Indy Comics Writer

A comic that I had written hit the stores recently. Of course, I was thrilled. I’m new enough to writing for comics that publication is still an amazing rush.

But my joy was tempered a bit as I flipped through the pages. A throw-away character — not an essential one by any means — had been transformed somehow from a male, which the character was in my script, to a female, which the character ended up on the printed page. This wouldn’t have been a problem — like I said, the character was a throw-away one — except for the fact that the character refered to herself as “Mr.” so-and-so.

Obviously, this character was not a “Mr.” Far from it.

The typo didn’t ruin the story. But it annoyed me. And I’m sure other readers saw it and wondered what was going on.

But I have no right to get ticked at anyone but myself. I should have proofed the book more carefully before it went to press. Yes, the company that published the comic has an editor. But remember, editors are human. They’re not infallible. They don’t, and can’t, catch everything.

So here’s my free advice: Never hope others will catch mistakes in your company. Rely on yourself, first and last.

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