Why make comics?
Introduction: Part 2 (of 2)
Okay, some of you may have gotten through the first of this two part introduction and still don’t know who this voice is that’s found its way into your head. More importantly, it’s possible that you haven’t put much thought into why any of us are driven to make comics in the first place. Well, addressing this last bit can’t wait. Because it’s a question which, once answered, can help us to move confidently forward into the craft. So rather than waiting until Friday for the next post, as will become our usual cadence, the next post will drop…
RIGHT NOW. This IS that post!
Welcome to Issue #2 of Making Comics, a weekly blog about… making comics, if you can believe it. Since we’re still just getting started and this is the final half of our introduction, let’s question EVERYTHING. First up:
Why would anyone create comics?
Here’s a key fact: comics have never been more popular. The storytelling medium has exploded in popularity worldwide. Sales and overall readership have never been higher. These facts can feel a bit ironic here in America, where sales from the largest comics publishers (DC and Marvel) have stagnated or declined. But overall comics sales numbers have exploded. Why?
In the US, the superhero genre became almost synonymous with the entire storytelling medium for 50+ years. A lot of random happenstance led to one genre’s (near) dominance over the medium. But this isn’t TOO surprising. Comics are an expressive medium that makes it ideal for bombastic superhero stories, and our culture clearly had a hunger for heroic pantheons.
One single creator with a pen and a piece of paper can create a superhero epic for the ages. Whereas the film adaptation of those same stories cost a few hundred million bucks and require production crews that number in the thousands (ever watched their names scroll by while waiting for a post-credit scene?!). These adaptations of Big Two (DC & Marvel’s) pantheons can and do scratch the superhero itch previously only fully sated by the comics themselves. So much so that the genre’s spell over American comics seems to be breaking.
Superhero comics still have their place on the shelf. But the sea change within the comics readership is creating more appetite for genres that had long been relegated into the ‘indie comics’ space. Nowadays, the slow and steady growth of the indie and international comics scene has accelerated in dramatic fashion, transforming the entire industry in its wake.
Here’s a shorthand look at how explosive sales of comics have been in North America alone. This same trend is reflected worldwide, and it’s occurring as sales of Big Two (Marvel & DC) comics have stagnated:
What books are driving this massive growth?
Leading this charge have been Japanese comics, aka ‘manga’. To put it bluntly: manga is the new king of the global comics scene. This is in no small part because manga has been less beholden to any single genre, which has allowed the mainstream comics scene in Japan to serve up all varieties of stories for decades now. Bestselling manga includes: romance stories, horror stories and even a wide range of bestselling ongoings about athletes and sports teams. Think rom coms, legal dramas, The Mighty Ducks and everything in-between and you wouldn’t be far off. Thousands of such stories, created for all age groups, all translated into dozens of languages, all being discovered by millions across the world.
As just one example, a manga series about a soccer team called BLUE LOCK has sold over 50 million copies.
On the domestic (USA) side of these growth trends, creator owned books for kids and YA (such as Dog Man, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, etc) have also served as a significant gateway into comics readership. Not surprisingly, sales data proves that kids reading these colossally popular graphic novel series are seeking out new comics to read as they grow. And unlike past generations, they do not consider long-form comics storytelling to be synonymous with superheroes.
Trends like these have been leading us into a bold and booming new world for comics, in which perceptions of the entire storytelling medium as being any one singular thing are dying on the vine.
Okay… so that’s a high level look at why it’s a good time to get into the mix and make some comics. There’s never been a better environment to find an audience, regardless of your genre(s) of choice. Indie creators have never been more successful while telling whatever story compels ‘em. Opportunity is out there waiting for you if you want to chase it.
All that said… At an individual level, what drives folks to make comics is a lot more interesting than chasing sales numbers. Genuine creative passion is the engine that’s pushing the entire storytelling medium right now, and I’m highly doubtful that that’s true with other storytelling mediums right now. It’s worth considering what’s driving the medium’s unique creative output. Perhaps you’ll see some of your own truth in my answer to the question…
Why do I write comic books?
I’ve finished a handful of projects, all firmly within the ‘indie’ realm, from bite-sized zines to a 150 page graphic novel. I’m hoping to finish more, and you wanna know something kinda funny? Until recently, I’d thought very little about WHY I’ve been so eager to create comics…
What might REALLY drive the compulsion? I’ve dedicated some time to the question in the last few weeks. Here’s what I’ve uncovered:
A PART of the reason I write comics is a desire to share stories. There’s a raw thrill in sharing a story. More than just thrill-chasing, it’s a base need we all share. ‘To be heard’ is bedrock human survival stuff from day one. Taken just one step further than survival instinct, we all have a need to share expression with folks who are genuinely receptive to it. We’re pack animals. We howl at the moon together, and we want our yapping to stand out in some way. Don’t we? Come on. There’s no shame in acknowledging it.
A desire to share stories isn’t selfish. It’s baked all the way into what makes us human. Diving into the act of creation, on the other hand… That can often be a solo effort. Taking that plunge is markedly distinct from the sharing of what you pull out of the water. This can be alienating part of the process. Diving into a creative effort, including comics, can be a self-centered act.
Even when collaborating on a comics project there’s likely to be a lot of solo diving involved. There’s danger down in those waters. It can be a lonely place, heck, even an alienating place. Also, for better and worse, it’s addicting. You could get lost in the dream and forget how to walk on solid ground. At worst, you can forget to share in the human experience.
Still… diving in is a necessary risk, because that ocean? That’s where the magic lives. So jump in. Just don’t forget your tethers.
As with any creative act, once you plunge into the current of ‘doing’, there’s powerful stuff in the flow state. It really can become quite addicting. A goal of any creative pursuit, professional or hobbyist, is to have the luxury to get swept up into that magic as much as possible. That’s part of the reason you’re reading these words right now, honestly. Because perhaps if enough folks tap into the motivating and constructive discussions we can foster together, then maybe it’ll pave some roads that allow us to dive that much deeper into the dream. Heck, maybe it will allow ME to make more comics myself.
I’ll admit it. I am addicted to the thrill of diving into that creative water, finding the story and pulling it up. It’s a solitary thing, and speaking for myself, and a number of likeminded folks I’ve met along my way, while fishing for tales sometimes your last care in the world is SHARING the bounty.
But that’s only the half of it, the selfish half. On the other hand…
There is a hypothetical question that’s been asked of artists, on you may have heard. I think it applies to just about any type of artist, comics or otherwise. It’s a big question, and warrants some real consideration. The question is this:
If you were the last person on earth, would you still make a comic book?
On impulse, I might answer YES. Maybe you would too. But thinking on it a bit more deeply, you might start to question that gut response. Because, at the end of the road, comics are meant to be read. They’re meant for eyes to extrapolate meaning from the images. It’s the readers job to create the movement between the panels. Is a comic even really ‘finished’ until someone else creates that movement? I’m not so sure.
Comics are meant to be shared, even if just with at least one other person, even if it’s a co-creator or collaborator. The work remains unfinished until it’s shared.
Fishing all by your lonesome in an ocean of creative mojo means nothing if you don’t share your catch when you get back to shore. I mean, who’s gonna teach you how to fish in the first place, if you don’t open yourself up to other fishermen and women already sharing their bounty? Trust me, the true masters of the craft will never stop learning from others who have shared.
You’ll drown down there if you don’t come up for air. Heck, you might even get scurvy if you don’t embrace some shore leave and take your medicine!
See… we’re getting lost at sea right here right now. It’s time to turn it back to the group.
Huddle up, folks.
For as much as this blog is a place to help encourage the creators among us to dive into the mojo, let’s take an opportunity to set a foot down firmly outside of that creative space. Let’s share, collaborate and enjoy what comics can bring into our lives back on shore.
So let’s pull our heads out of the water. ASK for advice. Get to know your collaborators a bit better, ask folks for THEIR comic recommendations.
Let’s expand our horizons together. Then the folks you help out will be that much more likely to finish what they start, and there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself more revved up to complete yours as well (hey readers from the first issue, told ya we’d be spinning the heck out of this particular record!).
Please don’t be bashful when it comes to sharing. Take pride in the fact that you’re WORKING ON IT. Even if nothing else, be confident in that fact..
So, WHY create comic books?
My answer: To fish in that incredible sea, and to share in our appreciation for what can be drawn out of those waters.
Okay. That’s a wrap for today. I’d love to hear your own perspective, and I hope you enjoy what comes through via these updates. As I mentioned, over the next few weeks, in addition to the updates and information shared in the blog, I’ll be sharing some complete comics for you to read at your digital leisure, free of charge. Not all of these will be by yours truly. I’m very excited to begin sharing some works by others beginning in just a few weeks.
Next up, we’ll dive into the great comics debate:
Words VS Pictures!
With the bonus teased out in our first post:
What even ARE comics, anyways?
The answers we’ll uncover for both subjects couldn’t be more interesting to unpack. A share-worthy bounty, indeed. What’s more, this is also a fitting cliffhanger for today’s issue of….
See you at our regularly scheduled time this Friday…
One of my current projects (2025) is the Chicago fantasy anthology, Big Shoulders: