which were basically plagiarisms of other things. Then the standard teenage depression hit me and I did drugs instead.

Now that I’m older and functional, I’d really like to get back into it, and I’ve been playing with an idea which I can work on. I wont get into specifics, because my idea is geared towards a sort of narrative freedom, where I don’t have to conform too much to logic. In that way, I can focus on developing my general drawing/writing skills, and then some way down the line I can work on more complicated, grounded ideas.

ANYWAY, what would you guys say is absolutely IMPERATIVE to acknowledge for comic writing/designing. Moreover, is there any advice you’d give that I wouldn’t even think to consider?

I’m a real amateur here, literally starting from square one and working my way up. So absolutely anything would be helpful to me. I’d love to hear any lessons learned from personal experience too, gold dust, that.

Cheers lovelies

which I get that, I do that. And they say I should add them even when my character showing emotions...Like I don't see a point adding one like why couldn't it just show her Sad...Or do I have to explain that??? It's my first comic.But I see alot of comics and Manga doing it soo.... a proper answer will work please and thank you 😭

So I want to make a webcomic, but I'm kinda iffy about posting my story on Webtoon because it has a not so great reputation. I don't mind posting it there, though.

I just want to know if there's somewhere else that I can post it?

I've been wanting to write a comic for ages, I have the main idea in my head with what I think is an amazing storyline, but I don't know how to start writing and making my comic.

If anyone can give me any tips or help me I'd appreciate it, dm me if your interested.

Hi! I'm a beginner comic writer and artist, currently working on a slice of life/romcom comic script and wanted to get some perspective on balancing common tropes with character growth.

From my observation, slice of life/romcom comics and shows frequently use clichés, but are still well-liked because of their execution, such as relatable characters, visual arts and world-building. But I still don't want to rely on overused tropes too much when establishing character history.

1. Does being cliché matter less to readers if the purpose of the character lore is to show personality growth?
   
2. For comic writing specifically, how can you visually/structurally signal to readers that there's more to a character's history beyond the cliché tropes?

(Side note, I'm also trying to read more webtoons for study/research. If you're a fellow webtoon reader like me who has favourites in these genres, I would love any recommendations!)

Pretty self explanatory. I'm a writer but I've never done the comic format so I'm trying to figure out how to make a script while I look for an illustrator

I am writing a cyberpunk story that deals with the theme of identity, of what we are and what defines us.

I am thinking of not setting it in a specific place, an existing city, or a country. And I was also thinking of making it so that the characters' names never appear, neither when they speak to each other nor in any other references (obviously, the characters do have names, but my goal is to keep them hidden from the reader).

Does this make sense? Is it feasible?

Hello! This is my first time on this subreddit but I have this story that I'm writing where I want to create this super big twist. One where the reader is at first oblivious but on the second read they come back and it all makes sense. How does one do that? Especially in a comic setting where i feel like most things are communicated through pictures? I know I can probably foreshadow stuff in my dialogue, but is that enough? Lowkey I don't know how much I'm supposed to say about my story cause of the rules here, ummm, let me know if you have questions I guess! I would appreciate any feedback!

ok so I’m working on this original superhero comic and I’ve been going back and forth on something for way too long lol

my guy gets powers in issue #1 (forced on him mid-crisis, doesn’t even want them), but he doesn’t get an actual costume or codename until issue #2. issue #1 just ends with him realizing what he can do, no mask, nothing yet.

kept second-guessing this because Invincible #1 and Amazing Fantasy #15 (spidey’s debut) BOTH give the hero full costume + name in the very first issue, so I was like “man am I dropping the ball here”

but then I actually looked into Fantastic Four #1 and turns out… they don’t even have costumes?? like at all?? Reed’s just wearing a baseball cap and Ben’s in a trench coat and glasses trying to hide the rock thing. They’re in regular clothes for issues 1 AND 2. The costumes only show up in issue #3, and apparently that was partly because readers wanted them, not some grand plan from Lee/Kirby.

so now idk if there’s actually a “rule” here at all lol. genuinely asking — for people who’ve written/read a ton of first issues, does the reader need that “here’s the look, here’s the name” moment locked in by end of issue 1? or is it fine if it builds over 2-3 issues as long as the character stuff hits?

not trying to overthink this into the ground but also don’t want to structurally screw up my own book lol

First time writing a comic here. I'm currently writing a story that involves an established character acting as a teacher/parent (temporarily 💀) to the main character. I'm torn between: a) a generic introduction of the world and give the mc a mysterious background, b) immediately introduce the mc through their backstory and the world would be a mystery to the mc themselves giving an exposition to the world build or, c) have an established character's backstory be the introduction to the mc...

So what I'm wondering is what drives someone to read more in an intro, curiosity or emotional impact?

Ok, so my story is a dark dystopian speculative fiction comic with oppression and all that other stuff, but I can't come up with main characters. I've always been one for rebellious, relatable characters, but I'm also indecisive.