How to Be a Comic Book Artist

If you have strong graphic design and art skills, you may be interested in becoming a comic book artist. There are several ways to have your comic book artwork printed and distributed, but you'll need to map out a plan of action to make your dream come to life. You can apply for a job at a comic book publishing house or self-publish your own books through a number of resources.

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Instructions

Prepare a Portfolio

1. If you've ever applied for a job in graphics or design before, then you know the importance of a portfolio. Ideally, your portfolio should showcase the range of skills a potential hiring editor will look for in an up-and-coming artist. There are five basic things you need to do to prepare a proper portfolio to really wow the publishing houses:
   
   1. Know what comic book editors are looking for
   2. Know your specialty
   3. Gather your materials
   4. Prepare your samples
   5. Be original

Next: Apply for a Job at a Comic Book Publishing House

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Resources

• Marvel Comic Books
• How to Self-Publish Your Own Comic Book
• DC Comics

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[lcworld]

on 11/4/2009 Lancescomicworld.com is launching the first “Create a Character Contest”.

The winner will have their character featured on the main page of the site and will receive a personalized autograph from the site’s founder, Chicago Bears’s Lance Briggs. The submission date for the top five characters has been extended to December 1st. T he winner will be announced on January 1st.

Take this opportunity to showcase your talent!

[eliastowne]

on 8/10/2009 If you're on the West Coast, an option is the San Gabriel Valley Comic Book Art Academy in El Monte, California. It's run by a number of pro comic creators in the area and offers a pretty extensive education on comic book art. Check it out at http://www.comicbookartacademy.com

[seanjjordan]

on 5/15/2009 Self-publishing is a whole topic unto itself, but of the advice here, I'd be careful what you trust. Printing 10,000 copies of an indy book is likely to make you go broke, especially if you're trying to sell them on your own. Standard comic books are 24, 28 or 32 pages, but only 22 pages usually have any content. Black and white books tend to sell about half of what comparable color books sell in the direct market, which in 2009 means about 500-1000 copies, total. An indy color book that is not supported with a popular license or powerful marketing campaign will probably only sell 1000-2000 of its first issue and 500-1500 of its second (depending on sales of its first). If that sounds like a lot of sales to you, consider that the break-even-point for a book that costs $10,000 to print and produce, with a cover price of $3.99, is somewhere around 5,000 copies. In today's comic book i...