Comics Taking Over the Big Screen!

This year, a lot of comic books seem to be leaping off the page and into box office success on the big screen.  With this hits like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy 2, and The Dark Knight, it’s been the Summer of the Comic Book when it comes to movies. In a recent post from Wired’s Underwire, Stan Lee states “Comic books are storyboards for movies.”  Looking at Marvel’s successes, from the X-Men trilogy to the Spider Man series, there seems to be a lot of truth to that observation.

Each of these movie blockbusters came from the imagination of a talented story teller who was able to put their creativity down on paper. Everyone possesses a vivid imagination; it’s just a matter of putting it to use. If you’re sitting there and feel you have an interesting story, concept or idea in your head, you’ve already done some of the hardest work of creating a successful comic. A big misconception people have about comic creation is that you must to be able draw well in order to make a comic.  There are plenty of comics out there that are as simple as stick figures with speech balloons, but the truth is that the story is what keeps people reading – not the artwork. So how do you make a compelling strip that will keep readers riveted? Some key ingredients to a great comic are:

1. An intriguing story that taps into human emotions (ie. humor, fear, curiosity, etc)
2. Interesting characters that readers can relate to (ie. Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes, etc.)
3. A consistent and effectively conveyed a message or theme
4. A distinctive and unique artistic style

From the list above, successful comics depends on the details of the story you create.  The next step is putting your idea down on paper. For some folks, this is easy; for others, though, the drawing is the hard part. But if that’s the case, you’re in luck!  There’s a community of teachers at TeachStreet who can help you with everything from basic drawing techniques to animating cartoons - and even creating a comic.

Whackstreet Boy #2 by Joseph Sunga (2001)

I personally am an aspiring comic strip artist, and I took a Cartooning class with Nils Osmar at the UW Experimental College back in college. The majority of the students took the class in order to create something so they could express themselves, whether that expression was a visual narrative of their lives, or funny situations they want to draw up. Here are some additional takeaways I got from the class, and a few things I’ve learned through experience along the way:

1. Learn the drawing basics (ie.  drawing expressions, humans, movement, etc.)
2. Always take notes to jot down ideas (ie. notebook in the back pocket, texting yourself ideas, etc)
3. There are people with the same sense of humor as you. If you think it’s funny, it probably is…to someone, anyway!
4. Have fun with it, and don’t hold back!

Although not everyone is going to end up on the big screen, there are plenty of communities online where you would be able to showcase and publish your work. Here are some great resources to get you noticed:

nic, wil never grow up (07/31/08)

• Tumblr.com, an easy blogging tool (ie. nic, will never grow up)
• CarbonMade.com, an online portfolio (ie. Alex Chui)
• deviantART.com, an artist community (ie. Cartoons & Comics)

And while you’re at it? Stay tuned for my little comic about the start-up life, “Early Stage”.