Draw Out the Story: Ten Secrets to Creating Your Own Comics
Pictures give you details and let you imagine the story What can pictures do Pictures are really good at showing you a moment in time Imagine a fine art painting of Robin and his Merry Men like this or even larger They say a picture is worth a thousand words and you could spend a million describing the exact details captured in this one image But what happened before and after the moment shown in the picture To know that you’d need more pictures (cid:75) (cid:75) or words 10
Words give you the story and let you imagine details What can words do The novels you find on most library shelves are really good at showing a span of time in other words a lot longer than just one moment For example most Robin Hood adventures follow the same basic pattern Robin Hood assembles a group of fellow outlaws He is outbattled by Little John and outwitted by Friar Tuck and then gains the admiration of the youthful Will Scarlet They work together to steal from the rich and give to the poor This upsets the greedy Sheriff of Nottingham who offers a reward for Robin’s capture In disguise Robin enters an archery contest during May Day to win the heart of the May Queen Maid Marian Robin rescues Marian from the Sheriff and escapes into Sherwood Forest with the help of his loyal Merry Men You could make a hundred paintings and still not capture all the emotions actions and reactions that words describe in this story But what exactly does Sherwood Forest look like For that you’d need more words (cid:75) (cid:75) or pictures Pictures words So comics combine pictures and words A picture in a Robin Hood comic could show you that Robin wore a green hat with a feather in it The words will tell you other details like He kept a secret skeleton key in his boot But there is a third way of communicating with readers that makes comics unique a group of elements that includes word balloons panels sound effects and more I like to call these elements comics grammar These elements act a lot like periods commas and semicolons do in writing they help guide the reader That’s why a children’s Robin Hood picture book can use pictures and words and yet still not be a comic It’s not using comics grammar 11
But if Robin speaks in word balloons and horses go (cid:36)(cid:45)(cid:42)(cid:49)(cid:4)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:45)(cid:48)(cid:49)(cid:4)(cid:3)as they trot it becomes a comic Just like normal grammar comics grammar gives words and pictures the flavor and rules that make them a comic A COMICS GRAMMAR LESSON Here are some of the important parts of comics grammar these ones are like the periods commas and question marks of comics (cid:35)(cid:33)(cid:48)(cid:52)(cid:41)(cid:47)(cid:46)(cid:3)(cid:34)(cid:47)(cid:56)(cid:27)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:68)(cid:65)(cid:78)(cid:65)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:65)(cid:3) (cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:61)(cid:78)(cid:78)(cid:61)(cid:80)(cid:75)(cid:78)(cid:89)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:75)(cid:69)(cid:63)(cid:65)(cid:3)(cid:67)(cid:75)(cid:65)(cid:79)(cid:3) MIDNIGHT IN TOLTEM FOREST (cid:51)(cid:48)(cid:37)(cid:37)(cid:35)(cid:40)(cid:3)(cid:34)(cid:33)(cid:44)(cid:44)(cid:47)(cid:47)(cid:46)(cid:27)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:68)(cid:61)(cid:80)(cid:3)(cid:61)(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:63)(cid:68)(cid:61)(cid:78)(cid:61)(cid:63)(cid:80)(cid:65)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:61)(cid:85)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:67)(cid:3) ME EAT YOUR FACE (cid:52)(cid:33)(cid:41)(cid:44)(cid:27)(cid:3)(cid:41)(cid:80)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:65)(cid:61)(cid:64)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:65)(cid:3) (cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:65)(cid:61)(cid:71)(cid:65)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:65)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:3) (cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:66)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:65)(cid:3)(cid:62)(cid:61)(cid:72)(cid:72)(cid:75)(cid:75)(cid:74) (cid:52)(cid:40)(cid:47)(cid:53)(cid:39)(cid:40)(cid:52)(cid:3)(cid:3) (cid:34)(cid:33)(cid:44)(cid:44)(cid:47)(cid:47)(cid:46)(cid:27)(cid:3)(cid:3) (cid:83)(cid:68)(cid:61)(cid:80)(cid:3)(cid:61)(cid:3)(cid:3) (cid:63)(cid:68)(cid:61)(cid:78)(cid:61)(cid:63)(cid:80)(cid:65)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:79)(cid:3) (cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:67)(cid:3) I’M DOOMED (cid:51)(cid:47)(cid:53)(cid:46)(cid:36)(cid:3)(cid:37)(cid:38)(cid:38)(cid:37)(cid:35)(cid:52)(cid:51)(cid:27)(cid:3) (cid:83)(cid:75)(cid:78)(cid:64)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:61)(cid:80)(cid:3) (cid:79)(cid:68)(cid:75)(cid:83)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:69)(cid:79)(cid:65)(cid:79) (cid:48)(cid:33)(cid:46)(cid:37)(cid:44)(cid:27)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:65)(cid:3)(cid:62)(cid:75)(cid:84)(cid:3)(cid:61)(cid:3)(cid:63)(cid:75)(cid:73)(cid:69)(cid:63)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:64)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:3) (cid:48)(cid:33)(cid:46)(cid:37)(cid:44)(cid:3)(cid:34)(cid:47)(cid:50)(cid:36)(cid:37)(cid:50)(cid:27)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:65)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:65)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:66)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:65)(cid:3)(cid:62)(cid:75)(cid:84) 12
Comics give some details and story and let the reader imagine the rest With a comic the reader has to imagine some of the visual details because the drawings are simpler and smaller than most paintings and photographs The reader also has to imagine some of the story because there are fewer words used to tell it And the comic panels invite the reader to imagine what has happened between them Here we see three different moments of time from a Robin Hood adventure comic ROBIN LITTLE JOHN’S BEEN IMPRISONED IN THE CASTLE LET’S BREAK HIM OUT HOW DID WE GET HERE WITH THESE COSTUMES THAT’S FOR THE READER TO IMAGINE Despite the small amount of visuals and text the reader is actually given a lot of information here The trick of cartooning is giving readers enough details for the story but not too many or too few Of course artists have different ideas of what’s too simple and what’s too detailed How much detail you put in is not only up to you it helps to define your style too 13
