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Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

May 25, 2009 By 14 Comments

pen nibs featured content Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

by Jason Thibault

Now that computers and the internet have overtaken the world I sometimes fear that a lot of the traditional things that we take for granted will slowly begin to disappear. It may be an irrational fear as the internet has also brought to light amazing factions of creators in different pockets of the globe.

I’ve been noticing new practices taking hold in the comics, manga and illustration professions. Digital inking, Wacom tablets (yes they are cool) replacing pens, vectors overtaking hand-drawn artwork and a strong reliance on Illustrator and Photoshop. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a knock against utilizing those techniques. I have seen some amazing art created on Macs and PCs. I just don’t want it to get too carried away. I have never personally experimented with digital drawing suites like Manga Studio and I will one day when I get the time. For now I continue to love getting my hands dirty with ink and owning a growing collection of original pages and illustrations.

The main reasons to draw by hand

1. Permanence. If you create your pages with a half-decent ink on acid-free paper your artwork will survive for decades and perhaps centuries. Paper is still the most portable storage format. Digital works are stored on your hard drive, CDRom, DVD or back-up tape. But digital file types and storage mediums change each decade. We backed up files on tape in the 1980′s and part of the 90′s. Then we used zip cartridges. Then DVDRoms and portable hard drives. Meanwhile paper is still paper. My stack of originals is nicely filed away in a flat drawer. I still like to keep photocopies and high resolution digital backups though just in case.

history of tape storage Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

2. Mastering techniques. I realize it takes years and a lot of artistic skill to render quality digital paintings and drawings but there’s just something more immediate about pen on paper or brush on canvas. Whether it’s spending years figuring out how to perfectly sharpen your pencil or the exact pressure needed when drawing lines with a dipping nib or technical pen. It could involve changing up your ink brand, paper type and size or finally investing in some high quality Windsor & Newton watercolor brushes. I’m sure we’ll arrive at a day where students will sit around a live model and sketch them with their wacoms into a laptop. I just hope that day doesn’t arrive too soon.

3. The monetary value of having an original. I realize most art out there isn’t worth much more than the paper or canvas that it was created on and that’s often not the point when creating it. But what about down the line? What if the creator strikes it big? Having a back catalog of originals could become quite lucrative in that case. The idea of parting with my originals pains me but my grandkids might not have the same issues. And although I know it’s happened, it’s not often that we visit a gallery to view a showing of digital print-outs.

4. Drawing Big. Once again I realize a computer screen can become an infinite canvas if you zoom in and out far enough. But the sheer power of wild brush strokes on a larger sheet of paper still captivates me. I was so used to crafting comic pages on 11″ x 17″ sheets that I thought I may be confined to those dimensions forever. Then I went to a few comic art exhibits. I saw original pages by Dan Clowes and Chris Ware which were much larger. It completely changed my mindset. And seeing that Paul Pope creates comics on pages as large as 19″ x 24″ was a revelation. And in the art world larger sized works often do command higher prices.

5. Having a completely portable skill set. If you can draw you can draw anywhere. If you’re well practiced with pen or pencil you can draw in your studio, at a cafe, park, bus station, prison etc… No need to boot up software or rely on electricity. Back in the 1990′s R. Crumb traded in a box of sketchbooks for a villa in France. You probably won’t be able to trade in your old laptops and digital printouts and get the same deal.

man sketching Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

A Pen and Ink Love In
I wanted this particular blog post to be more of a celebration of the amazing array of hand-created artwork that’s out there and specifically works that are rendered in pencil, pen and ink. I’m hoping the next generation of art students and bedroom illustrators embrace the techniques of the past as they forge on ahead crafting new styles and merging the practical with the digital.

In this next part I’m going to focus on comic artists but I’ve mixed in a couple of poster artists and illustrators as well. I’ve kept the number down to around a dozen artists but I could have easily put 50 or 60 (or 500 or 600) more up here. Every artist listed below is one that I hold in high regard. Some have influenced me while others I simply stand in awe of to both their talent and dedication to their craft.

Florian Bertmer
Florian Bertmer is an incredible draftsman who’s taken influences such as Pushead but run with it into a darker direction. He’s a German artist who creates art for posters, t-shirts and album covers.

florian bertmer baphomet Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Paul Pope
Paul Pope is the perfect melding of European, Japanese and old-school American cartoonists. And he draws big. On his large-sized boards he deftly creates his comic book masterpieces. He’s one of the aforementioned artists that I simply stand in awe of. The good people at First Second books will be releasing his out of print series THB this fall. The Beguiling comic shop in Toronto has a lot of his art for sale.

paul pope batman 100 Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Aaron Horkey
There’s no point in trying to ever draw more detailed than Aaron Horkey. His unique artwork adorns record covers, t-shirts and fast to sell-out prints. There’s nobody out there quite like him. His hand-lettering is elegant enough to make dozens of artists want to quit and change professions. His ink illustrations are so intricate that they actually blow the art up in size (rather than the standard procedure of reducing) before printing it. I’m the proud owner of several of his silk-screened prints which is the only affordable way to obtain his art. His originals fetch thousands of dollars when you can manage to find one for sale.

aaron horkey catalyst Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

aaron horkey detritus line art Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

aaron horkey diesel show Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Jae Lee
I’ve been in love with the art of Jae Lee ever since first buying up all of the issues of Namor that he worked on in the early 90′s. Despite the murky coloring and poor-quality newsprint that Namor was printed on his edgey style cut through. He became a fan favourite while he was very young. He continually refined his style by at first taking a looser approach following after Bill Sienkiewicz, Barron Storrey and Kent Williams. After a hiatus he came back in the early 2000′s sporting a more realistic approach yet still with the jagged edges and razor thin lines that he was always known for. He must have gone through an oil tanker worth of black India ink throughout his career.
In 2006 it was announced that he would be providing art for the Marvel adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. He worked strictly in pencils for this project and colorist Richard Isanove darkened his grey tones to black in Photoshop and went to town with them. Check out his originals at the Albert Moy Gallery.

jae lee dark tower gunslinger Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

jae lee wolverine Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Lee Bermejo has risen to the cream of the crop of the comix industry. He came out of the gate around 10 years ago working for Wildstorm where his work looked like it had been created by a seasoned pro despite his young age. You don’t hear much from him on the interwebs. We snagged an interview with him recently but he has no website or much of a presence online. You can however find his gallery over at Splash Page Art. I’m guessing he’s too busy busting out insane amounts of detail on his artwork to bother much with the internet. His graphic novel Joker (written by Brian Azzarello) was and is a bestseller. It hit stores shortly after The Dark Knight was in theatres.
As amazing as he is with pen and ink it’s his recent style that he’s been developing over the last few years that has found him new fans. He creates textures and layers with pencil and then highlights and outlines the shapes with ink.

lee bermejo the stand 4 cover Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

lee bermejo joker 1 Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Brian Hitch made everyone in comics take notice of him and his art when he joined Warren Ellis for the first 12 issues of The Authority. The two of them helped to make famous the more cinematic “widescreen” approach of comics in the late 1990′s. But it was his five-year run with Mark Millar on Marvel’s Ultimates that sent his name soaring into the stratosphere. His masterful combination of exaggerated super-heroic realism pushed front and centre over painstakingly rendered backgrounds has won him hundreds of thousands of admirers. And artist Paul Neary must have the patience of a Buddhist monk to have inked a lot of those pages.
You can find a lot of Hitch and Neary original art over at The Art of Comics. And if you have a spare two or three grand sitting around you could commission an original.

bryan hitch ultimates 2 13 2 Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Tim Bradstreet
It’s no secret to anyone who’s followed Optimum Wound for a while that we’re big fans of Tim Bradstreet’s artwork. When I happened upon his book Maximum Black I was immediately inspired to start experimenting with realism and photorealism and I haven’t looked back since. Tim’s style has also evolved over the years and his graphic design skills are razor sharp. He’s brought a movie poster and book jacket sensibility to comic covers and won himself a legion of fans in the process.
Tim Bradstreet’s art is always a source of inspiration around these parts.

tim bradstreet punisher movie tease Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

tim bradstreet punisher comicbox Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Geoff Darrow
I was blown away by the art of Geoff Darrow from the first moment a friend showed me a copy Hard Boiled. I needed to see more. Unfortunately Geoff takes a long time to create his painstakingly detailed artwork. The originals (that I’ve seen listed on eBay) are massive in size. I believe the pencils are done on illustration paper and then the inks are drawn on a vellum overlay. He could have rested on his laurels after working on the production designs for the Matrix trilogy but he cut no corners when working on his most recent series, Shaolin Cowboy.

geoff darrow hard boiled Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

geoff darrow hard boiled 2 Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips is one of the most reliable artists current working in comics. Whether he was working on one of my favourite series of the past decade, Sleeper or earning a bigger paycheque on Marvel Zombies I am always inspired by the results. He described the look of his style on Criminal as Kent Williams inking Mike Mignola. He has a nice chunky realistic style and extremely intuitive design skills when it comes to laying out panels on a page. He’s also quite an accomplished painter. You can go to Splash Page Art to see Sean Phillip’s gallery of originals for sale.

sean phillips criminal Iss 10 Pg 25 Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Sean Phillips Batman Jekyll and Hyd Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

Bill Sienkiewicz has always been one of my absolute favourite artists. I treasure my copies of Elektra Assassin. I feel he’s the artist mainly responsible for bringing the look of organized chaos to mainstream comics. Melding the bold illustration styles of the 1980′s with Neal Adams, Ralph Steadman and probably a million other influences Bill knocked us on our asses with his wild drawings and layouts. From his more realistic subject portrayals in his commercial art projects to his “far-out” experiments in series like Stray Toasters he has never let us become bored with him.
It’s his collaborations with Alan Moore on Big Numbers and Brought to Light that really did it for me and showed what could done with the comics medium.

bill sienkiewicz bruce wayne gotham Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

bill sienkiwicz batman arkham Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

And finally I’ll leave you with a piece called Lafourcade II by an art collective known as Anville. This is a 16″ x 40″ ink on bristol drawing. The detail is staggering on it.

anville lafourcade ii Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

And of course need we mention…
Jason Shawn Alexander
jason shawn alexander dead irons 4 Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

and Danijel Zezelj
danijel zezelj king of nekropolis p Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

So what compels you to keep drawing?

Photography Credits:

Both photos at the top were used under a Creative Commons License.
The History of Tape Storage, photo by Pargon
Photo of man sketching by sashafatcat


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The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

March 17, 2009 By 169 Comments


LAST UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

Late in 2008 I was curious about which comic companies were still accepting submissions. In an act of pure masochism your friends at Optimum Wound visited the websites of every known comics publisher over the past two months. Back in 2004 Tom Spurgeon over at The Comics Reporter had posted an insanely useful resource page on getting published in comics. It’s still highly recommended reading. It’s been over four years and we wanted to see what had changed. To our surprise we found over 50 places that you could still send your writing and art samples.
We compiled this list from several issues of Diamond Previews and a couple of publisher directories.

A few points of order:
1. Be sure to click through the links and review each set of guidelines thoroughly to see if you should be sending samples there and if you’ve put your package together correctly. Some places accept emailed submissions while others are strictly by mail. I’ve attempted to provide a brief description for each company.

2. Due to the economic downturn some of the publishers below may stop accepting submissions and worse, close their doors for good. We’ll try to stay on top of it. ***Note: Marvel and several others have already stopped accepting open submissions.

3. I probably missed a number of publishers and will be happy to add them to the list if contacted.

4. Although a lot of major book publishers have thrown their hat into the graphic novel publishing game you would require an agent to even get reviewed. And here is an amazing list of Literary Agents Who Represent Graphic Novels.

5. Writers are going to have a tougher go of it as usual. The majority of companies out there are looking for artists but there are still a significant amount of them that will accept writing proposals.

6. I decided to break this down into several categories. The BIG 4 comic publishers, the independents (further broken down into 3 categories: arthouse, genre and misc.), manga publishers, book companies, adult category and finally magazines.

7. DO YOUR RESEARCH before deciding to submit to a publisher. Seek them out in Google, check out comic forums. Are they a reputable publishing house? Would your book or style fit in with their’s.

3345926546 5afbf7c73e o The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

big 4 comic publishers The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

THE BIG 4 COMIC PUBLISHERS

DARK HORSE still welcomes your submissions, and all submissions will still be reviewed. Dark Horse has one of the most detailed and elaborate submission processes out there. They mean business. You’ll need to download the Submission Agreement and make sure you send in a signed copy along with your other materials. Be sure to read through all of their submission pages as there’s an amazing amount of useful info on there.
Writers will need to send in a synopsis as well as the full script for a short story or the first 8 pages of a full-length series. Artists should send in 5-6 consecutive story pages. Same goes for inkers. Dark Horse will provide sample pages to ink if you send in a large 11″x17″ self-addressed stamped envelope.
Colorists need to send in 5 pages of sequential art. They want to see how you handle different types of storytelling. Letterers can submit at least 5 pages of story to show diversity of balloons and sound effects, as well as font choice. In addition, please show examples of italicized and bold text.

DC COMICS has an annual TALENT SEARCH? They only look at artists and you need to hit up either the New York Comicon or the San Diego Comicon. The DC TALENT SEARCH program is designed to offer aspiring artists the chance to present artwork samples directly to the DC Editors and Art Directors. The process is simple: during your convention visit, drop off photocopied samples of your work. If DC like what they see, a time is scheduled for you the following day to meet a DC editor personally to discuss your portfolio.

Sorry writers – no dice. At this time, DC Comics does not accept unsolicited writing submissions.

IMAGE COMICS only publishes creator-owned material! Only submit original material, not something utilizing existing Image characters. Image Comics accepts only PROPOSALS for new comic series or graphic novels, etc. For writers DO NOT SEND your script or your plot unaccompanied by art — it will be discarded, unread.
They DO ACCEPT inking, pencilling, lettering, or coloring samples. They’ll keep them on file if they’re interested for future consideration and may hook you up with other creators if and when the occasion presents itself. The books Image publishes are creator owned/creator generated properties and they DON’T PAY PAGE RATES. It will be up to you to strike a deal with whomever you end up working with. Image takes a small, flat fee off the books they publish and the rest goes to that comic book’s creative team. How that profit is split up is entirely up to the creators involved.
A PROPOSAL should contain A typed, ONE PAGE, synopsis of the ENTIRE series or story arc. Send photocopies of fully INKED and LETTERED pages (any size). AT LEAST five pages that are fully inked and lettered. Color is OPTIONAL. Include a cover mock-up.

MARVEL COMICS is still no longer looking at submissions.

Their original guidelines paraphrased as they were listed in early 2009 : Writers send an inquiry letter, detailing your writing experience and why you would like to write for Marvel. Based on your inquiry, they may ask you to submit a sample of your work.

Artists – If you have a website with your work on display, please send us a link to your website using the Marvel Art Submissions email address. Submit no more than 5 pages of sample artwork. If you submit by mail, send clean 8 1/2″x11″ photocopies of your sample pages.
3 or 4 pages of sequential action, 2 or 3 pages of character-driven storytelling and 1 page of cover art or iconic character poses.

For Inkers: Don’t send samples inked over your own pencils. Send copies of the original pencils along with your inks so they can see what you started with. Use samples done over several different pencilers. For Colorists: Don’t send samples colored over your own line art.

**UPDATE - Marvel has now posted the following on their submissions page:
Due to an unprecedented number of unsolicited art and writing submissions, Marvel has altered its open submissions policy effective immediately. Marvel has remained the only major publisher to continue accepting open submissions, however that practice has been halted as we review our strategies for accepting future submissions.

comic submissions guidelines 250x300 The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

comic company submission guidelines

indy arthouse comic publishers The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

Independents Part 1.) Arthouse & Literary Comic Publishers

ADHOUSE BOOKS is a small press outfit and are pretty selective in what they choose to publish. Your work would have to “feel” like an AdHouse book. Only submit finished or near (75%) complete work.

Blank Slate Books (WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS, SPARKY O’HARE) are always looking for new comics material. They’ll accept submissions by email or standard mail.

BLURRED BOOKS is seeking experimental, alternative and/or underground work by both emerging and established artists operating at the intersection of art and comics for the “online comics” area of its website, for its Blurred Vision series of printed anthologies, and for its annual Blurred Vision group show at the ArtLexis gallery in New York City. Submissions may be anywhere from one page to twenty-eight pages in length, and should not have been previously published (with the exception of self-publishing, which is fine). Submissions may be made via email, via an emailed link to an existing website where the work is displayed, or via photocopied submissions.

DRAWN & QUARTERLY (LOUIS RIEL A COMIC STRIP BIOGRAPHY, OPTIC NERVE), welcomes submissions for various publishing venues. The new talent forum (Drawn & Quarterly Showcase), the regular anthology (Drawn & Quarterly), and a seasonal selection of general graphic novels, comic books, and comic book series. They do not review scripts. They accept email samples and mail in submissions.

Fantagraphics Books (LUBA, LOVE AND ROCKETS, EIGHT BALL, BLACK HOLE, USAGI YOJIMBO) want to see an idea that is fully fleshed-out in your mind, at least, if not on paper. Please submit a minimum of five pages of completed art (high-quality reproductions only, please — no original art!) so that they can get an idea of what you deem a finished. Also include a synopsis of your storyline and, if a serial, a brief note stating approximately how many issues you have in mind.

Gestalt Publishing (#UPDATE: Gesalt is not actively seeking submissions at this time) is an independent publishing house in Australia with an eye for quality in content and production. They are are not actively seeking submissions at this time. HOWEVER if you would still like to send an unsolicited submission for their consideration, be sure to check out the books they’re publishing. If you honestly feel your work is of the same (or better) standard then feel free to submit.

INSOMNIA PRESS (BURKE AND HARE, CANCERTOWN) is a young UK indy publisher and we are currently accepting submissions from writers and artists – independently or as teams. They publish complete graphic novels and art portfolio books and all of their books are creator owned. For most of their books they put creative teams together. Their books are aimed at teen/mature readers and most have an 18+ age rating. With each book they look to publish something which is unusual, literate, challenging and thought provoking.

NBM (LITTLE NOTHINGS, NO PASARAN) is recognized as one the highest quality graphic novel publishing houses in America. We launch 1 to 2 new artists a year. They are interested in most everything from fantasy to humor, including erotica, mystery, general fiction. NO superheroes.
They like complete packages and do not match writers with artists. They have no need for illustrations alone including covers. They do need translators from French, Spanish and occasionally Italian and computer letterers
Send a one-page synopsis of your story. For the art, send copies of a few finished pages or pencils for the project or at least of previous work in the same style you plan on using. Don’t send a complete finished .

NEW RELIABLE PRESS (#UPDATE: As of  May 2010 New Reliable is not taking submissions) is a small press publisher based out of Vancouver, Canada. Submissions can be mailed in and they will look at works in progress as long as you send in a minimum of 10 completed pages.

SECRET ACRES is a cool little site that takes submissions and also distributes mini-comics.

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS takes on complete projects. Just send them a xerox copy of what you’d like them to look at. Don’t send image files to their email addresses. Also don’t they cannot accept scripts or plot synopses, unless they are accompanied by a minimum of 10-20 completed pages (i.e., fully inked and lettered comic book pages).

indy genre comic publishers The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

Independents Part 2.) Genre and Pop Comic Publishers

Unfortunately, AAM MARKOSIA (RITUAL, STARSHIP TROOPERS), is no longer accepting submissions without an invitation. However…if you are a colorist, letterer, penciler or inker…they have a number of talented creator-owner/writers who are always looking for a artist team to work with. If you don’t mind back end deals, try contacting one of the writers through their forums and maybe you can get together on something that way, which is one of the best ways to get published anyway.

ALTERNA COMICS INC. (JESUS HATES ZOMBIES) would like you to send 5 or more sequentially completed pages as well as a series/issue summary to Peter Simeti, Publisher. You retain 100% of your creative rights. They only acquire publishing rights in order to get your book out there. Creators receive back-end royalty pay for their works (no page rates) and the profit split is 60/40 with 60% going to the creative team.
Alterna Comics publishes black and white books with color covers. Alterna Comics carries all kinds of books and is welcome to every genre; big and small. They promote aggressively online and each creator promotes locally through signings, shows, and conventions. They’re looking for books that are original in story and art.

AMAZE INK/SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS (JOHNNY THE HOMICIDAL MANIAC, GLOOMCOOKIE) accepts unsolicited submissions by mail and email. They only review projects. They do not accept scripts without artwork, or art samples without a story. If you are only a writer or only an artist, you need to find someone to work with BEFORE submitting your project.

A.N.A. COMICS is continually seeking new talent and projects for their print and online endeavors. They’re always on the lookout for pencilers for their in-house comic book projects. And although we don’t hire as many inkers, colorists, or letterers as they do pencilers, they occasionally hire for those positions. All artistic styles are welcome. A.N.A. Comics books are a varied lot, so they’re not hooked on one style of art. For Pencils and inks you should send in at least 4 pages of sequential art;
AND THE WRITERS? Currently A.N.A. Comics is looking for creators that have Web-comics, or creator owned projects they would like to have help developing and put out under a united banner. That being said, we are not hiring writers who are not already attached to a creative team.

APE ENTERTAINMENT (SCARLET VERONICA. SISTA SAMURAI, WIND RAIDER) is constantly on the lookout for fresh new talents and projects. Ape Entertainment employs freelance talent from all over the world. They are always on the lookout for pencilers for their in-house comic book projects. They occasionally hire inkers and colorists. Ape’s primary interest is in creator-owned properties. We publish a number of properties that come to us from outside sources. They’re in the market for one-shot comics, mini-series, and graphic novels. All genres are considered, from “all-ages” to “mature readers” and all points in-between.
They’re NOT currently hiring writers who haven’t already assembled a creative team of their own.

APPROBATION COMICS (CHAOS CAMPUS SORORITY GIRLS VS ZOMBIES) are currently accepting submissions from talented Pencillers, Inkers, Colorists, Painters, and Letterers. Send 3 to 8 pages of sequential art. Submit samples showing your ability in one discipline only. If you’re selling yourself as a penciler don’t send inked and colored pages.

ARCANA STUDIO (GAUZE, GREATEST AMERICAN HERO) will accept FIVE-PAGE SUBMISSIONS FOR A COMICBOOK that you want to find a home for. They do not accept ‘pitches’ or scripts but only completed books that are professional looking.

ASPEN MLT INC (ASPEN SHOWCASE, FATHOM, SOULFIRE) is a small company and have very few openings for artists in the course of a year, but do not be discouraged. Keep submitting. They want to see your work. Send only hard copies (photocopies/print-outs) of your work. Links to websites/virtual portfolios are acceptable as well.
PENCILERS, inkers and colorists: Submit no less than 3 pages of consecutive sequential storytelling.
WRITERS: Aspen Comics does not accept unsolicited writing submissions, synopses, or scripts. Any unsolicited writing submission sent will not be read.

ATLANTIS STUDIOS (CRYSTAL WAR, TALES OF LARA CROFT) primary business is the creation of work-for-hire science fiction, fantasy, and action-adventure sequential art for a variety of clients such as publishers, film makers, video game developers, advertising agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.

AVATAR PRESS INC (CROSSED, ANNA MERCURY, DOKTOR SLEEPLESS, NO HERO, NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD) is a leading independent company which publishes a wide variety of comic books. Avatar is always looking for talented freelance artists, and often has a range of work in a wide variety of subjects and genres available. If you have a web page or online gallery of your work available, sending Avatar Press editor-in-chief William Christensen a link to that is a good place to start.
WRITERS  – Sorry Avatar is not generally seeking script-only submissions at this time.
Avatar Press is always looking for quality creator-owned projects. Much of what they publish is creator-owned. The ideal submission will include an overview of the story, a detailed plot synopsis, sample script pages, character designs, and sample art pages (panel to panel continuity).

BloodFire Studios is taking writing and art Submissions. Inkers do not ink over your own pencils. Have someone else pencil some pages for you or buy sample pencils from your local comic shop and ink over those. Make sure you include copies of the pencils with your package. Submission can be sent via email but ONLY AS HYPERLINKS.
Writing submissions should be submitted in a script format like a play or movie (novel and short story formats are usually passed over). BloodFire Studios is looking for new colorists.

CAMPFIRE (INVISIBLE MAN, MOBY DICK) began publishing in 2008, under the Campfire imprint, with the vision of creating graphic novels of the finest quality to entertain and educate readers. Graphic novels are published under four categories; Classics, Originals, Mythology and Biography. They have two basic competitions where writers can script a page and artists can illustrate a page.

Catastrophic Comics (The Greatest American Hero) are always open to great artists, inkers and colorists.

Cellar Door Publishing specializes in the publication of high-quality illustrated literature and graphic novels. They’re looking for all genres and age groups. They encourage creators to experiment with format and content, though it is not required. They accept a limited number of submissions for books without illustrations. This is generally reserved for books that are either unique in content or controversial in nature, or literary projects that can be released in a serialized format.

They currently accept unsolicited submissions via online submission form and comic book conventions only and NOT through traditional mail.

COMMITED COMICS (JACKRABBIT, JAVA!) is an independent comic book company who accept entries from pretty much every category including writers, pencilers, inkers and digital colorists and letterers.

CREATOR’S EDGE PRESS is continually seeking new INDEPENDENT talent and projects for their print projects. They’re always on the lookout for INDEPENDENT artists for our comic book projects. All artistic styles are welcome. CEP’s primary interest is in publishing stories from pre-assembled creative teams. They are definitely in the market for one-shot comics, mini-series, graphic novels and web comics. But are not looking to publish an ongoing series at this time. BUT WHAT ABOUT WRITERS? They are not hiring writers who are not already attached to a creative team.

D. E./DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT (DEATH DEFYING DEVIL, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA CYLON WAR, BOYS, RED SONJA, HIGHLANDER, LONE RANGER)
WRITERS: send an inquiry letter, detailing your writing experience and why you would like to write for Dynamite Entertainment. ARTISTS: Please submit no more than 5 pages of sample artwork. PENCILERS: Just send pencils. Do not send inked, colored or lettered pages. COLORISTS: Don’t send samples colored over your own line art. PAINTERS: If you are submitting samples of fully-painted (traditionally or digitally painted) cover work, keep in mind that Dynamite Entertainment covers tend toward iconic shots of single characters rather than groups of characters or storytelling elements.

Dare Comics does not accept unsolicited submissions. Always send an introductory email first and we will let you know if we’re interested in seeing your work. You can contact Dare at info@darepictures.net

DARK ELF DESIGNS accepts new story submissions on a creator / contract based payment system. Sean new artist submissions via E-Mail and add a link to where they can find your artwork somewhere on the web.  Or send hard copies. Dark Elf Designs publishes ONLY creator owned properties and do not hire paid freelancers at this time. They are also willing to look at writing proposals.

Digital Webbing is a huge community of creators, fans and publishers. This is a link to their collaborations section. And here’s the help wanted section.

DMC Comics Lld has been publishing the anthology NEW GROUND on a bi-monthly basis. They take submissions from New Zealanders only.

GEMSTONE PUBLISHING’S (UNCLE SCROOGE, WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES) requirements are character-specific, so confine submissions to material relating to Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Uncle Scrooge, and their supporting casts.

IDW Publishing will accept submissions from pencilers, inkers, colorists, painters and digital artists. No dice for either writers or letterers.

Pencilers send in a variety of work but especially show that you can handle sequential storytelling. Inkers should send in samples of at least 5 inked pages with accompanying copies of the penciled pages they were inked from. Colorists send good clean scans or printouts from a good quality printer. Same goes for painters and digital artists.

Moonface Press (click “About Us”) takes artist submissions. NO PAY. Send some photocopied samples of your work to the address on the ‘Contact Us’ page, at least two pages of which should be fully-inked sequential comic art pages.

NETCOMICS (100 PERCENT PERFECT GIRL, ADVENTURES OF YOUNG DET) will take work from aspiring creators. If the editors think that your work is at least worth a try, they will publish your work on their web site as online content. If responses from users and reviewers prove to be good, they can publish your work as printed book and have it published in overseas.

Nifty Comics is taking submissions. Page rate for finished artwork is $15/page. They pay half of the total art fee once half the artwork has been turned in and the remainder upon delivery of final art. All work is work for hire. Writing proposals should be no longer than five pages. Pencilers, Inkers, Letterers, & Colorists can send photocopies of original illustrations.

Orang Utan Comics Studio is currently recruiting writers by invitation only. Orang Utan Comics is currently looking for pencillers, inkers and colourists for their various projects, and their Studio.

Papercutz is looking for artists versed in the manga style as well other comics styles good for kids! If you are ready for prime time and to become a star on one of our properties, send us a couple pages either as 72 dpi jpegs or mail hard copies. To a lesser degree they’re looking for for inkers, colorists, letterers and scriptwriters.

Penny-Farthing Press accepts writing submissions. Pencillers are to provide 3 to 5 consecutive penciled pages showing your story telling skills and versatility. Inkers can submit at least 3 to 5 samples showing interior page work and any other work that shows your ability. Include copies of the pencils with your samples.

RED HANDED STUDIOS publishes a very small number of comics. They ARE looking for talented creators who can meet deadlines and would like the chance to play their characters. THEY DO NOT ACCEPT unsolicited writing (that is plots, scripts, whatever) samples! This means if you’re a writer and you want to take a shot at writing for Red Handed Studios, you need more information. THEY DO ACCEPT inking, pencilling, lettering, or coloring samples. Send in 4-7 sequential pages to help them decide. If you’re an inker, make sure they know that and send in the pencils you inked as well.

REBELLION (2000 AD, JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE)

Writers – Send ONE short Future Shock plot outline (no more than a page), along with a full script or published story to show you understand comic book format. Do not send in proposals for new series unless you are an established professional. New writers begin by submitting Future Shocks – five-page science-fiction stories with a twist ending.

Artists – send COPIES of your work. Pencillers should submit 4-6 COMIC BOOK PAGES in order, showing the progression of a 2000 AD-style story through a series of pictures. Don’t send pinups and paintings. Inkers should submit photocopies of both your inks and the pencils you have inked, so that we can compare the two. Colourists should submit 4-6 pages of fully coloured comic-art on CD or Zip disk. All 2000 AD colouring is now done on computer using Adobe Photoshop, except for fully painted art.

RED 5 COMICS (Atomic Robo, Neozoic, Zombies of Mass Destruction) is a new publisher of both in-house and creator-owned comics. They’re looking for talented freelance pencillers, inkers, colorists and letterers. Submissions should include at least five (5) pages of your best sequential storytelling art, not just sketches or pin-ups. Initially, they want to see your work online.

ROUGH CUT COMICS go to “CONTACT”(Rose Black and Society) accepts inquiries from artists, but be warned they’ll tell you what they think.

SCAR COMICS (Madam Samurai) are working hard to bring exciting creator owned comics  and high quality publications to a readership that demands the best. They are always on the look out for original stories from talented creators, who wish to get their own book published. They pay for the printing and marketing of the book. You provide a completed graphic novel and they can help with design if this is not to your strength. Once the book is published, and the costs incurred by Scar Comics are made back through sales, they split all profits with the creator/s 50/50.

SEPTAGON STUDIOS (Scorn, Masks) are always looking for quality creator-owned projects from all genres; however, they are not interested in the classic or typical superhero genre at the moment. They strongly recommend having a creative team (writer and artist) already assembled.

SHADOWLINE COMICS is Jim Valentino’s division of Image Comics. Don’t submit projects that have already been submitted to Image Central. They prefer 3 to 4-issue mini-series. 1-Shots or OGNs will also be considered. They want books that are DIFFERENT from what they are already publishing.  Send in 5 fully completed pages, and a cover.  Include a one-paragraph synopsis of what your story is about.

STUDIO 407 is accepting submissions for original, completed comic or graphic novel projects. They are only considering completed projects. All genres are welcome except. Final artwork must be press quality and able to be printed on standard comic book size/format. You can send your book in .pdf format.

Time Bomb Comics publish a wide variety of comics from a wide variety of genres – science-fiction, thriller, mystery, romance, horror, superhero, adventure – and they want to build up a team of committed writers and artists to help achieve that. Writers send in a fully scripted 5-page story.
Artists send in 5 pages of sequential artwork.

Transfuzion Publishing publishes primarily graphic novels and anthologies. No periodical comics. For the graphic novels, they are looking for collections of previously published material or original graphic novel material. The material must be presented as “ready to print”. For the anthologies, they are seeking only completed stories. All books are owned by the creators.

TUMBLE CREEK PRESS are looking for pencillers who also ink their own work, penciller/Inker teams and inkers, letterers, and colorists. Sorry writers, no dice.

ULTIMATE COMICS GROUP accepts artist, inking, colorist and cover/pinup submissions. Five or six consecutive story pages is adequate. Colorists need only send in three.

VISIONARY COMICS is now only looking for finished books, meaning a complete stand-alone one-shot, graphic novel, or mini-series that is essentially ready for publication. Visionary still will provide editorial guidance on making changes to the book however, we want to see a team effort to get the book done before we will get involved.

WARPTON COMICS (MESSIAH, REVENANTS) has been publishing comics since 2000. They accept  proposals from writers and submissions from artists.

WILD WOLF ENTERTAINMENT (click on “Submission Guidelines”) are currently accepting submissions for all Comic Book Genres but must be over 40 pages in length. Include a Short Synosis of the overall plot , at least 5 finished pages (both Penciled & Inked ) You will retain ownership of you plot and art submissions.

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC is currently accepting artwork submissions. Pencilers mail 3-10 COPIED pages of artwork (no originals). Inkers mail 3-10 inked pages (no originals) along with copies of the pencils you have chosen to ink. Colorists mail color copies (no originals) of 3-10 colored pages. These pages should not be lettered. Letterers mail copies (no originals) of 3-5 lettered pages.

indy anthology comic publishers The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

Independents Part 3.) Anthologies, Studios and Related Sites
ASYLUM PRESS (scroll down on the left until reaching “SUBMISSIONS”) IS LOOKING ARTISTS for their annual horror anthology THE ASYLUM OF HORRORS. If you draw in the style of Berni Wrightson, Tim Vigil, Kyle Hotz, Kelly Jones, Mike Mignola or have a dark and moody style please send small jpg samples. See page for specifications. If you have a website of sequential art samples send them the link. Jobs are for two to ten page horror stories that must be penciled, inked and lettered (using a digital comic book font). Completed pages will need to be delivered on disc as 300 dpi PSD (Photoshop) files.

Imperium Comics are currently accepting submissions for Trailer Park Of Terror. Writers send in full scripts of 5-8 page self-contained horror stories. Pencillers, Inkers, and Colorists: submit at least 3 pages of sequential art.

KRAZYBOV COMICS is an anthology looking for completed black and white strips of any genre and any length, be it three panels or four hundred pages. The comic has a very international flavour with contributors from Europe, South America and Indonesia. Stories are welcome from every continent but must be in English. Don’t be shy, send it in. A downloadable template is available on the submissions page. Completed strips to be delivered by email. The comic is freely distributed in London with adverts to cover the printing costs. Contributors receive a copy of the book.

Ronin Studios is not a publisher but in fact a non-profit independent publishing label. Their regular titles are creator owned and operated. Please include a brief synopsis of the book and sample script, pages and concept art. They also have an anthologies section.

manga publishers The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

MANGA PUBLISHERS

ANTARCTIC PRESS (GOLD DIGGER, LAND OF OZ, NINJA HIGH SCHOOL) prefer you to be an artist versed in penciling, inking, and writing. As publishers, they prefer creators who can do it all. If you can’t ink your own work, but they like your pencils they’ll team you up with an inker but the royalty will now be spread between you and the inker. The same deal applies if you work with a writer. If you can do it all, then it’s better for you and for them.
Submit ONE COMPLETE ISSUE (22-30 pages) of rendered (penciled, inked) SEQUENTIAL art. They tend to prefer a MANGA / ANIME style but will review your work regardless.
For writers submit 1- to 4-page typed STORY SYNOPSIS and/or TREATMENTS.

DEL REY MANGA (#Update – it appears that Del Rey is no longer looking at submissions) (AIR GEAR, ALIVE, FAIRY TAIL, GACHA GACHA NEXT REVOLUTION, PAPILLON, PRINCESS RESURRECTION), are always looking for new creative talent, so they accept and review unsolicited submissions from writers and artists. They will review either proposals for original, manga-style graphic novels or portfolios of artists who are proficient at drawing in the manga style.
If you’re a writer, try to attach an artist to your project. If you’re an artist, send in samples. Del Ray is looking for artists who are capable of executing a book-length, manga-style narrative. Show them some manga pages!
TRANSLATORS: All translation at Del Rey Manga is handled on a freelance, out-of-house basis; They hire both literal translators and adapters, as well as translators who are capable of adapting their own work.

ITCH PUBLISHING is based in the UK, and is focused on the local manga scene. They’re happy to consider submissions from outside the UK though, especially if they’re good. They can’t pay you a lot of money, but they’ll can get you a great looking book.

KITTY PRESS MAKA MAKA says that people are free to send submissions at anytime. They are not actively taking submissions for inclusion in the Kitty Universe, but may in the near future. They keep all submissions on file in case they start to hire at a later date. Accepting submissions from writers, pencillers, inkers, and colorist, or combinations of these.

LIME MEDIA (HAWAII STAR MANGA PROJECT) is looking for new, original comic/manga stories for publication. They welcome all comic creators, especially Hawaii’s artists (and former Hawaii residents) to submit story proposals for consideration. They respect Creator’s rights, and use only CREATOR OWNED properties. They are currently accepting proposals for comic projects, illustrated fiction, and non fiction such as convention coverage or manga/comic/game and other product reviews.

P2 Manga LLC is a small Manga company started up in July, 2008. If your’e submitting an artist package, they are looking for 10-20 completed pages both inked and toned.

SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT LLC is always looking for talented Manga artists for future projects, so if you are an artist 18 years of age or older send them a link to your portfolio. WRITERS – NO DICE – For legal reasons, Seven Seas Entertainment will not accept any unsolicited series proposals and/or manuscripts.

TOKYOPOP (*UPDATE – TOKYOPOP is NOT accepting submissions at this time.) is looking for creators who can deliver tight, punchy, well-paced Pilots that entertain and introduce a new property. A Manga Pilot may be the first chapter of a planned graphic novel, or a self-contained side introducing the property. Download the Submissions Release Agreement. All submissions should be sent via mail or courier. They have one of the most elaborate submissions policies so be sure to review all of it.
WORK-FOR-HIRE PENCILLERS, INKERS AND TONERS go HERE. And they also have a helpful page for MECHANICAL SPECIFICATIONS GUIDELINES.

VIZ Media’s Original Publishing Department welcomes professional pitches for original comics submissions. Don’t submit anything based on any of their titles. Only submit high-quality photocopies or discs with digital files Download a Submission Release and mail your work and the signed Submission Release in.

indy distributors The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

INDY DISTRIBUTORS AND MICRO PRESSES

Bodega Distribution (*UPDATE - While they get things in order, they’ve decided to take down the shop for a bit.) is a comics and minicomics distributor. It is run by Randy Chang who used to handle the mailorder for Highwater Books. When Highwater shut down at the end of 2004, Randy decided to take over the remaining stock and create his own comics distro.
Bodega Distribution will accept submissions for minicomics or books for distribution.
They also distribute to retail outlets.

MICROCOSM PUBLISHING (SNAKEPIT) is not so much a publisher but more of a micro-press distributor. Microcosm is a place that may be interested in distributing your mini-comics. But be warned they reject 90-95% of what is submitted to them.

adult comic publishers The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

ADULT (18 Years and up) PUBLISHERS

CLASS COMICS INC (RAPTURE) is always looking for quality creator-owned projects. Their goal is to broaden the line of Class Comics titles to include works by other creators. Your project should feature a strong Gay overtone, but does not necessarily have to be adult-rated.
COLORISTS send samples of your work via email and please make certain that the files are at least 1200 Pixels wide by 1800 pixels high at 100 dpi. ARTISTS If you have a web page or online gallery of your work available, sending a link to that is generally a good place to start.
INKERS Class Comics is currently looking for inkers with a smooth style, and with the ability to follow a penciler’s line, while being able to make technical and critical decisions.

EUROTICA/AMEROTICA (FIRST TIME, SHADOW & LIGHT, SPIDER GARDEN) has the same policies as NBM.
Eurotica is recognized as one the highest quality graphic novel publishing houses in America. They launch 1 to 2 new artists a year. They like complete packages and do not match writers with artists. They have no need for illustrations alone including covers. They do need translators from French, Spanish and occasionally Italian and computer letterers
Send a one-page synopsis of your story. For the art, send copies of a few finished pages or pencils for the project or at least of previous work in the same style you plan on using. Don’t send a complete finished .

LAST GASP (BARFOOT GEN, SWEET WISHES), specializes in unusual and extraordinary high-quality books in the fields of pop culture; pop surrealism & lowbrow art; comics & graphic novels; erotica; photography; and poetry & literary fiction.
Last Gasp does not generally accept or publish unsolicited submissions. However, if you would like to send a proposal read their guidelines. Writers send a proposal, including outline, introduction, illustrations list, sample captions, and text/sample chapters Artists send duplicates of sample illustrations or photographs.

RADIO COMIX (*UPDATE – Submission Guidelines appear temporarily taken down) (FURRLOUGH, GENUS MALE) only accepts proposals from complete creative teams. We do not assign writers to artists, or vice-versa. All stories are fully creator-owned. They don’t publish any color comics. Radio Comix publishes anthropomorphic, independent, and adults-only projects in all genres (except superheroes). They prefer creators to submit stories for our anthologies before publishing stand-alone series.

WHITE LIGHTNING PRODUCTIONS will only consider *COMPLETED* artwork for comic or webcomic publication. They do NOT accept sample pencils or uncompleted pages. Blind submissions for comic publication should have the first thirty pages completed for graphic novel publication, the first ten pages completed for webcomic publication, or the entire short story completed for anthology publication.

YAOI PRESS LLC (*UPDATE – SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED) seeks to publish yaoi manga graphic novels and art books of the highest caliber. Yaoi Press books are printed from left to right. Most books published by Yaoi Press are designated ‘Mature Readers’ meaning they must be appropriate for readers aged 16 and older. They seek to publish more ‘Adult Only’ books in the future and are no longer seeking ‘Young Adult’ projects.
They are seeking artists for their Adults Only and Mature Readers art books. Artists – In addition to demonstrating solid manga-style sequential art skills, artists must be able to draw beautiful men.
Writers – Queries are open. Please query info(at)yaoipress.com with a short synopsis of your project before submitting a full proposal.

book publishers The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

BOOK PUBLISHERS

Arthur A. Levine Books won’t accept unsolicited manuscripts for novels but they will look at picture books, the first two chapters of a novel and illustration samples. They look for strong writing, beautiful artwork, authentic emotion, and ideas or perspectives not seen before, and they enjoy working with debut authors and illustrators.

Sterling Publishing is a book publisher. Write a proposal explaingin your idea. Enclose an outline and a sample chapter of the proposed book along with sample illustrations where applicable. For Children’s books, please submit full manuscripts. No e-mail submissions.

TITAN PUBLISHING takes submissions under a number of different categories.
NON-FICTION ART & COMICS REFERENCE: They are looking for strong proposals for these titles, preferably creator or character-led. They prefer writers who have a proven track record in this area, and good contacts in the art & comics world. They also have a number of licensed publications already contracted.
COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS: The majority of their graphic novel titles are licensed from overseas publishers or acquired through agents but do publish a growing number of originated graphic novels. You can send initially a brief synopsis and covering letter only, not a full manuscript.

VEI Press accepts both manuscripts and art samples. If you have a manuscript and/or a set of art that you believe would fit with their portfolio, then contact them. They pledge to back to you quickly with thier decision to either pursue the project or not.

Verso is a book publisher that will look at your submissions. They’re looking for maximum 10 page proposals and not complete manuscripts.

comic magazines The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

MAGAZINES

HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE will look at artwork. The majority of their featured stories are reserved years in advance for established European artists. They are mainly looking for short stories between two to eight pages. They’ll look at any Heavy Metal-esque ideas you have, but short stories have the best chance to get in and be placed quicker.

TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING (Write Now!, Back Issue, Alter Ego, Rough Stuff & The Jack Kirby Collector) is a magazine publisher that could be a really could place for a writer with passion and knowledge of the comic industry to cut their teeth.
If you have an idea for a book you’d like TwoMorrows to consider publishing, e-mail publisher John Morrow. They request you send a 1000 word (or less) proposal, including a detailed description and highlights of the project, who you see as the main audience for it, and a breakdown of the chapters of the book.
For details on submitting art and articles for their magazines, contact each of their editors directly for the submission requirements.

comic and cartoon syndicates The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

COMIC AND CARTOON SYNDICATES

CREATOR’S SYNDICATE distributes a great variety of continuing features, such as comic strips and panels, columns and political cartoons, and are constantly on the lookout for quality features. If you have a cartoon or comic strip you would like them to consider, they will need to see at least four (4) weeks of samples, but not more than six (6) weeks of dailies and two Sundays. As a general rule, drawings are most easily reproduced if clearly drawn in black ink on white paper, with shading executed in ink wash or Benday® or other dot-transfer.

KING FEATURES SYNDICATE is always happy to look at new comic features for possible syndication. Send 24 black and white daily comic strips. It is not necessary to send Sunday comic strips. If they like your daily comics, they will ask to see sample Sunday pages. You should reduce your comics to fit onto standard 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper.

TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES accepts submissions for comics and editorial cartoons however, they accept extremely few and generally only from already established creators.

UNITED MEDIA are always interested in new comic ideas. They would like to see 18-24 PDF samples of your work, both black-and-white and color, so that they can judge its consistency. Six strips to a page for dailies is ideal. As a syndicated cartoonist, you’ll be expected to file electronically, so this is good practice! For all types of submissions please include a short note about yourself and your work.

UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE is always looking for great new comic strips. They prefer four to six weeks of samples of a proposed feature so that they can judge the quality and consistency of your work. As long as the material is clear and easy to read, it may be submitted in any form.

THE WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP accepts comic strip / panel and editorial cartoon submissions. Send at least 24 cartoons. Use letter-sized paper for your submission.

and finally Optimum Wound does not accept submission because we’re jerks…and overworked.


tweet it button The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

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Hart Fisher Talks about Jeffrey Dahmer and the media circus

February 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The infamous Jeffrey Dahmer comic probably got Hart a million dollars worth of publicity judging from all of the coverage and the lawsuits that resulted. This week he recounts how he dealt with all of the media attention along with the stress that must have resulted from the court cases.
By Hart Fisher

Hart on Larry King

Hart: For most people I’m sure the weight of the press, the condemnation, the stress of the lawsuits, sure, I think it would have crushed most people. But they’re not me and what you think of as being stressful… you don’t know the half of it. Play that old Who song “Behind Blue Eyes” and that’s exactly what it was like during the storm. I was living in Champaign Illinois. This was a small college town. People saw me on the news all the time. I had death threats all the time. Written and phoned in. I had a woman stalker who was threatening to have her biker friends kidnap me and a gay stalker that lived in town. He started stalking me after meeting me at a goth club called “C Street”. He used to tell me it would be a shame for my pretty face to get uglied up like his. I’d grunt, laugh, tell’em “Yep, sure would be a shame.”
Dahmer comic Hart Fisher Talks about Jeffrey Dahmer and the media circus

There was the copy shop I did all my fliers and promo stuff at that stopped doing business with “my type of person.” There was the the protest march where the police came to my house and told me to leave town for the weekend. My landlord echoed those sentiments, but these colors don’t run. There was the time in 1993 right before shooting The Garbage Man, I was in Los Angeles for a big Fangoria convention. While I was gone, the news outlets in town were all broadcasting that I was out of town. Gee, wasn’t long before someone robbed my house. A camera crew from CBS came to my house and found the front door kicked in and all of my stuff gone, like, all of it. Six months before that a bunch of Junkies robbed my house.

When I did talk shows, I was the villain. When I did my first talk show appearance, it was stunning the level of hate directed at me by total strangers when I walked out on that stage. I was 23 years old when the press came gunning for me over the Dahmer book. I was naive. I learned so much about the manipulation of truth by the mass media, or news as commodity. I got my clock cleaned the first six months of it. I was getting killed on Entertainment Tonight. At first I thought it was fun. The camera crew would come out, shoot at my house, or I would do the interviews at my father’s house. It was a brutal learning experience. They would ask me questions, and then re edit my answers. They would match up the answer to one question with another.

Hart Fisher on DAYONE

That did not occur to me and it was embarrassing the first couple of hatchet jobs. I went to my father when it first hit and I had an appearance on A Closer Look With Faith Daniels. That was the last time I ever asked him for advice on dealing with the media. I went on the show with my hair slicked back, wearing a fucking suit… it was horrible. I thought doing the talk show format would be better because they couldn’t re edit my responses. I was never paid to appear on ANY of the shows I did. They brought me on the shows to be the villain. That was my role. But I saw these talk show exchanges as verbal combat and I prepared myself accordingly.

At this point in my life, I had been training in Tae Kwan Doe for four years and took that training to the shows. After the Faith Daniels debacle I sat down with the sharpest guys I knew and we sat in a room and picked apart my appearance. We watched the show a couple times and brutalized myself. Then we formulated a plan on how to manipulate them all to do what we wanted. The protest march on my house? We baited them into doing it on the Sally Jesse Raphael show. We plotted all of their tired arguments that held no water and just shot the shit out of them. I turned the audience around so much on my Jerry Springer appearance that they turned the volume down on the audience applause to my answers when they aired it.

When my girlfriend, Michelle, was murdered during shooting of The Garbage Man… that was what fucked me up. I was handling all of the press, best I could. To me, it was just another fight in the ring in a lifetime of fighting. That’s all it was to me. But when Michelle was murdered, the wheels came off and I went nuts. I was a functioning maniac. LIterally. I drank myself to sleep every night and fell apart. I gave my guns away to my friends because I couldn’t trust myself around them. I went insane and the press pushed it further. In Champaign, this whole thing was a rating bonanza. Michelle was raped and murdered at the Charter House Inn by a 20 year old Black Male named Eric Daniels. My horror film was about a black serial killer obessed with killing white women. Strange, right? The media loved it and the news got ugly.
garbage man banner Hart Fisher Talks about Jeffrey Dahmer and the media circus

And I have been a take no shit kind of guy my whole life. I don’t back down unless it’s stupid to fight. Now I was an enraged, hurting, highly aggressive anger sorrow machine. Now if the media fucked with me, I bumped dicks right back. I stormed into the studio’s of the local CBS affiliate and threatened to maim the news director if he didn’t make some changes in his coverage. That earned me a stop over from the police. They talked to me, said there were plenty of people who wished they could kill the news director. I laughed about that and told them I never threatened to kill the guy, I threatened to have him maimed. I told them he didn’t anger me enough to kill him. They really didn’t know how to take that, but that cocksucker changed his news broadcast so her mother would not have to see what they were broadcasting again.

After 1993, things get blurry and really, really ugly. I sought out good times, good laughs, good people, and raised as much hell as I could. I was angry, so goddamn angry. I still am. And it didn’t end. I went through 3 different murder trials trying to keep that piece of shit off the street. This is what made me crazy. Forget about the stress of news coverage. I could write a fucking novel and you still wouldn’t quite know the weight of it all. From 1993 to 1994, crazy, crazy, crazy.

Still with us? There’ll be more next week. It’s just as crazy.
In the meantime you can find out more about Hart on his MySpace page, his company page,
Crime Pays Inc., his comic company Boneyard Press and his You Tube Channel

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Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

November 6, 2008 By 3 Comments

Masters of Ink Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink
By Jason Thibault

I originally intended to have Becky Cloonan included within the first set of Masters of Ink interviews but it was bad timing do to the onset of summer vacation and convention season. We chased her down again and landed 12 answers with Miss Cloonan. I’m a latecomer to her work. I’ve always admired it from afar but it wasn’t until earlier this year that I had my comic dealer hunt down a copy of Demo Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink for me. It was worth the wait.

Whether she’s working on an album cover, illustration, mini-comic or graphic novel, her raw talent in pen and ink rendering shines through. On to the interview now.

Becky Cloonan portrait Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

First professional work (piece / year) and maybe a quick story behind it.

The first book that I worked on which was professionally published was Jennie One, written by Brian Wood and published by AIT/Planet Lar. Following that was DEMO, also written by Brian and published by AIT, which was a 12 issue series of one shot stories about people with super powers, but told in a way totally unlike a superhero comic. It was really well received, and Vertigo just recently published a collection of the original 12 issues. Brian and I are currently working on six new issues with Vertigo, in the same format as the original.

Becky Cloonan bury your treasure Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

Self-taught or formally educated? (or mixture of both, mentors etc…)

I went to school for animation at SVA, and left after three years to draw comic books. I think that a formal education is important for a good foundation, and life drawing classes are critical, but most of my breakthroughs as an artist have been due to pushing myself harder. There’s a lot of artists that I look up to, and I’m happy to be friends with some amazingly talented people. We’re all constantly raising the bar for each other.

Tools of the trade: Taking a quick glance over at your pens, brushes etc, what tools have you mainly been using over the last few years?

I use mostly a brush, when I’m at home I use a Winsor & Newton series 7 (size 2) brush and Winsor & Newton India ink. While I’m traveling I use a Pentel brush pen, which is refillable so I don’t have to bring ink along. Sometimes I’ll use a G Pen, too. I really like using Borden and Riley paper for Pen and Ink, it’s very smooth, and thin enough so that I can transfer my sketches without any problems. I also love Mono erasers.

Becky Cloonan population reduction Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

Favorite brand of ink:

I use Winsor & Newton India ink, or Yasutomo liquid sumi ink.

Type of paper:

For ink work I like really smooth paper, first because my pencils are really sloppy so rougher paper makes my pencils even more smudgy. When I paint though (sometimes I watercolor) I like paper with more tooth.

Which artists or creators do you return to for a quick boost of inspiration? Who are the masters of ink?

Becky Cloonan promo Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

If I have to choose three (because if not I’ll go on forever!) my favorite artists are Joseph Clement Coll, Franklin Booth and Hokusai. My favorite cartoonists are Guy Davis, Kaoru Mori and Tim Sale. Actually, for inspiration I make a conscious effort to look beyond the art books I have, and I’ll go to a museum or watch a film or go to the opera or something. I find looking at art for inspiration usually leads me to frustration, so I try to look outside of my medium for that.

Once a client has handed off an illustration job to you, how do you first tackle the job. Could you provide us with a quick overview of your process?

If I’m working for a company I make sure to get a contract and establish my rate up front, and detail any extra expenses (rush job, corrections, etc). Then I’ll do a few thumbnails and show the client. They’ll pick one or make suggestions and I’ll jump into pencils. Same thing, I show them the pencils and they give me edits or an OK. Then I’ll go into inks and colors, showing the client every step. When they approve it, I’ll send them the high resolution file and an invoice, and they’ll get my check in the mail! icon biggrin Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

Becky Cloonan population reduction Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

What’s currently sitting in your mp3 / CD player / turntable?

I usually just make enormous playlists and put them on shuffle, but for brevity’s sake today I’ve listened to Wolfsheim’s Casting Shadows, Clutch’s Robot Hive Exodus and Blind Guardian’s Nightfall in Middle-Earth. I’m also listening to the Twilight audio books which is like a total guilty pleasure that I love and hate at the same time. I’m very conflicted.

What’s hanging on your walls and what is your favorite piece of art that you own (not created by you)?

I don’t like hanging up my own art, I think I only have one silk screen of mine hanging that some of my friends signed. I dunno, I have so much cool art that it’s hard to pick! I have two German folio pages from the 1920′s by German artist Ferdinand Von Reznicek, a beautiful silk screen by Tim Sale and 4 Age of Reptiles lithographs by Ricardo Delgado. I’m a sucker for nice frames too, so I make sure to frame all the pieces I get. I also have a really cool stencil by Corey McAbee for his movie The American Astronaut. I also have a first edition printing of H.P. Lovecraft’s Supernatural Horror in Literature, and a few other interesting artifacts lying around. I really like antiques, and I try to pick up nick knacks from places I travel to so I’ve got almost a mini museum in my living room.

Becky Cloonan krycek Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

Last novel you read and last movie that you saw (that you’d recommend)?

The last book I read was “The Devil in the White City Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink“, which was amazing. I love history and historic fiction, this was about the building of the World’s Fair in Chicago and the rise of H.H. Holmes. The last movie I saw was a screening of the The Shining Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink, which was, as always, scary as fuck. I’ve actually been having a lot of fun doing horror comics lately, but knowing that I’ll never make a comic as scary as the Shining is like setting myself up for failure from the beginning. Still though, horror has been a fun genre for me to play around in, which is ironic because I’m a total cover-my-eyes wuss when it comes to scary movies.

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Current and upcoming projects.

I just finished an 8 page short for Dark Horse Presents called “I see the Devil in my sleep”. I’m currently working on new Demo issues with Brian wood for Vertigo, and I’m doing a few other short projects on the side as well. My graphic novel East Coast Rising volume 2 won’t be printed through Tokyopop, so I’m working with them to find a way to finally print it, so I’m hoping that happens.

Becky Cloonan PIXU Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

What would you tell an aspiring artist who is working his ass off but still needs and wants to break through to the next level?

Keep working your ass off! But also don’t forget to have fun- comics is a business that if you stop having fun you’ll end up killing yourself.
For more info on Becky head on over to:
http://www.estrigious.com (my website)
http://inkandthunder.blogspot.com (my blog)
To read the first 12 Masters of Ink interviews head on over to the Jacen Burrows piece.

Becky Cloonan DEMO 11 cover Becky Cloonan answers 12 questions about pen and ink

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Masters of Ink 13 – Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink

October 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Masters of Ink Masters of Ink 13 Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink
By Jason Thibault

After going through Ming Doyle’s Live Journal page it occurred to me that she probably manages to create more artwork in between her pro assignments than I’ve pulled off all combined. Her passion is infectious and she’s a rising star in the new generation of illustrators. Her work is the perfect mesh of polished sheen colliding with raw textured inky badassery. The pieces leave her hands looking like timeless classics. At first glance I couldn’t tell what era they were created in.

Ming Doyle portrait Masters of Ink 13 Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink

First professional work (piece / year) and maybe a quick story behind it.

I was immensely lucky in that my first professional work in both comics and illustration basically fell into my lap. It was the winter of ’06, I’d just graduated from college a semester early and was pondering how to start a feasible career in art. After a lot of intense introspection I realized I hadn’t the faintest idea, so I decided to put off any kind of meaningful decision and sit at home drawing superhero fan art all day for Dean Trippe’s costume redesign site, Project: Rooftop (http://www.tencentticker.com/projectrooftop/).

A month or so later I got an e-mail from a very talented and generous guy named Tim Daniel who wondered if I’d be interested in doing the art for a short story of his called “Loner” in the second volume of Popgun, a variety anthology published by Image. Since I’d drawn about as many pictures of Batman and Wonder Woman as I wanted to for that year I said yes, and I’ve since done several other pieces for Image as well as BOOM! Studios and various indie trades.

I’ve also gotten a lot of editorial illustration work as a result of my exposure from Project: Rooftop, the first, best, and bulk of it from Benjamen Purvis, an amazing art director who at the time was working for the Las Vegas Weekly.

Ming Doyle 50things bombsaway01 Masters of Ink 13 Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink

Self-taught or formally educated? (or mixture of both, mentors etc…)

I earned my BFA with a dual concentration in painting and drawing from Cornell University and I definitely benefited from the life drawing courses there, but it’s my friends and colleagues who’ve inspired me to stick with art. My good pals pop culture artist Brandon Bird, comics hero Dean Trippe and master illustrator Daniel Krall along with many others have taught me a lot through their tenacity and drive. Having friends in the same field can be especially invaluable when you’re living the fairly isolated life of a freelancer.

Tools of the trade: Taking a quick glance over at your pens, brushes etc…what tools have you mainly been using over the last few years?

Speedball’s “Sketching” and “Mapping” pen and nib sets, Royal Taklon’s variety brush packs, mechanical pencils and countless Wite-Out pens. I’ll use the occasional Micron for tighter work on facial features, but I don’t like to rely too much on them. I think a lot of times they can kill the kineticism and energy of a piece.

Ming Doyle batmanmoments Masters of Ink 13 Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink

Favorite brand of ink:

Any kind of India ink will do, but I’ve found that Higgins Calligraphy Ink Black Waterproof has a really nice smooth consistency.

Type of paper:

Strathmore’s smooth finish Bristol board for commissions and their sketch paper for everything else. I like the tooth on a lot of cheaper drawing pads.

Ming Doyle lightsout06 bw Masters of Ink 13 Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink

Which artists or creators do you return to for a quick boost of inspiration? Who are the masters of ink?

I admire Jason Shawn Alexander, Dustin Nguyen and Sean Gordon Murphy for their fluent, expressive line work and Jae Lee, Leinil Francis Yu and Hyung Min-woo for their deft precision. And I’m crazy for Mike Mignola, but who isn’t? Whenever I’m feeling really stuck though I like to go back and look at Aubrey Beardsley, Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. You can’t lose with those guys.

Once a client has handed off an illustration job to you, how do you first tackle the job. Could you provide us with a quick overview of your process?

Because a lot of my illustration work has a really fast turnaround, sometimes of only a couple days, I can’t always run sketches by the editor or art director. I’ll do a rough pencil layout at full-size and put the final inks right onto that with no in between stage, then just scan the line art and color it in Photoshop.

Comics have a bit more of a grace period to them, silly as that may sound considering their often cramped deadlines. Still, I’ll at least turn in a rough version of the fully thumbnailed script drawn straight into Photoshop so I can cleanly and easily implement any edits, then I’ll print out the approved layouts and light box the final inks over those. It’s either a strength or a weakness depending on how you look at it, but I’m really not much for refined pencils.

Ming Doyle aquaman Masters of Ink 13 Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink

What’s currently sitting in your mp3 / CD player / turntable?

Frank Black in all his incarnations is always front and center along with Andrew Bird, Robert Johnson, Led Zeppelin, Madrugada and Shiina Ringo. And my boyfriend has a band called Lemon Demon, so of course I’ve been listening to a lot of them lately!

What’s hanging on your walls and what is your favorite piece of art that you own (not created by you)?

Brandon Bird gave me a really arresting ink drawing a few years ago that I’m pretty fond of. It’s a portrait of Vin Diesel with a huge black wolf in a majestic forest setting. Aside from that I mainly have handwritten reminders to myself and failed sketches hanging everywhere. My memory can be truly awful, and I like constantly having some of my worst work looming over me as incentive to do better.

Ming Doyle birdgoddess Masters of Ink 13 Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink
Last novel you read and last movie that you saw (that you’d recommend)?

I like to read Seneca the Younger’s Trojan Women every couple of months, but that’s a play. The last novel I read was actually Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I’m almost done with Goblet of Fire now. I’ve been busy?

The last movie I saw, and I can’t say that I recommend it, was Atom Age Vampire. The last thing I saw in theatres and genuinely enjoyed was The Dark Knight, oh shock of shocks!

Current and upcoming projects.

I’ve recently wrapped up art for several upcoming sequential projects, among them actress Keiko Agena’s story in the “Asian American Superhero Anthology” Secret Identities, Eric Calderon’s piece in an issue of BOOM!’s Zombie Tales, and Chad Kinkle’s yarn in Image’s Outlaw Territory. I also illustrated Rantz Hoseley’s tale in the recently released Tori Amos-inspired Comic Book Tattoo. Next up, I’m going to try developing some original story ideas.

Ming Doyle racialwar Masters of Ink 13 Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink

What would you tell an aspiring artist who is working his ass off but still needs and wants to break through to the next level?

A lot of people have told me to never do anything for free, and I agree that’s a great philosophy to hold if you already enjoy a certain stature in the art community. However it’s a discouraging fact in this industry that sometimes you have to do a lot of work for no to little dough before anyone will give you the time of day. Try to pick or create projects that you know you’ll at least enjoy and think will offer you the greatest range of visibility as well as the most opportunity to improve your craft. That way when some really plum paying gig finally comes along you’ll be in a good position to knock it out of the park and impress, thereby landing more high profile work.

It’s a slow climb and I’m certainly not that far from the bottom rung myself but dedication and an almost fanatical work ethic count for a lot, and they’re the very least you need. The rest is just luck and good manners, so keep your fingers crossed and your socks clean.
For more further reading on Ming head over to:

Her site – http://www.mingdoyle.com
Her sketchblog – http://users.livejournal.com/_ming/
To read the first 12 Masters of Ink interviews head on over to the Jacen Burrows piece.
Ming Doyle lightsout07 bw Masters of Ink 13 Ming Doyle Mistress of Ink

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