By Gamal Hennessy

I work on the business side of comics and one of the most consistent questions I get from aspiring creators is “How Do I Break into Comics?”

I attended MegaCon a couple of weeks ago and the question came up again at the Comics to Hollywood panel I was listening to.

It’s a logical and reasonable question, especially since the comic book industry doesn’t have entry paths like film or television, formal requirements like doctors and lawyers, or “regular” application processes like sales or service industries.

The quick and dirty answer is “You break into comics by making comics.” While that is accurate and brief, the explanation deserves some elaboration. In my experience as an author, attorney, and business consultant who has worked in and around comics for more than twenty-five years, there is a five-step process that anyone can use to break into comics.

1. Understand why you want to be in comics: Many comic book readers have, at some point, imagined creating a comic of their own. The realization that you want to be a comic creator can be an epiphany, but understanding your motivation will help you navigate the deep waters of page rates, creator-owned deals, and final order cutoff deadlines. Your “why” will be personal and might include expressing your creativity, joining a community, owning intellectual property, or any other reason you want (See Why Do You Want to Make Comics?). The point here isn’t to fit into some prescribed label. Understanding why you want to work in comics can help guide all the decisions you make about the opportunities that present themselves during your career.

2. Figure out what you want to do in comics: There are more than a dozen different types of roles that go into making any comic (See video What Is the Business of Comics?). Most people think of the artist and the writer, but there are several other creative positions and just as many traditional business roles required to help make a book successful. Beyond the creation of the actual stories, there are many other indirect jobs built on comics, from licensing to media coverage to retail sales. You can have more than one job at the same time depending on the books you’re working on and your skill set. For your first book, you’ll probably have several jobs that you’ll have to juggle, but the key here is to understand that you can break into comics even if you can’t draw.  

3. Decide where you want to fit: The comic book industry is not a single monolithic business, and all comic book jobs are not created equal. Comic book creators need to understand their relationship to the stories they create (creator-owned, freelance, or independent) and everyone needs to wrap their heads around the different types of companies that publish comics (See What Types of Companies Publish Comics?) If you already have an understanding of what you want to accomplish in the industry and what roles you can fill, it can be easier to focus your time and energy on projects and partners that fit into your career plans.

4. Publish a comic:  This is where the quick and dirty answer fits into the process, but it still requires some elaboration. To break into comics, you need to publish comics, not just make them. Making comics means overcoming all the artistic and creative challenges that come with narrative sequential art. Publishing comics means subjecting what you made and yourself to the demands of the market. This means marketing, distributing, and selling your comic to the public. When you are breaking in, you’re not necessarily trying to make money from your comics (although that would be nice). Your goals here are to get a hands-on education on how the industry works, prove that you can finish a project, meet other people in the business who you can work for and with later, and figure out if you really want a career in comics. As I stated earlier, a lot of people think about and talk about being in comic books, but you can’t talk your way into the industry. Sooner or later, you need to do something.

5. Repeat steps 1-4: If you have just one story to tell, or if your goal is to see your book on the shelf next to your favorite titles in a comic shop or bookstore, then one book might be all you need. But if you plan to have a career in comics, your first book is just the beginning. In the same way, it’s difficult for an athlete or musician to reach the Hall of Fame with one great game or one great song. You can’t define a career with a single book. One industry veteran posted something along the lines of “If you want to break into comics, keep making comics until people realize they can’t get rid of you.” An insider at Marvel once told me “Breaking into comics is hard, but staying in comics is a lot harder.”

The first four steps can help you break into comics, but the last step is the most important for having a career in comics. Your first book probably won’t be your best book, unless it is your only book.

Have fun with your comic.

Gamal

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