The ongoing development of a brand.
Stage 9
Learning how to write a comic was the hard part compared to finding artists, colorists and lettering people. I took a three act sceenplay and broke it down into three comic issues of 22 pages each (this is the standard amount of story pages per comic these days). Everything seemed fine.
I then searched the net and asked everyone I knew to recommend people to develop the screenplay into my comic book/story boards.
After compiling a list of potential candidates and reviewing their portfolios and previous work, it came down to three excellent artists. There was a female who drew manga style (good for international markets but not what I really wanted), there was an unknown guy who drew very well but normal super hero style (which I knew would not translate well into the Asian markets) and Scott Lee, who’s artwork was excellent and unique (might even go global if given the chance).
Scott’s characters are long, sexy and lanky. Very different style then what is out there. His artwork is interesting and good enough that he has worked with Marvel, Top Cow/Image, DC comics and presently works with Radical Entertainment (one of Canada’s premiere video game publishers owned by Universal – Vivendi). Picking Scott was the best decision I have ever made for designing new characters for a new brand.
The same process kind of happened with choosing the colorist but once Scott introduced me to the work of Ben Prenevost, it was an instant and wise choice. His coloring technique was perfect for my theme and story. Plus he had worked with Scott before and together their style just works.
Next I checked out graphic designers who could provide lettering and page layout for printers. I knew from the beginning that this person should be local (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) as I would need to work closely with them prior to it being submitted to the print company.
Rachel Moffat of was introduced to me and her graphic art experience is incredible. Not only did she pick up the comic craft instantly, but we also designed our own dialog balloons (needed a special way to transmit thoughts from one Psion character to another character). It was a pleasure working with her as the patience she needed to put the whole project together was amazing. Remember, both of us had never produced a comic before.
The next installment will be titled Galactic Gladiators Part #6.
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Order – FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – now. It will be available later in 2009. Pre-order by contacting Info@Playdigm.com.
(c) Sandford Tuey All Rights Reserved.