The Comics Experience Blog

CE Workshop Member Kenny Porter’s “Top Cow Talent Hunt” issue published!

Artifacts-33-coverComics Experience Creators Workshop member Kenny Porter, was one of the winners in Top Cow’s 2012 Talent Hunt contest…and his winning story just hit comic book shops last week!

Artifacts #33 contains Kenny’s story “The Teacher and the Preacher,” and is his first professional comic publication.

The story follows defrocked priest Tom Judge and the numeromancer Tilly Grimes, under the employ of the FBI, seeking a kidnapped girl and a prolific serial killer. The story is illustrated by -ROM-, one of the artists who won the Talent Hunt contest as well.

The book may be purchased at your local comic shop or digitally, via comiXology right here.

Ken was one of only three writers selected as a winner by Top Cow’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Matt Hawkins, from more than 800 writer submissions.

As Matt explained on CBR in March of 2013, “[The purpose of the]…Talent Hunt is finding amateur writers and artists who’ve never been published by one of the big publishing houses and giving them a chance to be published and showcase their work to a larger audience.”

Ken was previously an Assistant Editor for Viper Comics and also worked as a Social Media Specialist for Visionary Comics, where he published a one-shot called Ink Ribbon.

Congrats to Ken on the publication of his winning entry!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you’ll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Only 1 slot left in Lettering course beginning February 10, 2014

ComicsExperience-LOGOWe just wanted to let everyone know that there’s only ONE SLOT left in our Lettering & Production course beginning February 10, 2014.

[UPDATE: THE COURSE IS NOW SOLD OUT – SORRY!]

We likely won’t be offering this course again until 2015, so if you want in, don’t delay.

Details on the course are below….or check out info on all our January/February courses right here.

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sharpe-bioCOMIC BOOK LETTERING AND PRODUCTION

Comic Book Lettering and Production will be taught by professional letterer Dave Sharpe, who has been in the business for twenty years.

In this seven-week course, Dave will take you through the programs, the thought-process, and the decision-making skills to create comics with slick, professional lettering. As if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also learn the production work associated with publishing comics! Setting up covers with logos, cover elements, integrating the digital lettering files with the digital color files properly, and page set-up along with a healthy dose of trouble-shooting the most common problems.

lettering-screenshotDave started out hand lettering in the Marvel Bullpen before moving to digital lettering, taught lettering at the Joe Kubert School in the mid-90s, and developed and led the Marvel in-house lettering department for two years.

Since then, Dave is now lettering regularly for DC, in addition to working with many small publishers as well. He is, without a doubt, one of the most well respected, talented, and professional letterers in the comics business.

To quote Comics Experience founder (and ex-Marvel and IDW Editor) Andy Schmidt, “Dave can teach. I’ve seen him do it and he taught me much while I worked at Marvel. In the first ten minutes, he taught me enough about lettering that I could talk reasonably intelligently about it with the seasoned Marvel staff. Thank you for that, Dave.

Learning how to letter can save you money on your projects and improve your storytelling. Plus, bad lettering can kill the impression your book makes! Read more about all of that right here.

Comic Book Lettering and Production with Dave Sharpe
Begins February 10, 2014!

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Our courses are offered LIVE, streaming online, and you can attend from wherever you live. You’ll be able to see your instructor and his desktop, interact with your classmates, and discuss your classwork in real time. Recordings are available during the duration of the course if you miss one, and you’ll be able to communicate with your classmates all week long in a special, dedicated online forum for just you and your class.

We hope to see you in our courses or as part of our Creators Workshop community. Sign up now!

Enrollment Open — Intro to Comic Book Writing, Art, Coloring, & Lettering Courses

ComicsExperience-LOGOWill 2014 be the year you get serious about making comics?

Comics Experience has four intro courses open for enrollment that will help you build your skills and reach your comic book goals, whether that’s breaking in or doing creator-owned work.

But the classes are ALREADY starting to fill up, so if you’ve been dreaming of making comics, don’t delay!

The four classes on comic book writing, art, coloring and lettering — described below — are open for enrollment right now.

PLEASE NOTE: The Intro classes are required prerequisites for our Advanced Classes in writing, art, and coloring. This is your opportunity to be ready for the next wave of our Advanced courses!

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atkins-bioINTRODUCTION TO COMIC BOOK ART

Introduction to Comic Book Art will be taught by Robert Atkins, a professional comic book artist who has worked on G.I. Joe, Snake Eyes, Amazing Spider-Man, Heroes for Hire, Ultimatum Fantastic Four: Requiem and many others.

In this online course, you’ll learn how to improve your storytelling, what the professional standards are, how to avoid common pitfalls, how to build a great cover, and strategies to break into the business.

atkins-art-class-screenshotYou’ll be asked to complete five pages of sequential comics pages under the guidance of your instructor and you’ll get all the behind the scenes tips Robert can pack into six weeks.

You can read what one of Robert’s former students had to say about his teaching skills right here. Or check out Robert’s art and get a sense of his teaching philosophy in this Guest Blog about the Intro class.

Introduction to Comic Book Art with Robert Atkins
Begins January 29, 2014!

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soto-bioINTRODUCTION TO COMIC BOOK COLORING

Intro to Comic Book Coloring will be taught by Chris Sotomayor (aka Soto), professional colorist on countless Marvel titles (Spider-Man, X-Men, The Avengers, etc.).

In this six-week intensive class for colorists, you’ll learn all the necessary tools and tricks for not only coloring with Photoshop, but also how to tell great stories through color.

Cap36You’ll get access to all the tools of the trade, tips on how to break in, and you’ll be working with Chris on the pages you color for the class.

You can read Soto’s own thoughts on the class right here…OR read why the class is even better than marriage right here!

Intro to Comic Book Coloring with Soto
Begins February 3, 2014!

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andy-bioINTRODUCTION TO COMIC BOOK WRITING

Intro to Comic Book Writing will be taught by former Marvel and IDW Editor and writer, Andy Schmidt.

During his time at Marvel, Andy worked on nearly every major character in the Marvel canon, and edited hit titles such as X-Factor, the Annihilation saga, Alias, and more.

At IDW, he managed major franchises like GI Joe and Transformers. He is also the author of the Eagle Award-winning book, The Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels, published by Impact Books.

workshop screenshotIn this six-week course, not only will you learn comic book writing from a pro, but the course will be packed with practical, real-world advice on the industry and “breaking in” to help you pursue your career in comics!

That’s why Comics Experience alum, Nick Spencer, tweeted:

For all aspiring comic pros asking for advice on craft/breaking in, I once again highly recommend Andy Schmidt’s @ComicExperience courses.

A few years ago, Nick had to move to New York City to take Comics Experience classes (check out his guest blog here to read that tale). But you don’t have to move, now that the courses are online. This one will sell out fast!

Introduction to Comic Book Writing with Andy Schmidt
Begins February 12, 2014!

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sharpe-bioCOMIC BOOK LETTERING AND PRODUCTION

Comic Book Lettering and Production will be taught by professional letterer Dave Sharpe, who has been in the business for twenty years.

In this seven-week course, Dave will take you through the programs, the thought-process, and the decision-making skills to create comics with slick, professional lettering. As if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also learn the production work associated with publishing comics! Setting up covers with logos, cover elements, integrating the digital lettering files with the digital color files properly, and page set-up along with a healthy dose of trouble-shooting the most common problems.

lettering-screenshotDave started out hand lettering in the Marvel Bullpen before moving to digital lettering, taught lettering at the Joe Kubert School in the mid-90s, and developed and led the Marvel in-house lettering department for two years.

Since then, Dave is now lettering regularly for DC, in addition to working with many small publishers as well. He is, without a doubt, one of the most well respected, talented, and professional letterers in the comics business.

To quote Comics Experience founder (and ex-Marvel and IDW Editor) Andy Schmidt, “Dave can teach. I’ve seen him do it and he taught me much while I worked at Marvel. In the first ten minutes, he taught me enough about lettering that I could talk reasonably intelligently about it with the seasoned Marvel staff. Thank you for that, Dave.

Learning how to letter can save you money on your projects and improve your storytelling. Plus, bad lettering can kill the impression your book makes! Read more about all of that right here.

Comic Book Lettering and Production with Dave Sharpe
Begins February 10, 2014!

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Our courses are offered LIVE, streaming online, and you can attend from wherever you live. You’ll be able to see your instructor and his desktop, interact with your classmates, and discuss your classwork in real time. Recordings are available during the duration of the course if you miss one, and you’ll be able to communicate with your classmates all week long in a special, dedicated online forum for just you and your class.

We hope to see you in our courses or as part of our Creators Workshop community. Sign up now!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you’ll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Outré #2 free anthology available, co-edited by CE Member Glenn Møane

outre-logoCE Creators Workshop member Glenn Møane is co-editor of the new digital comic book anthology, Outré, which has just released its second issue in December 2013.

Among other creators, the first issue includes colors on the story “Brenda” by CE alum and Workshop member Nic Shaw. The story is written by Jonathan Clode with art by Jonas Larsen.

outre-2-coverIn addition, the issue contains an interview with Rachel Deering, and several other comic book shorts and articles.

You can download your FREE copy of the full anthology right here.

The Outré anthology is the brainchild of Norwegian comic book creators Magnus Aspli and Glenn Møane. Both are fans of short stories, and have said, “the anthology will feature stories by creators who have something to say and are hungry to get their work out there.”

“We want to deliver a thoughtful and unique product with superb quality in art and storytelling. For free.”

Outré is published several times a year with each issue featuring four stories by four different creative teams, as well as two in-depth creator conversations and four stand-alone illustrations playing on the theme of the issue. Each story in Outré is self-contained and eight pages in length.

The theme of the current issue is “hopelessness,” with the following issue focused on “xenophobia.”

Regarding submissions, Glenn noted that “We’re still looking for artists to participate in the third issue (‘xenophobia’), which will be out next year, on Free Comic Book Day. We’ll be opening submissions for #4 soon. Any artists who’d like to be a part of #3 can e-mail their samples to submissions@outrepress.com.”

Congrats to Glenn, Nic and everyone involved in the anthology!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you’ll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Episode #58 of the Comics Experience “MAKE COMICS” Podcast posted!

MakeComicsPodcastA new episode of the Comics Experience Make Comics podcast has been posted! Each episode provides ~15 minutes of advice on all aspects of creating comics and breaking in to the industry.

Join Comics Experience founder and former Marvel and IDW Editor Andy Schmidt and his co-host Joey Groah as they discuss making comics!

Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes! Or check out the latest episode below or on our Podcast page!

Episode #58, “Varying Your Shots”
In a recent episode, Andy mentioned there was more to say about the importance of an artist varying the shots and angles in panels. In this episode, Andy and Joey dive into that topic!

List of All Episodes

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you’ll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Comic Book Script Archive adds new scripts from Cullen Bunn, Kyle Higgins and Ales Kot

scriptarchivecoverNew scripts have been added to the Comic Book Script Archive, presented by Comics Experience.

The archive, founded by Tim Simmons, is an educational resource showcasing more than 100 comic book scripts written by some of the biggest names in the comics industry.

We are happy to announce that we’ve added four new scripts by writers Cullen Bunn, Kyle Higgins and Ales Kot.

The new scripts are:

* Helheim #1 by Cullen Bunn
* Nightwing #8 by Kyle Higgins
* The Sixth Gun #1 by Cullen Bunn
* Zero #2 by Ales Kot

Comics Experience and Tim Simmons are working together to continue building this free resource. If you are a pro writer for one of the top comics publishers and you’d like to donate a script, please contact Tim at citizentim@gmail.com or Comics Experience at info@comicsexperience.com.

The Comic Book Script Archive may be accessed right here or via the new “Scripts” menu item on ComicsExperience.com.

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you’ll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!