Make Comics Not Excuses

I’ve heard the excuse “I don’t want it to turn out bad.”  before.  I talked about a similar excuse not too long ago about “what if I fail.”  Which is related but not the exact same excuse. But my answer to you is the same:  If this is your first attempt, it WILL turn out bad… how bad depends on alot of factors, but based on the fact no one has ever succeeded at ANYTHING on their first try, you know I’m right about this. If you don’t believe me then tell me one person who has ever stood up and walked perfectly their first attempt without falling on their ass? what? that’s never happened? Well then, if no one has been able to stand up and walk, also known as one of the defining features of humanity, on their first try then what makes you think you can make an awesomely successful comic on your first try?

But I’m getting off topic. Today’s not about telling you you’re first attempt will fail.  Today’s about dismissing the excuse “What if it turns out bad… AGAIN.”  Which is a more understandable fear.  You tried, you poured your heart into this one comic, and it failed misserably.  Why should you try again?  You don’t want to pour all your heart and soul into another comic (or a revamped first comic) just to have the same results again.  Maybe you can’t take that sort of devastation again, so why even try?

Well, simply put, you should try because it’s the only way it’ll happen.  Much like my example of the baby learning to walk, you might end up falling on your ass many, many times.  Some of the times you might seriously get hurt.  But if the baby gives up, they’ll never ever walk.  And if you give up you’re comic will never be made the way you dream.

The key is to identify why it turned out bad the first time and fix them. Was it because you or the artist you hired draws poorly?  Or was it because it the story had too many plot holes?  Maybe it was because your characters weren’t very interesting.  Or maybe you used a color pallet that didn’t really work for the type of story your telling.  The key is to analyze the first version of your comic find out what worked, and what isn’t working.  Make the adjustments and then try again.  Most importantly though is to not repeat the same mistakes.  You have to be honest with yourself.  Is the art really bad?  Then don’t let your own pride get in the way.  Either learn how to draw better, or hire a better artist.  Are the characters terrible X-men rip offs?  well learn what it is about these characters that interest you, and create original characters with those traits.

Now if you make these adjustments, I can’t guarantee you the second version is going to be amazing.  It might still turn out bad,  But if it turns out BETTER than the first, then that means you’re doing it right.  Try again, then again, then again.  Improving each time until you have something that you’re proud of.

The great thing about creating a comic is that there is no limit on it.  There’s no time limit, or “extra lives” you’ll run out of if you fail too much.  You can fix and try your comic again a billion times if you needed to until its the amazing work you want it to be.  You just have to have the will and the determination to not let failure stop you.  I’ve said it in past posts:  If failure isn’t an option, then success is an inevitability.

To prove to you I’m not pulling this out of my ass. Let me show you the many versions of Shadows of Oblivion #0  I made before I settled on the version that’s in print right now, You’ll see the words change, the art changes, and I play with color.  Each one is different until it becomes the comic I want it to be, and the comic people enjoy:

First Attempt:  Too stark black and white, lets add some grays…

I like the gray look, but it just doesn’t look the way I want it too…. lets try Manga’s approach to black and white…

I like that black and white look alot.  But the drawings kinda suck, lets fix that….

Much better.  But pencil isn’t the way to go.  I really liked that Black and White look from earlier…

This isn’t working… Something about the line art just seems too stiff.  Let me try drawing it differently…

Okay this… this I like.  Now Lets try giving it a little bit of color…

nope, this isn’t working.  I still like that black and white look.  Lets try that with this new line art. (and We’ll change some of the words around while we’re at it….)

Yes! This is it! Send it to print!  (and this is the version you’ll see when you pick up a copy of Shadows of Oblivion #0)

And all of these adjustments wasn’t over the course of a week, or months.  The time between first version and the version in print is about 4 years.  It took some time to refine and figure out exactly what I wanted.

So If your Excuse is “I don’t want it to turn out bad again.”  I have some bad news.  It probably will…  But the good news is you can try more than once.  Try over and over and over again until you get it to look exactly the way you want it to!  Identify what isn’t working, learn from your mistakes, improve, then try again.  It might take 4, 5, or 6 plus years.  But as long as you don’t stop you’ll have what you want, guaranteed!

If there is an excuse you can’t get over, and want me to help you with feel free to comment here, or email me.  I’ll happily help you out with your problem, and help you realize that you should be making comics, not excuses!

Tomorrow as usual I’ll have some sketches to share, and in the mean time you can check me out around the web:

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And if you love my artwork don’t forget to pick up my comics!

See you tomorrow!!