Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, kickstarter

Thank God Nobody Knows How To Break Into Comics

Project Title: "Proactive Insurance: The Pros Issue 2" Creators: Steve Stormoen (writer) Jelena Djordjevic (art) E.T. Dollman (letters) Greg Benninger (cover & design) Kickstarter Close Date: November 29^th Publication Date: February 2016

Insurance agent superspies The Pros infiltrate a misogynist, gun-worshiping cult named America, under siege from the FBI. But when things go wrong, do they actually care enough about their jobs to save everyone's lives? Can they even survive themselves?

Steve Stormoen writes,

"How do I break into comics?" It's the question that's spawned a thousand tired convention panels and just as many clickbait headlines, targeted at folks like me hawking our self-published and indie comics in Artist's Alley at your local con, or on Kickstarter.

Yet despite how often the question is asked, it's never, ever answered. I've seen dozens of top-shelf writers, artists editors, and publishers respond with the same mild non-answer: becoming a successful, established comics creators is a mixture of talent, hard work, and luck. Keep your chin up and #makecomics and eventually, hopefully, you'll get your chance. It's a pat on the head that feels like a slap in the face. To the shocking disappointment of many, there's no sure-fire method of steps you can take to hone your craft, pay your dues, and guarantee your spot in the big leagues.

Thank god.

Obviously, finding a career in comics is possible. Our medium supports a large, lucrative, and occasionally stable industry, and the major publishers have been able to continue their most famous stories every month for half a century, or more. Who doesn't dream of the chance to work with the stories and characters they've loved their entire lives?

But when comics professionals tell the stories of how they broke into the industry, there's a huge variation, and a lot of them are weird. This artist happened to be at the right place at the right time to put a portfolio full of gold underneath an editor's nose. That writer hung around in the business for decades, maybe as a letterer or a marketer, until she finally crafted the perfect pitch that set the world on fire. Or maybe he became a household name working in TV or writing novels before finally getting a crack at comic books.

These are all real stories. You can google around and read how Brian Michael Bendis or Babs Tarr broke into comics, but those stories are merely an example, not a blueprint. The way Brian K Vaughan broke into comics is not going to work for you, because comics already has one Brian K Vaughan, and as good and successful as he is, it doesn't need another one. Hopefully, the person comics need is you.

Imagine there was a clear stepladder towards a comics career that worked for everyone. First you have to go to the Kubert School, then a year of Comics Experience workshops. That gets you the privilege of a series at Boom. Finish 50 issues there with adequate sales numbers and you're guaranteed a job working on Justice League of Manitoba or the All-New New New Avengers.

That means every single person in comics would be trained by the exact same faculty and vetted by the exact same editors. It means they need to appeal to the exact same tiny segment of readers. For an industry that already struggles with diversity and inclusion, it means codifying those exclusionary principles and putting on blinders towards everything else.

Comics is a wide and diverse medium, and it deserves better than that. Sure, I want to break into comics, but more than that, I want to break open comics. I want to define my success not only by how I can appeal to people who are already comics fans, but by the new people I can bring into the medium as well. I don't mind starting with my parents, coworkers, friends, and neighbors. We say it a lot, but I don't think we've yet fully embraced the rallying cry, "comics are for everyone."

Comics is better when we have both DC and Fantagraphics, both Frank Miller and Raina Telgemeier, and yes, even Rob Liefield. I'm cocky enough to think that comics is better with me, too, and my quirky, slightly surreal comic The Pros, about spies working for an insurance company, infiltrating a gun-worshiping cult named America.

If you agree, I'd love your support on Kickstarter. As a bonus, everyone who backs us from Bleeding Cool this weekend gets free exclusive temporary tattoos and the highest bidder each day will receive an extra piece of original art from The Pros artist, Jelena Djordjevic.

Steve Stormoen is the writer of The Pros, a comic about insurance agent superspies and being bad at one's job. He tweets sparingly at @stevestormoen. Last time he had a guest post at Bleeding Cool, readers on the forums wrote 13 pages of angry comments. He'd love to see that record broken.

The Pros Issue #2 Kickstarter: http://is.gd/TheProsComic2

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!