How to make a simple comic book
Now there are plenty of sites and books out there that tell you how to write and illustrate a comic book ready to send out to publishers. It involves a lot of work, a lot of planning, and a lot of moments where you just want to give up all together. Instead of going over those grueling steps I’ll tell you how I entertain myself and practice my basic page layouts and drawing all at the same time.
First I start with two pieces of paper. Usually I steal this out of the printer, so I’m really not talking about anything fancy here. Next I fold the paper in half, than fold it in half again.
Now I have a tiny booklet perfect for playing around with. Next I start to draw. Usually I can’t be bothered to actually plan out the pages or even story, but sometimes I do. If I have a ruler handy, than I will use it to box out my panels first so that I can work around those. When choosing where to place your boxes and what shapes to use, I sometime pick a page out of a comic book I have laying around and just steal a layout they have used.
If I really just want to be simple (which is often best for first timers or even for pros) I just make a series of similar sized boxes to fill the page.
Than I just start drawing. Easier said than done I know, but what I suggest, is just draw stick people. Even if you are serious about drawing, this size will not allow for very much detail, so keep it basic and if you like where you are headed with it, than you can take it to a bigger format. If not, than you have a cute little comic for your own enjoyment
One thing that I didn’t mention before, I don’t draw on the back of any of the paper. If I draw on one side, I don’t want to draw on the back as this can cause ripping and ghosting (when you can see the image from the back come through onto the front) when photocopying. This means that if you go with two sheets of paper and follow my fold and cut method, you will have 8 pages to draw on. Not too many that you might never finish, and not to few that you can’t do an interesting story.
Good luck and happy drawing!
