Indy Comics Writer

Here’s what I want: I want to be writing Spider-Man — the right way — for Marvel comics.

Of course, that’s not going to happen. Why would Marvel turn to an unknown when the company not only has its own stable of writers to choose from but can also turn to top novelists and TV and movie scribes, too?

So I’m working hard on writing my own comics and completing scripts for smaller, independent publishers. I do a lot of work with a company called Bluewater Publishing, which has published my first mini-series, a four-issue action/comedy called GEARZ, and in November will publish my second series, a four-issue mystery called Welcome to Waterbury.

But I’m also trying some other tactics. I write this blog, for instance. And while it doesn’t attract the kind of viewership that you’d find at a Newsarama, it does bring in some readers. I’m also hoping to get some editing work at an independent comics company. I work full-time as a writer and editor of a trade magazine in Chicago, so I know how to edit copy. I may also be writing some press releases for this company.

As a writer, you have to use all of your talents to get a foothold in this industry. It’s not easy to make a go of it at writing comic scripts. Not at all. But if you can write press releases for a comics publisher, or edit the descriptions of their comics on their Web sites, you might eventually get the chance to write the publisher’s next one-shot or mini-series.

I saw an ad the other day at Digital Webbing from an independent comics company looking for columnists for its Web site. The job didn’t pay. But it might make an excellent opportunity for the writer looking to get noticed by the publishers. If you turn in a series of well-written, well-researched columns for the company, why wouldn’t it give you the chance to write a comic or two down the line?

That old saying about skinning a cat is true: There are many, many ways to do it. So get creative and start working on your own unique ways to break into the field of writing for comics.

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