Beginning my graphic novel

Armed with the previous knowledge I had learned I began on my own graphic novel, I wanted to draw as much as I could of the graphic novel and hopefully finish it before I started to animate it and make it interactive.

So I began on the script. The script was easy enough to write as I already knew my characters and the short story I wanted to tell.  At it's core my story needed a protagonist who people could relate to and emphasize with, I adhered to Swain's (2008) advice who wrote "A story must revolve around a character who is wholly believable even if they are in unbelievable situations" (p151). This was important to me as my character would be in a science-fiction/action story with quite fantastical elements so if the character was not strong enough the story would fall apart.

With the above in mind, I decided to start the story with the main character being as 'in-the-dark' and as unaware as what had happened as the reader. The reader would find things out as he would.

Below is the first page of the script...

The process

After doing as much research as I could on the creation of comic books, I had a better understanding of the processes.

A comic book begins with the script by the writer, which details what will happen in the panels and the dialogue. The scripting is the first and many would argue most important part of comic books. The writer of the script must understand that his words need to be translated perfectly to panels in order to work and must think visually. Marx (2007) agrees and states "As a comic book story-teller, you must have mastery over telling your story ith the images as much as with the words. The alchemy is in how you combine them to create a whole that is greater than the sum of it's parts" (p99).

Below is an example of part of the script for Marvel's 'Captain America Reborn'...

The next stage is where the penciller will draw out the layouts or 'roughs' which show the basics of how the page will look, panel sizes/angles etc. Below are the roughs for the comic book 'Conan: Kiss of the undead'.

Next are the finished pencils, which are again done by the penciller and are the final detailed versions of the layouts, with shading indicated for the inker. Below is an excellent example of the pencils for the comic book 'The Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born' by artist Jae Lee...

Then the inker, fills in the black, this can determine a lot of mood and tone in the scene and a good inker must determine what is needed and show not only the pencillers intentions but augment them. Talon (2007) agrees with this and writes that "Pencils would never maintain their imapct without an inker to complete the job" (p70). Below is an inked piece by Danny Miki for Marvel's 'Siege' cover series...

Finally the colorist obviously adds the colour, the colour added needs to work perfectly with the lighting and tone of the panel. Although it may seem like a simple job, it's more technical than it sounds.  Klein and Chiarello write "A comics' coloring is a lot like the soundtrack of a movie. It's something that is subtle yet always present and if done well can greatly add teh the experience" (p7). Colorists such as Richard Isanove have redefined how well a page can be coloured and how much colour can add to a scene. Following is one of Isanoves coloured pages for 'Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born'. It's evident how much Isanove's colour has benefited the page...

More Research

Before I began drawing my comic book, interactive or otherwise, I wanted to understand more about the world of comic books and graphic novels. Although I had read them since I could walk and was raised on Spider-man, Hulk and X-men I felt that I needed to learn a lot more about how they are put together and more about them as a medium. As Stephen King (2002) writes "Just because I listen to the radio everyday, doesn't mean I know anything about the music industry" (p114).

I started with the books by Will Eisner and read forward from there, it was very interesting to learn that the angles used in panels are not arbitrary at all, but that each panel is the same as a camera angle in a film, each panel needs to justify itself. If a low angle is uses as apposed to an overhead shot, then why? As the angle can completely change the mood and pace of a image. A low angles shot can signify domination and imposition by the character, a close up shot of the face augments the emotion. All these things are carefully taken into consideration by the artist. The artist has to work like a film director, establishing shots which would show what the writer intended. Putting the focus where it needs to be.

Campiti (2011) writes "Each frame should act like a stand-alone piece of art" (p51), this is something I agree with strongly as each frame should take into consideration the tenants of any art such as appropriate lighting, good composition and should make the purpose of the frame clear.

More research

"Any successful construction must begin with a deconstruction" Anon

In order for me to create a good graphic novel, interactive or otherwise I had to know how one worked. I had to know what made a good one and what flaws made it a bad one. So I read as much as I could on the subject and the basic tenement that was apparent in all the books was that a successful graphic needed to tell a good story.  Talon (2004) agrees with this and states "A story must be worth telling in order to make it a good comic book" (p7).

Because we had a lot to do in this assignment, the website, showreel, essay and the graphic novel I decided it would be more economical with time if I used my existing 'Wylde' game idea. I also decided that Wylde's content and characters would suit the graphic novel medium as it was dynamic, emotional and it was a good story to tell.

I decided to start with the part of my story that I created the pods for in my last project, as the setting and timing of that sequence would make it a good opening for the story. As the sequence I would write and draw would be short, it would be difficult to make the reader emphasise with the character ands create a solid enough emotional response but  in accordance with Wolk (2007) who explains that emotional content is needed in all areas of the comic from the concept to the composition in the panels, I wanted it to have one that was apparent in the writing and the panels themselves (p152).

An excellent example of this is 2008's 'All Star Superman' by Frank Quietly and Grant Morrison.

This title pulled the character of superman to pieces and asked why he does what he does and who he was. It was a story with real emotional content and stands as one of the best takes on the character in it's long history, which is a substantial amount of time since the first Superman comic was published in 1938.

First thoughts

"If ever there was a medium made for over-achievers, it's comics. Where else can a creator make mischief on a cosmic scale; tell tales in which worlds rise and fall in the space of a few panels, where battles may shake the stars, and every emotion -- grief, joy, rage, hope -- is felt and expressed on a mythic scale?" (Barker:1993:3)

 Now we have been given the title of our projects, I was both looking forward to and nervous of the work to come.

I felt I had a good knowledge base for the work concerning graphic novels but I had no idea how to make one interactive. I also had very little knowledge of website and showreel making so they would be good skills to learn.

As with all briefs the first thing I did was to start my research.

I immediately joined some comic book art forums such as the following...

http://www.comicartfans.com/
http://www.comicartistsdirect.com/
http://www.millarworld.com/

These websites would come in extremely useful later on for critique on my works in progress.

I also went straight to the library and looked for the best books on sequential art. Although I  wanted to look at the best examples of graphic novels and comic book art, I also wanted to research the actual process behind them so I withdrew the following books...

For examples of the best...

Watchmen by
Sandman
Death: The high cost of living
Old man Logan
Ultimate Wolverine Versus Hulk
The Ultimates Mark Millar/Bryan Hitch
Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears

For research on the process...

The DC Comics guide to digitally drawing comics -- Freddie E. Williams
Stan Lee's How to Draw Comics -- Stan Lee
Comics and Sequential Art -- Will Eisner
Graphic Storytelling -- Will Eisner
Bryan Hitch's Ultimate Comic Studio -- Bryan Hitch
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art -- Scott McCloud
Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling -- Durwin S. Talon

Unfortunately a lot of the entry-level books on comic art, particularly the 'how-to' guides tended to repeat themselves and would have the obligatory sections on anatomy, perspective and dynamics but very few about the diversity of styles or the history and depth of comic books. It seemed to be the case that most books on comic art were primarily concerning themselves with how to draw muscular characters but spent very little time on 'why'.  One of the few books that was concerned with the question was the Eisner and Scott McCloud books.