World Domination, Step One
by Gary Scott Beatty, Owner and Production Manager, Aazurn Publishing
I decided it was time to make things happen. I know dozens of truly excellent artists in the comic book field I have never had a chance to work with. No more! Armed with a few scripts I proposed projects to these artists and Bill Bryan of Oz fame said, "Yes!" This is how it worked and what is planned for the near future.
I have produced other people's products for 25 years. Any old fart will tell you the years just flow by. I spent much of my time landing freelance work from great publishing companies like Three Boy's Productions, Kaso Comics, Omega 7 and Ocean Comics. Every one of the principles in these companies are top notch professionals and, even through exhausting deadlines, keep their humor and reason. Don't let anyone tell you differently - successful comic book people make the best employers.
But something was missing from my nearly perfect work experience. I continue to enhance the work of some commendable artists, but my friends, the people I see year after year at conventions, the people with which I drink, laugh and talk comics, were not the people I produced. With 2006 staring me in the face, I made a major decision - I would make it happen by hiring this talent myself and produce books unlike any yet seen.
THE PROPOSAL - The first step was, for me, the easiest. I wrote scripts with specific illustrators in mind. What would my friends be interested in drawing? Once you have enough experience behind you the creative end of comics comes quickly. I soon had half a dozen scripts. I whittled it down to three and began contact.
Most of you out there know how hard it is to interest a successful artist in your script. Believe me, it is no easier for me. Just because I personally know great illustrators doesn't mean they are willing to drop everything for my project. Professionals arrive at the status of great illustrators by being picky about what they accept to spend a chunk of their lives drawing. Quality comic art is time consuming.
Knowing this, I reviewed my advantages. I knew these guys, so they knew I wasn't just starting. They knew I could deliver on what I promised with quality in a timely fashion. That being said, I knew everything hinged on the scripts. I knew the stories had to grab these guys by the nards and not let go. The stories had to be accessible yet unique.
I also knew none of these guys would go for a continuing series. A monthly comic is like being in a touring punk band (Something I did for a few lost years of my youth) - a lifestyle commitment. I reasoned my best bet was to come up with some awesome one-shot comics.
The one-shot format freed up my writing considerably. Since there were no continuing characters anything could happen. I made sure the twists were frequent and unexpected. Thinking of the scripts as books instead of comics allowed me to immerse readers into odd worlds and create heroes who were not necessarily super.
This came to be my mantra for the Aazurn line: "Reinventing Heroes."
BILL SHOWED INTEREST - The first artist to show interest in one of my scripts was Bill Bryan, most famous for his work on Caliber and Arrow Comics' Oz series. I was excited!
Bill is one of those guys who always has a pencil in his hand. Really, every single time I have ever seen Bill Bryan he has been drawing. The guy is possessed.
He is also excellent. As dynamic as his inked work was for Caliber and Arrow, I have always been a fan of Bill's pencil work. I like that tight way he has of making characters pop off the page. Yet, backgrounds and nonessentials in the panels are often more indistinct. I am reminded of Frank Frazetta paintings, where your eye is drawn to the important, molded shapes, but if you force your eye into the casual areas you see interest there, too.
I told Bill I wanted to work with his pencils. It was a different concept for him and I took a while trying to explain the vision in my brain. Like most creative people I see things completed before even touching them and I had to communicate that vision to Bill. It is a testament to his patience that he didn't just refuse. Bill suggested I do a sample so he could see what I was talking about.
I chose a Scarecrow splash page because it was pretty solid for pencils and had a full, overall pencil to it. I knew a solid color background behind his pencils would not do - the contrast would not work - so I explained I needed a good amount of pencil on his pages for "Seductions," even if it was just crosshatching or undefined shape. The sample shows how I planned to pull out backgrounds.
For the rest of the piece I kept thinking "watercolor" or "pencils" to keep a consistent look. I knew solids would not work! The final step was to add select textures, in this case a burlap look to the "hood."
My intention was to hook Bill on the overall look.
WE TALK SPECIFICS - I've seen plenty of sample scripts for comic books, but there doesn't seem to be much consensus on how to structure one. Mine was fairly detailed, since "Seductions" involves plenty of jumping around between time periods and I wanted to be sure the artist helped readers know where they were.
I assured Bill the script was just a guideline and I wanted him to interpret. This relieved him considerably! We're not working in the Marvel Method, where artists are handed, more or less, an outline, so they can let their imaginations run. But I didn't want to straight jacket Bill. If you're going to work with someone there comes a point when you need to let go and let them run with the visuals. I know it will be different than I had in my mind when I wrote the script, but I also know it will be better and can't wait to see the roughs!
Just a word on pay scale. It's been my experience that competent artists are always worth more than they are paid. Always. A comic story depends on the visuals for many things, but probably the most important is that moment when a potential buyer has the book in his hands, he's not going to read a word. He's going to flip through the pictures and if they don't grab him, he'll put it back. No one can make enough money on the sale of comic books to afford to pay a great artist what he's worth.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I would never expect an illustrator to work for free, or work for a percentage of the sales. Pay the man, people, he's worth it. The success of your book depends on it.
ONE STEP AT A TIME - Yes, Comic Artists Direct readers, you will be with us every step of the way on this publishing journey. Bill's first step is to draw up some roughs based on my script to be sure we're in sync on every page. If he's off base on anything we can fix it then. The goal is to okay roughs so Bill can take off with the pencils. We do NOT want to correct finished pencils.
Check back for blow-by-blow updates appearing either here. As pages come in, different artists are signed up, pages are colored and lettered, distribution is explored and other projects begin, you'll be there.
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