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v3.1

Dedicatedtomymother,whoteachesbyexample.

CONTENTS

CoverTitlePageCopyrightDedication

IntroductionbyDickGiordano

PARTONE:DRAWING

ONE•Materials

TWO•Shapes

THREE•Faces

FOUR•Anatomy

FIVE•Clothing

SIX•Perspective

PARTTWO:STORYTELLING

SEVEN•Juxtaposition

EIGHT•HowtoLayOutaPage

NINE•Storytelling

TEN•Composition

ELEVEN•ShotsandAngles

TWELVE•Movement

PARTTHREE:PENCILLING

THIRTEEN•Procedure

FOURTEEN•BreakingIn

FIFTEEN•AnatomyofaStory

AFTERWORD

AbouttheAuthorIndex

INTRODUCTION

I first became aware of Klaus Janson while I was the editor at CharltonComics in Derby, Connecticut, and Klaus was a young comics fan andprolific letter-writer living in Bridgeport, Connecticut, who directed hiscommentstotheletterspagesthatappearedinourcomics.AseditorIreadall letters and replied to thebestones in the columns. I cannotnow recallhowmanyofKlaus’s letters sawprint, but I doknow that I began to lookforward to readinghis letterseachmonth.Theywere intelligent, sensitive,andwell-informedresponsestotheworkwewerepublishingatCharltonatthat time.After reading aparticular emotional letter thathe’dwritten (notaboutcomicsbutasadreal-worldevent),IwasmovedtoinvitehimtoDerbytoshowhimabitofthepublishingworldandmaybechatabit.Sowemet…andbecamefriends.That friendshiphasenduredformore

than three decades, despite our separate activities rarely placing us in thesameplaceatthesametime.Whenwedogettogether,wehavethatcapacitytopickupwhereweleftoffthatiscommonbetweenfriends.Ourbond?Amutual respect for eachother as individuals and as fellow

professionals,amutual loveof thecomicsart form,andamutualdesire tobettertheformandderivegreatersatisfactionfrompracticingit.Ibelieve that thisbook isanextensionofKlaus’s loveof theart formof

comics—a method of giving something back and sharing with others theknowledgethathehasacquiredthroughdecadesofintensestudyandhardwork. It is written in straightforward, clear, readily understandable, andinformative text. The numerous illustrations illuminate and highlight thekey portions of each chapter. Itwas amonumental task to present all thisinformation in such an easily digestible form that is intended for both theindividualpreparingforacareerincomicsandtheindividualloathetogiveupamateurstatusbutwishingtotakeahobbytoanotherlevel.Additionally,althoughtheinformationisspecificallyslantedtothebuddingcomicsartist,

italsoservesafunctionininstructingthoseinterestedinpursuingcareersinillustrationoradvertisingart.Drawingis,afterall,drawing.So,myfriend,withoutfurtherado,readthebookyouholdinyourhands.

It iswrittenbyaveteranprofessionalwhohas risen to the topofhis field.Readit,enjoyit,and,mostofall, learnfromit.Themorefocusedyouare,themoreyouwilllearn.Remember,thereisnofasttracktobecomingagoodartist. Becoming tops at what you do is almost always a triumph ofperspirationoverinspiration.Itmaybeaslowtrip…butsincethetripishalfthefun,haveagoodtrip.

DickGiordano

FromGordonofGotham#1(June1998).ScriptbyDennisO’NeilandartbyDickGiordanoandKlausJanson.

So you think you want to be a comic book artist? You’ve been readingcomics for years andyouwant todrawyourown stories?Congratulations!You’vejustchosenoneofthemostdifficultartformsavailable.Have you ever looked carefully at the drawings of young children?

Although interesting on many other levels, they do not fulfill therequirements needed to be “effective” drawings. They do not include anyknowledgeofperspective,anatomy,orcomposition.Kids’drawingshavenostructure.Artworkinthefirstcomicbookswasoftencrudeanduninformed.Yetin

thoseearlyyears,whenmostartistswerestrugglingwithbasicdrawingskillsand the language of storytelling, a number of pioneers stood out. WillEisner,JackKirby,HarveyKurtzman,JoeKubert,MiltonCaniff,AlexToth,andothersledcomicsintoamorevisuallyexcitingera.Why?Becausetheyunderstoodtheskillsandlanguageofdrawing.Drawing involves more than a pencil and a sheet of paper. It requires

study. Understanding the various components and disciplines of effectivedrawingdemands a consciousdecision and effort on thepart of the artist.Thesewillnotdevelopbywishfulthinking.Artisalanguage.Tounderstandalanguageistodedicateyourselftothetaskwithresolveandcommitment.Thefollowingchapterswillgiveyouaglimpseofwheretobegin.

ONE

MATERIALS

When I was starting out in the comics industry in the early ’70s, I oftenheard the saying, “A poor artist blames his tools.” For the longest time Ithought this meant that a good artist could overcome his or her lack ofproper equipment and make good art out of anything. It seemed that apassionate and dedicated artist could make art with a stick and somepudding.I still agreewith this theory ingeneral,but itdoesn’tholdupwhen it is

appliedtocomics.Comicbooksaddadimensiontothecreativeprocessthatneutralizes that idea.The fact that comic books are reproduced on amassscale requires a less casual approach to thework thanusing anyold thingthat’slyinginthebackofyourcloset.I’msuresomeonecanmakeartwithastickandsomepudding;it’sjustnotthebestapproachtouseforcomics.The comic bookmedium requires the artist to work withmaterials and

tools thataredesigned for thespecific taskathand.There isabsolutelynoreasonthatanyartistshouldunderminehisorherworkbyusinginadequateequipmentorpreparation.Beingagoodartistincomicsisdifficultenough.Givethemediumtherespectitdeserves!Giveyourselfthechancetosucceedbyusingthepropermaterials.Youwill needpaper to drawon andpencils to drawwith. Some tracing

paperwouldbe veryhelpfulwith the rough sketchesor layouts that everycomic book artist must create. An electric pencil sharpener saves a lot oftime.Ofcourse,you’llneedaneraserortwotoerasemistakesorshapeyourpencildrawings.Rulers, triangles,andcircleandoval templateshelpmaketheworkmuchtighterandmoreprecise.Andyouwillfindthatalightboxisveryhelpful.Thesematerialsareprobablytheminimumthatanartistneedstostartdrawing.Let’slookatthemmoreclosely.

Paper

Thepaperusedbycomicbookartists isusuallysuppliedbythecompaniesthat hire them. It can vary in quality quite a bit depending onwhat paperhousethepublisherordersfrom,but it isalmostalways2-plythick.Thereare two textures: smooth and rough.The smoothpaper is calledplate andhasavery flatandevensurface.Theroughpaperhasmore texture,called“tooth,”onitssurface.Youcandefinitelyfeelthedifferencewhenyouholdthepapersinyourhand.Yourpencilswill also reactdifferently to eachpaper. I find that inboth

pencilling and inking, the work varies greatly depending on what kind ofpaperIuse—notonly intermsofmyline,whichisaffectedbythetexture,butalso in termsofmyown thinking.Because I’mable todraw inamoredelicate and detailed way on smooth paper, I tend to draw smaller. Thecoarsepaper,ontheotherhand,doesn’ttakedetailaswellandforcesmetothinkinlargerandsimplershapes.Eachartisthashisorherownpreferencewhenitcomestothethicknessandfinishofthepaperusedtodrawcomics.Experimentbydrawing the same thingona fewdifferentpapers.Youwillfindthatthesamedrawingcanlookverydifferentonthevariouspapersyoutry.

Thepaperyouchoosewillaffectyourwork.Here,thesame2Bpencilwasusedinbothexamples.Noticehowthetextureofthecoarsepaperisrevealedinthesecondbox.

PaperThickness

Theword“ply”referstothethicknessofthepaper.1-plywouldbethethinnest,2-plyisthickerthan1-ply,3-plyisthickerthan2-ply,etc.Ingeneral,mostcomicpencillersdon’tusepaperthatisthickerthan2-plysothatwhentheyneedtotracethepreliminarysketchesontothepaperusingthelightbox,theycanstillseethroughthepaper.Anyoriginalartthat is painted with oils, acrylics, gouaches, watercolors, or mixedmedia is done on thicker paper that can “hold” the paint withoutcurlingorbuckling.(Forthesepieces,theartisthastobuythepaper.)

The one thing that all of the kinds of paper supplied by comic bookpublishers have in common is the measurements and markings foundaround the edges of each board. These crop marks indicate the space inwhichtheartistshoulddraw.Thereareoftenadditionalmarkingsthatdividethepageinhalforthirdsorquartersbothhorizontallyandvertically.Thesemarks allow the penciller to be sure that his or her measurements areaccurate.Thepagesoffertwoformatsfromwhichtheartistcanchoose.Oneisthe

classiccomicbookpagewithaborderofwhitespacebetweenthedrawingsand the edge of the paper. The second is called ableed page because theartworkbleedsrighttotheedgeoftheprintedpage,leavingnoborderatall.Eachformathasitsgoodandbadpoints.Thelayoutthatbleedshasagreaterchanceofbeingconfusing,especiallyifthere’sanotherbleedpagenexttoit.The reader’s attention tends to drift to the next page because there is noborder to stop the eye movement. On the other hand, the non-bleedapproach is easier to readbutharder toexecute. Iprefer ahappymediumbetween the two. I’lloftenuse thebleedpaperbutnotpush theartall thewaytotheedgeofthepaperjusttomaintainadegreeofseparationbetweenpages. I’ve found that establishing clearbordersmakes thepages easier tofollow.Amixofbleedandnon-bleedpanelsseemstoallowforthegreatestamountofartistic flexibility.Toomuchofanysingleapproachtendstogetboring;artneedsvarietyandcontrasttokeepitlively.The two formats have drawing areas of different sizes. The classic non-

bleedformatis9inchesby14inches.Thatmeansthattheentire9×14–incharea isoccupiedbyart.Theartist isnot required todrawaborderaroundthatspace,sincetheareabeyondthatmeasurementistheborder.Thebleedformat is a bit larger because you draw beyond the central 9 × 14-inchmeasurement. To make the art go all the way to the edge of the printedcomic book page, the artist should fill a spacemeasuring 10 inches by 15inches.

Pencils

Thetypeofpencilyouusewillaffectyourworktremendously.If thesameartistpencilsandinksthework,penciltypeisapersonalchoice.However,ifoneartistworksonthepencilsandasecondartistinksthework,thepencilsneed to be dark enough to be seen by the inker. Outside of this basicrequirement,theartistcanuseanypencilheorshewants.

Thetwooptionsinpencils:thewoodenpencil(top)orthemechanical(above).Eachhasuniquecharacteristics.Experimentwithasmanyasyoucantofindtherightpencilandleadforyou.

Lookat the sideof thepencil youare currentlyusing.You should seealetter, a number, and thenameof the companywhomanufactures it. Theletterreferstooneofthreecategories:Hishardlead,Bissoftlead,andFisthedivisionbetween the two.Whenwe refer to a leadas ahard lead, it isliterally that: physically hard. The hardest leads can dig into the paper,creating indentations that canmake inking or erasing difficult. The softerleadsseemtoglideeffortlesslyon topof thepaper,withoutcutting into it.Theredoesnothavetobeacorrelationbetweenhardanddarkorsoftandlight.The softestpencils areoften thedarkest.Thebasis foryourdecisionwillbe,inlargepart,simplypersonaltaste.Youshouldalwaysworkwiththematerials that provide the best-looking job and make you the mostcomfortable.Thenumberonapencil refers to thedarknessof the lead.So, since the

letterreferstohowhardorsofttheleadis,a6Hpencilisveryhardandvery,verylight.Nomatterhowmuchyoupressdown,thepencillinewillneverbedark. Be aware of the fact that the further you go into the B section, theharderitistoinkanderase.Bpencilshavevaryingamountsofclayinthem.Theclayformsabarrierbetweenthepaperandtheinkandpreventstheink

frombeingabsorbedbythepaper.Theinkermighthavetoreinksomeofthepagebecausetheinkitselfisliftedoffthepaperalongwiththepencilwhenyoutrytoerasethepage.Inmyownwork,Imightusea2Htogetsomeoftheroughshapesdown

onpaperandthenuseanHoranHBpenciltofinishthedrawing.IfIpencilfor myself, I will use a softer lead, because it allows me to draw a moregraceful,fluidline.Ifsomeoneelseinksmypencils,Iwilluseaharderleadbecauseitsmearsmuchless.Oncethepencilsstarttosmear,theworkmaybecomeunclearfortheinker.

Thevariousleadweightsusedonsmoothpaper.Thelighterleadsdon’tsmearbutcanbedifficulttosee.Thedarkerweightsareverydiscerniblebutcansmearquiteabit.

There is also a special blue pencil that many professionals use for theunderdrawing.Unlikeregulargraylead,whichmustbeerasedfromthepagebeforeit’ssenttotheprinterssothatitdoesn’tshowupintheprintedbook,theblue leadwillnot reproduce, so it doesn’thave tobe erased.Thebluepencilisusefulfortheearlyworkofdefiningbordersandlayinginthebasicpositioningofshapesonthepagebeforeanypencillingbegins.Itallowsthepencillertolayoutapagewithouttheconfusinglayersofthevariouspencildensities.You’llwant tokeepallyourpencils sharp inorder torender thesmaller

figures, faces, and details of your drawings. Investing in an electric pencilsharpener is a worthwhile idea; I almost doubledmywork outputwhen Ibought one! It saves a lot of time! Along the same lines, don’t ignoremechanical pencils. They come in all the same varieties of darkness andsoftnessaswoodenpencilsbutareconsistentlysharpandreadytogo.Youshould experiment with all of the different pencil possibilities. What youshoulduseoftenreally justcomesdowntowhatyoufeelmostcomfortableusing. When you get to the point where you have discovered what yourfavoritematerialsare,youwillbeabletodoyourbestwork.

Erasers

Thereareerasersonthemarketformanydifferenttasks:pickinguprubbercement,erasinglead,cleaningfilm,etc.Mybasicruleis:Gettheeraserthat’sright for your job. Also, don’t think that the simple eraser is used just toerasemistakes.Ialwayscutasliverofaneraseroffanduseitintheprocessofdrawing.SometimesI’msearchingforaboundaryoraformandI’llhavelaiddowntoomanylinestoseetheshapeanymore.I’lltakethesharpendofthelittleeraserIcutawayandfeelmywayaroundtheshapewithit,peelingawaylayersofgrayuntilIgetbacktowhereIwantthedrawingtobe.Thisiscalledscumbling.Drawingwith theeraser isahandytechniquetoput intopractice.

Erasers

RulersandTemplates

Aruler isa totalnecessity.Ever trydrawingastraight linewithoutone,orrulingborders?Getan18-inchruler ifyoucan.It’sbigenoughtoworkinthe10×15–inchspaceofacomicpageandallowsyoutodoanylineinonestroke.The larger ruler is alsohelpfulwhen the vanishingpoint is off thepage(moreonthatinChapter6,“Perspective”).

Straight-edgeruler

Buttherulerisonlybeneficialwhenyouneedastraightedgetorenderastraight line.Whataboutcurvesandcircles?For thatcontingencywehavetemplates,Frenchcurves,andflexi-curves.

Frenchcurves

Flexi-curve

Templates are sheets of plasticwith shapes punched out of them. Theycome in a varietyof sizes, andbigger art supply storesusually carrymanydifferent shapes. Iusually justbuy theoneswithcirclesandovals in thembecause the other forms, like squares or rectangles, can be drawn betterusing a ruler.Nothingbeats a template, though, for giving a curved shapenice,smoothedges.Trydrawinganovalfreehand,andthendrawoneusingatemplate.Thefirstonewillbeshakyandinaccurate.Theonedrawnwithatemplatewillbesmoothandprecise.

Ovaltemplate

Triangles

Atriptoyourlocalartsupplystorecanbequiteanadventure.Gotothebiggestandmost reputableone inyourarea.Walkupanddown theaislesandlookateverything.Holdstuffinyourhandsandexamineit.Doesitfeelcomfortabletoyou?Askquestions.Aboveall,experiment!Don’tbeafraidtotrynewmaterials, newapproaches. If youdonothave a large selectionofsupplies in your town, get a catalogue or search on-line. You can orderanythingusingeithermethod,andshouldhavenotroublegettingthebasicmaterialsyouneedtostartyourcareer.

TWO

SHAPES

Probablythesinglemostimportantinsightintothecreationofanyworkofvisual art is the recognition that there is always someunderlying structurethatorganizesthedifferentelementsintoanunderstandablemessage.Whennon-artists lookatamovie,painting,orcomicbook, theyexaminewhat ismostobvious—thesurface.We’veallheardourfriendsmakecommentslike“Cool special effects!” or “Look at that crooked smile,” or “Awesomecostume!” But what they see is, for the artist, the end of a very long andcomplicated series of choices. They do not see themost enjoyable part ofcreating—theprocess.Letmesharewithyouthefoundationofthecreativeact:Everythingstarts

fromageneralconceptandmovestoaveryspecificone.Weallworkfrombig to small. No artist I know sits down and startswith the finished page;everyone startswith a layout, a sketch,or even just a thought. If someonedumped all thematerials youneeded to build a house on your front lawnandtoldyoutobuildone,youprobablycouldn’t.Whatwouldbemissingistheknowledgeof theprocess, thesequenceofevents that leadstoastrongand functioning house. In the case of a building, wewould start with thefoundationandbuildup.Incomics,theartistalsostartswithafoundation.It’scalledashape.

Thebasicshapesrenderedinsuchawayastoapproximatethree-dimensionalreality.

Thesearethebasicshapeseveryartistneedstoknow:acube,acylinder,asphere,andapyramid.Notice Ididnotsaycircle, square,or triangle.Canyou guess why? The forms were chosen because of their three-dimensionality.Theyallhaveheight,width,anddepth.Theabilitytocreatethreedimensionsonatwo-dimensionalpieceofpapergoestotheheartofaproblemartistshavebeenwrestlingwithsincethebeginningoftime.The storyteller has the responsibility to recreate the three physical

dimensionsweexperienceinreallife.Theillusiontheartistcreateshelpsthereader to believe in the story. It’s essential to create an environment thatreaderscanaccept;itkeepsthemfocusedonthenarrative,whichotherwisemightgetlostintheconfusionofbadart.Rememberthatpaperonlyhastwodimensions (height andwidth, butnodepth).Thebestdrawings are thosethatriseabovethelimitationsofworkinginatwo-dimensionalmedium,andcreatetheillusionofthethirddimension:depth.

Withoutacontext,ashapeonlyrefersbacktoitself;itrelatestonothing.Otherthantheshapeitself,nofurtherinformationisavailable.

Oncethebordersuppliesacontext,anothershapeiscreated.Thisareaiscallednegativespace.Eventhoughonlyoneshapeisdrawn,twoshapesareactuallycreated.However,verylittleinformationcanbediscernedabouttheoriginalshape.

Introducinganothershapeintothepanelonlyaddsonepieceofinformation:thetwoformsareatanangletoeachother.Size,position,anddepthstillcannotbeascertained.

Assoonasoneshapeoverlapsanother,weseethefirsthintofdepth.Thoughwedon’tknowthesizeoftheobjectsorthedistancebetweenthem,theillusionofthree-dimensionalityhasbeencreated.

Shapeshavenomeaning,however,withoutacontext—thatis,iftheyarenotattachedorconnectedtoanything.It’swhenyouputashapeinaframeandstart toorganize thespatial relationships thatyoucanstart todescribesomeofitscharacteristics.Oncewehavesomewayof“locating”it(usingthepanelbordersasareference)weareabletotellsomethingaboutthatshape.Oncewehavedefinedtheexistenceofoneshapeinthecontextofapanel,

wehaveautomatically createdanother shape: the space that surrounds thefirstshape.Thisiscallednegativespace.Thistermisjustacomplexwayofindicatingthattheintroductionofashapeintoapanelcreatesanotherspacethat affects the first shape. The two spaces are in a primary visual andcompositionalrelationship.Ifwedrawanothershapeintothenegativespace,therelationshipbetween

positive and negative space changes. Now, the primary connection isbetween the two intentional forms within the panel. The negative spacedoesn’t seem as strong, and it falls into a secondary relationship with theother shapes.The introductionofa secondshapegives the reader the firstpieceofinformation:theshapesareatanangletoeachother.Wecanseeiftheyarepositionedatanangleorareparalleltothepanelborders.Workingatthisbasiclevelallowstheartisttomaketheimportantdecisionsthatwillimpacttheartrightuptothefinish.

DarwynCookeusesthecircleasadesignelementonthiscoverforBatmanGothamKnights#12(February2001).NoticehowinthisandtheOrioncoverthecirculardesignisbrokenbyaforegroundelement.Inthiscase,Batmanandthechimneycreatetheillusionofdepthbybeingplacedinfrontofthecirculardesign.

ThiscoverforOrion#14(July2001)byWaltSimonsonveryeffectivelyusesshapestotellastory.Itconsistsofaseriesofcircles(mostprominently,theEarth)andonediagonal.Thearcofthefingertipsalsoformsacircle.Theheadinthelowerleftcornerispartofacirclethatbleedsoffthepage.Noticeanothercircleunderneaththethumbandanotheronethatcontainsthecovercopy.ThediagonalofOrionentersthecompositionalcircleofthefingertips.Noticehowthefiguredeliberatelyoverlapsthethumb;thatoverlapgivestheentiresceneagreatdealofdepth.

Wecangatheracertainamountofinformationfromeachoftheexamplesonthispageandthispage.Theinformationgarneredfromthefirstimageisfairlyminimal.Inthesecondimage,wecantellthattheshapeexistswithinsome other space, but no more than that. Even when a second shape is

introduced(inthethirdimage),thereisnotagreatdealofinformationtobelearned.It’sonlywhenweplaceoneshapeinfrontof theother—whenweuseoverlappingshapes (inthefourthimage)—thatsomebasicinformationcanbeascertained.Nowwecanmakeaneducatedguessastowhichshapeisin the foreground.We also know that one shape is in front of the other.Applyingthetheoryofoverlappingshapesinastoryhelpstocommunicatecritical information to the reader about depth and the illusion of threedimensions.Soweseethatshapesinfluencetwoveryimportantpartsofstorytelling:1)

Shapes are the literal foundation of the drawing. They allow the artist toconstructasubjectorobjectfromitsbasicstructureuptothesmallestdetail;and 2) Shapes convey information about their own size, shape, andrelationshiptothespacesorshapesaroundthem.

THREE

FACES

Communicating information is always the first priority of a storyteller. Ithinkanartistshouldfocuseveryaspectofhisorherartonfurtheringthatonegoal:transferringinformationfromthepagetothereader.Someoftheinformation, like time or place, is relatively easy to convey visually.Informationofapersonalnature,suchassomeone’scharacter, feelings,orhistory,ismoredifficulttorepresent.Ifthere’sanychanceofachievingthatgoal, itwillbe through the information theartistdrawson the facesof thecharacters.We begin where we always begin with any drawing: the construction.

Construction is the blueprint, the underdrawing, upon which the artistrenders the final drawing. Every creative person I know works from theground up, from the big to small, from the general to the specific. Theexecutionofartisacontinualprocessofchangeandgrowth.Thedrawingisbuiltupby layers.So itmakessense thatwhenwedrawfaces,oranythingelseforthatmatter,westartwiththesimplestshapesandbuildup.Rememberthesebasictips:•Theeyesshouldlineupwiththetopoftheears•Thelengthofthenoseshouldbeaboutthesameasthelengthoftheears•Thehairlineshouldstartaboutanose-lengthabovetheeyesObviously, some faces don’t follow these rules, so you shouldn’t follow

them rigidly, either. And in general, when you look closely at a real orrealisticallydepictedhead,youwillnoticethatitisnotspherical,butratherconsistsofmanycurvesandangles,knownasplanes.Asyoumovetowardamore complex interpretationof thehead, itwill benecessary to knowandunderstandthispartoftheconstructioninordertodrawinamorerealisticandconvincingway.

Thefundamentalshapethatbestrepresentstheheadistheoval.Let’sdrawone.

Divideitinhalfvertically—thenosewillappearonthisaxis.

Drawahorizontallineaboutone-thirdfromthetop.Thatiswheretheeyeswillgo.

Themouthispositionedhalfwaybetweenthenoseandchin.

Althoughthesmoothovalbeginsthefacialconstruction,thefaceactuallyconsistsofmanyplanesandangles.

Acriticalpartofbeingabletodrawabelievablefaceistheabilitytodrawitaccurately and consistently nomatterwhat the angle.Heads and faces arealmost always the center of attention in a panel—you really have to workhard to shift the focal point away from the face. So the more time andattentiontheartistcangivetoaface,thegreatertherewards!Perspective may not be the first thing you think of when you think of

heads or faces, but just consider the possibility of drawing a face withoutusing perspective. I wouldn’t know how or where to begin! Once yourecognizethattheheadisathree-dimensionalobject,perspectiveisthemostnatural route to choose in its construction. All of the moving and non-movingpartsof theheadneed tobedrawn inperspective in thesamewaythatthehumanfigureneedstobedrawninperspective.When themouth is open, for instance, the teethmust be aligned in the

correctperspectiveandrelationship to thehead itself. I’veseena lotofartthatcouldhavebeensavediftheartistknewhowtoapplytheprinciplesofperspective.Inadditiontomakingsureyourfacesareanatomicallycorrect,youhave

todevote someattention toanother layerof information:characterization.

It’s important to establish visual clues that provide some insight into yourcharacters’ individualpersonalities. InWesternsof the 1940sand1950s,aconsistentvisualcluewasthecolorofthehatsthecharacterswore:blackhatmeantbadguy,whitehatmeantgoodguy.Thebadguywasunshaven;theherolookedcleanandpure.Audienceswereabletoestablishveryearlyonwhowasonwhatsidebythewaythecharacterslookedanddressed.

JoeKubertusesavarietyofinklinestoemphasizetheshapeandvolumeofthepilot’sface.FromStarSpangledWarStories#141(October1968).ScriptbyRobertKanigher.

Anadvocateofconstructionandunderdrawing,GilKaneuseslightingtoemphasizetheanglesandplanesofthefacetocreatedepth,volume,andweight.Noticetheoverlappingshapeofthelampshadeinfrontoftheshadowofthewindow.Hadtheblackshadowbeenplacedabovetheshade,theillusionofdepthwouldnothavebeenasstrong.FromActionComics#546(August1983).ScriptbyMarvWolfman.

Thoughtheheadmaybetiltedatanglesunfamiliartousineverydaylife,thelawsofperspectivemuststillbefollowed.Notethatfacialfeaturesstilllineupwiththeircorrespondingcounterparts.

Thelightingonthisfacecreatesagreatsenseofvolume.Thesideoftheheadisparticularlyeffective;itseemstorecedeintothebackofthepanel.Thecreationofdepthcontinuesinotherpartsofthepanel.Intheforeground,theshelf,bookbracket,hand,andbookcreateacompositionalframeinfrontofthescene,pushingthesmallerfiguresatleftintothemiddleandbackgroundofthepanel.FromTheBraveandtheBold#83(April1969).ScriptbyBobHaneyandartbyNealAdams.

Clothesandcostumescanworkveryeffectivelyasvisualshorthand.Morecomplex characterization, however, takes place on the face and head. Inadditiontoindicatingaspectsofthepersonality,thefacehasthecapacitytoreveal a character’s emotions at a given moment. Nothing could be moreclearandexcitingthanthat.Theartistneedsthefacetocommunicatethosefeelings to the reader.Awhitehat on ahero is iconographic.Glasseson acharactermay indicate amore studious, reservednature. Pigtails on a girlmay be a symbol of her innocence. Don’t waste an opportunity to usephysical traits to represent character. An artist needs to be creative andimaginative in communicating personal information. A weak chin, big orsmallears,longorshorthair,andaunibrowallarephysicalfacialtraitsthatmay indicate character.Whatever specific look or symbol is chosen, therecanbenodoubtthatthequickestroutetothereader’sattentionistheface.

Eyes

Of all of the facial components, the most expressive is the eyes. Whenlookingatadrawingofthehumanfigure,thevieweralwaysnoticestheheadandfacefirst.Bythesametoken,whenlookingataheadshot,mostpeopletendtolookattheeyesfirst.

Aroughapproximationofhowtheeyeballsitsintheskull.

Awhileago,Itookpartinapaneldiscussionatacomicbookconventionwithsomeotherstorytellers.Theaudiencewasthrowingsomequestionsatus.Ahandshotupandsomeoneasked,“Whatisthehardestthingtodraw?”Anartistonthepanelrespondedbysaying,“Theothereye.”Hewentontosayhowdifficultitwastomatchtheeyesup.Later,thismademethinkthatperhapstryingtokeepthemalikewasthe

realmistake.ThemoreIstudiedtheeye,themoreconvincedIbecamethatIwas on the right track. The only time that we can reasonably attempt or

expecttohavetheeyesmatchexactlyiswhenthefaceislookingstraightatthecamera.Iftheheadstartsmovinginanydirectionotherthanstraighton,theeyeswillnevermatch.Eacheyemustrespondtothedifferentpositionsandanglesoftheface.

Theeyeinthesocketwithoutskin.

Theeyewithskin.Nowyoucanseetheshapetheskintakesaroundtheeyeballandsocket.

Theeyeballmoveswithinthesocket,whiletheiris—thecoloredportionofthe eye—is locked into position on the eyeball. It cannot moveindependentlyof theeyeball.Howmuchof the irisweseedependson theangleofthehead.Iftheheadistiltedbackortheeyeballshaverolledupintothehead,weseeonlythewhitepartoftheeye.Theirisiscovered.

GilKaneuseseverycomponentofvisualstorytellingtocommunicateinformationtothereader.Hereheusestheeyes,thebodylanguage,andthecompositionalopposingangletoreflecttheemotionalstatesofthecharacters.FromCaptainAction#4(April1969).

FOUR

ANATOMY

Oneofthereasonscomicartisoneofthemostdifficultofallartformsistheamountofknowledge theartistmustpossess.Acomicbookstorytellerhasresponsibilities equivalent to those of an entire movie cast, crew, andproduction staff rolled into one, and delegation isn’t possible. Research,equipment,lighting,costumedesign,choreography,editing,setdesign,anddirectingareallapartofthestoryteller’sjob.Inordertobesuccessful,comicbookartistsalsohavetobeabletodraw

thefigurecredibly,nomatterwhattheposeorangle.Thatmeansthattheyneedasolidgraspofhumananatomy—abettergraspthantheywouldneedfor,say,storyboardingoradvertising.Astoryboardisasketchthatservesasabridgebetween thescriptand the finished image.Thesketchesareoftenrough and incomplete; a simple shape will sometimes suffice. This earlystage of a comic book is not meant to be seen by the public. Advertisinganatomyalsotendstobeuncomplicated,becauseadvertisersandcomicbookpublishers have far different needs. In a comic book, the figuresmust beusedtotellastory—notjusttosellthelatesthairdryer.One of the advantages of comic book anatomy is that it allows a wider

spectrum of anatomical interpretation than othermedia or areas of study.Comicartistshavethefreedomtodrawthehumanbodyinavarietyofstyles.Thebasicproportionsofthehumanbodycanbeexaggeratedanddistortedin comic book art. There is no single standard as inmedical anatomy, forinstance,whichmustbeverypreciseandexact.Thisisnottosuggestthattheartistcan ignore thestudyofbasicanatomy.Thepersonal interpretation isbuiltontopofrealisticanatomyandisnotmeanttobeareplacementforit.Try to remember that the quest for ideal anatomy comes second to

developing the storytelling ability. Storytellers can fulfill the desire to

communicateeveniftheirdrawingskillsareimmature.Knowinghowtousesequentialimagestoreachthereadercanalwayssavecrudedrawing.Agreatdrawing, nomatter how beautiful, is useless unless you knowwhat to dowithit.Therearemanylayerstothestudyofhumananatomy.Thischapterdeals

with two of them: the structure and design of the human body; and itsmovementandbalance.Knowledgeofbothareasservesas the foundationfordrawingallfigures,whethertheyaredressedassuperheroesorwearingstreetclothes.

StructureandDesign

To start drawing the human form, you will need to build up from thecommonshapeswementioned inChapter2.Aswe’ve learned, thehead isbuilt up fromanoval shape.There are a fewmore shapes involved in theconstructionofthebody.Inmyownapproachtoanatomicalconstruction,Iusetheoval,triangle,andrectangle.Traditionalconstructionsuggestsusinganovalor abarrel shape for the chest and torsoareas. Iprefer touse twoshapesintandemwitheachother:atriangleandarectangle.Aftersketchingintheovalforthehead,Idrawaneckandplaceahorizontallinebelowittoindicatewheretheclavicleandshouldersare.Ithendrawtwolinestoformatriangle.Thistellsmethewidthoftheshouldersandlocatesthechest,bellybutton,andpubiclinedownthefrontofthefigure.

Ihaveprovidedasimpleexampleofthevariousstagesofhumanconstruction.Remembertoalwaysworkfromgeneraltospecific.

Afteraddingthetriangle,Isnapinarectangularshapetoapproximatetheshapeof theabdominalarea.Thebottomofthatrectangleshouldbeaboutwherethetopofthepelviswillbe.I’llusethebonesofthearmsandlegstotellmethecurveorangleofthelimbsandbuildmuscleontothem.

Forthemale,Iuseafigurethatisbetween8and9headshigh.Ithinkofan 8-head-high body as about 5 feet 10 inches high. Nine heads high isabout6feet4inches.Thatrangebetweenaverageandheroiciscomfortabletome.Obviously, therearebodies thatgobelowor above thoseestimates.Part of the fun of visual communication is deciding the look of yourcharacters, including their height andweight. In the process of drawing acharacter,theartistisconstantlyadjustingthefigure.Thesesuggestedheadlengthsarenotmeant tohinderyourcreativityorgoagainstyourpersonaljudgement. Draw your character first, then use these measurements as areferencepointinyourfinaldecision-makingprocess.

Thisdiagramsuggestssomeofthedifferencesbetweenaheroicfigureandonethatismorerealistic.Theidealromanticleadisdrawn9headshigh.Therealisticfigureisapproximately8headshigh,butisnotsimplyasmallerversionoftheheroicfigure.Forexample,notethatthehorizontallineshitdifferentpointsineachbody.

Athree-sidedviewofa9-head-highwoman.Attheseproportions,thiswouldconstituteananatomicallyheroicfigure.Inreallifewomenaren’tusuallyquitethattall.Rememberthatmanyofthepeopleyoudrawwillbebeloworabovethe8-or9-headproportion.Individualityisakeyqualityforallyourcharacters.Picktheheightandbodytypethatbestfitthesubject.

Thebodyheightofawomanhastheequivalentproportions.An8-head-high female is the equivalent of about 5 feet 8 inches. The 9-head-highfemaletranslatestoabout6feet1inch.Themale and female body share somebasic similarities. In general, the

muscles of the arms and legs are structured the same in both genders.However, there are some notable differences between male and femaleanatomies,especiallyinthepelvicregionandthechestarea.The female form has a larger pelvis, which makes for a much rounder

mid-section than that of aman.This is clearly visible in the front view.Awoman’sbellybuttonshouldalsobedrawnabithigherthanaman’s,andawoman’swaist shouldbe smaller thanamalewaist.The sideviewoffersaglimpseof anotherdifference that actually accounts for thedifferencesweseefromthefrontview:themalepelvis isalmosthorizontalwiththefloor,whilethefemalepelvismaintainsamuchgreaterangletothehorizontal.

Oneofthebiggestdifferencesbetweenmaleandfemaleanatomyisinthestructureofthetorso.Aswecanseehere,female(left)andmaletorsosendindifferentanglesabovethethigh.Intandemwiththehigherfemalewaist,thisstructuraldifferenceaccountsformuchofthephysicalcontrastbetweenthegenders.

The torso contains a few differences also. Both men and women havepectoralmuscles—pectoralismajor—onthechest.Strippeddowntojustthemuscle of the body, the torsos of both genders look alike. The femalehowever,hasbreaststhatcoverthepectorals.Becausethechestareaofbothmenandwomenaredividedintotwo, theyareshapesthatdonotemanatefromthebodyatthesameangle.

Alotofbeginningartistsaren’tawarethatthechestareacomesatthecameraatanangleinbothmenandwomen.Manyinsistondrawingthenipplesparallelandidentical,whichtheyarenot.Ignoringtheanglesofthechestaffectstherestoftheanatomy,ultimatelyleadingtoanunconvincinganatomicalinterpretation.

HeadandNeck

The head is attached to the body by the neck. There are a few majorlandmarksthatyouneedtoknowtocrediblyillustratethatconstruction.Thetwosternomastoidmusclesextenddownfromrightbehindeachear to thefrontoftheneck,wheretheymeetinthemiddle.Together,theycontroltheup-and-downmovementofthehead,whileusingoneatatimeenablestheheadtomovefromsidetoside.

Atthebackoftheneckarethetrapeziusmuscles.Theyareattachedtothebottomof the skull andextendbothdownward toabouthalfwaydown theback and sideways (forming awing-like shape) to the top of the shoulderbone,wherethetipsconnect.Fromthesideview,it’sapparentthattheneckhasanangledaxisthrustingbothdownwardandback.

A big difference between male and female necks is the Adam’s apple,technicallyknownasthethyroidcartilage.AcommonmisconceptionisthatwomendonothaveAdam’sapples.Whilethisisnottrue,itistruethatthefemaleAdam’sappleissmallenoughtoappearnonexistent.

Youcanclearlyobservetheman’sAdam’sappleinthisrenderingofthemaleandfemaleneck.

Torso

Thetorsoistheareabetweenthecollarboneandthewaist.Fromthefront,itconsistsoftwomainparts:theribcageandtheabdomen.Immediatelybelowthecollarboneandabovetheribcagearethechestmuscles.Thebottomofthe male chest is usually at about the same level as the bottom of theshouldermuscles.Whenthearmsaredownatthesides,themalepectoralscovertheexpanseoftheupperribcage.Whenthearmsmoveup,however,you’llnoticethatthepartofthechestthatremainsattachedtotheribcageisonlyfromthenipple inward.Thesidesof thepecmuscleflareupwiththearmsandformsaconcaveareabetweenitandthelatmuscle.

Afewother torso landmarkscanbeused toguideyou toamorecorrectanatomy.Theribcagestartsaninchortwobelowtheclavicleandendsjustabove the belly button. It forms an upside-down U-shape in the front.Startingbehindthebottomoftheribcageandreachingtothepubicareaaretheabdominalmuscles,whichshouldbeabitnarrowerthanthewidthofthechestbetweenthenipples.

Ashotofthemalefigurewitharmslifted.Noticehowtheedgeofthelatissimusdorsipuffsup,formingabowlshapebetweenitandthepectoralmuscle.Amusclecanchangeshapeorsizebutitiscriticaltorememberthatitneverdetachesfromthebonetowhichitisanchored.

Besides the neck, the abdominal muscle (rectus abdominis) has thegreatestrangeof flexibilityofanymuscle in thebody.Theabdominalscanstretchupandappear flatorcompressso that theysqueezeon topofeachotherandappearmorerounded.Itisanexampleofhowthemusclesinthehumanbodycanlookdifferentdependingontheangle,lighting,ormuscletension.

Back

Thebackoftheribcageholdsahugemassofmuscle.We’veseenthatthetrapezius,extendingdownandoutfromthebackoftheskull,formsasmallV shape on the upper third of the back. It connects to the top of theshoulders,whichareconsiderablylargerwhenviewedfromtheback.

To the side and below the trapezius lies the latissimus dorsi, or the lat.ThisisthemusclethatgivesthemaletorsoataperedorV-shapedlook.Thelatswraparoundthesideofthebodyfromthetrapeziustotheribcage.Inthesamewaythatyoumightthinkoftheabdominalsassnappingintotheribcage,thinkoftheribcageassnappingintothelargerwingshapeoftheback.

Arms

Thearmhasfourdistinctparts:theshoulder,thebicepsandtricepsarea,theforearm,and thehand.Theshoulderhas threesections: the front,middle,andback.Whenthearmsareatrest,themajorityoftheshouldermassisatthefrontofthebody.Asthearmsarelifted,moreofthemassshifts tothebackofthefigure.

Threeseparatepartsoftheshouldergrouping:thefront,middle,andback.

Thebottomof themiddle part of the shoulder always slips in the spacebetween the biceps and the triceps where it meets the brachialis. Somepeopleareunder the impression that thebiceps is thedominantmuscleoftheupperarm.Itdoeshaveareputationforbeingtheglamourmuscle,butit’sthetricepsthatisthelargerofthetwo.Fromthefrontview,onlyasliverofthetricepscanbeseen.Butfromthesideandback,youcanseewhatanimportant role the triceps muscle has in the appearance of the arm. Thebicepsiscompletelyobscuredbythetricepsfromthebackviewandseemstoshrinkincomparison.Fromtheside,youcanseethatthetricepsandbicepsareseparatedbythe

brachialis. In between the brachialis and the triceps lies the top of theforearm.Thismuscle,calledtheflexorcarpiradialis,startsabitmorethanhalfwaydownthebicepsandcontinuestotheinsideofthewrist.The forearm ismorecomplicated than theupperarm. It is composedof

fifteenmuscles,whereastheupperarmhassixandtheshoulderonlythree.Thereisarailwayofflexortendonsthattraveldownthemiddleofthefrontandback of the forearm, pass through thewrist cable, andproceed to thetipsofthefingers,wheretheycontrolthemovementofthehand.Movethefingersofonehandwhileyourotherhandisrestingonyourforearm.Youshouldbeabletofeeltheflexorsworkingastheymovethefingers.

Whenthearmsareatrest,mostofthedeltoidisseenfromthefront,butwhenthearmsarelifted,theshouldermassesshiftmostlytothebackofthebody.

Whenoneindividualbodypartmoves,itmovestheotherpartstowhichitisattached.Inthetwodrawingstotheleft,whenthehandistwisted,itforcestheentireforearmintoanewposition.

TimSaleexaggerateshumananatomytocreateaneffectiveandaccuraterenditionofthebody.

FromBatmanLongHalloween#5(April1997).ScriptbyJephLoeb.

Hands

If the face remains the most effective way of visually communicatinginformationabouttheemotionsandpersonalityofyoursubject,thesecond-bestway is through theuseofexpressivehands.The faceandhandsoftenworkasateam,butthereisalsooftenagoodstorytellingreasonfortheartistto show just hands. The image should be able to communicate somethingaboutthecharacter—itcanbeassimpleasdrawingthedifferencesbetweenmaleandfemalehands.Findingtherighthandstofityourcharacterisapartofstorytelling.The length of a character’s hand should be roughly equivalent to the

length of its head. Getting the proportions right will add a tremendousamount of credibility to your drawing. Keep a mirror near your drawingtableanduseyourownhandasareferencewheneveryougetstuck.

Thehandisapproximatelythesizeofthehead.

Aswediscoveredintheearlierpartsofthischapter,itisbesttoworkfromageneralshapedowntoamoredetailedimage.Thepalmtakesupabitmorethanhalfofthehand,butifyouusethebaseofthepinkieasthehalf line,you’reonsafeground.Asyouknow,thefingersandthumbaredividedintothreesectionseach.Noticethatwhenthefingersaresplayedopen,thehandappearstobeintheshapeofawingorafan;thesectionsofthefingerslineupwitheachother,creatinganarc.

Onearminthesamepositionseenseveraldifferentways.Left:Thearmandhandasweknowthemfromreallife.Center:Theskeletalview.Right:Aviewrevealingthemusclesandtendons.

Hands, like many other parts of comic book anatomy, are oftenexaggerated to make a point. The hand of a male character is larger androugher that that of a female character. Some artists draw the hand in asquareandangularwaytoconveymasculinity.Awoman’shandissmaller,smoother,andlessangular.In the skeletal view, the fingers seem to continuedownwithin thepalm

until theymeet at thewrist in a grouping of bones known as the carpals.

Dependingonthepositionofthehand,thecarpalscanformakindoframponthebackofthehandwhichservesasatransitionpointbetweenthehandandtheforearm.Whenthehandistippedback,therampflattensoutagainstthehandand

disappears.Drawinghandswellmayat times involve agreatdealof foreshortening.

Thedrawingsthatfollowshowhowdramaticallydifferentthehandcanlookdepending on its position. Don’t forget the fingernails! They are solidcommunicatorsofwhatthehandisdoingandwhatpositionit’sin.

Becauseheadsandhandsarethemostexpressivepartsofthehumananatomy,theyareoftenusedtogethertoreinforcetheemotionalstateofthecharacter.

Men’shandsareusuallyportrayedinanexaggeratedway.Comicsuseexaggeration,distortion,andforeshorteningforbothcharacterizationanddrama.Oneofthefreedomsthatartistshaveisthefreedomtoignorereality.Distortionorexaggerationcanbeveryeffectiveinthismedium.

Althoughitappearsinthemuscle-and-skinhandthatthefingersstopatthebeginningofthepalm,intheskeletalhanditisclearthatthebonesactuallycontinueuntiltheymeetthecarpals.Also,notethatthearcofthefingertipsisreplicatedbythearcoftheindividualdigitsineachfinger.

Likemen’shands,women’shandsareoftenexaggeratedincomicbookart.Theyarerenderedslimmerandlongerthanrealityusuallyoffers.

Thesetwosequencesofthreepanelseachhighlighthowimportanthandsandheadsare.Drawnbydifferentartistsatdifferenttimes,theyrevealasimilarityinapproachandtheory.Bothuseheadsandhandsexclusivelytocommunicatetheinformationandactionofthescene.InthesequencefromAllStarWestern#4(February1971)(top),notehowspecificGilKaneisinhisexecution.Thebackgroundfiguresinpanel2,forinstance,havefullyrealizedandveryspecificemotionsthatcanbeconveyedtothereader.Thelefthandofthecharacterinthethirdpanelisanicecontrasttotheclosedfiststhroughoutmostofthesequence.Gilalsotellsusbytheopenfingersthatthisguyislosinghisgriponpowerandstrength.JoeKubert(bottom)keepsthefocusononeheadandonehandperpanelinthissequencefromOurArmyatWar#193(May1968).Thetightfocusandtherepeatingrhythmhelptobuildtensionwitheverypunchthatlands.

TwoFlashcoversfromverydifferentperiodsshowushowasceneorapanelcanincludejustaheadorhandandstillbeeffective.Flash#171(April2001)coverbyBrianBolland.Flash#163(July1966)coverbyCarmineInfantinoandJoeGiella.

Trunk

Thepelvisandabdominalmusclesaremyanatomicalanchor.Athletesandbodybuildersoftensaythatthesourceoftheirstrengthoriginatesfromthispartofthebody.Itrytoincorporatethatprincipleintomyfiguredrawing.Itis the twists and turns of the pelvis and torso reacting to each other thatdeterminewhetherornotyour figurewillbeactiveorpassive,dynamicorweak.Thepelvisremainsaconstantrectangleshapeanddoesnotchangenomatterwhatpositionthebodyisin.

AbeautifulcoverforTomahawk#123(August1969)byNealAdamsshowshisincrediblemasteryoveranatomy.Noticehowthetorsoisrocksolid.Italmostappearstobeasquare.Adams’sunderstandingofthehumanformallowshimtodrawthebodyinanyposition.Heisabletodrawanatomycorrectly,compensateforthemovementofmusclegroups,andstillexaggerateanddistortwithanatomicalaccuracy.

Legs

Belowthepelvisarethelegs.Therearefourdistinctpartstoboththemaleand female leg: the upper leg, the knee, the lower leg, and the foot. Theupper leg isdominated in the frontby three teardrop-shapedmuscles thatextendfromthehipdowntotheknee.Itisalsothelargestmassofmuscleontheleg.Thekneeisthejointthatallowsthelegtobend.Alotofartistsdrawthekneetoosmall,especiallyonmalefigures.It isacrucialpartof the legandcanbequiteeffectiveingivingthelegbulkandstability.

Fromtherearview,thekneeishiddenfromview.Aseriesofmusclesandtendons connect the back of the upper leg to the side of the knee joint,obstructingtheviewofthekneebone.Onethingthatismoreclearfromtheback is that the legsdonot startbelow thepelvis.Theyactually start rightbelowtheobliquemusclesbetweenthebellybuttonandthepubis.Despitethe commonly accepted notion that the legs emerge from the trunk andbuttocks,youcanseefromthebackviewthatthebuttfitsintothelegsandthelegisthedominantmusclegroup.Thelowerleg—fromthekneetotheankle—hasafewidiosyncrasiesthat

neverchange.Thecalves, for instance,appearuneven fromboth the frontand the back. Unless the leg is at an angle such that perspective andforeshortening create the illusion of symmetry, the two sides of each calfalways remain uneven. The outside of the calf is always higher than theinsideof thecalf.At the same time, theanklebone isalwayshigheron theinsideofthelegthanontheoutside.Thefrontofthelowerlegisdominatedbythetibia,whichisconnectedon

oppositeendstothekneeandthefoot.Thisbonehasabitofaswervetoit,whichisfurtheraccentuatedbythemusclessurroundingit.Thefootalwaysremindsmeofthebillofaduck,soIroughinthatshape

whenI’msketching.Likethehand,it’sbestdrawnasoneformatfirst;youcan then attend to the toes. The construction of the foot is remarkablysimilar to that of the hand. Like the skeletal fingers, the skeletal toes arelongerthantheyappear,extendingalmosthalfthelengthofthefootuntilaclusterofbonesstartstoformtheankle,heel,andmid-foot.

Inthisexampleofthelowerleg,weseebothmovableandimmovablepartsofthebody.Thepatella,whichfloatsabovethekneejoint,isoneofthefewpartsofthebodythatadjustsitselfaccordingtowhetherthelegisbentorstraight.Theankleandcalvesdonotchangeposition.Theinsideankleboneisalwayshigherthantheoutsideone.Thecalvesaretheopposite—theinsidecalfisalwayslowerthantheoutsidecalf.

MovementandBalance

I’ve noticed that some young artists think they can disguise their lack ofanatomical knowledge by always drawing clothes on their figures. This istrueonlyuptoapoint;onceyoubegintoconsidermovementandbalance,itbecomesclearthatclothingisnotanadequatesubstituteforproperdrawing.How the figures you draw look while they’re standing, walking, leaning,jumping, and flying is rooted in your knowledge of anatomy. It might bepossible to cover up some anatomical inadequacies with clothing, but thebodyinactionrequiresaccuracy.An anatomical drawingdepends onmore than the accurate depiction of

bonesandmuscles.Inordertopresentalifelikeinterpretationofthehumanform, an artistmust also pay attention to balance. A standing figuremustincorporatetheswayandangleofthebody.Thehumanbodyisalmostneveratanexactrightangletothefloor.Youwilloftenseepeoplerestingononefoot in real life,butyouwill rarely see thisdepicted incomicsbecause it’sdifficulttodraw.

ThiscoverforOrion#11(April2001)byWalterSimonsonemploysmanyofthetheorieswehavelearned.Notetheexaggerationofthebodypositions.Thestandingfigureextendsupwardtowardthereader,whilethefigureonthefloorrecedesintothedistance.Theyareatarightangletoeachother.Thecircleofenergyisusedasanovaldesignshape.Theanatomyisexaggeratedbutstillaccurate.

Don’t be discouraged if the figures you draw are imperfect. Correctlyrenderedanatomyrequiresalife-longlearningprocess.I’mconvincedthatpartof theproblemis thevisual familiaritywehavewith thehumanbody.We see them all the time, and this constant exposure makes us becomeoblivious to them.However, there is a way to shock yourself into amoreobservant state: try drawing a smaller life form. If you can successfullyreduceacat,forexample,intothebasicconstructiveshapes,itbringsabouta“new”wayofseeingthefigure.Herearesomemoreideas: • Start to collect a file of anatomy references with separate folders formales,females,anddifferentbodyparts.Buymusclemagazinesandcut

outpictures toput inyourfile.Innotime,youwillhaveaccumulatedquiteacollectionofphotos,whichwillbeveryhelpful.

•GetaPolaroidcameraandaskyourfriendstomodelforyou.Thisisn’tarecommendation for a study of anatomy so much as it is a way oflearning how the body moves and how clothing reacts to the bodyunderneath. Photos like these are helpful to any artist early in hiscareer.

•Keepasketchbookwithyouifyoucan,orsetasideaspecifictimeoutoftheweekwhenyoucangooutanddrawfromreal life.Iusuallygotothe park or a mall—anyplace where there is action and movement.Skateboardersareexcellentmodelswhenyouaretryingtodrawbodiesinmotion.Parkyourselfinacomfortablespotandstartsketching.

•Takealifedrawingclass.Theyareofferedalmosteverywhere,oftenatasurprisingly reasonableprice.Look inyour communitynewspaper forlistings.Drawingfromalivemodelisagreatandfastwaytounderstandthehumanfigure.

FIVE

CLOTHING

It’s pretty clear that knowledge of human anatomy applies directly to thesuper hero genre because most super hero costumes are anatomicallyrevealing.Butwhat about non–superhero comics genres—science fiction,romance,adventure,Western,horror?Itmightseematfirstthatanatomicalknowledge isn’t necessary to draw characters for these types of stories,because they are essentially covered with clothes that do not reveal theiranatomy.However,nothingcouldbefurtherfromthetruth.Comicbookartistsmustmeettworequirementsinordertodrawclothing

anddraperyaccurately:1)knowledgeofhowthebodyisconstructed;and2)knowledgeofhowclothesareconstructed.Sinceclothingliesontopoftheanatomy,itisenormouslyaffectedbythebody’sshapeandstructure.Ifyouwerenevertodrawasuperheroinyourlife,abasicunderstandingofhowthebodymovesandworkswouldstillbenecessarytogivethecostumesandclothingoftheotherkindoffiguresyoudrawcredibility.Fourbasicdynamicsshapethefoldsandwrinklesonaperson’sclothing:

1.Gravity.ThenaturaleffectofgravitymakesclothinghangandpulltowardtheEarth,awayfromthebody.

Clothesreacttogravity.Here,theshirtsleevehangsfromthetensionpointoftheshoulderspastthebicepsandforearm(touchingneither)andmeetsattherolled-upcuffofthesleeve.

2.Tension.Trytorememberthatfoldsorwrinklesdonotoccurwherethebodytouchestheclothing.Clothingcoveringlargeareasofmuscletendstobeunwrinkledbecauseitisdirectlyintouchwiththebody.

Thetensionpointsarewherethearmsfoldandwheretheypressagainstthecloth:attheshoulder/bicepsjunction,thebiceps/forearmjunction,andtheelbow.

3.Material.What theclothingismadeofgreatlyaffects thetypeoffoldorwrinkletheartistwilldraw.Delicatefabricslikecottonorsilkwillhavemanymoresmallfoldsthansomethingmadefromdenim.Afurcoatora leatherjackethasdifferenttypesofwrinklesthanacottonT-shirt.

Differentmaterialsreactinwaysthatareuniquetotheirproperties.Cottonwon’tlookthesameaswoolbecausetheyhavedifferenttextures.Aleathercoatwrinklesdifferentlythanatrenchcoat.Silkandsatincapturethelightdifferentlyfromothermaterials.

4.Clothingstructure.Investigatinghowclothesareconstructedcanbeveryhelpful in achieving credibility in yourwork.Many items of clothinghavespecific, unique characteristics. The shoulder areas of men’s jackets, forexample, are always wider than the shoulders that inhabit them; there’susuallysomepaddinginvolvedthatcreatesaspecialreactionwhenthearmsareuportotheside.

ClothingandCharacterization

Clothing can be a very helpful tool when you are trying to communicateaspects of a character’s personality. A lot of artists spend an enormousamountoftimedesigningcostumesforthesuperheropartofacharacter’slife.Unfortunately,thenon–superherocharacters’costumesareoftengivenshortshrift.Thecostumeofthenon–superherois justasimportantasthecostumeofthesuperhero.Acivilianinacomicshouldhaveasidentifiablealookasthecharactersrunningaroundintheirlongunderwear!Thecivilianoutfit should be as identifiable as the super hero costume and also revealsome informationabout thecharacterwearing it.This is anopportunity tosayalotabouttheindividualvisually,anditwouldbeashametoignoreit.Isthe character good or evil, rich or poor, urban or suburban, married orsingle?Doesheorshewearjewelryorawatch?Ifso,isitexpensive?Whatkind of shoes? The more specific you are, the better and clearer thecharacterizationwillbe.Don’twasteanyopportunitytopassoninformation.

SIX

PERSPECTIVE

One of the most interesting challenges any artist has to face is the re-creationofathree-dimensionalworldonatwo-dimensionalpieceofpaper.Nothing less than the suspension of disbelief is at stake. A credible re-creation of our real-life visual experience makes the difference betweenholdingareader’sattentionandfailingtodoso.

Fundamentals

Whenwelookatearlycavedrawings,wecanseethatmanwascopingwiththe realization thatwhathe saw in real lifewasdifficult to translate into adrawing.The attempts at some formofperspective resulted in shapes thatwere in different sizes and position. Artists often made faraway shapessmaller and placed them above closer shapes. The Egyptian system ofhieroglyphics ignored theeffectsofoptical recession.Compositionsduringmedievaltimeswerebasednotonperceptionbutonphilosophy,religion,orpolitics.It was not until the early 1400s that an Italian architect named Filippo

Brunelleschidevelopedlinearperspective,asystemoforganizationbasedongeometry.Becauseitsfoundationwasinmathematics,Brunelleschi’ssystemmadeperspectiveimpartialforthefirsttime—itwasnotaffectedbypolitics,religion,orphilosophy.The theory of linear perspective soon led to further experimental

developments. False perspective, for instance, is intended to contain anumber of viewpoints to create a feeling of instability. Distortion inperspectivecancreateanumberofdisorientingeffects.Forcedperspectiveisused to draw the viewer into the scene with greater force than normalperspective.Besideslinearperspective,therearetwootherwaystocreatetheillusion

of threedimensions.One is the techniqueofoverlappingshapes.This isavery simple concept: A shape that overlaps another shape is closer to theviewerthantheshapeitoverlaps.

Anotherexampleofoverlappingshapes,butthistimeasasimpleformofperspective.

The first imagehere lacks depth.Which circle is bigger?You can’t tell.Are they the same size?Can’t tell that, either.A storyteller’s priority is tocommunicate information. This image doesn’t go far enough to accuratelyconveyinformation.In the next illustration, by virtue of compositional choice, the image

revealsmore.Oncetheshapesareoverlapped,itisquiteeasyfortheviewertodeterminewhich is closer.Wecanalso see if there is a sizedifferential.This composition ismuchmoreeffectiveat relaying informationabout theshapescontainedwithinit.

Theseimagescombinethetheoriesofcontrastandoverlappingshapestocreatetheillusionofdepth.Thefirstshowstwoplanes:thecityandthesky.Inthemiddlepaneltheintroductionoftheboatcreatesathirdplane.However,thewhitenessoftheboatpullsitintothebackgroundbecauseitmatchesthewhitenessoftheadjacentclouds.Whenweaddtonetotheboat,wehavethreeclearplanes.

Thesecondwayofcreatingdepthisbyapplyingthetheoryofatmosphericperspective. If you have ever had the experience of looking across a greatdistance,youhavesurelynoticedthatthehorizonlookedfuzzierandlighterincolorthantheareaimmediatelysurroundingyou.Thiseffectiscausedbythetemperatureandcontentsoftheair.Artistsinterpretitonpaperbyusingtwoorthreeseparateplanesoftonalvalues.Thethreeexamplesjustshowncombinethestarkcontrastbetweenblackandwhitevaluesandthetheoryofoverlappingshapestotrytore-createdistance.When I was just starting to develop my artistic skills, perspective was

really difficult for me. I was never that good at math, and all thoseperspectivelinesconfusedme;Ijustdidn’tgettheconcept.Oneday,whilewalkingonthebeach,Ihadabreakthrough.Irememberedreadingthatthehorizon line always corresponds to the viewer’s eye level, nomatter whatposition he or she takes. So I decided to test this idea. Sure enough, Idiscovered that the horizonwas not stationary; as Imoved up or down, itmovedalongwithme.Whydoes thishappen?Because thehorizon line is the farthestdistance

betweentheviewerandthepointatwhichthecurveof theEarth’ssurfacedrops below eye level. It’s a phenomenon brought about by the sphericalshapeoftheEarthandthehugedisparitybetweenthesizesofhumanbeingsandtheplanet.

Inreallife,nomatterwhatpositionyoutakeinrelationtothehorizon,itwillalwaysremainateyelevel.Thehorizonseemstofollowtheeyelevelonlybecausewecannever“see”aboveorbelowthepointatwhichtheEarthcurvesanddropsoutofsight.Incomicsandfilm,thehorizon(eyelevel)isalwaysthepointofviewofthecamera,whichshootsthescene.

Anotherwayofthinkingabouteyelevelistorefertoitas“cameralevel.”Imaginebeingonthebeachwithyourcameratakingpictures.Thehorizonmoves alongwith the camera because it is at eye level.When people ask,“Where’s the camera?,” they aren’t looking for something that ismissing.Theywanttoknowwhattypeof“shot”isbeingdiscussed.

VanishingPointsandSystemsofPerspective

Once the horizon line has been established, it’s pretty easy to introduce avanishing point. This is the name of the point on the horizon line wherelinesconverge.Thevanishingpointisthespotinthedistancethatlinesupwiththecamera’sheightandposition.Keepinmindthatthehorizonlineandthevanishingpointarecompletely

arbitrary.There isnoruleaboutplacement; theartistmakeschoicesbasedonwhatisbestforthestorytelling.Whenthevanishingpointhasbeenchosen,wecanstartusingthesystems

of perspective: one-point, two-point, and three-point perspective. One-point perspective is pretty simple. The image of train tracks that followprovideagoodexampleofthis.

Onceyoufindthevanishingpoint,youcandrawanyshapeinthepropercontext.Rememberthatdepthplaysacriticalroleincreatingvisuallyexcitingstorytelling.Perspectiveisagreattoolfortheproperconstructionofathree-dimensionalscene.

One-point perspective only works when a side of the box is facing thecamera.Whatwouldhappenifthecornerwerefacingtheviewer?Wewouldneedtousetwo-pointperspective.Keepinmindthattheplacementofthevanishingpointsisuptotheartist.Iftheyaretooclosetogether,theshapemaylookdistorted—asifthecamerawererightupnexttoit.Iftheyaretoofarapart,theshapelooksflat.Effectivevanishing-pointplacementdependsonthestoryrequirementsandtheeffecttheartistwantstocreate.

Twoexamplesoftwo-pointperspective.Thefirstisadown-shot,thesecondastraight-onshot.Theseshapesareverycenteredinthepanel,butifyouweretoaddmorecubesyouwouldseethatperspectiveappliestoallshapesnomatterwhatpositiontheyhold.

Three-pointperspectiveisusedwhenthecameraiseithertiltedbackandlookingupatagreatdistanceortiltedforwardandlookingdown.

Anexampleofthree-pointperspective.Thisviewshowsthreesidesofthecubewhileensuringthateachanglelinesupwithavanishingpoint.Youcontrolboththeshapeandangleoftheobjectbychoosingwheretoplacethevanishingpoints.

Onceanyofthesesystemshasbeenestablished,theartistmustadheretoit.Everythinginthepanelmust lineupcorrectlywiththevanishingpointson the horizon. Perspective is easiest to get right when everything in thepanelfollowsagridpattern—wheneverythingisarrangedtocorrespondtothesystemofperspectivethatisbeingused.Sowhathappenswhen the scene requiresmanyhaphazardlypositioned

shapes?Everyindividualshapeisrequiredtohaveitsownvanishingpoint.Just remember that all the vanishingpoints rest on the samehorizon line.This is especially true when drawing more than one person in a panel.Peopleareveryrarelyarrangedsymmetricallysothattheyalllineuptoonevanishingpoint.Theonlyexceptionwouldbeamilitaryformation.Onceyoudealwithanormalcrowdscene,therearealotofvariablestoconsider.

ThiscoverforFlash#185(February1969)byRossAndruandMikeEspositousessimpleone-pointperspective.Canyoufindthevanishingpoint?

Therearetwowaystodealwiththisproblem.Onewayistomakesurethatthehorizon line intersects thepeopleat thesamepointontheirbodies.Aslongastheartistmakesallowancesforvaryingdifferencesinheight,thisisavery simple and effectiveway of keeping a crowd of people in the correctproportion.Bearinmindthatthisonlyworksifthegroundlevelisflat.

Anillustrationusingtwo-pointperspective.Canyoufindthehorizonline?Noticehowthehorizoncutsthroughthecrowdinroughlythesamespot,takingintoaccountthefigures’varyingheights.

Whathappensifthecameraislookingdownorup,and,asaresult,thereis no horizon line intersecting the figures? As long as you can find thehorizon,youcandrawpeople inproportion. In thedrawingshownon thispage,thesubjectsarebelowthehorizon.

Inthisscenedrawnusingthree-pointperspective,thecrowdisbelowthehorizonsoitcouldnotbeusedforaperspectivecheckonthepeople.Eachfigureneedstobehungonadiagonalthatgoesbacktoavanishingpointonthehorizon.Onediagonalrunsfromthetopofthecurly-hairedguyattheleftofthepanelupacrossthepagethroughthewindowsillandbeyond.Anotherisfromthetopofthecoupleundertheawningtothetopofthephonebooth.Combinedwiththediagonalrunningalongthebottomofthesamefigures,theperspectivelinesforma“cone”inwhichthefigurescanbeplacedinperspective.

Whenthehorizonlinedoesnot intersectanyofthefiguresatanypoint,try this. Draw a full standing figure in the middle of the page under thehorizonline.Thiswillbethefigureuponwhichalltheotherfigureswillbebased.Start pencilling the crowdof people.As soon as youhave a secondfigure in a compositional position that you like, you canmeasure the twofiguresbydrawingalineconnectingthetopsoftheirheadsthatcontinuestothehorizonline.Drawanotherlinefromthevanishingpointacrossthetwofigures’ chins. If both heads meet the top and bottom of the perspectivelines, then the two figures are in correct proportion to each other. If theydon’t,thenyouneedtomakeanadjustmenttothesecondfigure.Allofthefiguresinthepanelneedtobemeasuredagainstthefirstfigure.

Inthisexampleoftwo-pointperspective,thehorizonisabitlower.Theeye-levelcutsthroughallthecharactersjustbelowtheknee.FromNightwing#57(July2001).ScriptbyChuckDixonandartbyRickLeonardiandJesseDelperdang.

Don’t limit yourself to measuring only heads. This applies to a secondfigure whose entire body is not in the panel. The full body can easily bemeasured against another full body. A seated figure must be measuredagainstanotherseatedfigure.Drawonenexttothefirststandingfigureanduse that to measure other seated figures. Experiment with this system. Itmighttakeawhiletogetthehangofit,butitincreasesastoryteller’svisual

optionstremendously.Inadditiontoplacingfiguresinthecorrectenvironmentalperspective,we

mustmakesurethatthehumanbody(withitsvariousparts)isinperspectivewith itself. Somany drawing problemswould be solved ifmore beginnerskeptthisinmind.Wehaveseenthatthebodyismadeupofdifferentshapes.Eachoneofthoseshapes—rectangles,cones,orcircles—hasperspectivebyitself.Inordertodrawthebodysuccessfully,therelationshipbetweenitandthehorizonmustbeconsidered.Perspectiveiseverywhere!

Comicbook art is judgedby two criteria: thedrawing and the storytelling.Mostpeoplecanunderstandwhatthedrawingpartofcomicsis:theabilitytodraw in such a manner that the audience finds the world you createconvincing. If anything within the drawing pulls the reader out of theillusion that theartist iscreating—characters that look likevegetables,carsthat are toooutdated, anunconvincingkitchen,hands that don’t look likehands—then the artist has failed as a penciller. Drawing hinges oncredibility.Thereisonlyonethingthatisrequiredtoachievethatcredibility:practice.Themoreyoudraw,thebetteryouwillget.That’sthegoodnews.Thebadnewsisthatartistsarealsojudgedbytheir

abilitytoconveyinformationinaclearandinterestingway.There’smoretotelling a story than just drawing. Storytelling involves the introduction oftheoriesandconceptsthatrequiresomestudyandobservation.Drawingcanbe effective or ineffective depending on the experience the artist hasaccumulated with such conventions as anatomy, perspective, andcomposition.

SEVEN

JUXTAPOSITION

Juxtaposition is a fancy-sounding word describing a simple act thatproduces an effect that is unique to comics. The dictionary definesjuxtaposition as “the act of placing close together or side by side forcomparison or contrast.”While that is certainly true, storytelling involvesone more goal for juxtaposition besides comparing or contrasting:assimilation. In sequential storytelling, assimilation means “add up” or“join.” Comic book readers add up the separate panels of a page to get alargerunderstandingofthestory.Imagesinpanelsplacednexttoeachotherautomaticallyhavearelationshipbecauseoftheirproximity.Whydoesthishappen? Why can’t we have two panels next to each other that are notrelated? The answer is in that little space between panels known as thegutter.Theartistnotonly is in controlof the interior imagesof thepanel,but also suggests to the reader what happens in between the panels. Theartist has the ability to do that by the power of juxtaposition—putting twoimages next to each other and trusting that the reader will fill in theinformationbetweenthetwopanels.

Aniceexampleoftimetransitionfrom100Bullets#13(August2000)byEduardoRisso.Notehowthebottomtierkeepsthesamebackgroundasthecharactersmovethroughthescene.Astheyproceedthroughthepanel,timepasseswithinthescene.ScriptbyBrianAzzarello.

Anexampleoftransitioningtoanotherplace.Thetophalfofthispageissetinsideacar.Thebottomhalfisatanightclub.Inthatsmallspacebetweenthetwoscenes,thereaderfillsintheaction.Becauseofthejuxtapositionofthetwolocales,thereadertruststhatthetwoscenesareconnected.FromBatmanGothamNoir(2001).ScriptbyEdBrubakerandartbySeanPhillips.

Atimetransitionoccursbetweenpanelsfourandfive.Becausethefourthpanelisnexttothethirdpanelinthesequenceandthepanelsarethesamesize,weassumetheyareequalintime.HadEduardoRissochosentomakepanelsthreeandfourdifferentsizes,thesilentpanel(panelfour)wouldthenbecomeanindeterminateamountoftime.Forexample,anhourcouldpassbetweenthefourthandfifthpanel.From100Bullets#21(June2001).ScriptbyBrianAzzarello.

Thisisauniqueaspectofcomicbookstorytellingthatisnotfoundinanyothermedium.Itrequirestheactiveparticipationofthereadertocompletethestory.Heorshenotonlyassimilates theseparate images intoagreaterwhole, but actually fills in the gaps of time and action. And all of that

happensinthatsmallspaceinbetweenpanels.

ThisDaveTaylorpagefromVertigoSecretFiles(August2000)showsushowtomanipulatetimeandaction.Panels2and3divideonesceneinhalf.Thistechniqueslowsdownbothtimeandaction.Insteadofreadingitintheamountoftimeitwouldhavetakentoscanonepanel,weareforcedtolookatitfortwiceaslong.Wereaditasifitweretwopanels.ScriptbyBrianAzzarello.

TheMeaningofImages

While we have covered the relationship of the reader and artist in theprocess of storytelling, there is another concept of juxtaposition to beconsidered.Itisnaturaltoassimilateseparateimagesandtrytomakesenseofthem.Evendisconnectedimagescanbejoinedinthemindofthereader.Butwhatoftheartist’sresponsibilitytoguidethestorywiththeselectiveuseof images?The choice ofwhat to juxtapose cannot be arbitrary.The exactsameimagecanhaveadifferentmeaningandpurposewhentheimagesnexttoitarechanged.Eventhoughthereaderisaparticipantintheprocess,itisuptothestorytellertojuxtaposehisorherimagescarefully.Let’s study an example:We have before us six panelswith six different

images.

There are many possible ways to arrange the panels; each arrangementwouldproduceadifferent story.More important, eacharrangementwouldchange themeaning of each individual image, depending onwhich imageprecedesor follows it.For instance,one sequencewemight consider is anarrangementthatfollowsthispattern:6,1,5,2,3,4.Inthischoice,panel6wouldserveasanestablishingshotforthestory.Thenextpanelshowsabirdflying.Thereaderjustifiablyassumesthatthebirdisflyinginthelocationweseeinthefirstpanel(image6),solelybecausethatpanelprecedesimage1.Thereisnovisualevidencetosupportthisidea—notreesorbackgroundtoconnectthetwoimages.Thereadermakesthatassumptionbasedentirelyonthejuxtapositionofthetwoimages.Image5isaclose-upofapersonwithatear running down his cheek, holding what appears to be a rifle.We canassume this man is about to fire or has already fired the weapon he isholding.Wecanalsoassumehehasa relationship to thebirdbecause thetwoimagesarenexttoeachother.Whatwedon’tknowiswhyheiscrying.The fourth panel in the sequence is image 2, which shows the same

hunter.Heseemstoberaisinghisrifleandgettingreadytoshoot.Thefifthpanel is image 3: a close-up of the gun firing.The final panel is image4,whereweseethebirdfallingtotheground.What is this story about? Evenmore important, what do you want this

story tobe about?Does this arrangement convey the information that youwant to communicate? We find ourselves at this point examining theconnection between design and layout choices and the efficacy of thosechoices to communicate your story. And even though this arrangementworksonfacevalue(wedon’t,forinstance,havethebirdfallingbeforethegunfires—thatwouldmakenosensewhatsoever),Ithinkwecanagreethatthis sequence imparts the information thatamanshotabird. Is that it? Isthat thekindof storyyouwant towrite?Are the images juxtaposed to themaximumeffect?First of all,we learn from this experiment thatwemustdecidewhatwe

wanttosay.WhenIinitiallysketchedouttheseimagesformyclass,Iwantedto communicate a coming-of-age story in the least amount of imagespossible. Iwashoping to communicatea lossof innocence inahandfulofpanels.Didtheprevioussequencingofpanelsaccomplishthat?Idon’tthinkso,eventhoughitdidcommunicateinformationaboutaneventinalogicalandunderstandableway.Howcanwemakethisstorymoreclear?Let’staketheexactsamepanelsandrearrangethem.Ifitisastoryabout

someone’slossofinnocence,perhapswecanfocusonthatindividualratherthan starting outwith a location or a bird. Let’s start in themiddle of theactionandpositionthehunteratthebeginningofthesequence.Sothefirstpanelwouldbeimage2,thehunteraimingtofire.Weneedtoseewhatthehunter is pointing at for the sake of clarity, sowe position image 1 as thesecond panel in the sequence. The reader immediately understands therelationshipof thepanels toeachotherbecauseof the juxtapositionof thetwoimages.Thereisarelationshipestablishedbecauseoftheinformationinthe panels and their proximity to each other. The third panel should beimage3,thegunfiring.Oncethegunfires,weseethefourthpanel,image4,the bird plummeting through the sky. Note the construction of this four-panel sequence.We cut back and forth between the hunter and the bird.Thistechnique,knownascross-cutting,createsabitoftensionbetweenthetwosubjects.Whentheartistshowssomethingtothereaderandthentakesit away, the reader starts to wonder about the unseen subject. It’s naturalhumancuriositythatleadstoabitoftensionorapprehensioninthereader.Soatthispoint,wehaveestablishedthephysicalactionofthestory:bird

flies,huntershoots.Howdowegettothelossofinnocence?Thefifthpanelneeds to be image 5, the hunter crying. He is reacting with remorse andsorrowtothedeathofthebird,andthedeathofhisowninnocence.Withasimple pull of a trigger, he has changed his life forever. Let’s end up thestorywith image6, thesceneof the forestand lake.Whatwas initially theestablishingshothasnowtakenonanentirelydifferentmeaning.Theextrapanelnowservesasasmallbeatat theendofasequencewhichallowsthereaderthetimetoreacttowhatthehunterisfeeling,andperhapshopefullyshareinit.Notehowtheplacementofthissceneattheendchangesthefeelofthepanelentirelyfromthefeelingitcreateswhenplacedatthebeginningofthesequence.Itnolongerservesasjustanestablishingshot.Instead,theimagebecomesimbuedwiththestorythatprecedesit.Itbecomesominousandsad.Thecompositionspeaksofisolationandloneliness.Rememberthatin thebotharrangementsof images, the images themselves are exactly thesame. Their meaning changes based on the nature of the images next tothem.Thisisthepowerofjuxtaposition.

Exercise:Copy thesix images thatweused inourexperimentandseehowmany different ways you can arrange them. Take note of how the images

changemeaningdependingonwhereyouplacethem.

EIGHT

HOWTOLAYOUTAPAGE

Inordertouseartasameansofcommunication,wemustfirstrecognizethatart is a language.Like any language, it has its own conventions and rules.ThewordsyouarenowreadingareunderstoodbecausewewhospeakandreadEnglishhaveagreedontherulesofourlanguage.Wordsandsentencesareconstructedinsuchawaythatwhenweusethemtospeakorwrite,weareabletocommunicatewithpeopleother.Imeanotherpeople.SeewhatImean? The fundamental rules of the language make communicationpossible.Whatotherlanguagesystemsarethere?Mathematicsisone.Ifwedidn’t

learn the rules of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division,numberswouldbemeaninglesstous.It’sthesystemofrulesthatallowsusto understand the story of numbers. Sign language is anothercommunication system. The ability to understand a story painted on airrequiresustostudyandaccepttheprinciplesandconceptsofsigning.Artistsasstorytellersconstantlyneedtoanswerthissimplequestion:what

isthebestwaytocommunicatethisstory?Thelayoutofacomicbookpageserves two functions: 1) It presents the story in a series of shapes calledpanelsthatneedtobearrangedanddesignedinacomprehensibleway;and2)Thelayoutpullstheeyeofthereaderalongapurposefullydesignedroutecalledthestoryflow.Whenareaderlooksatacomic,hisorherbrainfirstregistersthepageas

awhole.Onlythendoestheindividualpanelcomeintofocus.Informationisprocessed very quickly. Even before the interior image of the panel isabsorbed,theviewerhasalreadygatheredsomeinformationfromtheshapeandsizeof thepanel itself.Let’sseesomeof thewaysstorytellerscantakeadvantageofthis.

Therearetwowaystolayoutapage:gridandfree-form.InthegridpagefromNewGods, therearenovariationsinsizeorshape.All thepanelsarethe same size. In the page from Showcase, Jerry Grandenetti and DickGiordano chose tomakepanels different fromeach other, and lay out thepageinafreerstyle.Eachofthesechoicespassesonsomeinformationtothereaderwithouteventakingtheinteriorartintoconsideration.Sinceallthepanelsinagridlayoutlookalike,thedesignofthepagedoes

not revealmuch about the artwork. It also does not tell the viewer whichpanelsaremoreimportantorhowmuchtimetospendonanimage.Thegridapproach isconsidered themoredifficultof the twobecausea flashy free-form layout candisguise artistic deficiency.The grid design fades into thebackground very quickly, forcing the reader to focusmore on the interiorimages.

ApagedesignedbyJackKirbyfollowingthegridpattern.Thefactthatallofthepanelsarethesamesizeforcesthereadertofocusontheinteriorartinsteadofthedesignofthepage.FromNewGods#10(September1972).InksbyMikeRoyer.

The free-form layout is much more of an active participant in thecommunicativeprocessthanthegridform.Thearrangementofthepanels,their relationships to each other, and their sizes and shapes communicateinformationevenwithout an interior image.Sinceweas storytellers are inthebusinessofconveyinginformation,thechoiceswemakeshoulddependonwhatwewanttosay.

ThispagefromShowcase#82(May1969)hasafree-formdesign.Ratherthanlayingoutthepagefirst,asinthegridstyle,thepanellayoutbecomespartoftheartitself.ArtbyJerryGrandenettiandDickGiordano.

Inthefirstthreepanelsofthefree-formlayout,forexample,Iknowthatlesstimewillbespentreadingthesmallerpanelsthanabiggerfourthpanel.Thesizeof the threesmallerpanels tells theviewer that the information isprobably less important than the bigger panel. I also know that they areprobably part of a sequence because they are on the same tiermost likelyleadingupto thefourthpanel,andthat theactionwithinthemisprobably

quickerthanthebiggerpanels.Iknowby the sizeof thebiggestpanelon thepage that the information

contained theremustbe themost importantormostdramaticof thepage.Becauseofthesize,Ialsoknowthatthereaderspendsthemosttimeinthatpanel.Thelasttwopanels,becauseoftheirdesign,tendtobemoreneutralthantherestofthechoices.Iwouldbetthattheyfollow-uppanel4andareinsomewayconnectedtotheactioninthebiggerpanel.Thesecondthinganartistshouldconsiderwhenchoosingthelayoutfora

pageisthequestionofwhetherornotthechoicehelpsthereadertofollowandunderstand the story.Storytellershavea responsibility to take readersbythehandandleadthemthroughthestory.Theartist is inchargeofnotonlywhatthereadersees,butalsohowandwhentoseeit.

Thisisagoodillustrationofhowtoforcethereaderintoadifferentvisualflow.Thispagereadstoptobottomandthentoptobottomagain.FromTheBraveandtheBold#93(January1971).ScriptbyBobHaneyandartbyNealAdams.

ThetendencyinWesterncultureistoreadfromtheleftofthepagetotherightandfromthetopofthepagetothebottom.Inaverygeneralway,thisis thesimplestversionofstory flow.Thequestionthatarises iswhetherornottheartistwantstoaidthatestablishedruleofreadingorchooseanotherapproachforanotherreason.The Z-shaped story flow, which has a very basic left-to-right, left-to-

rightdesign,isthemosttypicalwaytoapproachalayout.However,thereare

manyotherlayoutpossibilities—forexample,makingthereaderreadupanddown instead of left to right. The most important element of a layout isclarity.Ifthepanelarrangementmakeswheretogounclear,thereaderwillbepulledoutofthenarrativeexperience.Thegoalistokeepyouraudienceintheirseatsandinyourcontrol.

Thispagewasdesignedtobereaddownthroughthesecondpanel,acrosstheblackshouldersofBatman,upthechimneyanddownagainintothelastpanel.FromGordon’sLaw#1(December1996).ScriptbyChuckDixonandartbyKlausJanson.

AdifferentpagedesignbyNealAdamsforcesustoreaddown,thenquicklyswervetotheright—outofthepage—andthenfromrighttoleftasweenterthepageagain.FromDetectiveComics#410(April1971).ScriptbyDennisO’NeilandinksbyDickGiordano.

WalterSimonsonusespagedesigntocomplementtheflowoftheaction,andviceversa.Thereader’seyemovesupandtotherightnotonlybecauseofthepanels’positionsbutalsobecausethefigureofOrionwithinthepanelsmovesinthatdirection.Noticealsohowthehorizonlineconnectspanels1and2,compellingustoreadfromlefttoright.Theeyemovesdownthroughpanels2,3,and4;fromrighttoleftinpanel5;andfromlefttorightinpanel6,finallyreachingthelastpanel.FromOrion#12(May2001).

InsertPanels

Thereareother layout choices that fallunder theapproachof a free-formdesign.Oneofthoseoptionsisreferredtoasaninsertpanel.That’sapanelthatisplacedwithinanotherlargerpanel.Itcanbeentirelywithinthelargerspace,oritcanbridgetwopanelsbybreakingthebordersofbothofthem.

Theuseofinsertpanelsisprimarilyacompositionaldecision.Onthepageatleft,fromGangland#1(June1998),writerandartistDaveGibbonsusestheinsertasatransitionalpanelbetweenpanels2and4bypositioningtheinsertontheborderbetweenthem.Onthepageatright,fromBatmanReignofTerror(1999),writerMikeBarrandartistJoséGarcía-Lópezplacestheinsertpanelwithinalargerpanel.Nomatterwhereit’splaced,theinsertpanelshouldnotinterferewiththestoryflow.Bothoftheseinsertpanelsguidethereadertothenextpieceofinformation.

When an insert panel is placed entirely within the borders of a largerpanel,itusuallymeansit isconnectedtotheinformationwithinthatlargerpanel.Themoreimportantinformationiscontainedinthelargerpanel.Forexample, ahand turningona car’s ignitionmightbe the insert in a larger

panel showing the car pulling out of a driveway. The time that elapsesbetweenthesetwopanelsinthestoryisalsoshortenedconsiderablybecausethe insert is within the bigger image. The actions occur almostsimultaneouslybecauseofthedrawings’proximitytoeachother.Whentheinsertpanelisplacedbetweentwopanels,itsprimaryeffectisto

actasadirectionalguideforthestoryflow.Itleadsthereaderintothenextpanel and thenext stageof the action.Remember that themost importantpartofyourcommunicationisclarity.Ifaninsertpanelconfusesthestory,don’tuseit.Thechoicesyoumakehavetoservethestorytelling.

BreakingBorders

OneofthecharacteristicsI’venoticedinyoungartistsistheconsistentneedto break panel borders. It is often the very first design experiment thatoccurs. Breaking borders can create a variety of beneficial effects, but likeanychoicethestorytellermakes,therearesomeconsequences.Inthefollowingexamples,thefigurebecomesmuchmoredramaticwhen

it breaks the borders. The placement of the shape in front of the panelcreates a depth and dimensionality to the scene that is highly effective. Itpopsoutattheviewermuchmorethaninthefirstexample,wherethefigureiscontainedwithinthepanel.

Breakingthebordersofapanelwithashapecreatesanillusionofdepthandmakestheshape“pop.”Inthisexample,theenclosedshapelooksawkwardandconfined.

Theproblemsarisewhenyoustart toconsidertheeffectsthispanelmayhaveonthepanelsaroundit.Thereadertendstofollowthediagonalslantofthe figure and is led by it in the sameway an insert panel can be used todirectthereader’seye.Itisextremelyimportantthatthelayoutofthepageservethetellingofthestory.Ifanyofthedesignchoicesconfusethereaderormake itunclearwhichpanel toreadnext, the layout is ineffectiveandafailure.

PanelBorders

Thereareavarietyofpanelbordersthatthestorytellercanuseintheprocessoflayingoutapage.Thedayofthesingle-lineborderhaslongsincepassed.Panel borders are now as varied as the imagination and judgment of theartist.Theclassiccomicpagehasawhitegutterandathinblacklinearoundthepanels.Becausewehavebeenconditionedtoacceptthisconfigurationasthe “normal” look for a comic, thepanelsdonot lookdifferent enough tohaveanyimpactonthereader.

Theclassiccomicbookpagewithawhitegutter.FromBatmanBlackandWhite#4(September1996).ScriptbyJanStrnadandartbyKevinNowlan.

Ablack gutter changes the look of the page quite a bit. Besides being adeparturefromtheclassicpagedesign,blackguttershaveatendencytopullthepanelsinwardandmakethepagelooksmallerandbusier.IfIchooseablackgutter, I try tocompensatebymaking the interiorart lesscongested,givingthepageanillusionofmorespaceandair.

Thecomicpagewithablackgutter.FromBatmanBlackandWhite#3(August1996).ScriptandartbyBillSienkiewicz.

Some panel borders are chosen for the sole purpose of attractingmoreattention to a panel. The double-panel border is a good example of that.Used sparingly, it can separate that panel from the rest of the page quiteeffectively.Thecriticalfactorinthiscase,andmanyotherexamples,istousethese types of panel borders infrequently. This preserves their uniquequality andwill ensure that thesepanels, by virtue of their contrast to therestofthepage,getmoreattentionthanotherpanelssurroundedbyclassic

borders.Inthecaseofthedouble-panelborder,youalsohavetheoptiontofill it in with color. This will differentiate the panel from the rest of thepanelsonthatpageevenmore.

AnicelydesignedpagefromSwordofAzrael#1(October1992)byJoeQuesadaandKevinNowlan.Noticehowthehanginglampdrawstheeyeintothefirstpanelandhowthecircleisusedasadesignelementthere.Theguttersofthepageareblack.Panels2,3,and8havedoublepanelbordersaroundthem.Themiddletierhasanotherkindofborderwhichestablishesthatsequenceashavingaseparateidentityfromtherestofthepage.Thelastpanelhasableedthatguidesthereaderoutintothenextpage.Thisdesignactsasacounterpointtothehanginglamp,whichguidesthereaderintothestory.ScriptbyDennisO’Neil.

Inthelast15yearsorso,anevenmoreflexiblepanelborderhasemerged:thefree-form,non-ruledborder.Theborderisnotexecutedwithastraight

edge,butdonebyhand.Itcanrangefromacasual,hand-drawnbordertoavery expressive, almost violent line. This approach is often used to reflectsometraumaticorearth-shatteringeventwithinthepanel.Thebordertrulybecomesanextensionoftheinteriorart.

ThispagefromHellblazer#104(August1996)isagoodexampleofexpressivefree-formpanelborders.ScriptbyPaulJenkinsandartbySeanPhillips.

The artist as storyteller may decide to construct a page with no panelborders at all. This is particularly noticeable in Will Eisner’s post-Spiritwork.Thisisanattempttodesignthepageasaunit,ratherthandividingit

upintopanels.Ifhandledproperly, thepanel-to-panelreadingexperiencecanbesmootherandabsorbedmoreefficiently.

Inthispage,theartistcombinedfree-formborderpanelswitharelativelyclassicpagedesign.FromJLAAnnual#1(1997).ScriptbyBrianAugustynandartbyGeneHa.

Panelsarenotpassive.Theirsizeandshapenotonlyinfluencetheinteriorcompositionoftheimagebutalsocommunicatethevalueoftheinformationtheycontain.Individualpanelsinteractwitheachothertogivethereaderagreaterunderstandingoftheinformationtheartististryingtocommunicate.The choices of layout and panel shape should be a deliberate decisionreflectingtheneedsofthestory.Eachdecisiontheartistmakessetsaseriesofotherchoicesinmotion.Foreveryactionthereisareaction.Thinkabout

whatyourchoicessymbolize.

ThispagefromOrion#11(April2001)doesnothavedefinedpanels.Ithasaverystronglydesignedstoryflowthatallowsthereadertotakemoretimeabsorbingtheinformation.Creatingthistypeoflayoutisoftenverydifficultandrequiresastrongknowledgeofcompositionanddesign.ScriptandartbyWalterSimonson.

Covers

Designingcomicbookcoversmeansdealingwithsomeuniqueissues.Eventhough the dimensions of a cover are the same as those of interior pages,thereareahandfulofproblemsthatariseoncoversthatdonotappearintheinterior.For example, a covermust include thepublisher’s logo.TheUPCbar code is another compositional problem to overcome. Most artists willdesign thecover imagearoundthe logoandbarcode,but therehavebeentimeswhentheseitemshavebeenincorporatedintothelayoutofthecoverimageitself.Changingthelogodesignoritspositioncanseparateyourcoverfrom all the others on the racks quite effectively. The problem with thisoption, as the theory goes, is that it can make it difficult to see and/orrecognize the logo.Most logosare identifiedwith thecharacterasmuchastheircostumesmaybe.Tochangea logo’s lookorposition frommonth tomonthseemstobeariskintheeyesofmostcomiccompanies,onethattheyarenotwillingtotake.Thecovermustbeapproacheddifferentlythantheinteriorart,becauseit

has a different aim.While the interior art is focused on the telling of thestory, the cover image isdesigned toget readers tobuy thebook.Usually,thecoverimageisnotaffectedbyanyotherpanels.Itismostoftenasingleimagethatneedstosucceedbyitself.Thatmeansthemaincharacterneedstobeseenfromthefrontwithhisorherfaceshowing.Coversthatfocusonthebackof thehero’sheadhavebeenused,but theyarerare,becausenotshowing the hero’s face is not an effective way of communicating with aregularreaderorenticinganewonetomakeapurchase.

InthisnicelydesignedcoverforHeavyLiquid#3(December1999),PaulPopeincorporatesthetextandUPCboxintothedesign.

Alotofcoversfallintoahandfuloftypes:Theherointroubleisprobablythemostcommontype.Thetheoryisthat

casualobserversaremorecuriousaboutthefateofthecharacterwhentheyseehim in trouble than they arewhen they seehimvictorious and “safe.”Potentialthreatismoreinterestingthancertainvictory.

Theclassiccoverwheretheheroofthebookappearstobeintrouble.Oftenthescenesarepresentedinsuchamannerthattheheroseemstobedoomed.Thisapproachismeanttoprovokethereaderintobuyingthecomicbookinordertodiscoverhowtheherogetsoutofthejam.FromBatmanBeyond#18(April2001).ArtbyBrianStelfreeze.

SupermanAdventures#54(April2001).ArtbyMikeManleyandTerryAustin.

The pin-up cover is becoming more andmore prevalent. It consists ofeither a full-body or half-body shot of the hero(es) in a pleasantcomposition. The emphasis is usuallymore on the drawing than anythingelse. The only real difference between this type of cover and the hero invictoryshotisthatthepin-upfocusesontheheroalonewhereasthevictoryimagemightincludethedefeatedvillain.

Sometimesacoverisbeautifulenoughtojustifythepurchaseofacomic,asinthisAdamHughespin-upcoverforWonderWoman#166(March2001).

Themysterycoverischaracterizedbythepresentationofasituationthatmightprovokecuriositywithinthereader.Alotofcoversinthe1960sand1970swerebuiltaroundthispremise.

Anexampleofamysterycover.Thoughnooneisinimminentdanger,themysteryofthesituationshouldbecompellingenoughtoprovokecuriosityinthereadersothatheorshefeelscompelledtobuythemagazine.FromBatgirl#16(July2001).ArtbyDamionScottandRobertCampanella.

Andthenthere’severythingelse.…Noneofthesecovertypesisetchedinstonenorarethesetheonlytypesof

coversfromwhichtochoose.Coversarelimitedonlybytheimaginationsoftheeditor,artdirector,andillustrator.Newconceptscancomefromanyoneandatanytime.Hopefully,theywillcomefromsomeonelikeyou!

AclassicmontagecoverbyMikeMignolaforBatman:TheDoomThatCametoGotham(2000).Mikeoftendoescoversinthisstyle.Theyrequireahighlydevelopedsenseofdesignandcaneasilydeteriorateintoaconfusingmesswithnodiscerniblefocalpoint.Noticehowtheblackandwhiterelationshipsarespecificallydesignedsothattheimageremainsclearandunderstandable.

ThiscoverforJLA#50(February2001)focusesonagroupshotofthemaincharacters.Itcombineselementsofmontageandpin-upcovers.Notethestrong“C”shapedesignthatstartsatWonderWoman,movesleftthroughAquamanandproceedsdowntoFlashandBatman.ArtbyBryanHitchandPaulNeary.

ThiscoverbyTimBradstreetforHellblazer#161(June2001)presentsinformationinsmallerindividualpieces.Similarinapproachtoaninteriorpage,thisdesignisbasedonthetheorythatthereaderwillassimilatetheimagesandtheirinformationtocreateacohesivepieceofinformation.

SplashPages

Therearetwokindsofsplashpages,orfull-pagepanels:theopeningsplashandtheinteriorsplash.Theopeningsplashischaracterizedbytheinclusionofthestory’stitleandthecreditsofthetalentinvolvedinitscreation.Someopening splashes are pin-ups,while others formpart of the narrative.Thelattertypeofopeningsplashcanbefoundonanyofthefirstfourpagesofastory.Ifasplashpageappearsanylaterthanthat,itshouldbeconsideredaninteriorsplashbecausethereaderisalreadyfairlydeepintothestory.Since the interior splash is part of thenarrative, it does not include the

titleorcredits. Instead, itspurpose is to illustrateahighlydramaticpartofthestorythatcanbestbeservedwithafull-pagestatement.

BruceTimmandGlenMurakamidoaJackKirbyriffinasplashthatisapartofalargernarrative.FromBatmanAdventuresAnnual#2(1995).

Double-PageSpreads

Double-pagespreadscaneitherbeopeningorinteriorsplashes.Eitherway,the drama of a single image spread over the width of two pages is a verynoticeable event that should be reserved for special occasions. Nothingdilutestheefficacyofalayoutchoicemorethanrepeatingit.

Thisnicelydesigneddouble-pagerisbothapartofthenarrativeandanopeningpagewiththecreditsincluded.Noticehowthetwopagesareorganizedarounda“V”shape.FromSuperman#169(June2001).ScriptbyJephLoebandartbyEdMcGuinnessandCamSmith.

The rules of composition apply to covers, splashes, and double-pagespreads in the sameway theyapply to compositionsofanyother size.Thetwo-page spread has different measurements, but all of the theories ofbalance,bisection,andcontrastapply.However,ininteriorartthetheoryofjuxtapositioncanhelpanimagesucceedbecauseitworkswithotherimagesto communicate with the reader, while full-page imagesmust succeed ontheirown.

JoeKubertdoesadoublepageinnarrativecontinuitywherehedisplayshisextraordinarysenseofcompositioninShowcase#86(November1969).Noticethehorseshoeshapethatstartsonthetopleftofthefirstpage,continuesacrossthepage,curvesdownontherightsideofthesecondpage,andcomesbacktothebottomofthefirstpage.Thelargespearseparatesthetwofocalpoints:thepanhandlerontheleftandtheIndiansontheright.

Thisdeviceofseparatingfocalpointsensuresthatthereaderlooksatthemboth.Asmallerexampleisthecampfire,whichdividesthemanfromhismuleandtools.ThisgivesthereadermoretimetoobserveandassimilatetheinformationKubertprovides.

NINE

STORYTELLING

Everyone has had the experience of telling a joke and having it fizzle—Iknow I certainly have. How is it that one person can tell a joke and behilarious and someone else can tell the same joke and bomb? Since thecharactersandthepunchlinearethesame,oddsarethattheanswerlies inthewaythejokeisbeingtold.Eitherthesequenceofeventswasmesseduporthetimingwasoff,ormaybethecharacterswereunclearorthepunchlinewas presented poorly. Maybe the joke-teller just repeated the words butdidn’tcommitemotionallytothetellingofthejoke.Whatevertheproblemwas,italwayscomesdowntotheperson’sabilitytoorganizethematerialandpresentitinaninterestingway.Thosearethesamecriteriabywhichwecanjudgestorytelling:clarityand

entertainment.Acomicbookstorymustbeofferedtoreadersintheclearestway possible so that they understand the image information within eachpanel.Andclarityismuchmoredifficulttoexecutethanitsounds.In addition to being clear, the information needs to be presented in a

visuallyinterestingway.Thiswillensurethatthereaderdoesnot“tuneout”ofthestory.Itisthecombinationofbeingbothinformativeandinterestingthatmakesforthebeststorytelling.Inaddition,thereisthematterofthecomicformitself.Byitsverynature,

the comic is a visual medium. Although the combination of words andpicturesworks together, it is theart thatcarries themost responsibility forthesuccessorfailureofacomic.Ifyouweretoremovethewordsfromanycomic,itwouldstillbetruetoitsformandremainacomic.Ifyouremovedpicturesfromacomic,however,youwouldchangeitsformandhaveabook.Asaconsequence,iftheartistreliesonwordstotellthestory,thenheorshehas failed in his or her storytelling responsibilities. The artmust work by

itself without words. The readers have to be able to understand the storybasedon thepictures alone. If they cannot, nomatterhow impressive thedrawingitselflooks,theexecutionisafailure.Agoodcomparisonwouldbewatchingafilmwiththesoundturnedoff.Ifyouunderstandwhatthemovieisabout,andunderstandwhatthecharactersaredoing,thenthestorytellingis effective. Every artist needs to have the standard of clarity as thecenterpieceofhisorherstorytelling.Whatdoesitmeantobeclearinyourstorytelling?Itmeansthattheartist

must tell us, through the visuals,who, what, where andwhen on everypage. That’s right: every page. The format of the comic demands that allinformation be reestablished after the opening page of a scene. It is thesimpleactofturningthepagethatmakesthissoessential.Astheartist,yourjobistocontinuetheforwardmovementofthenarrativewithoutconfusingthereader.Ifatanytimethereaderhastogobacktofindsomeinformation,theflowofthestoryisinterruptedandthereaderisdisconnectedfromthestory.Thisiswhyartistsnotonlyhavetoestablishcharacters,whattheyaredoing,where theyare,andwhentheyare in the firstpageof thesequencebutalsooneveryotherpage.Theremaybeexceptionstothisbasedontherequirementsofparticularscripts(e.g.,yourheroistrappedinisolationandthereisnoreasontoshowwhattimeofdayitis),but99percentofthetime,youcanandshouldfulfillthispartofyourjob.

Let’sexplorewithanexample.Oneof themostenjoyableprojectsIeverworked onwas a Batman storywritten byGrantMorrison calledGothic. Ithoughtthescriptwasunusuallytightandcrisp,withaverywell-developedsenseofvisualstorytelling.Inissueoneoftheseries,therewasatwo-pagescenethattothisdayisoneofmyfavorites.Exceptfortheestablishingshotin the firstpanel, the structureof thescene isaconstantpendulum-swingbetweenthetwocharacters,rightuptotheverylastpanel.Becausethescenewassowellstructured,Iwasabletoplayaroundinit.The first requirement is the establishing shot on the first page.We are

outside inGotham’s red-light district.We cut to an interior shot to find a

sleazyguyonthephone.Thatcombinationofshots—anexteriorfollowedbyan interior—isverycommonat theopeningof stories.Theexterior shot isoftenfollowedbytheinteriortomakesurethereisnomistakeaboutwherewe are. What is unusual in this scene is the introduction of a thirdestablishing shot.Once theestablishing shots areoutof theway, the storypicksupabitofsteam.At the time, I was deeply interested in the storytelling abilities of the

cameraandhowitrelatedtomovement,sowhenIwaslayingoutthepagesforGothicIhadthatinthebackofmyhead.Itwastheorganizingfactorforme. Iwaspresentedwithonemovementalready.Mr.Whisper, thevillain,movestowardthephoneboothinpanel5onthefirstpageandpanels1and3onthesecondpage.Thatwasrequiredbythescript.ItalsonecessitatedthattheguyinthephoneboothremainstationarysothatheservedasanobjectbywhichthereadercouldmeasurethemovementofMr.Whisper.Thatleftthe sleazyguy.So if you lookat that sequence, youwillnotice the cameraconsistently moving toward him until the character realizes the absolutehorrorofthesituationonpanel2ofthesecondpage.

The next time we see him, in panel 4, he is in a deliberately chosencomposition. The shape of the desk seems to squeeze the sleazy guycompositionally thesameway thathe isbeing“squeezed”byMr.Whisper.It’s avisual representationof theaction that isoccurring. I introduced thesilhouette of the lamp to represent the feeling that the sleazy guy is beingwatched.Istucktothatthemeinthelastpanel,too,wherethewindowsweremeant to represent eyes looking in,watching the character.The last panelalsopullsbackfartherthaniteverhasinthatoffice.Theideawastogeneratethefeelingofisolationandlonelinessthatthesleazyguyisfeeling.Ifyoulookcloselyattheanglesofthepanels,youwillseeonlyoneangled

panel intheentiresequence:panel5onthesecondpage.Eventhoughthefirstandlastpanelshavedistortionintheirperspective,theiraxisisvertical.Theaxisinpanel5isdefinitelyatadiagonal.Thisseparateditfromtherestofthepanelsandhopefullymadeitstandoutmore.Inretrospect,I’dliketochangetheestablishingshotinthefirstpanelon

the first page. The distortion of the buildings doesn’t work for me. IremembersensingsomethingwasoffevenwhenIdrewit,butdidn’tlistentomyself.Therewasalsoadrawingproblemthatwas leftunsolved. If I remember

correctly, the script called for the guy in thephonebooth to bewearing awig.NowthatI’vecalledattentiontoit,youmightseethattherewasatleastan attemptmade, but no success. It’s an interesting problem to dealwith.Howdoesanartistdistinguishbetweenabadhairpieceandabadhaircut?NexttimeIswearI’llgetit!ByshowingyouchoicesIhavemade,Idon’tmeantorestrictyouinany

way; quite the opposite! Hopefully, some doors have been opened. Thesepanels and pages are meant to illustrate in a simple way the range ofpossibilitiesforvisualstorytelling.WhenIsitdowntodraw,Iknowmyfirstpriority is clarity. I will do whatever I can to visually emphasize story orcharacterpoints.Mysecondpriority is tomake the story interesting,and Iwill make choices to do that, too. Storytelling is limited only by theimagination of the individual artist. Comics can go anywhere, in anydirection.Howfunisthat?!Thestorytellerneeds to read thescenemore thanonce tomakesureno

information is missed. Ask yourself these questions: Who’s involved?What’sgoingon?Whattimeofdayisit?Wheredoesthescenetakeplace?Onceyouhaveansweredthesequestionsclearly,youcanbegintopass theinformationontothereader.Some artistsmay be concerned that the rules or theories of storytelling

mighthindertheirself-expression.Nothingcouldbefurtherfromthetruth.Anyonecansitdownwithapencilandpaperandsaythattheyaredrawing.It’s the challenge of drawing something specific that will make the artistcomeupwithcreativenewsolutionstonewproblems.Thoughstorytellingismore complex than learning how to draw, the big secret is that it’senormouslyengagingandaheckuvalotoffun!

TEN

COMPOSITION

Composition is defined as the process of combining elements or partstogether to form a united whole. That’s a pretty good definition becausethat’swhatallartistsdowhentheyapproachacanvas,page,orpanel.Withinthe frame, theremust be a conscious and deliberate effort to organize theshapesandspacesintoaclearandentertainingunit.Acompositioniseasierifthere’sonlyoneshapeinthepanel,butwhatdoyoudowhentherearetwoorthree—ortwelve?Howisitevenpossibletoorganizeapanelwithtwelveshapes in it and still make it interesting and attractive? How do youmanipulate the reader’s focus?Why botherwith organization at all?WhynotdowhatIlikebest,justdraw?Rememberthatwehaveestablishedthatstorytellingisalanguagewithits

ownconventionsandrules.Compositiongivestheartistthepowertocontrolnotonlywhatthereaderssee,buthowtheyseeit.WesawinChapter9thatit ispossible todesignapage so that theviewermust read thepanels in aspecificorder.Thatmanipulationisdonethroughcomposition:theprocessofarrangingtheelementsofapageorpanelinawaythatdrawsattentiontothemostimportantinformation.Themost powerful tool at an artist’s disposal is the power to direct the

reader’seye.Thegoalofyourcompositionalchoices is toalwaysmake thereaderlookatwhatyouwantthemtosee.Thefirstpartoffulfillingthisgoalisdeterminingthesizeandshapeofyourpanel.InChapter7wediscussedthe fact that just the size and shape of a panel—even without an interiorimage—transmitsinformationtothereader.Let’slookatasimpleexample.Saythatthescriptyoureditorjustgaveyou

involves an individual whose main characteristic is depression. As astoryteller,theartisthasaresponsibilitytocommunicatethatinformationin

avisualway.Showingsomethingisalwaysmoreeffectivethansayingit.So,wheredowebegin?One way would be to “draw” this person depressed. He might have a

frown, be downcast, wear a lot of black, andwear sunglasses indoors. Allgoodideas,butaretheyenough?Haveweusedallthetoolsatourdisposaltocommunicateinformation?Although the lookof a character is very important, is it the onlyway to

convey an emotion? By adding composition to our storytelling arsenal westrengthen and broaden our communication abilities. One compositionalchoicemight be to compose your panel so that the character is always offcenter,closertothebordersofthepanel.Thiswouldvisuallyrepresentthekindofisolationormarginalizationadepressedindividualoftenfeels.

Anexampleofvisuallycommunicatingacharacter’sstateofmindthroughcomposition.Bypositioningthesubjectallthewayintheleftcornerofthepanel,Ihopetoconveyafeelingofisolationandseparation.

Orwemight see parts of his body and face squished between shapes (avisualrepresentationofbeingcaughtbetweenarockandahardplace).Orwecoulduseadown-shot(inwhichthecameraislocatedabovethesubject)wheneverhe’sinthepanel.Anotherideaistotrytoseparatehimfromthepeoplearoundhim.Hemightbeatacaféandthereaderseestheimmediateareaaroundhimemptybutafullcrowdofpeoplesittingattablesbehindandto the side of him. Composition can be used as a visual representation ofwhatthecharacterfeels.

Thecompositionofthispanelcreatesafeelingofclaustrophobiaandanxiety.

Ifyouputthedepressedguyinthecornerofapanel,whatdoyoudowiththerestofthescene?Wecanusetheinteriorstructureofthepaneltoguideus to some of the answers. Every panel, regardless of shape or size, has astructurewithinit.Thisstructuremaybeinvisibletoyouatthemoment,butlet’sseehowwecanbringittolight.

Compositionallyisolatingthecharacterisapowerfultoolofstorytelling.Here,weaddblacktoobscurethesubjectandtomaketheotherpartsofthepanelmoreobvious.Thecontrastbetweenthepeoplesharingtheirmealswithothersandthesolitudeofourcharacterisextremelyclearvisually.

Wherethetwolinesmeetistheexactcenterofthepanel.Thecenterpointcan serve the artist in many useful ways. Unless there is some deliberatecompositionalreasonthatthestorytellerchoosesnottousethemiddleofthepanelasthefocalpoint,thisisthespotwherethereader’seyegoesfirst.Theartistplansthecompositionwiththatfactinmind.Themiddleofthepanelisaneasyandnaturalfocalpoint;itisthereinthepanelwhetherweexploititornot.

Fromlefttoright:Tofindthecenterpointofapanelofanysize,drawalinefromonecornertotheoppositecorner.Thendrawalinebetweenthetwoothercorners.Theintersectionofthediagonalsisthecenterpoint.Thispointcanalsobeusedtobisectandquarterthepanel.Todothat,eraseeverythinginyourpanelbutthecenterpoint.Drawalinethatrunsthroughthatpointandisparalleltothebottomortopofthepanel.Youhavebisectedthepanel.Drawanotherline,thistimeverticallythroughthecenterpoint,tobisectthepanelagain.Nowthepanelisquartered.

Whenyoubisectorquarteryourpanel,youcreateguidelinestohelpyoudecide how best to arrange the shapes within that panel. If the goal ofstorytellingchoicesistoinformandentertain,howdoescompositionhelpinthat?We’veseenanexampleofhowanartistcanusethemiddleofthepanelas an easy focal point for the reader. By placing the most importantinformation there instead of at the border areas, the artist pretty muchguaranteesthereaderwillseeitwithlittleconfusion.However,assuccessfulas your information communicationmay be, a series of panels with all oftheirfocalpointsinthemiddlecouldreachacriticalmassofboredom.Thestorytellerneedstobemoreinterestingthanthat.Thegoalofcompositionistobothinformandentertain.In this context, to entertain simply means that you have the reader’s

attention.The art shouldbe interesting enough tohold the attentionuntilthe end. Composition is the most effective way a storyteller can keep thereaderinterested.Therearethreemorewaystousecompositiontoachievethat level of excitement: eyemovement, contrast, and balance. Let’s take

themoneatatime.

ThesethreecoversbyNealAdamsallusethesamecomposition.Drawalinedownthemiddleofallthreeandseehowtheshapesinthecoverslineuparoundorareseparatedbythebisection.Toptobottom:PhantomStranger#11(February1971);Superboy#153(January1969);andPhantomStranger#13(June1971).

EyeMovement

Thereisatheoryinstorytellingthattheamountofeyemovementisdirectlyrelatedtothelevelofenthusiasmgeneratedwithinthereader.Themoretheeye dances across the page, the theory says, the more “awake” andentertainedthereaderis.Thesinglegreatestpowerthattheartisthasistheabilitytocontrolwhatthereaderisseeing.Theartistmaychoosetodesignapanelwhere theeyeglidesacross thepanel,directing the reader toa focalpointoreventothenextpanel.This theory does not only apply to the interior image of an individual

panel;thepanelsonanygivenpagearesimilarlyrelatedtoeachother.If,forinstance, the layoutofapage requires twoormorepanels ina single row,those panels are in a compositional relationship. Their juxtaposition canaffecttheinteriorcompositionoftheindividualpanels.Here’s how to deal with that particular type of design:We can find the

centerpointeasilyandputourcenterofattentionthereifwewant.Therearetimeswhenthestorytellingwillrequiretheartisttoputallthreefocalpointsinthemiddleofthepanel.Butrememberthatingeneral,weareattemptingtocreateabitmoreeyemovementandexcitement.

ThispaneldesignbyEduardoRissocompelsthereader’seyetotravelacrosstheimage.Thealternatingrhythmofwhite,black,white,black,andwhiteagainpullsthereaderfromlefttoright.From100Bullets#11(June2000).ScriptbyBrianAzzarello.

ThefirstpanelonthispagefromBatman:Ego(2000)byDarwynCookeisastudyinbalance.Dividethepanelinhalfhorizontallyandnoticehowtheimageisbisected.Divideitagainverticallyandnoticehowthefourquadrantsshiftbackandfortharoundtheaxislinesinaquestforbalance.Thethreesmallerpanelstotherightmakeforanice,calmcontrasttothemainimage.

Rememberthatjuxtapositionmeanspanelsinproximityaffectoneanother.Theinformationinamulti-panelsequencecanbecomposedwithminimumormaximumeyemovement.Becausethefocalpointisinthemiddleofeachpanel,thetoptierallowstheeyetomoveacrossthepanels.Thesecondandthirdsetsofpanelsshowthefocalpointsofthepanelspositionedwithgreatervariety.Inadditiontomovingacrossthesequence,theeyeisforcedtomoveupanddown.Thiscompositionalchoiceoffersgreatervisualvarietyinthelayoutaswell.

Instead of placing all of the focal points in the middle, a bettercomposition would be to mix the locations of the focal points up. In theprevious image, we see compositions that use the first focal point to

determine the placement of the second one. The placement of the secondfocalpoint,inturn,determineswherethethirdonegoes.Thepanelsbecomemore interesting because the artist is using the juxtaposition of differentfocalpointlocationstoworkforthestoryandkeepthereader’seyemoving.Letmereinforcesomethinghere:Noneofthismeansthattheartistcan’t

composethreepanelsinarowwithfocalpointscuttingacrossthesameaxis.Whatitdoesmeanisthatyouhavetodothatwithsomethought.Onceyouknowaboutcompositionalvariety,youarefreetodeliberatelychoosetotella story in a less stimulatingway.As long as there is some thought behindyour decisions and you are able to justify them, you should be on solidgroundwithyourstorytellingchoices.

Contrast

If all of the shapes in a panelwere the same, the imagewould be far lessinteresting than one that included a variety of shapes.When we bisect apanel,webegintocreateamoreinterestingcomposition.Thetopleftpanelshownherehasbeenbisectedtocreatetwoshapesthat

are equal in size and not particularly interesting. How can we make thiscompositionmorecompelling?Theirsizeandshaperelationshipsmakethesecompositionsmoreexciting.

Butcontrast isnot limitedtosizeandshape.Itcanalsobeachievedbytheintroductionofthecontrastbetweenblackandwhite.

Topleft:Aswehaveseen,theevenlydividedpanelmaynotprovidethegreatestamountofexcitement.

Toprightandbottomleft:Anytypeofcontrastinspatialrelationshipscreatesadisparitythatismorevisuallyinteresting.

Bottomright:Introducingarelationshipbetweenblackandwhiteshapesincreasesthecontrast.Rememberthatincomposition,equalisnotasinterestingasunequal.

Balance

Balance has its own unique set of characteristics. It applies to a lot moresituations than you might realize. We tend to think of something as“balanced”if itsconstructionisperfectlysymmetricalandharmonious.Butthere are other types of balance in the world of composition besidessymmetricalbalance.

Symmetrical balance

Symmetry is defined as being equal on opposite sides of a plane. In otherwords,ifyousplitthecompositionbelowinhalfvertically,onehalfwouldbethemirrorimageoftheotherhalf:perfectsymmetry.

Symmetricalbalance

DrawastraightverticallinedownthecenterofthispagebyDavidMazzucchelli.Canyouseehowsymmetricallybalancedthepageis?FromBatman:YearOne#3(April1987).ScriptbyFrankMiller.

Asymmetrical Balance

Acompositionthatisasymmetricallybalancedisnotbalancedbythesizeoftheshapeswithin it,butratherby thestructureof thepanel. Ifwedividedthepanelbelowinhalf,therewouldbeashapeineachsection.Eventhoughtheshapesareunequalinsize,thepanelisconsideredbalancedbasedonthepresenceofashapeoneachside.

Asymmetricalbalance

Theseareafewexamplesofhowspatialrelationshipscanbemanipulatedbythestoryteller.Inthefinalanalysis,theremaybeamathematicalformulato composing a panel or a page with just the right amount of contrast orbalance, but the most effective art is not formulaic. Creating a goodcompositionisaquestionoffollowingyourownuniqueinstinct.Everyartisthashisorherownapproach.Be awareof these theories,butonly refer tothem as a guide to some possible resolutions to your compositionalproblems.Trustyourinstinct!

Now,let’sputsomeofthesetheoriesintopractice.Youpickupyourscriptandthefirstpageisascenewiththreecowboysonhorsesinthedesertridingtowardthecamera.Seemslikeaprettysimpleimage.

Whatistherequiredinformation—whichelementsmustyouinclude?1.Threecowboys2.Theirhorses3.Thedesert4.Movementinaparticulardirection

Youmightplaceyourhorizonlineinthecentersomewhereandplaceyourelementsthere(figureA).Thesunisashapeusedtoeliminateanyambiguityabout the focalpoint.Even though the information is enough to fulfill thedemand of the script, is this the most entertaining or interesting way tocomposethescene?Remember that oneof the least interesting compositions is one thathas

shapesofequalsize.Rightnowthelandandskyareequal.Howaboutwetrytointroducemorecontrast?Thelargeshapeoftheskyisnowinadancewiththesmallershapeofthe

ground(figureB).There’sabitofcompositionaltensionbetweenthetwo.What else can we do? If we stay on the theme of contrast, maybe we

shouldmovethecowboysawayfromthecenter.Ofthesetwochoices(figuresCandD),IpreferD.WhenIlookatC,my

eye is first drawn to the cowboys and thenmoves across the panel to thenegativespace.Ifeelcompelledtoreturntothecowboysagain.Intheotherimage(D),myeyestillstartsoutmovingfromlefttoright,butafteritpausesonthecowboysitisreadytomoveontothenextimage.MyintellectandmyguttellmethisistheoneIwanttouse.

Studying the scene further, I find the relationshipbetween the cowboysand thesun ineffective.Theyseem tobeswallowedby the sunanddonotstand out enough. Let’s create a more interesting and productiverelationship.Ifwebreakthroughtheoutlineofthesun(figureE),thereaderwillgetagreaterfeelingofdepthandseparation.Thecowboysnowseemto“popout”ofthesun,makingthescenemorethree-dimensional.Addinga foregroundelement to thecompositioncreatesanevengreater

illusionofdepth(F).What else can we do? We can experiment by adding some black and

creatingsomecontrastwiththewhitespaceofthepanel(figuresGandH).

Whicheverpanelyou finallychoose touseshouldbe theone that tells thestorybestandpleasesyouaesthetically.Continuingwiththetheoriesofbalanceandcontrast,wecanapplythem

to the figures of the cowboys themselves. They seem to have the sameamountofdistancebetweenthem,whichmightlendanartificialfeeltotheimage.Ifwewanttogivethecowboysamorenatural,spontaneouslook,wecan shuffle them around a bit and see ifwe comeupwith a less ordinaryarrangement.Thoughtfulcomposition,approachedwithdeliberation,opensupanentireworldofstorytellingabilities.Youreallycangoanywhereanddoanythingaslongasyouknowwhatitisthatyouwanttosay.

TheDiagonal

Another very importantpart of compositionwehavenotmentioned is thediagonal. A diagonal is any line that does not echo or duplicate thehorizontalorvertical linesofthepanel.That’safancywayofsayingit’sanangle. Once again, it’s critical to understand the power of the panel. Anangledlineisonlyananglewhenitisinaframeofsomesort.Ifyoudrawalineonapieceofpaper,ithasnocontextunlessyouusethebordersofthepaperitself.Otherwise,thelinefloatsinanundefinedspace.Onceapanelisdrawnaroundit,thenthetypeoflineitiscanbedefined.Withinthefirstpanelthatfollowsaretwolinesthatrepeattheangleand

direction of the panel borders. In the second panel, there are also lineswhichmimic the structure of the panel border, but there is one diagonalamong them.Because it doesnot echo thehorizontals and verticals of theborder,thatdiagonalreallystandsoutcomparedtothelinesthatareparallel,which tend to fallback into thepanel.Thediagonalbreaks theestablishedstructureofthepanel,soit“popsout”oftheframe.Thisleadsustoourfirstconclusion:ifyouwantsomethingtobemorenoticeable,drawitatanangle.

Thehorizontalandverticallinesinthispanelarenotverystrikingbecausetheyreplicatethehorizontalandverticallinesofthepanelborders.

Introducingadiagonalintothesamehorizontalandverticalpanelmakesthediagonalthemostprominentline.Inthelandofhorizontalsandverticals,thediagonalisking.

Wecanapplythistheorytoourcowboypanel.Putthefiguresatabitofanangle and seewhathappens. I think the angleof the cowboys, contrastingwiththeverticalsandhorizontalsofthepanelborder,givesthefocalpointofthe panel a better chance of being noticed.Directing the reader’s eye is anecessarypartofstorytellingandanythingyoucandotohelpthatmakestheworkthatmuchmoreclearandunderstandable.Thediagonalisalsothelinethathasthemost“movement”toit.Sinceit

stands out from the rest of thepanel,many artistswill build actionsupondiagonallines.Thereareplentyoftimeswhentheconstructionofanactionmay lookperfectly fineparallel to theborders,butadiagonalwillbemorenoticeable. In the nex image, Batman is throwing his Batarang across thepanel.Theartisthasfulfilledhisscriptrequirementforinformation,buthowaboutentertainment?Isthisthemostinterestingwaytohandlethescene?

In thenext image, theaction line isatadiagonal.Noticehowtheaction ismoreobvious.Drawingthepanelthiswayhasthefurtheradvantagesofbothproviding a close-up of what Batman is throwing (clear storytelling) andcreatingaforegroundandabackground,whichgivesthereaderanillusionofdepth.Thepanel isalsoquartered,whichaddsabitmorecompositionalcomplexity.

Inadditiontothediagonalbeingveryusefulforactionandmovement,itcan serve yet another purpose. At this point, it’s been established thatmovingthereader’seyeisnecessaryforgoodstorytelling.Thediagonalcanhelpa lot in thisarea. It isoftenusedto lead thereader to thefocalpoint.Usingtheangledlineinthismannerisalmostasubliminalsuggestiontothereader, but it never fails if used with some thought. In the image on thispage, for instance, the shadow,which isat anangle, leads right to the twocharacters.Itpointstothemandframesthematthesametime.(Thefactthatthere is a black shape behind the heads also makes the shapes stand outmore because of the contrast between black background and whiteforeground.)

Diagonalscancreateagreatersenseofdepthandthree-dimensionalityinyourwork.Usingthediagonalsofperspective,forinstance,thecompositionhere seems to pull the viewer into thepanel.This is also the fundamentalconcept behind the use of blast lines. Blast lines accomplish all of whatperspectivediagonalsdo,exceptinaminimalistway.Theypointtothefocalpointofthepanelandalsocreatedepth.(Notethatblastlinesareheavieratthebordersandthinnertowardtheendoftheline.)

The more time I spend as a storyteller, the more I am convinced thatcompositioniseverything.ItistheessenceofwhatIconsiderdrawingtobe.Drawing is composition, and never more so than in sequential imagestorytelling. It is the foundation of the ability to communicate in a visualway.Nomatterwhat isdrawninsideapanel,acompositioniscreated.It istherewhetherornotwewant it tobe, so it’s inanyartist’sbest interest torecognizeit,learnfromit,andmakeitworkinserviceofthestory.

ELEVEN

SHOTSANDANGLES

Someof themost effective tools a storytellerhas to communicatewith thereaderareshotsandangles.Apanel’sshotandanglecontainanincredibleamountofinformationaboutstateofmind,drama,andmood.The artist’s primary responsibility in a panel is to convey the pure and

simplefactsofthestory—theplot.Ifthescenespecifiesthatthreecowboysare riding toward the camera, that needs to be shown in a clear andunderstandablemanner.Atthenextlevelofstorytelling,theartistprovidesvisualcluestohelpthe

readergainadeeperunderstandingoftheinformationbeingpresented.Forinstance, three cowboys riding toward the camera can be drawn to be asimple statement of fact and nothing more. In this case, the artist wouldchoose a shot that is neutral—something that won’t convey moreinformationthanisnecessary.Astraight-on,non-tiltedcompositionwouldworknicely.Awomanopeningapackagecouldalsobeneutralaslongasthereisjust

the need to show the facts. But what if therewas a bomb inside the bag?Shouldthestorytellercomposethepanelinthesameway?Whatcouldheorshedotomakethepanelmoreinterestingandinformativeforthereader—perhapstoconveythewoman’semotionalstate?Thisproblemissolvedwiththeproperuseofshotsandangles.Before we define shots and angles, let’s spend a moment on the word

camera.Everyoneknows that a camera is adevicewithwhichwecan takephotographs.Whenyou lookatacomicbook, itcanbehelpful to imaginethatallof thepanelswerephotographed insteadofdrawn.Foreachpanel,trytoimaginewherethecameraispositionedwhenthepicturewastaken.Itmight be low to the ground, or up high and tilted down. It could be very

closeuporveryfaraway.Thinkingaboutdrawingsintermsofthepositionofanimaginarycamera

is a technique that will broaden your abilities as a storyteller.Most of theimageswithinapanelareobjectiveshots.Thatis,theyareconstructedwithan objective camera’s point of view, as opposed to the subjective point ofviewofacharacter.Keepinmindthat thecamera’spositionis thesameasthe reader’s. The artist chooses an angle or shot, but each reader sees theimage through his or her own eyes. Decisions about angles and shots aredeliberate. Every shot or angle—even a neutral one—conveys somethingparticular.

Shots

Theword shot refers to the distance between the camera and the subject.Let’sseewhatthespecificshotsandanglesareandwhatmeaningstheycanhave.

Establ ishingShot

The one shot that is mandatory is the establishing shot. In it, the readerlearnsenoughaboutthelocationofthescenetounderstandwheretheactiontakes place. Unless there is a specific reason not to place it there, theestablishing shot needs to appear at least at the beginning of every scene.Everysubsequentpageshouldalsoreconfirmthelocationwithat leastonereestablishingshot.Howmuchofthelocationtoshowintheselatershotsuptotheartist—itcanbepresentedasaclose-up,fromfaraway,etc.,butthelocationmustbereinforcedoneverypageatleastoncebecauseeachpageisphysicallyseparatedfromtheotherpages.Constantlysupplyingthe“where”ofthestoryallowsthereadertofocusonthenarrativeinsteadofquestioningthelocationoftheaction.

ExtremeLongShot

Forthisshot,thecamerastaysveryfarawayfromthecharacters—theymaynot even appear in thepanel! If theydo, they are probablyunidentifiable,and their identitieswillbeestablished in the followingpanel.Theextremelongshotfocusesonlocale,apanoramicviewofthetownorcity,oreventheentireplanet.Itisoftenusedinconjunctionwiththenextpanel,wherethecamera gets closer to the subject. The shot is often used to convey acharacter’s isolation or the grandeur of the surroundings. It can be quitedramaticinestablishingaparticularmoodorrhythm.

LongShot

This shot is also taken from a distance. The characters, if they are in thepanel,arequitevisible,buttheydonotdominatethecomposition.Whilethecameraiscloseenoughtoeasilyincludethefullbodiesofthecharacters,itisfarenoughawaytofocusmainlyonthelocation.

Full Shot

In this shot, approximately the full lengthof thebody is shown.Amodestamountofbackgroundmightbepresent,but the focus isdefinitelyon thecharacters.

MediumShot

Wearecloseenoughnowtoseeonlyabouthalfthebody.Theremaybeanindication of the background, but that might not be necessary. Often ashadow or black shapewill be sufficient for the background. The focus isdefinitelyonthecharacterorcharacters.

Close-Up

Thisisashotshowingthecharacterfromroughlythetopoftheshoulderstothe top of the head. The entire face andhead is almost always shown.Nobackground with any detail is needed here; a simple black or whitebackground is oftenmore than enough. Toomuch background detail willdistractfromthefocalpointofthepanel.

ExtremeClose-Up

This is a rather intense shot because it brings the reader right up to thecharacter’s face,which takes up the entire panel. The extreme close-up isusedwhenthestorytellerwantstheaudienceto“movein”onthecharacterin a very intimate way. The camera’s (and reader’s) proximity to thecharactermakesthisanextremelydramaticshot.

All of the shots we’ve seen so far have been objective—neutral. It is as ifthere were a camera positioned in the action somewhere, taking pictures.Themajority of shots in both film and comics are objective, but there aresome shots that arenot.These shots are theexactoppositeof anobjectiveshot—theyaresubjective.Asubjectiveshotshowsnotwhatthecamerasees,butwhat thecharacter sees. Imaginea scene that takesplaceona rooftop.Ourheroishuntingforthebadguy.Weseehimexaminingtherooftopforcluesinthefirstpanel.

Thatiswhatthecamerasees,soitisanobjectiveshot.Ourheroseesbloodontheroof.Theartistchooses toshowthebloodontheroof.Sincethat iswhatourhero isseeing, that isasubjectiveshot.Thereaderseeswhatourhero sees. This is a great way to throw the reader into the middle of theaction.At least for thedurationof the subjective shot, the readerbecomesthecharacter.It’simportanttoconsiderashot’simpactonthereader.Usingnothingbut

long shots or objective shotsnot onlymakes the visuals boringbecauseofthelackofvarietybutkeepsthereaderata“safedistance”fromthestory.Asa storyteller I know that I do not want the reader to be distant, safe, orsecure.Iwantthereadertobeasclosetotheactionaspossible.Iwantthe

readertobeinvolvedinthestoryasmuchaspossible.Thecloserthecameramovesintotheaction,themoreinvolvedthereaderfeels.Usingasubjectiveshot gets the viewer evenmore involved becausehe or she sees the scenethroughtheeyesoftheplayerinthestory.It isalmostas if theeventsthatareunfoldingarehappeningtothereader.Oneofthesinglemosteffectivewaysofholdingtheaudience’sattentionis

showingthemsomethingtheyhaveneverseenbefore.Anythingthatisnewor out of the realm of everyday experience has a greater chance of beinginteresting.We all become immune to our surroundings and our friendsbecauseweseethemallthetimeinexactlythesameway:ateyelevel.Whatweareusedtoseeingallthetimelosesitsvisualimpact.Didyoueverhavetheexperienceoflyingonthefloorinafamiliarroomandmarvelingathowdifferent everything looked?Or climbing to the roof of your building andseeingyourneighborhoodfromadifferentperspective?

Angles

If camera shots are differentiated by the distance between the camera andthesubject,thencameraanglesdifferbasedonthepositionofthecamerainrelation to the horizontal and vertical lines of your panel. Here are someexamples.

Ti ltedAngle

Inatiltedangle,thecameraisatadiagonalfromthehorizontalandverticallines—tiltedeitherleftorright.Thissuggestsatleasttwothings:1.Somethingaboutthissceneisoutoftheordinarybecausethereisn’tthetypicalhorizontal-verticalright-anglerelationship.2. Just as a horizontal line creates the feeling of stability, the angled linesuggests instability,movement, anduncertainty.An illusionofdizziness isconveyed.A scene showing a character reacting in shock is almost always drawn

usingatiltedangleinordertoconveythefeelingofsurprise.

Inthecontextofhorizontalandverticalpanels,thetiltedscenestandsapartfromtheotherpanels.IntheexampleabovebyFrankQuitely,fromJLA:EarthTwo(2000),thetiltisusedfordramaticeffect.InthebottompanelbyBruceTimmandGlenMurakami,fromBatmanAdventuresAnnual#2(1995)thetilttellsussomethingunusualorunexpectedhashappenedorisabouttohappen.Notethatthetiltisanextensionofthediagonaltheoryalreadydiscussed.

Up-Shot

Inthispowerfulup-shotfromOrion#2(July2000),WalterSimonsonemploysseveraltheoriestomakethefigurestandoutasmuchaspossible.Ashapethatdominatesthepage,thetiltofthefigure,theup-shotusedtocommunicatestrength,andtheexaggeratedsizeofOrion’srighthandallcombinetoconveystrengthandpower.

In theup-shot, the subjectmatter is above the camera,which is therefore

tiltedup.Ashotlikethisusuallyrelatestopowerorvictory.Thecameraisinasubmissiveposition,thesubjecttoweringaboveit.You’lloftenseetheup-shotwhenaheroorvillainisintroducedinastory.Thesetypesofcharactersare always invincible in their first panel, so an up-shot is often used toconveytheirstrength.Itcanalsobeusedveryeffectivelyinhorrorstoriesasacreepyeffect.Combinedwithatilt,up-shotscanbeverydramatic.

Down-Shot

ThispagebyPascualFerryandWaldenWongisveryeffective.Notonlydoesheusethedown-shotinthelasttwopanelstoindicatedefeatandloss,butthroughhiscompositionhemakesthereader’seyemovedownward,mimickingSuperboy’sdescentintothatnegativestateofmind.FromSuperboy#86(May2001).ScriptbyJoeKelly.

In the down-shot—the opposite of the up-shot—the camera is above the

subject, lookingdown.Thisshot ismostoftenusedtocommunicatedefeatand powerlessness. A good example is a scene in which a hero ismomentarilydefeatedbyhisenemy.Inthatcase,thedown-shotallowsthereadertoseetheherofromthevillain’spointofview.Thedown-shotisalsousedtoconveyisolationorloneliness.Thecharacterisatadistancefromthereader—remote,alone,andunreachable.

Theassociationswithshotsandanglesdescribedabovearenotabsolute;itispossible to choose one just because you like the look of it. However, youshoulddothiswithcaution,becausecertainshotsandangleshavebecomeculturalstandardsthatareuniversallyacceptedashavingspecificmeanings.Theaudiencewillreacttothem—evenifitisonlyonanunconsciouslevel—and this canmake things confusing if you are trying to convey conflictinginformation.Toastoryteller,clarityisthefirstandlastgoal.Althoughsomeofyourchoicesmaybemadeonpurelyaestheticterms,itisveryimportantthat you be aware of what they can mean to your readers. The onerequirement for effective storytelling is conscious and deliberate thought.Makeyourchoicesbasedonknowledgeandexperienceandyouwillbefarlesslikelytoconfuseyouraudience.

TWELVE

MOVEMENT

Oneofthemoreinterestingdisadvantagesofthecomicbookformisthatitisimpossible to replicate movement in real time. Film definitely has theadvantageovercomicsinthisspecificcase.Itallowstheviewertowatchanentire action from beginning to end without any interruptions, while thecomic book only allows the artist to show a portion of the action. As anexample,let’staketheactionofBatmanthrowingaBatarang.Afilmwouldtake seconds to show Batman grabbing his weapon, positioning his body,andthrowingtheBatarang,andthenthemovementof theBatarangall thewaytoitsdestination.Acomicbookartistwouldhavetwochoices:1.Showapartoftheaction.Thismeansthestorytellerhastodecidewhichpartofthemovementtoshow.2.Showallof theaction.Theonlywaytodo this is todrawasequenceofseveralpanels:Batmanreachingforhisbelt;hishandholdingtheBatarang;his arm up before the throw; his arm down after the throw; the Batarangflyingintheair;andfinallytheweaponreachingitsdestination.Either choice is effective in its ownway, but there are consequences to

using both approaches. The first example gets the job done quickly; thesequencewouldmostlikelyconsistofashotofBatmanthrowingfollowedbyapanelshowingthetargetgettinghitbytheBatarang.In the second examplewe have a contradiction. In real time, the act of

throwingwouldtakeasecondortwo.Breakingtheactionintomanypanelsactuallyslowsdowntheaction,whichmeansthattheaudiencespendsmoretimereadingthemovementthantheactualmovementtakesinrealtime.Itdoes,however,createaheightenedsenseofdrama.Wheneverthestorytellerchoosestoslowdownasequence,heorshecallsattentiontotheaction,anditwillalwaysbemuchmoreintenseanddramaticthanthesimplersequence.

Therearetwotypesofmovementthatthestorytellermustconsider:Thefirstistheactionormovementthatacharacterorobject(likeacaror

train)ismakingwithinthesequence.IfBatmanisrunning,hecanonlyrunin limited specified directionswithin the panel: from left to right, right toleft, away from the viewer, or toward the viewer. This applies to not onlyBatmanbutanyshapeorformthatismovingwithinthepanel.The second type of movement the storyteller must consider is the

movement of the reader’s eye.How a reader follows and understands theaction iscrucial to therulesofstorytelling.Once thedirectionofanactionhasbeenestablished,thestorytellermustremainconsistenttothataction.Forexample:ifapitcherinpanel1throwstheballfromlefttoright,that

ballhastotravellefttorightinsubsequentpanelsinordertobecleartothereader. The second panel in the sequence could never be a shot of thebaseballmovingfromrighttoleft.Itmusttravelinthesamedirectionastheballinpanel1.Ifyouweretoshowtheballmovingintheoppositedirectionin panel 2, it would suggest a second ball being thrown at the pitcher. Inpanel3,theballentersthepanelfromtheleft,thebattermakescontactandhitsitbackintothedirectionofthepitcher—totheleft,outofthepanel.Itisonly after the batter hits the ball that the baseball can legitimately changedirection.Inmuchthesameway,theplacementofcharactersorobjectsinrelation

tothemselvesandtheirenvironmentsmustremainconsistent.Let’s say that our script calls for two people, Howard and Deb, having

lunchinarestaurant.Theestablishingshotistheshotthatdetermineshowtheartistplacesthecharactersinsubsequentpanels.Weseetherestaurant,the couple at the table, and thewaiter entering from the left of the panel.Howard is also at the left, andDeb is sitting at the right sideof thepanel.Wheneverweseetheminthescene,Howardmustbepositionedattheleftand Deb at the right. The storyteller can use asmany different shots andanglesasareneededandcanalsoshowHowardandDebindividuallyinthepanel,forthesakeofvariety,butallthedirectionalchoicesmustrevertbacktotheoriginalpositioning.Ifthechoiceistoshowaclose-upofHowardorDeb,theycanbeseeneitherfromthefrontorside.Butthesideshotneedstomaintain the original position of the characters: Howardmust face to theright;Debfacestotheleft.

Oncethepositionsofthecharactershavebeenestablished,thosepositionsinrelationtoeachotherandtheaxislineneedtobeconsistent.Inthispanel,HowardandthewaiterareontheleftandDebisontheright.Whenthecharactersareshownindividually,theycanbeshownineitherfrontalshotsorinprofile.Whentheprofileisshown,thedirectionoftheheadsneedstoremainconsistentwiththeoriginalestablishedpositions.HowardmustalwaysbefacingrighttolookatDeb,andDebmustbefacinglefttolookatHoward.Nomatterwhattheangleordistance,thecharactersmustbeshotastheywereestablishedintheinitialset-up.

Aneasierwaytothinkofthisistoestablishwhatiscalledtheactionaxis.Imaginethecameraabovethecouple,lookingdownatthem.Drawastraightlinethroughthetable,Howard,andDeb.Thisistheactionaxis.Thecameramuststayononesideof that line.Itcanmovetoanypositionas longas itdoesnot shoot the scene from theother sideof the axis.Thepointof thisapproach is to provide consistency for the readers so that they never getconfusedaboutwhichcharacterisspeakingoracting.

Toremainconsistent,placeyourselfinthesceneandremainononesideoftheaxislinethroughoutthesequence.Thereareplentyofwaystointroduceenoughvisualvarietytoensurethatyourlayoutdoesn’tsuffer.

The storytelling rules that govern the choices of movement within asequenceapplynotonlytothemovementwithinapanelandtheplacementofcharacters inrelationto thebackground,butalsotomovingobjects thattravelover the courseofmanypanelsorpages.Thewaiter servingHaroldandDeb,forinstance,wouldalwayshavetoenterandleavefromstageleft.Ifatrainismovingfromlefttorightintheestablishingpanel,itmustmoveinthesamedirectionthroughoutthesequencetobeconsistent.Ifwecuttothe interiorof the train, it should stillbemoving in the same left-to-rightdirection. Ifwe show thewheels of the train, they, too, should bemovingfromlefttoright.Toinsertashotofthetraingoinginadifferentdirection(i.e.,right to left)wouldmakethereadersthinkthat theyare lookingatanentirelydifferenttrain.With directional consistency, we are working at a very basic structural

level.Thislevelofthinkingrequiresthatyoustripawayallthedrawinganddetailandoperateinaplacewherethereisnothingbutpanelsandshapes—but the story is still understandable to the reader. The opposite would beworking on a cosmetic level. This level includes the possibility of drawingtwo trains differently enough that you hope the reader can differentiate

betweenthem.Butstorytellingcan’trelyonhope.Itdependsondeliberatechoices that communicate the information and the ability of the artist tomakethosechoiceswork.A simple but excellent example of maintaining consistent directional

movement is the opening sequence in the filmThe Silence of the Lambs.The first shot is of the environment surrounding FBI headquarters inVirginia. The camera moves from left to right (already establishing themovement) across the trees and picks up Clarice running in the samedirection. The director keeps her moving in that direction, even thoughsomeshotsareangledabitandshehastorunthroughanobstaclecourse.Anotheragententerstheframefromtherightside(tellingusthathewasnotfollowing her but came by a different route). He tells her to return toheadquarters.Shethenrunsfromrighttoleft(whichtellstheviewersheisgoing back) until she sees the building. Any change in any part of thatsequencewouldhave given thewrong information to the audience.Whenmovement isn’t consistent, it’s noticeable. When it works it should beinvisible.Movementcreatedbyanactionworksbestwhenitworksonastructural

level.Theproblem is to create the illusionofmovement in amedium thatdoesn’thave thecapacity to showmovement. It is the responsibilityof thestoryteller to create that illusion as convincingly as possible. A structuralapproach relies heavily on composition and design. Cosmetic applicationsdisregardthepowerofdesignandtrytomakeupforthefailureofsolvingacompositionalproblemlikemovementbyapplyingsuperficialadditiveslikespeedlines.Inthefirstimageonthispage,theshapeinthemiddleofthepaneldoes

not look like it’smoving at all. It is a convincingportrait of a rectangle atrest. The second image, by using the structure of the panel and therelationship of the rectangle to the panel border, implies movement on apurelycompositional level,withno speed linesorotheradditions.Wecanintroducethesestructuralinsightsontoourdrawingsandseethatitismuchmorepowerful toworkon this fundamental level.We can then add speedlines and smoke to reinforce the structural decisions that we made first.Rememberthatworkingonastructurallevellikecompositionanddesignisalwaysmoreeffective thanaddingcosmeticsontoapoorlydesignedpanel.Youcanalwaysaddspeedlineslater.

NoticehowNealAdamshandlesmovementonthispagefromDeadman#6(October1985).Inthefirsttwopanelsthecharactersmovefromlefttoright.Inthethirdpanel,themovementisintransition.Weseeonecharactermovinghispositiontotheleft,theotherinaneutralstancefacingthecamera.Inthefinalpanelthecharactersremaininthesamepositionsrelativetoeachotherthattheyheldinthepreviouspanel.ScriptbyRobertKanigher.

Ashapeinthemiddleofthepanelprettymuchjustsitsthere.Ifwecomposethepanelsothatthesameshapebleedsoffthepanel,itnotonlymakesforamoreinterestingvisual,butsuggestsabitofmotion.Inthelastpanel,wecanchangetheshapetoacarandseehoweffectiveitistousethepanelbordersandtheimaginaryspacebeyondthemforgoodstorytelling.

Theabilitytochangethedirectionofamovingobjectreliesontheintroductionoftheneutralpanel.Inthefirstimageweseeacarmovingfromlefttoright.Thesecondpanelusesaneutralshot—apanelinwhichtheactionandmovementiscomingeithertowardorawayfromthecamera.Nowit’sokaytochangethedirectionofthecartoonethatisdifferentfromwhatisseeninthefirstpanel.Withouttheneutralpanel,thechangeswouldbeineffective.

Oneofthemostbasicconceptsofmovementincomicsissomethingmostofustakeforgranted:thewayweread.IntheWesterntradition,wereadleftto right, top to bottom. In Eastern cultures, it is exactly the opposite.Knowing how the audience reads is an important consideration for yourstorytelling. Sincewe in theWest read left to right, anymovement that isread left torightwillbereadmorequicklybecause thereadersareusedtoreading in that direction. When we move from right to left, it slows theactiondownbecauseitgoesagainstourconditionedmethodofreading.Therearegoingtobetimesinthestorytellingwheretheartistmaywantto

manipulatethereaderbyslowingdownthereadingprocessorevenbringingit completely to a halt. The key to this lies in right-to-leftmovement. Anentirepageof right-to-left panelswill be readmore slowly thanapageofleft-to-right movement. There is nothing right or wrong about themovement choices an artist makes as long as he or she makes decisionsdeliberately and consciously based on the continuity needs of the story.Movementisapartofagreaterwholethattheartistpresentstothereader.Havingsaidthat,thereisoneloopholeinallofthistalkofconsistencyand

continuity. There is a way to change direction when movement is beingshowninaseriesofpanels.I’mtalkingabouttheshotthatisgoingneithertothe left nor to the right, but is instead moving toward or away from thecamera. In a situationwhere only one directionhas been established, it ispossibletochangedirectionwiththeintroductionoftheneutralshot.Inthefirstpanelofthepreviousexample,weseethecarmovingfromleft

toright;inthethird,itismovingrighttoleft.Thisswitchismadepossiblebytheintroductionofaneutralshot,whichactsasabridgebetweentheother

twopanels.The secondpanel allows the reader to clearly connect the firstandthirdpanelsbyshowingthemovingobjectinaneutralposition.There are other reasons to inject a neutral shot in the middle of a

movementbesidestheneedtochangedirection.Youcanuseitforthesakeofvisualvarietyforinstance.Nomatterhowlongorshortasequencemightbe,theartiststillhastheresponsibilityofbeinginterestingandentertaining.The artist will need some contrasting shots and angles to mix up theconsistentdirectionalmovement.Variety iskey tomaintainingthereader’sinterest.Aneutralshotcanalsobemoreengrossingthanaleft-to-rightorright-

to-leftmovement.Whentheneutralshotcomesatthereader,heorsheseesthescenesubjectivelyandmayeven feelagreatersenseof involvementorthreat from the approaching object or objects. When the shot shows theobject moving away from the camera, the reader may feel relief that theimplieddangerisover.Ineithercaseitputsthereaderinthemiddleoftheaction,whichisalwaysasignofgoodstorytelling.Storytelling is largely based on logic. Movement and direction are both

part of themore logical components of storytelling. Youmight be able tofollow the action you are trying to draw in your head, but if the scene isdifficultorcomplicated,drawtheactionaxisfromoverheadandchecktoseewhether the action stays on one side. Continuity and consistency areextremelyimportantinordertomaintaintheflowofthestorytelling.

Onthispage,SteveRudeandBillReinholdemployaneutralpaneltochangethedirectionoftheGuardian’sactions.Thefirstpanelshowshimmovingfromlefttoright.Thesecondisaneutralshot.Inthethird,hechangesdirection.Thelastpanelshowsthecharactermovinginadirectionthatisconsistentwiththedirectioninthepreviouspanel.FromLegendsoftheDCUniverse#14(March1999).ScriptbyMarkEvanier.

Noticehowthecharactersinthispageremainlockedintotheirdirectionalrelationshipswithoutanylossofvisualvarietyorexcitement.Bisectthepanelshorizontallyand/orverticallyandseehowLeeWeeksdesignshisimages.FromBatmanChronicles:TheGauntlet(1997).ScriptbyBruceCanwell.

Here’sanotherfineexampleofcompositionbyMikeSekowskyandNickCardy.NotonlyisthecoverforTheWitchingHour#3(July1969)perfectlybalancedusingthetheoryofbisection,butthecirculardesigncentersthekidsandcatwhilegentlyleadingtheeyetothegremlinsontheright.

Once the artist has an awareness of the skills needed to draw and themethodsofstorytellingtoarrangetheartworkinanunderstandablematter,it’stimetobeginthefootwork!Gettingyourworkintothehandsofaneditoror art director is as important as developing art skills. The only way tocontinuetheopportunitytodrawcomicsistoearnenoughmoneytosecurethecomfortsyouneedtodoso.There are three facets to this part of becoming a comic book artist. The

firstgoalistobreakintothecomicbookindustry:togetyourworkinfrontoftheeyesofsomeonewhocanhelpyou.Ifyouhaveaplanfordevelopingyourartistic skillsand aplan to showyourwork,youwillbeaheadof theartistwhodoesnot.Rememberthatnomatterhowgoodyouthinkyouare,youneedtoshowyourwork.Thesecondgoal is todevelophealthyworkingandbusinesshabits.This

means,forexample,notwaitinguntilthelastminutetostartajob.Anartistneedssufficienttimetoresearchandprepareforajob.Goodbusinesshabitsincludemeetinganagreed-upondeadlineforaproject.Besides thequalityof your work, there is nothing as important as being timely. Goodcommunicationbetweentheartistandtheeditorisalsoveryimportant.The thirdcomponentofbecominga successfulcomicbookartist isyour

personality. I have been surprised throughout the years at how importantthis is. It affects everything from your ability to absorb criticism to therelationship you have with your editor. The only way I have found tofacilitatethispartoftheartisticprocessisthroughhonestintrospection.Forinstance, understanding that you may have an unreasonable reaction tocriticismcanbeveryhelpfultodevelopingyourtalents.Yourabilitytolearndependsonhowopen-mindedyouare.Thereisoneotheraspectofbeinganartistthatnoonecanteach:passion.

We can hope to inspire it, but it cannot be learned. The knowledgepresentedinthesechapterscangiveyouanunderstandingofthecraftofart.A good craftsman weaves an accomplished, technically correct story. Butgreat stories are realized through the combination of skills and passion.Don’t underestimate passion’s power. It can help you to overcome manybarriers. You must commit yourself to this profession to overcome thechallengesthatwilllieinyourpath.Findyourpassionandyouwillfindyoursuccess.

THIRTEEN

PROCEDURE

Althougheveryartistaddshisorherownpersonalquirkstotheprocessofproducingart,I’venoticedmanyofthefundamentalstepsremainthesame.ThischapterisacombinationofwhatIhavelearnedfromotherstorytellers,whatIconsidertobeeffective,andsupportforthose“personalquirks.”The first thing Idowhen Iget a script is read it several times toensure

thatIdon’tmissanyplotdetails.Thelongerthescript,themorereadingsittakes to absorb the story. Once I understand the action and events aspresentedbythewriter,Isearchforawaytocontributemyownopinionsorfeelingsaboutthecharacters.Iusuallytrytofindasymbol,motif,orvisualthemethatIcanplaywithinmystorytelling.Forexample,afewyearsago,afterwritinganddrawingafewstoriesthathadfoodintheirplots,Irealizedthattome,foodrepresentslove.Thereareseveralscenesin“GoodEvening,Midnight”fromBatmanBlackandWhite#3thatinvolvefoodasasymboloflove: the opening scene, the flashback to Bruce’s birthday party, and theclosingscene,inwhichAlfredremovesthecakefromthefridgeandleavesitonthekitchentableforBrucetodiscover.Inthatfinalgesture,Alfredisableto communicate to Bruce what is the unstated bond that holds themtogether:theloveofafatherforhisadoptedson.AnotherthingIdoatthispointisbegintogatherafileofphotographsthat

relatetotheassignment.ThefilewillcontainanythingIfeelisinterestingorappropriate to the story. It may include location shots, character shots,picturesofanglesorlighting,andanythingIcanuseorforinspiration.Ifindthispartoftheprocessparticularlyenjoyablebecauseitallowsmetotakeanon-intellectual approach. I trust my instinct and give myself over to it.Invariably, a theme of some kind will emerge which leads to new andunexpecteddirections.

Mypersonalcommitment to individualassignmentsvariesdependingonthestory.IfIampencillingandinkingastory,Iwillspendmoretimeonthepreparatory stage.Pencilling requiresmorepreparation than inking. If thepenciller hasn’t done the prep and reference work, it’s impossible toaccomplishthatatanyotherpoint.Often I will photograph locales and/or models to add to the already

accumulatedreference.I’mluckytohaveaccesstothevarietyoflocalesthatNew York has to offer. I love getting on my bike with a camera to scoutlocationsforbothinteriorandexteriorshots.SometimesItakethepicturesbefore I layoutanypages,andsometimesI take themafter Iknowwhat Iwant.I’llfrequentlytakephotographsoffriendsinposestohelpmewiththedrawings and have often jumped in front of a Polaroid myself. Digitalcamerasaregreatforthiskindofwork.Manipulateddigitalimagesareattheembryonicstages inthecomicbookmedium,but theywillcomeingreaternumbersasthetechnologyimproves.Beyondthevalueofusingphotosasreferencepoints,thisparticularstage

getsyououtofthestudioforafewdays.Itgivesthecomicbookpartofyourbrainachancetorest.Ialwaysfindsomethingneworuniquethat inspiresmetogoinanunexpectedpath.It’salsoreallyfun!Inadditiontopicturesandthemesandsuch,Ialsohaveapersonalartistic

goalforeachstoryIdraw.ItmaybeanewinterestorsomethingIhavebeenworking on for a while and can be anything from using blacks moreeffectivelyorworkingonimprovingmyfacestofocusingonarchitectureortryinganewpagedesign.Honestly,what theartist isthinkingisn’tall thatimportant. The most important thing is that the artist is thinking ofsomething.OncethescriptisinmyhandsandIhaveanideaofwhatpersonalthemes

I’d like to explore, I begin drawing. I sketch out themeasurements of thecomicpageorlaythetracingpaperontopoftheboarditself.Alotofartistsstartoutwiththumbnails(smalllayouts,aboutfourtoonesideofan81/2×11–inch piece of paper), but I like towork full-size because it givesme abetterfeelforthepage.Whetherornottodothumbnailsisreallyaquestionofcomfortandpreference.Atthispoint,myonlyconcernistherelationshipsofpanelstoeachother

andtotheshapeswithinthosepanels.Itrytokeepthethumbnaillayoutsasrough as possible so that the final drawing on the board will be fresh.Sometimes artists draw toomuch detail at this stage and as a result, their

work looks stale and stiff. At this point,my drawings are just shapes andblocksofspacewhereItrytocreateinterestingcompositions.IfIthinkwhatI’vedoneworks,Igoontothenextstep.Personally,Itendtorejectthefirstattemptat the layout.Ihave learnedfromexperiencethatmysecondtry isusually far superior to the first, so as amatter of process, I keep the firstversion,butalwaystryanotherway.IchoosewhicheverI likethebestandgotothenextstep.I“ink”thepencilledlayoutsroughly,usingverybroad-tippedmarkersat

this stage. I want to keep the work rough, without details, in order topreservetheenergyforwhenIpencilontheboard.Agoodwaytotellifyourlayoutswork,nomatterwhatsizetheyare,isto

squintatthework.Iftheblack-and-whiteshapesareclearandyoucanstilltellwhat’sgoingoninthestory,youhaveasuccessfulpage.Rememberthatthegoalisalwaysclearandunderstandablestorytelling.IfinishlayingoutanentirescenebeforeIstartpencillingontheboard.I

find this necessary so that I can judgewhether or not these pages form acohesive whole. I used to lay out and pencil one page at a time, butsomethingwouldinvariablycomeupinthefollowingpagesthatwouldforcemetoredothefirstpage.Thisisamuchsaferandmoreprudentapproach.Once I’vedecided that I have a scene thatworks, I go tomy lightbox. I

placethe“inked”layoutonthelightboxwiththeruledpageontopofit,turnonthelightbox,andstartdrawingontheboard.One of the benefits of working this way is that the artist canmove the

layoutaroundabittoimprovethedesign.Alotofadjustmentgoesonatthispoint.IcancropandeditanypaneltomakeitworkbetterifIsochoose.Ithinktheartisticprocessshouldallowtheartistasmuchlatitudeaspossibletoincorporatechangesintothedrawing.Mypencillingapproachisgreatlyaffectedbywhoisgoingtodotheinks.

IfIaminkingtheworkmyself,Itrytostayroughinmydrawingsothatmyinks have something to add instead of just tracing my pencilled lines. Ifsomeoneelseisgoingtoinkthepencils,Iwillmakemydrawingsastightaspossiblesothattheinkerhasaslittletodoaspossible.Mygoalistokeepasmuchcontrolover thework I can toensure that it reflectsmyownartisticsensibilities.Atthispointit’sworthwhiletomentionthedifferencebetweenMarveland

DCComicsintheirapproachestoscriptingorplotting.Marvelalmostneverhasafinishedscripttoworkfrom.Thestoryisoftenapageortwoofaplot

that the artist breaks down into pages and panels. I prefer that methodbecauseitcreatesmoreofanopportunityforthestorytellertotellthestoryinhisorherownway.AtDCComics, theartist almostalwaysworks froma finishedscript that

includesthedialogueandpagesbrokendownintoindividualpanels.Oftenthewriterwillgivedescriptionsanddirectionsonhowtoshootorconstructaparticularscene.Becauseallthecopyanddialoguearesupplied,theartistcanincorporatethatinformationintohisorherdesignandlayoutbyleavingsufficient space for them. This avoids the crowded-panel look, wheresometimes the balloon goes over someone’s face or hides other pertinentinformation.It’scriticaltoo,tomentiontheimportanceofdeadlines.Ithinkthat,above

all else, editors and comic companies treasure timeliness. I cannotemphasize thisenough.WhenIwas startingout in thisbusiness, IknewIwasn’tverygood,butItriedtomakeupforitbybeing100percentreliable.Editorsreallyappreciatethis.I’vehadtheexperienceofbeinginaneditor’sofficewhileheorshetriestolocateanartistwhoiseithermissinginactionor justnot answering thephone.Someartists takea jobanddisappear formonths.This isnot themosteffectiveway tobuildacareer.Onceanartistdevelopsaparticularreputation,itisimpossibletoshake.Afterasequenceofpagesarepencilled, Ihand themin to theeditor. In

the sameway that thereare twoapproaches towritinga story—theMarvelwayandtheDCComicsway—therearealsotwowaystolettertheboards.AtDC,theeditorsendstheboardsouttobeletteredontheartboarditself.

Aftertheyarelettered(whichusuallytakesafewdays),theygototheinker.Itrytokeeptheprocessinaconstantstateofflowsothatthereistheleastamount of time wasted.While the first batch of pages is being lettered, Ipencil another scene. By the time the lettered pages are returned to ink,there’sanothergroupingofpages in thehandsof theeditor,and thecyclebeginsalloveragain.AtMarvel, the pencilled pages are handed unlettered to the inker. This

meansthattheinkerrulesthepanelbordersandtheninksthepages.Whiletheinkerisworkingonthepages,theletteringisbeingdoneonacomputerusingcopiesof the finishedpencils as aguide.After the inksare finished,theyarescannedintothecomputerandtheletteringisapplied.Thefilmofthe lettered pages is sent to the printer, and the book is printed from thefilm.Thismeans that the original artwork is returned to the penciller and

inkerwithoutanywords,balloons,orcaptionsonitatall.Once thepagesarehanded in toyoureditor, itgenerallymeans that the

pencillingandinkingaredone.Thisistrueexceptintheinstanceswhereapanelneedstoberedrawnorsomeotherartproblemarises.Dependingonthe size of the problem, the artistwould bewell advised to follow up andoffertodoanypatchworkthatisnecessary.Thein-houseartcorrectionscanbeerratic,rangingfromverygoodtounacceptable.Allthesethingsdependontimeandproximity,butanartistneedstokeeptrackoftheprojectevenafteritleaveshisorherhands.Being involved in the book you are pencilling is a delicate situation for

both thepencillerand theeditor.Therewasa timewhen theeditorwas incomplete and total control of the project.No onehadmore input into theseriesthantheeditor.Today,thesituationhaschanged.Althoughthisisnottrueinallcases—therearecertainlystillstrongeditorsinthebusinesstoday—some editors have relinquished a certain amount of power to thefreelancers.I’msurethatthiswasdonetodevelopmoreofacollaborativeatmosphere

amongtheteamworkingontheproject,butsomewherealongtheline,thatrelationship has become distorted to the point where the writer or thepencillerisinchargeofthebook.It’simportantforeveryonetorealizethat,ultimately, an individual commercial comic is an effort made by manypeople.I’veobservedovertheyearsthatmainstreamcomicsworkbestasateameffort.This isnot tosay thatacomicwillautomaticallybea failure ifonly one person does everything or if a single artist orwriter controls thebook. Independent, small-publisher comics can benefit from that kind ofapproach. Ithasbeenmyexperience, though, that teamworkproduces thebestresultsinmonthly,mainstreamcomicbooks.

FOURTEEN

BREAKINGIN

Breaking into the comics industry can be a frustrating and haphazardprocess.I’veseenpeoplecarryaroundaportfolioforyearswithnosuccessandI’veseenartistsgetdiscoveredataconventionovernight.IttookmetwotothreeyearsofpersistentpushingbeforeIgotmyfirstrealartassignment.IhaddroppedoutofcollegeandwaslivinginConnecticutwithmyparents,workingatafastfoodchain.AnymoneyImadewentrightintoartsuppliesandtrainfaretoNewYork.IwouldtrytohitDCandMarvelatleastonceaweek each. Along with a very steady stream of rejections, both DC andMarvelwereniceenoughtosupplymewithcopiesofpencilledartworkthatIwouldinkonvelluminbetweenthevisitsforpractice.SometimesIthinkthat itwas inking all those copies that gaveme thehands-onexperience Ineeded.I’dgohome,inkfortwodays,andgetrightbackonthetrainwithnewpages,a fewsandwiches,andabitofhope.Itwasaperpetual-motionmachine.Betweenyouandme,IthinkIjustworethemdown!Asyoutrytobreakintothecomicbookindustry,youshouldfocusontwo

areas:yourportfolioandyourpersonality.

Yourportfolioisessential.Itistheonlywayaprofessionalcanevaluateyourtalent.Itistheonlyrepresentationofyourworkthattheeditororartistsees,soyoushouldtakespecialcareindevelopingagoodone.Here’swhataportfolioshouldcontain:

1. The original pages or copies of your pencils. Ideally, you should haveaboutsixtotwelvepagesofartwork.Anythingmorethanthatistoomuch.It’simportanttotrimyourpresentationdowntoamanageablelength.Showwhat you cando anddon’t repeat yourself. It shouldbe easy to assess theextentorlimitofyourabilitiesbasedonyourtwelvepagesofart.

Thismeansthatthepagesshouldcontainatleasttwodifferentscenesofatleastthreepageseach.Usuallythreepagesofasceneareenoughtojudgeanartist’sstorytellinganddrawingabilities.It’sagoodideatodrawsequencesthat contrast with each other. One can be an action scene; the other, aquieterscene.Thepointistoshowthatyoucanhandleavarietyofsituationsandstill tell the storywell.Themoreconvincinglyyouhandlea sequence,thebetteryourchancesareofgettinganassignment.Ifyouhavesixtoninestorytellingpages,thehandfulofpagesremaining

should be devoted to showcasing your drawing. A few pin-up pages orcoverswouldroundoff theportfolionicely.Includingthemalsoshowstheeditor that you can draw pretty pictures as well as tell a sequential story.Keepinmindthatthepin-uppagesareinadditionto—notinsteadof—thestorytellingpages.Editorsneedtoseehowwellyoucantellastoryandthatmustbethefocusofyourpresentation.2. Reduced copies of your work. The entire contents of your portfolioshouldbereducedandcopiedontolegal-sizepaper.Staplethecopiedpagestogethertoformalittlepacket.Onthefirstpageofyourcopiedartwork,putyourname,address,andtelephonenumber.Ifyouhaveabusinesscard(agreat idea), attach it to the packet. You will hand these pages to theprofessionalwhohasviewedyourportfolio.Itdoesn’tmatterwhoitis,giveeveryonewholooksatyourworkacopy!Somemaygetthrownaway,butacertain number will make it through. This is a critical maneuver in theprocess. No one can remember your portfolio after a convention, becausetheyhavelookedatsomanypeople’swork.Itisalwaysbesttohavereducedcopies so that the professionals can take yourworkwith them and pass itaroundtotheircolleagues.You should also give some thought to your presentation. Keep inmind

that you are a storyteller. Try to arrange your pages in an attractive andcompellingway—createastorywiththem!Startwithapin-up, introduceasequence of pages, then insert another pin-up or two before the nextsequence.Thinkofaway tomaketheportfolio interestingandmemorablefromapurelyvisualpointofview.Whoeverislookingatyourworkwillbeabletotell ifcarehasbeengiventothepresentation.Rememberthatallofyourportfolioreflectsbackonyou.Keepyourportfolioasspecificaspossible.Ifyouwanttobeapenciller,do

not include inked or colored pages. You may be multitalented, but it’simportanttokeepyourportfoliosimpleanddirect.Ifyoufeelthatyouwant

tobe apenciller, inker, and colorist, youmay certainlypresent aportfoliothatshowcasesallofthoseskills.Ihavetotellyou,though,Ihaveseenthatwork against almost everyonewhohas done it. First of all, it confuses theeditororartdirector.Theywon’tknowwhatyouwanttodoand,asaresult,willnotknowhowtohelpyou.Theotherflawinthisplanisthatyoucannotbeequallyadeptinalloftheseareas.It’sjustimpossibleatthispointinyourcareer.Youmaybegreatatinking,butyourpencillingmightbepoor.Ortheoppositemaybetrue.It’sverydifficulttobeequallyproficientinallareasofcomic art, especially at the beginning of your career, and one weak orunderdevelopedareawill bring yourwholeportfoliodown.Focusonyourstrength,break into thebusiness sooner, and then expandyour talent andrangeonceyouareon the inside. In the sameway that storytelling is bestwhenitisspecific,soisaportfolio.Donot,underanycircumstances,everpresentunfinishedpages.This is

thekissofdeathasfarasanycritiqueisconcerned.Itusuallymeansyouwillbe dismissed very quickly. No one wants to hire an artist who’s good atdrawinghalf apage.Whetheryourgoal is tobeapenciller, an inker,or acolorist,finishyourportfoliopagescompletely.Onethingyoumight try toavoid iswritingyourownstoryfor thepages

you submit. The only exception is if you are intent on creating your owncharacter or even self-publishing. If you want to work at an establishedcompany you should probably not show work you have written for onesimplereason:artistswritetotheirstrengths.Ifyouhatedrawingbuildings,odds are your storywill not take place in a city. If youhate drawing fightscenes,youwillwriteastorythatmostlyinvolvestalking.Editorswanttoseehowyouhandlenotonlythethingsyouliketodraw,butalsothestuffyoumighthate.Therewilldefinitelybetimesinyourcareerwhenyouwilltakeonanassignmentthatcontainsasequenceoralocationforwhichyouhavenoaffinity.Unlessyouwriteyourownstories,thishappensquiteabit.Andthat’sthepoint:Youneedtoshowthatyoucanhandleanycurveballthatthestory contains. If you limit yourself to stories that only take place in theforest,therewillnotbeagreatdemandforyourwork.Trytogetaholdofascript somehow—I know there are a few floating around in fandom. Youmayeven findoneor twoat a convention.Thatway, youcancreate a fewpagesofartworkusingarealscript.

Conventions

Thebestplacetoshowcaseyourworkisataconvention.Therearetwomainreasonsthatprosattendthem:1.Tohavefun,mixwithotherpros,andgetadoredbytheirfans.2.Tofindnewtalent.Nocompanycansurviveforverylongwithoutaninfusionofnewpeoplewithnewideas.Conventionsareagreatsourceofthat.Anartistwillprobablygiveyouabettercritique thananeditor,but

an editor can give you a job. Take that into consideration when youapproachpeople.Makesureyouknowwhopeoplearebeforeyouspeaktothem.Ifyouwanttogetsomeinsidetipsonwhatyouaredoingrightorwrong, talk toanartist. Ifyouwant to findoutwhenyoumightbeready forwork, talk toaneditor. It’s similar to theapproachyou takewhen youwork at telling a story. Be specific and aware ofwhat yourgoalsare.Use both the artists and the editors to get as much feedback as

possible.Conventionsareextremelyusefulandpracticalbecauseofthehighconcentrationofprofessionalswhoarewillingtoreviewportfoliosandgiveadvice.Thecomicbookisauniqueartform.There’snothingmoreusefulthantalkingtosomeoneontheinsideoftheindustry.Another advantage to the convention is theopportunity tonetwork

with other young artists who are trying to break into the industry.Whether it’s to hunt down a script or get information about newprojects or companies, you should try to meet as manynonprofessionals as you can. Finding some support frompeoplewhoare going through the same thing as you are can be very beneficial.Most civilians, sometimes including your family, don’t take comicsseriously.Andthat’sokay.Aslongasyouconnectwithotherpeopleinthesamesituation,youcangetthesupportandfriendshipyouneedtoseethisadventurethrough.Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get hired right away. Take the

long-termapproach.Breakinginisnotaboutgettingthechancetodoyourfavoritecharactertomorrow.It’saboutlayingthegroundworkforalifetimeofemployment.Bepatient.Youarebuildingacareer,anditwilltaketime.

Thisbringsustothesecondimportantfactorintheprocessofbreakingin:yourpersonality.Youareprobablywonderingwhatyourpersonalityhastodowithyourportfolioorcareer. Iwill tellyou that ithaseverything todowiththem.Yourpersonality isapartofeverythingyoudo,andiscertainlyinvolvedinyourpresentation,yourworkhabits,yourrelationshipwithyoureditor, and your relationshipwith yourself. Frommy own experience andtheexperienceofobservingmanystudentsthroughtheyears,Iknowitisasurprisinglystrongdeterminingfactorinyourcareer.Ihaveseenmanyverytalented artists, who had more than the necessary talent to succeed, failbecauseoftheirpersonalities.AndIhaveseenanequalnumberofstudents,someofwhomIdismissedashavingnochance,succeedbythesheerforceoftheirpersonalities.Itprovestomewithoutadoubtthatbeingatalentedartistisnottheonlyrequirementforhavingasuccessfulcareer.Whenyouhavetheopportunitytohaveyourportfoliocritiqued,youwill

respondinwaysthatcaneitherhurtorhelpyou.Itcanbehardtolistentocriticismofyourwork.Everyonehasadifferentapproachtoevaluatingyourpages. Somemay gently provide advice; others may offer harsh criticism.Their approachoftenhasmore todowith their ownpersonality thanwithyourwork.Youshouldalwaystakethecriticismtoheart,butyoushouldalsorealizethatthemannerinwhichit’sgivenisoutofyourcontrol.It’sbesttogetalotoffeedback,additalltogether,andtrytoaverageitout.Whatwasthe one suggestion everyone made? Focus on that problem and work tocorrectit.Eventhoughyouhavenocontroloverhoworwhatthecriticsays,youdo

have control overhowyou respond.Nomatterwhat is being said,donot,underanycircumstances,makeexcusesforyourwork.Donotdefendit,donotexplainit,donotrationalizeit(unlessyouareasked).Thebestresponseyoucanpossiblymakeistoaskhowyoucanmaketheworkbetter.Noonewants to hear excuses. The pages in your portfolio represent your work.Everythingissaidwithinthem.There’snoneedtosayanythingelse.Excuses and explanations also indicate that you arenot listening. If you

are thinkingofadefense, thanyouaremore interested inhowyouappearthanhowtoimproveyourwork.Youarenottheretoargueyourapproachoryourwork.Youarethere,however,topickupsomeadvice.Don’tfocusondefendingyourego.Ifyouwanttogetsomethingoutofacritique,developathickerskinandfocusonthework.Iknowthisisdifficult,andittakestime,but it’s important for your career. The more you practice, the easier itbecomestocontrolthoseall-too-humanimpulses.Finally, try not to present an attitude. Everyone is vulnerable during a

critiqueorjobinterview.Believinginyourselfisnecessarytoseethisprocessthrough. Believing that you are the best artist alive and everyone in thebusinessstinksandyoudon’tunderstandhowcomeyouaresogoodandstillnotworkingisnotthebestapproachforsomeonewhoneedstolearn.I’lltellyou that almost everyone I know has gone through the experience ofprojectinganinappropriateattitudeduringacritique.Idid,too,andbecauseof thatattitude,I lostoutonseveralopportunities forworkearlyon inmycareer—which made my attitude even worse. It was when I started to dosomeworkonmyselfthatcomicsworkbecamemoreplentifuland,frankly,Ibecameahappierperson.

WhenIlookbackatsomeoftheearlyworkthatIdid,Iseehowuninformedand ineffective it was. I think I had a few areas of interest (like lighting,texture, and an obsession with creating depth) that distracted from myfundamental inadequacies. Those good qualities and abilities saw methroughlongenoughtolearnsomething.ButIwasn’tgoingtoletanythingstopmefrombecomingabetterartist.Iwasfiercelydeterminedtobreakinandstayinthisbusiness;itwaswhatIwantedmorethananythingelse.Theabilitytostaydeterminedandthedesiretoconstantlyimprovesavedmeandsawmethroughtheroughspots.Iknowthatifyouhavetheabilitytoworkonyourcraft,toworkonyourself,towantthismorethananythinginyourlife,thenyouwillsucceed.Icanpromiseyouthat!

FIFTEEN

ANATOMYOFASTORY

“GoodEvening,Midnight,” fromBatmanBlackandWhite #3,wasoneofthe rare projects that seemed to achieve much of what I set out toaccomplish. When Mark Chiarello, the editor of the series, asked me tocontribute a story, there were several reasons why the assignment was soattractivetome.Firstandforemostwasthelackofcolor.Todoblack-and-whitearthasalwaysbeenagreatinterestofmine.IfeelthatmanyofthejobsIhavedonehavebeendestroyedbybadcolorchoices.Allthetheorieswe’vespokenabout in thisbookmustalsoapply to thecoloring.Effectiveuseofdepth,perspective,primaryandsecondaryshapes, timeofday,movement,lighting,contrast,andmoreareallgoalsofmineineverystory,andtheyareoftenundermined andnegatedby a coloristwho is not sympathetic tomythinking. The opportunity to do my own coloring or the chance to do ablack-and-whitestoryensuresthefollow-throughthatisnecessarytoseeanartisticvisionrealized.Anotherreasontheprojectwassoappealingwasthechallengeofdoinga

storywithsomemeaningwithin theconstraintofa relatively short format.I’vealwaysbeenagreatfanofWillEisner’sTheSpirit.Hisabilitytocreateacomplex andmeaty story within a few pages still amazesme. By contrast,somerecentshortstoriesincomicshaddisappointedme.Theyseemednottobe stories,but ratherplotlessvignettes.As a fan, thiswould tickmeoffquiteabit. Ioftenfeltcheatedbythequalityof thosestoriesandvowedtoavoidthatasmuchasIcould.The final reason I jumpedat the chance tobe involvedwith thisproject

wastheopportunitytotrytosaysomethingdifferentabouttheBatmancast—something that might not have been extensively explored in the past. Ididn’thaveaclueatthetimewhatitmightbe,butthereinlaythechallenge.

At some point, the notion of exploring the relationship between Alfredand BruceWayne occurred to me. I can’t recall why, where, or how thishappened, but story ideas usually sneak up onmewhen I’mnot thinkingabout work. Sometimes an image may pop out of nowhere. I might bereadingorwatchingamovieandI’llnoticemyresponsetoascene.Ithentrytobringwhatisinmysubconscioustotheconsciouslevelandexaminewhattriggeredthereaction.Interpersonalrelationshipsofallkindsfascinateme,particularly the parent/child dynamic. I knew at some point that the storywouldbeabouttheunspokenlovebetweenAlfredandBruce.Now that I had a pretty good idea ofwhere the storywas going,what I

needed was a subplot to contrast with the main theme. I’m a big fan ofcuttingawayfromscenesandknewthattheAlfred/Brucerelationshipcouldnotsustainthestorybyitself.Ialsoknewthat itwouldprobablybebesttocuttosomekindofcrisisoractionbecausethestoryofAlfredandBrucewasgoing to be presented in a very understatedway. The problemwas space.HowmuchofanactionorcrisiscouldIsetupwithinthespacelimitations?It was at this point that I connected “Dear Prudence,” written by John

Lennon, to my story. The song is a wonderful example of the use of arepetitive riff that overlays instrumentation over and over again to form amore compelling structure until it reaches its climax, at which point thelayers of sound drop out to reveal the original riff introduced at thebeginningofthesong.Thissimplebeginningthatbuildstoaclimaxtorevealthesimplebeginningagainwasagreatinspirationtome.I constructedmy story in a similar way. A simple beginning where the

Batmobile leaves theWayneMansion; a more complex middle with threestoriesintersecting(youngBruce’sbirthdayparty,present-daydangerwithaschool bus is held hostage, andAlfred’s relationshipwith Bruce); and theending,which returns to the simplebeginningas theBatmobile returns tothemansion.

Page1

Page1openswithanestablishingshotofGothamCitywith theBat-Signalabove it. The signal in panel 1 juxtaposed with the Batmobile in panel 2immediately relays information in a very quick and economical way. It’swhat I refer to as a “call-and-response” structure. It also falls under thetheory instorytelling(andphysics) that foreveryactionthere isareaction.AftertheBatmobileexitsWayneManor,Ioriginallyhadtwopanelsonpage1 and the first panel on page 2 showingAlfred looking out thewindow. Iliked the idea of keeping Alfred stationary, with the camera doing all themovement,butintheend,Irejectedit.IrealizedthatIwasviolatingoneofmypersonalrulesaboutstorytelling:showanactionclearlyonceandmoveon.Unlessthereisadeliberateuseofrepetition,whichIdosometimesliketoemploy,watchingAlfred lookingout thewindow for threepanels isnotveryeconomicalstorytelling.

OftenwhenIbothpencilandinkastory,Iwillmakechangesbetweenthetwostages.Ifoundaphotographofawonderfulgatethatinspiredmetouseit in this sequence. I thought that if we could see what Alfred is actuallylookingatinsteadofleavingitambiguous(asitwasintheoriginalpencils),theshotwouldbemoreinteresting.IpositionedAlfredoutsidethemansionwiththeBat-Signalinthepanel.

Page2

Page2wasaninterestingpagetofigureoutfromastorytellingpointofview.Therewas one important piece of information that I wanted to get acrosswithouthavingtosayit:thatBrucewassuddenlycalledawayfromdinnerbythe Bat-Signal and the crisis it represented. The second panel of page 2showsAlfredpickingupadinnerplatewithfoodstillonit.Theideawastoconvey that Bruce’s meal had been left unfinished, so in an attempt tocommunicatethatpoint,IdecidedtohideAlfred’sfaceuntilpanel5sothatthereaderwouldbefocusedonthefood.WhetherthiswasstrongenoughtosucceedIdon’tknow,butIlikedtheideaofitverymuch.

One of the consistent characteristics of my work is the use of weather.From living in the American Northeast, I have become very aware of thechangingseasons,andIreallyappreciatethem.Sinceoneofmygoals is tosqueezeasmuchasIcanoutofeveryopportunity,Ialmostalwaysincludespecificweatheronmypages.Ifyoulookatpage1,youwillnoticethatitisdrizzlingoverGothambutnotoverWayneManor.Iwantedtocommunicatein a very subtle way that the distance between the two is substantial, thatAlfredcould,inrealtime,actuallyshutdownthemansionandhavetimeforaflashbackbeforeBatmanarrivedatthecrimescene.Inanycase,ifyoulook

at the interpretationsofweather throughout the story, youwillnotice thateachscenehas itsownspecific climate.Thebridge scene iswetand rainy,theflashbackiscoldandsnowy,andthemansionisdryandcalm.

Page3

I was also very interested in showing some of Alfred’s personal life. Icouldn’t remember any story in which Alfred’s room is shown. I mean,wheredoesthisguyactually live?Whatdoeshedowhenhetriestorelax?Soonpage3,Itriedtoshowabitofthatbyintroducinghisroomandhiscat.SinceBatmanandBrucearegoneforextendedperiodsoftime,IknewthatAlfredhadtohavecompanyofsomesort,sothecatmadea lotofsensetome. The roomwas extensively researched and designed to reflect Alfred’sfastidious nature. The one joke I knew no one would think about is howAlfred relaxes.He enters his room and takes off his jacket, leaving on hisshirt, suspenders,pants,andshoes,butputtingonasweater.Even thoughthisisinkeepingwithhischaracter,itstillcracksmeup.

Theshotsandanglesonpage3werechosenforavarietyofreasons.Theentire page is designedwith the horizontal and vertical structure inmind.Theonlypanelthatisanexceptionisthenext-to-lastone,asubjectiveshotinwhichtheviewerseeswhatAlfredsees.You’llnoticethattheboxisatthesameangleasAlfred’sleftarmandtheletterisatadefiniteangleincontrasttoboththebordersandthearmandbox.Itwasacompositionalattempttomakethatpanelstandoutabitmore.Itwasthemostimportantpanelonthepage,anditneededsomethingtodrawsomeattentiontoit.Ifyoulookatthepageasawhole,Ithinkyou’llseethatitdoesstandout.

ThemiddletierisasequencedesignedtoletthereaderfocusonAlfred’senvironment while at the same time following him around a bit. Thistechniqueofbreakingonesceneintovariouspanelsforcesthereadertostayabitlongeronthatscene.In the last panel, I originallyhadAlfred’s eyes showing above the letter

(seetheroughsketchesonthispage).However,assoonasthereisafaceinthepanel,thereaderquicklyfocusesonit,andIwantedtodrawattentiontothe letteronly.That, coupledwith thehopeof smoothly segueing into thenext page, inspired me to raise the letter to hide his eyes. The shot wasimportantenoughtowarrantseveralattemptstogetitright.Inretrospect,IthinkIshouldhaveshownevenlessofAlfred’shead.

Page4

Onpage4,theaudienceseesthethreeplotthreadsononepageforthefirsttime. The first panel is a flashback, the second panel is present timewithAlfred, and the last panel is present time with Batman. Although they alloccuronthesamepage,Itriedtomakethemlookdifferentenoughtogiveeachanindividualtime,place,andidentity.

Music has consistently been a major influence on how I approach mywork.IthinkofeachsceneasasongandthewholestoryasacompleteCD.OneofthethingsIhavelearnedfromthatstructureistogiveeachsceneaunique“sound”ofitsown.I’vefoundthatthisworkswithvaryingdegreesofsuccess, but the thought behind it is still valid. In this case, I gave eachindividual scene a unique texture thatwas identifiablewith that particularsceneonly.

Page5

Thefirstpanelonpage5gavemeabitoftrouble.IwentthroughtwootherversionsofthepaneluntilIsettledontheprintedone.Iwantedthepanel’sfocus tobedividedequallybetweenbabyBruceandhisdad,Thomas.Theunused versions weren’t able to do that as well as I would have liked. Ifinallycameupwithashot thatwas less“arty”andmoredirect,andchosethatone.Workingdiligentlyonstorytellingdoesn’tmeanyouwillwindupwithamorecomplexpanel.Itoftenleadstothemostclearandunobtrusivechoice.InthispanelIcomposedthetwofocalpointssothatthereaderhastogo

back and forth between the two. The vertical black that Thomas WaynetoucheswithhislefthandservesasaframingdeviceforBruce.Inaway,itgives each of the two characters his own panel. The diagonal between thetwocharactersallowsthereader’seyetoflowfromthebabytohisdadandbackagain.EventhoughThomasWaynehasthemajorityof thepanel, thecompositional elements on the baby’s side are very compelling. Note therelationshipbetweenthebaby’sbassinetandthewhitescreenbehindhim.Itdraws the eye of the reader into the panel and down to the baby, andbalancessomeofthe“weight”thattheThomasWayneshapehas.I was very happy to be able to continue the identification of the scenes

with individual weather even though this scene took place indoors. I hadalwayswantedtodrawacoatwithsnowonitandgotakickoutofdoingithere. The coat’s appearance also communicates something about time—Thomaswasinsuchahurrytogettothehospitalthatheracedthroughthebuildingbeforethesnowhadtimetomelt.

Iwasprettyhappywith thecompositionof thepage.The firstpanelhasthe largeshapeontheright.Thesecondpanelhas iton the left.The thirdpanelhasitontherightagain.Thelineofthebuspointstothesmallfiguresof Batman andGordon. The eye of the viewermoves in a constant back-and-forthmotionuntilitendsontheinsertpanel.Thereisalotofcontrastbetweensmallandlargeshapes,whichIthinkmakesforaninterestingpage.

Page6

My favorite sequence on page 6 is the Alfred scene toward the bottom. Ienjoyed constructing the page and story in a way that would tease theaudience. At one of the most critical points, as Batman appears to be indangerasheswings/climbsupthebridge,wecutaway.Thesceneservednootherpurposethantobuildtensionandprolongtheanxietyofthesequence.Thisparticularconstructionisveryinfluencedbybothmusicandfilm.TheAlfredsceneservesasamomentofrespitebeforewegetbackintotherestofthestory.Tobehonest,Ithinkthatpage6isprobablytheweakestpageofthestory.

IgetthefeelingthattheactionsarenotasclearasIwouldlikeinpanels2,3,and 4. If I could do it over, I would choose different images and presenttheminadifferentway.Ilikethefirstpanel,butnotasitisjuxtaposedwiththe following three. That birthday scene, by the way, was originally setduringChristmasuntilIrealizeditreallyshouldbeabirthdaypartysothatthepast tiedupmoredirectlywithBruce’scurrentbirthday. ItwaspartofthecircularmotifthatIwasexploring,inspiredby“DearPrudence.”Scenesandimagesreferbacktothemselvesandechothroughoutthestory.

Page7

Onpage7istheonlypanelinthestorythatisneitherverticalnorhorizontal:panel 3. It depicts a very dramatic moment that leads into a large panelshowing Batman having achieved his goal. Panel 3 wasmeant not only tovisually lead into the next panel, but also to represent themoment of theleast stability. My editor, Mark Chiarello, constantly reminds me of howmuchhehatesthekid’sheadpositionedinfrontofthepanelthewayitis.Inretrospect, I think he’s right. It is an unnecessary distraction, although Iwouldneveradmitthattohim!

Page8

OneofthethingsthatsurprisedmewhenIopenedmyfilesonthisstorywashowextensivethephotoreferencewas.ItlookedlikeIhadshotpicturesforalmosteverypanel.IrememberspendingaSundaymorningtakingpicturesofthe59thStreetBridgehereinNewYork,andanotherdaytakingpicturesof a parked school bus in my neighborhood, but apparently I posed forpictures and snapped photos with my timer and Polaroid for most of thecharacters.The firstpanelon thispagewasbasedonaphotoofme inmystudio.IknowthethirdpanelwasbasedonthefaceofSenatorBobDole,soyoutrulynevercantellwhatthesourceofanideaorreferencewillbe.

The fourth panel required some decision-making. I was really tornbetweentwochoices:Alfredkeepstheletterorhedestroysit.Ithoughtforthesakeofdramathatitwouldbemoreimpressivetoburnit,andIthinkIwasright.ButIrememberstandinginthehallsofDCandtalkingtoeditorArchie Goodwin about it. He thought that it made more sense for thecharacterandthestoryifAlfredsavestheletter.IfAlfredtrulywasafathertoBruceandlovedhimlikeason,hewoulddowhatwasbestforBruce.It’salesson I have learnedmany times in this industry: dowhat’s right for thestoryandthecharacters.Youmayhaveagreatideaforasceneoracharacter

butitisnotworthdoingattheexpenseofthestory’sintegrity.

By the time Alfred puts the letter back, he is reminded of how muchThomasWayne loved his only son.Whatever pique hemight have felt atBruce’ssuddendeparturefromthedinnertableisnowreplacedbythelovehehasforthischildheraisedasifhewerehisown.Hegoesdownstairsandpullsthebirthdaycakeoutofthefridgeandputsitonthetable.Inasmallgesture, the cake serves as a reminder to Bruce that someone cares andwatchesoverhim.The goal of this chapter has been to revealwhat Iwas thinkingwhen I

wroteanddrewthisoneparticularstory.Itisnotmeanttoencourageyoungartists to duplicate the specific themes that I embraced. It is, however,intendedtoshowthatcomicbooksandstorytellingcanhavemoredepthandcomplexity than theaveragereadermightseeat firstglance.Storytelling islimitedonlybytheimaginationandcourageofthestoryteller.I’mconvincedthatcomicscangoanywhereanddoanythingaslongastheworkingartistsand writers believe in that. The combination of some simple rulesencouraging storytelling clarity and the dreams of artists hungry forexpressionisunbeatable.Ihopethatthisbookprovidessomeinspirationto

allwholovethiswonderfulcraft.

AFTERWORD

Ifyouarereadingthesewords,youareprobablyfinishedreadingthisbook,

socongratulations!SoonafterIstartedteaching,Ibegantonoticethatmany

studentshad the sameproblems.This book is an attempt toprovide some

insights to the issues those young artists were facing and to offer a few

solutions.No one book could ever claim to teach the “only”way to create

comics, so I chose tooffer abasic and fundamental analysisof thepowers

andproblemsofvisualstorytelling.

It’simportanttorealizethatyourownphilosophiesaboutartwilldevelop

as youmature as an artist. Each new story you tacklewill present unique

challenges and opportunities to expand your abilities.My own outlook on

the craft of creating comics has evolved over the years, andmy goal is to

continue toupdate thisbook insomeformasoftenas Ican. Iknowthat I

willrevisitthisbookoften.Ihopethatyouwill,too.

KlausJanson

NewYork

November2001

AbouttheAuthor

Klaus Janson’s artwork has brought to life such characters as Batman,Punisher,Daredevil, andSpawn.Thisbook represents the theories Jansonhas learnedandappliedwhile teachingat the famedSchoolofVisualArts.HelivesinNewYorkCity.

INDEX

A

Abdomen,4.1,4.2,4.3AchillestendonActiondiagonalandgapsin,7.1,7.2,8.1

Actionaxis,12.1,12.2ActionComics#546,3.1Adams,Neal,3.1,4.1,8.1,8.2,10.1,12.1Adam’sappleAdvertisingAllStarWestern#4,4.1Anatomyofstory

Andru,RossAngle(s)ofchestdiagonalas,10.1,10.2foremphasisfacial,3.1,3.2,3.3,3.4,3.5,3.6muscleofpanelofshapes,2.1,2.2,3.1,4.1,6.1typesof,11.1,11.2

Ankles,4.1,4.2Anxiety,10.1,15.1Aquaman

Arms,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5AssimilationAsymmetricalbalanceAtmosphericperspectiveAttitudeAugustyn,BrianAustin,TerryAxis,action,12.1,12.2Azzarello,Brian,7.1,10.1

B

Back,4.1,4.2Balance,4.1,4.2,10.1,10.2BarcodeBarr,MikeBatgirl#16,8.1Batman,tp,4.1,6.1,8.1,8.2,10.1,10.2,11.1,12.1BatmanBatmanAdventuresAnnual#2,8.1,11.1BatmanBeyond#18,8.1BatmanBlackandWhite#3,ded,toc,toc.1,8.1,12.1,13.1,15.1BatmanBlackandWhite#4,8.1BatmanChronicles:TheGauntlet,12.1Batman:Ego,10.1BatmanGothamKnights#12,2.1BatmanGothamNoir,7.1Batman:Gothic,9.1,9.2,9.3BatmanLongHalloween#5,4.1BatmanReignofTerror,8.1Batman:TheDoomThatCametoGotham,8.1Batman:YearOne#3,10.1DetectiveComics#410,8.1GordonofGotham#1,itr.1,itr.2Gordon’sLaw#1,8.1

Bellybutton,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4Biceps,4.1,4.2,4.3

Bisection,10.1,10.2,10.3,10.4,12.1,12.2Blackforguttersandisolationvs.white,10.1,10.2

BlastlinesBleedpageBluepencilBodylanguageBolland,BrianBorders,2.1,2.2,8.1,8.2,10.1,10.2,10.3,12.1breakingof

Brachialis,4.1,4.2,4.3Bradstreet,TimBraveandtheBold,The#83,3.1BraveandtheBold,The#93,6.1,8.1Breakingofbordersofscene,intopanels

Breakingintothecomicbusiness,12.1,14.1BreastsBrubaker,EdBrunelleschi,FilippoBusinesshabitsButtocks

C

Call-and-responseCalves,4.1,4.2Cameraposition,6.1,11.1,11.2,12.1,12.2,12.3,15.1Cameras,digitalCampanella,RobertCaniff,MiltonCanwell,BruceCaptainAction#4,3.1Cardy,Nick

Carpals,4.1,4.2Centerpoint,ofpanel,10.1,10.2,10.3Characterization,3.1,3.2,4.1,4.2,15.1clothingand

CharltonComicsChest,4.1,4.2,4.3Chiarello,Mark,15.1,15.2Chin,3.1,3.2Circlesforbodyfordesign,2.1,4.1

Circularmotif,15.1,15.2Clarity,8.1,8.2,8.3,9.1,10.1,15.1,15.2,15.3ClassesClassiccomicbookpageClaustrophobiaClavicle,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4Close-upClothing,4.1,5.1CollarboneColorchoicesComicbookpage,classicCommitmentComparingComposition,10.1,15.1Cones,perspectiveConstruction,3.1,3.2,3.3,3.4clothing

Context,ofshapes,2.1,2.2Contrast,6.1,7.1,10.1,10.2,10.3ConventionsCooke,Darwyn,2.1,10.1Copies,reduced,inportfolioCosmeticlevelCostumes.SeeClothingCovers,8.1,8.2,10.1Criticism,12.1,14.1

CropmarksCrosscuttingCubes,2.1,2.2CurvesCylinders,2.1,2.2

D

Darkness,ofleadDCComics,14.1,15.1letteringforscriptingat

DeadlinesDeadman#6,12.1,12.2“DearPrudence,”15.1,15.2Delperdang,JesseDeltoid,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4Depth,2.1,2.2,3.1,3.2,6.1,6.2,10.1,10.2,10.3Designofhumanbody,4.1,4.2page

DetectiveComics#410,8.1Diagonals,2.1,9.1,10.1,10.2,11.1,15.1DigitalcamerasDirectionalconsistencyDistortion,4.1,6.1,9.1Dixon,Chuck,6.1,8.1Dole,BobDouble-pagespreadsDouble-panelborderDown-shot,6.1,10.1,11.1,11.2Drama,4.1,8.1,8.1,8.2,8.3,8.4,11.1,11.2,11.3,11.4,11.5,12.1,15.1,15.2,15.3Drawing,itr.1,10.1

E

Ears,3.1,3.2,4.1Editors,13.1,14.1Eisner,Will,itr.1,8.1,15.1ElbowElectricpencilsharpenerEmotions,4.1,4.2,10.1,11.1Entertainment,storytellingas,9.1,10.1,10.2Equality,incomposition,10.1,10.2ErasersEsposito,MikeEstablishingshot,9.1,11.1,15.1Evanier,MarkExaggeration,4.1,4.2ExtensorcarpiradialisbrevisExtensorpollicislongusExternalobliqueExtremeclose-upExtremelongshotEyebrowsEyelevel,6.1,6.2,6.3,11.1Eyemovement,10.1,10.2,10.3,15.1,15.2Eyes,3.1,3.2,3.3

F

Faces,3.1,4.1,15.1,15.2,15.3FalseperspectiveFeetFemalebody,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5,4.6,4.7Ferry,PascualFile,anatomyFilm,asinfluenceFingernailsFingers,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5FlashFlash#163,4.1,4.2Flash#171,4.1,4.2

Flash#185,6.1Flexi-curvesFlexorcarpiradialisFlexortendons,4.1,4.2,4.3ForcedperspectiveForearm,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4ForegroundelementForeshortening,4.1,4.2,4.3Formats,pageFramingdeviceFree-formborder,8.1,8.2Free-formpage,8.1,8.2,8.1FrenchcurvesFullshot

G

Gangland#1,8.1Garcia-López,JoséGibbons,DaveGiella,JoeGiordano,Dick,itr.1,8.1,8.2,8.3Goals,12.1“GoodEvening,Midnight”(BatmanBlackandWhite#3),ded,toc,toc.1,

12.1,13.1,15.1Goodwin,ArchieGordonofGotham#1,itr.1,itr.2Gordon’sLaw#1Grandenetti,Jerry,8.1,8.2Gravity,andclothingGridpage,8.1,8.2,8.3GuardianGutter,7.1,8.1

H

Ha,GeneHabits,workingandbusinessHair,3.1,3.2Hands,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5Haney,Bob,3.1,8.1HardleadsHeads,3.1,3.2,3.3,3.4,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5,4.6,6.1HeavyLiquid#3,8.1Height,bodyHellblazer#104,8.1Hellblazer#161,8.1Heroicfigure,4.1,4.2HerointroublecoverHitch,BryanHorizonline,6.1,6.2,6.3,6.4,6.5,10.1Hughes,Adam

I

Images,meaningofInfantino,Carmine.Inking,13.1,13.2InsertpanelsInteriorsplash,8.1,8.2IrisIsolation,10.1,10.2

J

Janson,KlausBatman:Gothic,9.1,9.2,9.3“GoodEvening,Midnight”(BatmanBlackandWhite#3),ded,toc,toc.1,

12.1,13.1,15.1GordonofGotham#1,itr.1,itr.2Gordon’sLaw#1,8.1

Jenkins,Paul

JLA#50,8.1JLAAnnual#1,8.1JLA:EarthTwo,11.1Juxtaposition,7.1,8.1,10.1,10.2,15.1

K

Kane,Gil,3.1,3.2,4.1Kanigher,Robert,3.1,12.1Kelly,JoeKirby,Jack,itr.1,8.1,8.2KneesKubert,Joe,itr.1,3.1,4.1,8.1Kurtzman,Harvey

L

LanguagesystemsLatissimusdorsi,4.1,4.2,4.3LayingoutpageLegendsoftheDCUniverse#14,12.1Legs,4.1,4.2,4.3Lennon,JohnLeonardi,RickLighting,3.1,4.1LinearperspectiveLinesblastspeed,12.1,12.2

Locating,ofshapeLoeb,Jeph,4.1,8.1LogicLogo,ofpublisherLongshot,11.1,11.2Lowerleg

M

Magazines,muscleMalebody,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5,4.6,4.7,4.8,4.9,4.10Manley,MikeMarkersMarvelComicsletteringatscriptingat

Materialsclothing

Mazzucchelli,DavidMcGuinness,EdMeaning,ofimagesMechanicalpencils,1.1,1.2MediumshotMignola,MikeMiller,FrankMontagecoverMorrison,GrantMotif,circular,15.1,15.2Mouth,3.1,3.2Movement,4.1,4.2,12.1ofdiagonaleye,10.1,10.2,10.3,15.1,15.2

Murakami,Glen,8.1,11.1Muscles,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5,4.6,4.7,4.8Music,15.1,15.2Mysterycover,8.1,8.2

N

NailsNeary,PaulNeck,4.1,4.2,4.3Negativespace,2.1,2.2Neutralshot,12.1,12.2

NewGods#10,8.1,8.2Nightwing#57,6.1NipplesNose,3.1,3.2Nowlan,Kevin,8.1,8.2

O

Objectiveshots,11.1,11.2Obliquemuscles100Bullets#11,10.1100Bullets#13,7.1,7.2100Bullets#21,7.1O’Neil,Dennis,itr.1,8.1,8.2One-pointperspective,6.1,6.2Openingsplash,8.1,8.2Originalpages,forportfolioOrion#2,11.1,11.2Orion#11,4.1,8.1Orion#12,8.1Orion#14,2.1OurArmyatWar#193,4.1Ovalforbodyfordesignforface,3.1,3.2,4.1

OvaltemplateOverlappingshapes,2.1,3.1,6.1,6.2

P

Page(s)designofdoubleformatsforlayingoutof

forportfolio,14.1,14.2splash,8.1,8.2

Panel(s),8.1,8.2,8.1bordersof.SeeBordersbreakingsceneintoinsertstructurewithin

PaperPassionPatella,4.1,4.2Pectoralismajor,4.1,4.2,4.3Pelvis,4.1,4.2PencillingPencilsPencilsharpener,electricPersonality,ofartist,12.1,14.1,14.2Personallife,ofcharacterPerspective,3.1,3.2,4.1,6.1,9.1,10.1PhantomStranger#11,10.1PhantomStranger#13,10.1Phillips,Sean,7.1,8.1Photosanatomyresearch,13.1,15.1,15.2

Pin-upcover,8.1,8.2,14.1,14.2Pin-upsplashPlace,transitiontoanother,7.1,7.2Placement,ofcharactersPlanesfacial,3.1,3.2,3.3andperspective

PlatePlot,11.1,15.1PlyPop,8.1,10.1,10.2Pope,PaulPortfolio

ProcedurePubicline,4.1,4.2,4.3Pyramids,2.1,2.2

Q

Quartering,ofpanel,10.1,10.2,10.3,10.4Quesada,JoeQuitely,Frank

R

ReactionReadingmethodsofofscript

Rectangle,forbody,4.1,6.1RectusabdominusReducedcopies,inportfolioReinhold,BillRepetitionRibcage,4.1,4.2Risso,Eduardo,7.1,10.1RomanticleadRoyer,MikeRude,SteveRulers

S

Sale,TimSartoriusScott,DamionScript(s)readingofstyleofMarvelvs.DCComics

writingownScumblingSekowsky,MikeSeparation,ofcharacter,10.1,10.2Shadows,3.1,10.1,11.1Shapes,2.1,3.1,3.2overlapping,2.1,3.1,6.1,6.2

Sharpener,pencil,electricShots.SeealsospecificshotsShoulders,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5,4.6Showcase#82,8.1,8.2Showcase#86,8.1,8.2Sienkiewicz,BillSilenceoftheLambs,The,12.1Simonson,Walter,2.1,4.1,8.1,8.2,11.1Skeleton,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4SketchbooksSkull,3.1,4.1Slowing,ofreading,12.1,12.2Smith,CamSmokeSoftleadsSound,ofsceneSpace,negative,2.1,2.2Specificity,portfolioSpeedlines,12.1,12.2Spheres,2.1,2.2Spirit,The,8.1,15.1Splashpages,8.1,8.2Spreads,double-pageSquintingSquishingStability,lackofStarSpangledWarStories#141,3.1Stelfreeze,BrianSternomastoidmuscles,4.1,4.2Story,anatomyofStoryboard

Storyflow,8.1,8.2,8.3,8.4,8.5Storytelling,4.1,4.2,6.1,6.2,15.1clarityandentertainmentininportfolio,14.1,14.2

Straight-onshotStrnad,JanStructurallevelStructure,ofhumanbody,2931Subjectiveshots,12829Subjectiveviewing,neutralshotandSuperboy#86,11.1,11.2Superboy#153,10.1Superman,fm1,tp,4.1,11.1SupermanSuperman#169,8.1SupermanAdventures#54,8.1

SwordofAzrael#1,8.1Symmetricalbalance

T

Taylor,DaveTeamworkTeasingaudienceTeethTemplatesTendons,4.1,4.2,4.3Tensionandclothing,5.1,5.2insequence

Texture,ofsceneThickness,paperThighs,4.1,4.2Three-dimensionality,2.1,2.2,10.1Three-pointperspective,6.1,6.2ThumbnailsThumbs

ThyroidcartilageTibiaTiltedangleTime,gapsin,7.1,7.2,8.1,8.2,15.1Timm,Bruce,8.1,11.1ToesTomahawk#123,4.1Tooth,ofpaperTorso,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4Toth,AlexTrapezius,4.1,4.2Triangle(s)forbody

Triceps,4.1,4.2,4.3TricepstendonTrunk,4.1,4.2Two-pointperspective,6.1,6.2,6.3,6.4

U

Under-drawingUnfinishedpagesUnibrowUpperlegUp-shot,11.1,11.2

V

VanishingpointsVariety,12.1,12.2VertigoSecretFilesHellblazer,7.1Visualmedium,comicasVolume,3.1,3.2

W

Waist,4.1,4.2Weather,15.1,15.2Weeks,LeeWeightbodydesignfacial

WhatWhenWhere,9.1,11.1White,blackvs.,10.1,10.2WhoWitchingHour,The#3,12.1Wolfman,MarvWonderWomanWonderWomanWonderWoman#166,8.1

Wong,WaldenWoodenpencilsWorkinghabitsWrists,4.1,4.2Writingownscript

Z

Z-shapedstoryflow