How to Create a Comic Book

Comics have been around for about 100 years in some form or another and have gained enduring popularity among particular markets. Reading and collecting comic books may be a niche hobby, but those who are into it are truly devoted. Many people aren’t aware of this, but you can self-publish comic books just like you can with novels, children’s books, and almost every other form of the printed word.

If you have a story to tell, and you've considered doing so through your own comic book, you may wonder how to get started. Here are some of the basics to consider when creating your own comic. 

Do Your Research

This article is a great place to start, but you need to read and research lots of comics—which you probably already have on hand—as well as read or watch interviews with successful comic book creators.

• • Read their blogs. This will give you insight into their creative process along with tips and tricks for aspiring creators.
  • Check comic websites and YouTube for interviews with successful comic authors and artists.
  • Explore various resources to uncover the top illustration tools and tutorials that can enhance your comic-drawing skills.
  • Pay attention to what you like about your favorite comics, and determine how you can include those aspects in your own work.

Write First...

Draw later. Words drive the action, and the whole comic will flow more naturally if you write and then draw, based on the entire story.

• • Flesh out your main characters at this stage, and plan their character arcs. 
  • Determine plot points that are very important to the story and begin to build around those. 
  • Writing for a comic has more in common with a play or movie script than a novel. While some descriptive text is featured, the emphasis is heavily on dialogue.
  • Keep in mind that editing your text after the fact is much easier than redrawing everything.

Storyboard It

When you know what the story is and have the text down on paper, it’s time to draw, but only as a rough draft. Create an outline for the illustrations or set up a storyboard. You can find printable storyboard templates in many places online, including Canva. 

• • At this stage, your actual drawings can be stick figures; something more representative rather than a final product.
  • A storyboard will help you visualize where each panel will be placed on a page and what sequence works best to drive the story forward. Keeping the drawings simple at this point allows you to toss out pages that don’t work with minimal time lost.
  • Make sure you have room for the text next to the images as well as confirming that the words fit the panel they’re in to make a cohesive story. If you're unsure as to what style of text you want to use, there are a number of "how-to" sites for lettering tutorials on the internet. 
  • During this stage of the process, don’t be afraid to switch things up and try out different orders. Take the time to become confident in your layout before moving to your final drawings.

Choose Your Style

Do you want to pay homage to the overall feel of one of your favorite comics in your work? Would you rather incorporate a completely different style that you've had in mind for ages? Once you decide upon the style you want to incorporate into your comic, begin to practice your drawing style.

• Remember that you need to practice your style and stick to it, or the difference from your first panel to the last will be evident. 
• You'll need to be able to draw in the same style for all future iterations of your story as well. The artwork needs to be reproducible, so keep your experimentation throughout to a minimum. 

Create Continuity

It's important to keep track of important plot points and character dialogue. Take a look at the comic books you've read over the years to get ideas and see how others have achieved continuity between words and illustrations—both within a given issue as well as over the course of an entire series.

• • Be sure to feature a simple color palette.
  • Both the illustrations and the words need to have the same feel.
  • Whether you draw the words yourself or just choose to use a font that suits you, the words must be legible. 

Strike a Balance

As with ensuring continuity, you want to be sure to strike a good balance between your words and images to tell a better story all around.

• • A comic in which the text merely describes what is already depicted in the images can quickly become boring and redundant; conversely, relying solely on images often fails to capture the full essence of the story.
  • You're not writing a novel or a wordless picture book—your words and images must blend together in such a way that the story only flows with both components.
    
    

Choose a Size

Comic books come in various sizes, and you should give some thought to which will work best for the type of comic you’ve created.

• • In the U.S., the cover for a standard comic book is 6.75 x 10.5 inches, and all interior pages are approximately 6.625 x 10.25 inches. It'll fit in well with other comics on the shelf and is what most people are expecting when they think of a comic book.
  • The Digest size is 5.5 x 8.5 inches. The smaller size makes it easy to carry around. (Most manga are made in this size)
  • The Magazine size provides ample space for your artwork to be appreciated. These are 8.5 x 11 inches. (This size is often used for trade paperbacks and graphic novels)
  • The Golden Age size is 7.75 x 10.5 inches, As the name suggests, this was the size of most comic books in the 1930’s and '40s. If you want to invoke nostalgia or a vintage feel, this might be the right size.

IngramSpark's custom trim sizes make it easy to self-publish your comic book just the way you want it. Be sure to check out our ultimate guide to mastering your book design for more information on trim sizes, paper weights, color, etc.