My inspiration to comic-book glory

 Many, many years ago, former Marvel editor Mark Gruenwald wrote a series of columns in Marvel Age about his thoughts about breaking into comics as a writer. I’ve been following them for quite a while.
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Among his suggestions (along with a few of my own) are:
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1) Find work in a field where you can write all the time. He suggested in the newspaper field. This helps you understand the language and all that its about. The better you can present yourself in the future, the better your chances are.
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2) Start small. Submit ideas and stories to small comic companies. That is never more true today. With celebrities and “big name” creators latching on to the big two (three if you count CrossGen), it would be almost impossible to sell a story to DC or Marvel. If I’m correct, DC doesn’t even accept blind submissions anymore.
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3) Hook up with an artist or draw on your own. Produce a comic. Learn the ins and outs of how everything works, from computer coloring to dealing with the printer.
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4) Get noticed. Once you’ve got a product you like, let people know. And I don’t mean printing up 200 copies and sell them at the local store. Instead, try to get Diamond Distributions to carry your book. Also, take it to conventions and give free copies to every publisher/editor there.
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5) Move to NYC (Marvel & DC), Florida (CrossGen), California (Image) or Oregon (Dark Horse) and get work at one of the companies. Become an intern. Become a mail room clerk. Whatever. Just get into the company and let ’em know you want more.
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6) Read stuff besides comics. It can be a newspaper. Books. Movie scripts. Whatever. Expand your horizons beyond the comic-book medium. As you read, think about how it could be applied to a comic book. This is the germ of great stories.
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7) Build a catalog. Write down story ideas. Save costume designs. Clip out articles of interest. This will help you always move forward so you don’t get stuck on one idea.
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8) Write for anyone who will pay. Just to build up your experience and skill.<p>
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There’s probably more to what he said, but that’s all I can remember.<p>
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So how’s his plan working for me? Well, I think it’s going well.
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I went to college to study journalism, and shortly after graduation in 1995, I landed a job as a copy editor for my local newspaper(1,3). From there, I moved to bigger and bigger papers, all the while I honed my writing skills.
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I also make it a point to pick up and read fiction (6,7) from time to time. I don’t buy stuff on the bestseller list though. Instead, I visit the bookstore and spend an hour or so browsing in the non-scifi, non-fantasy, non-action-adventure, non-thriller, non-mystery section. There I pick up a book set in the real world with real situations. I think it just helps me read works that aren’t about finding lost treasures, battling aliens, winning the courtcase and figuring out who offed the butler.
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As I dreamed of writing for comics, I also worked on my drawing skills(3), but I did it with a goal in mind: Over the years I have developed a catalog(8) of more than 100 characters of my own creation, complete with costume designs, histories and unique powers. At some point in the future, I hope to publish them in some form.
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In the last few years, I’ve started writing a newspaper column on comics
called “Comics on the Brain.”(4) The column has allowed me to interview comic creators, do extensive research on various comic-book subjects, get into conventions for free and even land me on a few comp lists. (See my “www” tab on the bottom of this post to see some of my columns!)
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More recently, I’ve started to write creatively for “Dungeon” magazine, a world-wide publication that provides adventures for players of “Dungeons & Dragons.” (1,4,6,7) (See Dungeon 105 from November and the upcoming Dungeon 107)
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Also, some early pro-bono work has landed me a small contract with another role-playing-game publisher (2) which should really do well for me.
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The only thing I haven’t done is move to one of those towns. It just isn’t in the cards yet. … And I stress yet. You see one great thing about being in the newspaper trade is that there’s always work of some kind in every state in the union. I must admit that I really wished I had followed through with those ads I saw in CBG for CrossGen several years ago … sigh.
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Anyway, to sum it all up, I think I’m on my way. It’ll still take another few years, because I haven’t fully completed all those numbered items. However, I think doing pretty good. <p>