This past weekend was full of amazing cosplayers and an exhibit hall full of talented creators, I'm talking about Amazing Arizona Comic Con. But the real reason I was there was for all the amazing panels the Con had to offer.
Writers Unite!
This panel was a hostful of writers gathering to share their knowledge in the comics field for those of us just starting out.
Jim Zub (SkullKickers) moderated the panel, he and Brain Augustyn (Gotham by Gaslight) pointed out that we live in a time where we provide our own proving gorund aka the internet. Charles Soule (She-Hulk, Swamp thing, Letter 44) really took the panel for me, he went into detail about what it takes to get into the industry and how it can be hard starting out. Scott Lobdell (Teen Titans, X-Men) also admitted the struggles of being a writer and noted that he collected his regestion letters over the years.
Collectively the entire panel provied some great pointers on starting off as a writer in comics. Here is a break down of tips I picked up.
Tips
- Start small (build your resume with short stories showing off different ideas and writing).
- Work out an artist agreement (money usually works)
- Communitcate (writer/artist partnership, be blunt)
- Enjoy and write the storys you want to tell and read
- Hunting vs Fishing (Fishing is good) Put hooks out and wait.
- Don't be a Creep (artists or on editors)
Kevin Eastman
The man who created a small book called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes" humbled the mainstage for Q&A on all his projects including eveything TMNT.
Kevin started with a speech on the 33 year history of the Turtles. The story starts at The Mirage Studios (his home) in November 1983. Co-creator Peter Laird and Kevin had a love for kung fu movies and superheroes, they would chat and the turtles came from a drawing of "what would be the most ridiculous ninja?" A turtle. The ideas spun out from there and everything was inspired and created with love of comics. The book debuted in 1984 at Portsmouth, NH Mini-Con, the 16 issue original run grew from there.
A few things got cleared up for me about the tutles like why the colored head bands. So originally red but for marketing and to distinguish them, they were giving differently colors that Peter and Kevin thought about. Casey Jones is Kevin's favorite HUMAN character and he loved the first Turlte's movie/ the work that Jim Henson did creating the movie costumes.
Basically it turns out the guy who got to created Ninja Turltles and make comics that turned into a phenomenon loves his job and loves how everything has grown. Mr. Eastman seems like a fantastic man who is grateful for people readingi the comics and being able to work on so many amazing projects.
If you want to check out any of these amazing creators check them out below:
