Making Comics - Communication

Communication is the key. The key to everything in life in fact. In how we maintain harmony in our relationships, better ourselves in our employment & social standing, and resolve conflicts as they arise. Communication is a important part of making a comic for without it you could end up with a sub-par comic or worse yet come to a standstill where nothing ever gets done and the comic is dead in the water.

As part of a creative team I've learned that I really need to work on my communication skills. On the project I'm working on now, as primarily as a writer & inker, I have to convey idea's, business, and needed corrections to the artist. And this I've learned can be a tricky thing or perhaps a better phrase such as 'double edged sword' would be more appropriate. If I say the wrong thing the artist will be mad for a month, but if I say nothing then the creative process will suffer and the comic will not be as good as it can be.

So learning to basically 'talk' really is key. For example, how do you tell an artist that he has drawn a hand too small? Or that the entire page he or she just drawn can't be used because it doesn't serve the story? You have to image that to the artist who has spent hours and days working on the pages in question that it feels like a slap in the face and is not the news they wanted to hear.
Sometimes at the risk of doing a sub-par comic the writer has to bite his lip from time to time and pick his battles with the artist so as not to create any undue resentment. Not that anyone should have in mind that they are going to battle, far from it. Time constraints of a deadline tend to add to the tension.

Communication is also a two-way street. There are times where the writer is just not clear about what they wanted in a page. Honestly, that is just nicer way of saying the writer probably did a terrible job at writing the plot for that said page. Writers can make mistakes too and sometimes don't fully consider the difficult task the artist has in bringing their story to life.  And I would image there are some writers who probably don't like having their writing critiqued by the artist, but there comes a time where that conversation may be had for the sake of the story.

Every one from writers, artist, inkers, colorist, and letters must communicate effectively to get their respective jobs done so as to work in unison to create something worth while that somebody may actually want to buy in some comic shop.

Here is what I learned, so far at least:

• Don't laugh or smile when you give critiques (when asked) or when you review someones work. That tends to make them defensive even though you meant nothing by it. The person your talking too may not realize it is a 'nervous laugh' and not a mocking one. 

• Keep your critiques simple and straight to the point. Don't drag it out, but make sure they understand what your talking about. 

• Sometimes a conversation over the comic or a critique can go sour. Rather than butting heads just drop the topic and resume that conversation for a later day when cooler heads prevail. 

• When it comes to someones art a lot of passion is involved. Be mindful of that. 

• Make the time to have a conversation about having better constructive dialog about the comic your creating together. Remind them that your partners and not advisories and that good dialog is going to lead to a better comic being made. 

• Know your creative teams limitations at their chosen craft and know when to push them and when to back off. 

• Be receptive about constructive criticism of YOUR OWN work. Its easy to criticize others people work, but you must be open to the same treatment. Rather than being defensive listen to see if their right about their assertions and learn from them. 

• Remind the people in your creative team that the goal is to make a comic people want to buy. Comics is a commercial  medium geared toward the masses reaching the broadest audience possible (assuming that is you want to make a few dollars). 

• Don't forget to praise what members of your creative team are DOING RIGHT! Good work, good attitude, and hard work should always be praised and rewarded. Society would be better for it if this was more wide spread. 

That's it. Communication is key for without it you wouldn't have a comic book (unless your a Kubert then you could do the whole thing yourself).