An excellent guide to creating and self-publishing comics.
Creative Staff
Authors: Comfort Love and Adam Withers
What They Say
Creating your own comic is easier than ever before. With advances in technology, the increased connectivity of social media, and the ever-increasing popularity of the comics medium, successful DIY comics publishing is within your reach. With The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing Comics, creators/instructors Comfort Love and Adam Withers provide a step-by-step breakdown of the comics-making process, perfect for any aspiring comics creator. This unprecedented, in-depth coverage gives you expert analysis on each step—writing, drawing, coloring, lettering, publishing, and marketing. Along the way, luminaries in the fields of comics, manga, and webcomics—like Mark Waid, Adam Warren, Scott Kurtz, and Jill Thompson—lend a hand, providing “Pro Tips” on essential topics for achieving your comics-making dreams. With the insights and expertise contained within these pages, you’ll have everything you need and no excuses left: It’s time to make your comics!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that we have entered into a new golden age of comics (well, silver at least). The plethora of titles ranging from the standard superhero to humor to far-out SF or Fantasy is incredible. For perhaps the first time ever, publishers outside of the Big Two have taken the lead in terms of quality and willingness to try new things, and we now have access to comics in just about every medium imaginable—print, digital, and online. Considering the explosion of quality and creativity (and the explosion of comics in the national consciousness), it’s not surprising that more and more artists and writers desire to break into the business. While Comfort Love and Adam Withers’ The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing Comics won’t provide you with all the answers, it will place you on the road to achieving that dream.
Love and Withers began self-publishing comics in 2008. They became one of the standout success stories in indie comics, and they parlayed their experience and talent into instructor positions at the Kendall College of Art and Design. Simply put, they know their stuff. Their guide walks you through the entire process from concept to marketing, and the advice they give provide a solid, ground-level understanding of every aspect of the business.
Helping them along is a stable of professional writers, artists, inkers, and color artists providing “Pro-Tips” that highlight or add to the points Love and Withers make. These pros come from all aspects of the industry. Some, like Mark Waid and Terry and Rachel Dodson, have published work with established, big name companies like Marvel, as well as published work independently. Others, like PVP’s Scott Kurtz, are web comic creators and publish their work on their own sites. This provides a nice, almost egalitarian approach to creating and publishing comics, free from the snobbery and assumptions that some might bring to the conversation. Comics are comics, the book seems to say.
In Summary
The last couple of years have provided an embarrassment of riches in terms of practical guides for creating and selling comics. Once upon a time I could count on one hand the titles of quality guides for writing and selling comics (guides on drawing comics is another story). Today we have Brian Michael Bendis’ Words for Pictures, Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente’s Make Comics Like the Pros and now The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing Comics. Love and Wither’s guide deserves a spot on your shelf if you’re interested in creating and selling comics. It not only sets you on the road, it sets you off on the right foot. Dr. Josh gives this an…
Content Grade: A
Released By: Watson-Guptill
Release Date: May 19th, 2015
MSRP: $24.99
