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...