(no subject)
Aug. 12th, 2008 08:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
winneganfakeY'know, seeing a challenge like this one from Warren Ellis is almost enough to make me want to try my hand at writing for comics...
I say again- almost. For one, I don't know enough artists who do comic format that'd have time for a project like this. I also don't have the necessary connections, etc for getting something published. That said, it'd still be cool. It just needs... something. Something interesting. Like a bitter tale of love and friendship lost between two gigantic kaiju battlers amidst the screaming remains of Tokyo.
From the Bad Signal Mailing list:
"Okay, I'm pretty sure I did do this last year, but I
think it's reconfigured in my head since then. So.
What you need is one writer and three artists.
Essentially, you decide to Form A Band.
And you decide up front that all the money from
the anthology comic is divided 4 ways equally.
This is for simplicity's sake -- people argue this
point with me all the time, but I have had
publishers say to my face that they avoid
anthologies, especially creator-owned ones,
because THE SUMS ARE TOO HARD. Keep
it simple. 25% for everybody.
What you're going to do, you see, is one writer
writing three serials for three artists.
You're doing a two-dollar book. That's FELL format.
A 24pp unit, all on the same paperstock, including
covers. "Guts" of 20pp, with the "cover", constituting
4pp, wrapped around it, yes?
Three 6pp episodes is 18 pages. Your cover and
inside front cover for indicia etc are 2pp. So that
leaves you 4pp, including the back cover, to play
with. Use them to interleave the serials, use them
as backmatter, let the artists take turns doing
full-page pieces, whatever.
The cover art is a rotating job between the three
artists.
Collect it every six months as a 128pp book (therefore
still splitting everything four ways) or collect each
serial on its own as best fitting (each book therefore
splitting 50/50). (As is blatantly obvious, but people
like to ask these questions instead of thinking for
themselves.)
Go and do it. I need something to read.
"Okay, I'm pretty sure I did do this last year, but I
think it's reconfigured in my head since then. So.
What you need is one writer and three artists.
Essentially, you decide to Form A Band.
And you decide up front that all the money from
the anthology comic is divided 4 ways equally.
This is for simplicity's sake -- people argue this
point with me all the time, but I have had
publishers say to my face that they avoid
anthologies, especially creator-owned ones,
because THE SUMS ARE TOO HARD. Keep
it simple. 25% for everybody.
What you're going to do, you see, is one writer
writing three serials for three artists.
You're doing a two-dollar book. That's FELL format.
A 24pp unit, all on the same paperstock, including
covers. "Guts" of 20pp, with the "cover", constituting
4pp, wrapped around it, yes?
Three 6pp episodes is 18 pages. Your cover and
inside front cover for indicia etc are 2pp. So that
leaves you 4pp, including the back cover, to play
with. Use them to interleave the serials, use them
as backmatter, let the artists take turns doing
full-page pieces, whatever.
The cover art is a rotating job between the three
artists.
Collect it every six months as a 128pp book (therefore
still splitting everything four ways) or collect each
serial on its own as best fitting (each book therefore
splitting 50/50). (As is blatantly obvious, but people
like to ask these questions instead of thinking for
themselves.)
Go and do it. I need something to read.
I say again- almost. For one, I don't know enough artists who do comic format that'd have time for a project like this. I also don't have the necessary connections, etc for getting something published. That said, it'd still be cool. It just needs... something. Something interesting. Like a bitter tale of love and friendship lost between two gigantic kaiju battlers amidst the screaming remains of Tokyo.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-12 03:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-12 03:59 pm (UTC)But as it stands, I can't find three artists to do this with. Boo.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-12 04:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-12 04:22 pm (UTC)Yeah, mailing lists are Teh Debil.
It's a great idea Ellis has, but, dude. Logistically, it's a pain in the ass. Where are we gonna get the money to publish? Who'd carry it? Ellis is a man whose work can carry it to the gates of heaven, but the rest of us aren't. Where does he think we're gonna get the distribution channels and things he takes for granted?
Good idea. Poorly thought out in terms of actual execution.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-12 04:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-12 05:53 pm (UTC)It's a time consuming pain in the ass.