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I gave a talk for my local library @columbuslibrary today (thanks again!), and in order to best explain how comics get made, I enlisted some friends to help, and so:
How To Make A Comic, Step-by-Step
How To Make A Comic, Step-by-Step
First, you need an idea. I wanted to do a simple, kid-friendly comic strip that included an obvious setup, conflict, and resolution. What's a classic comic gag? Slipping on a banana peel. Maybe throw in something ironic - the character is an unlucky optimist.
So I wrote a script. There aren't as strict formatting rules for a comics script as for other types of scripts, but this format has worked well for me. It describes the necessary details in each panel and includes the dialog and sound effects.
Next come the thumbnails! @BrooklynAAllen did these! As you can see, it's starting to look like a comic. It's a sketched out idea, solid enough that we get the picture but vague enough that we could make edits if need be.
Pencils are next! @shaebeagle drew these! The pencils build off the thumbnails and give us a more solid understanding of what the final product will be. It's still extremely editable, and you'll notice there aren't any speech bubbles yet.
Next are the inks, which @B_Willy_Will did here! The inks go over the pencils, making them as crisp and legible. The shadows are more defined, too. This is what you'll see in the final product.
After that comes the flats! @katfcomix did these! The colors look crazy, but they're supposed to! The flatter essentially outlines all the areas that the colorist will color in, turning it into a sort of digital coloring book.
Next up is colors! @HannahTempler did this! These are the final colors in the strip. You'll see there's some shading and shadow, as opposed to the flat colors in the flats. Still no speech bubbles, but don't worry, because-
Last but not least, the letters! @EricaSchultz42 did this! Now there are speech bubbles and sound effects! Some letterers use fonts, some letter by hand, and some use fonts that they made themselves! Lettering is its own specialty!
