Those who want to make comics for a living should enroll themselves in Gary Spencer Millidge’s COMIC BOOK DESIGN: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO CREATING GREAT COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS. And even those who don’t, yet appreciate great design, also should look into picking it up.
An artist himself (STRANGEHAVEN), Millidge details how would-bes and wannabes can take themselves several steps closer to graphic greatness, not just in creating a character (which, in itself, is much harder than one would think), but in establishing location, arranging panels, lettering dialogue and using color.
All go a long way toward helping tell the story. Anyone with a eye for design knows that the slightest skewed thing can detract from a reader’s interest. How it looks greatly aids how it reads. To illustrate each point, Millidge includes a wealth of examples of actual comics, culled from a wide range of publishers and styles, so whether you’re aiming to sketch superheroic adventures or slice-of-life recollections, you’re apt to find one that relates to you.
My favorite section is the chapter on designing covers, spines and logos. It makes me wish there were an entire book dedicated to just that topic. —Rod Lott
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- CAPES, COWLS & COSTUMES >> Comic Book Writers Without the Comics
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