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Ring Psychology

by Ethan Nahte

Part 2 of 2 Here are the final five reasons in the continuing article by Ethan Nahte. Top 10 Things NOT TO DO as a Comic Book Creator, from a Retailer’s Point-Of-View: (reasons 1 through 5)   6) Cover Price   7) Dialogue & Thought Bubbles   8) Too Verbose   9) Spelling 10) Nudity 6) When it comes to putting a price on your comic, especially if you're new, don't let ego get in your way. Some people give their 1st issue away at conventions and to stores to start garnering an audience. Yes, time and money goes into it, but it does you no good if no one will spend money to read your comic. If you do place a price, use some common sense. Go to the local comic book store and see what other comics go for that are similar: Look for size (dimension & page count), black & white vs. color, paper stock & bond. The average comic in 2005 goes for $2.99 with a few hanging around $3.50. Sure, they may be printing more and getting a bigger discount, but don't out price yourself. It's very rare that a small press book, much less an indie that lists for over $4.00 sells. A good example is "Emily The Strange" - a popular character who has seen 3 thin hardcovers come out. They finally released a comic that was big news to Emily fans. Then, the prestige format comic came out at a whopping $8.95. People flipped through it, thought it was cool, but not that cool. Hasn't sold worth a damn! 7) When it comes to reading a comic, the dialogue and thought bubbles can make or break a story. There are times that creators haven't done their homework and bubbles are placed anywhere on the panel. If there's just a single character, that's normally not a problem. If there is more than 1 character, line your bubbles up properly so it's easy to tell who is speaking. Or use symbols/colors like they do in "Superman/Batman." Also look at how the bubbles are placed when a conversation is happening and each character has more than one piece of dialogue within a panel. Notice how the bubbles interject between each other in an organized manner. This helps to determine the order of things being spoken and directs the reader. It's not just new guys who make mistakes. I have seen comics from major publishers that will have the bubbles over the wrong characters. We're human. People make mistakes. One panel with the wrong dialogue placed over the characters can be an easy oversight. An entire page worth of panels with the same mistake is pure laziness or someone needs to be fired for being incompetent. Let a friend who hasn't read the book look through it to see if it makes sense to them. 8) Don't fill your comic with 10,000 words. I don't remember which well-known, contemporary artist said it, but recently he said something along the lines of "My art should tell the story without the words and the writer's words should create the images without my art." Basically what he was saying is that the story and art should be good enough to be understood by the audience even if they stood alone. I had a guy who recently brought me his comic to get my opinion. He had a panel that showed a villain growling as a cop approached. The villain sneaks up behind him and kicks the cop in back of the head and eventually kills him. He had word bubbles that also described what the villain thought about cops, which was fine. Then the bubbles proceeded to describe how the villain snuck up on the cop and how he kicked him and every process of the killing. Not fine. There are times to let the art tell the story and there are times to let the words tell the story. By the same token, "The Intimates" and "Rex Libris" are 2 titles that have tons of dialogue along with 4 or 5 lines of footnotes (in type 4 or 6 font size) at the bottom of every single page that is intricate to the story - sometimes in multiple colors in "The Intimates." It's a pain in the ass to read! A good writer should be able to get a story across without having to fill every space on a panel. 9) Spelling is important. I have seen numerous indie comics that have so many minor spelling mistakes it amazes me that the writer, letterer and/or especially the editor ever made it past 1st grade. Once again, even the big boys make mistakes and there is a spelling error here and there, but when 3 or 4 words in a bubble on every other page is misspelled, it's time to find some help. I've seem some comics that can't even spell the name of their own comic or one of it's creators the same way twice when I look at the indicia (small print giving title and copyright details in most comics) or the title page. If the creators can't get their name and title right, how do they expect fans to get it right? Simple rule, if you're using a computer, use the spell check. Every computer has one! If you are lettering by hand, have someone who you know that can spell decently take a look at your comic. You're book won't sell very many copies if it looks like it was written by your 3 year old nephew. 10) Ahhhh, the popular subject of nudity! In a lot of stores, especially those in the Bible Belt or small towns, books with nudity are either not ordered or they get bagged immediately, even on the new week shelf. If they are bagged, and if it's a store like ours that requests that customers ask for assistance in opening bagged comics, most customers ignore the comic unless it's by a big name like Richard Corben, Jim Balent or Simon Bisley. If you have a new comic that is getting ignored because no one can flip through it to see if it's cool or not, save yourself the time and effort by taking a couple of Franklin's out of your wallet and sticking a lighter to them (or send the money to me - c/o of Titan Comics). Ask yourself this - Is the nudity necessary to the story? We all know sex sells, but do you really have to show genitalia or can you simply come close and entice most fan boys? If the nudity is necessary, can it be placed in the 3rd or 4th issue so your book has a chance of getting a following? Heck, if you suggest it may lead to nudity in later issues, you can guarantee that you'll have guys waiting to buy the next issue just to see. If they can't open the book to begin with, they'll never know. Trust me, most customers don't want to bother someone at the store either because they feel embarrassed, they feel like they are imposing or they're just too lazy. If you think I'm kidding, go to a store that bags a comic in the manner of which I'm speaking. Watch how many people pick it up, look at the front and back and set it back down because they can't flip through it. Then watch them pick up some other small press comic that's unbagged and flip through it. They may not buy it, but they at least got the customer to take a look and consider it. Once again, this article isn't meant to stifle your creativity. It's meant to help you understand the retailer and the customer to help you sell your comic. If you are creating for yourself and no one else, that's all fine and dandy. If you're looking to actually make some money for your time and effort or hoping to at least gain an audience and fans that might think your book is cool, learning how to find that audience is part of the battle. Learning how to market is another battle all unto itself. Ethan Nahte You can read more of Ethan Nahte’s work at www.livenloud.net and www.herorealm.com.