Indy Comics Writer

When I was 9, my parents marched me off to the movies to see the original Halloween by John Carpenter. Yeah, my parents’ judgment there was a bit flawed. But everyone in my family has always loved scary movies. And my dad did cover my eyes during the nudity bits. Not the stabbings or strangling scenes, but the nudity.

I loved that movie. A lot. I couldn’t sleep for a week after seeing it. Still, it’s a classic of the genre, scary even in the daylight scenes, something that’s hard to do in a horror movie.

So this post has little to do with comics, except for one thing. If ever there was a holiday made for the comics lover, it’s Halloween. I just got back from my fourth-grade son’s school Halloween parade. I saw tons of Spider-Men, Batmen and Star Wars characters. (Only one Superman, though. Poor ‘Supes ain’t so cool.)

But back to the movies. Halloween was, and remains, one of my favorite scary flicks. So I was pretty excited when Halloween 2 came out. That excitement lasted until I actually saw the movie.

What a dismal, depressing flick that was. The first Halloween had characters you liked. Sure, the teens were drinking, fooling around and acting like goofs. But they still seemed like fun characters. In Halloween 2, though, the director — it wasn’t Carpenter the second time around — seems determined to be as unpleasant as possible.

Now, I know horror movies are supposed to be scary. They’re supposed to have nasty, mean-as-nails characters. But there’s a throwaway scene in Halloween 2 that sums up to me what’s wrong with the film: We see a mother ushering her young son down a hospital hallway. Turns out, the boy had bitten into an apple with a razor blade in it. We see a shot of the kid with a razor in its mouth.

It may seem minor, but the scene just left me with a bad feeling in my stomach. It wasn’t scary. It wasn’t even particularly gross or grisly. It was just mean. And mean without suspense, thrills or shock isn’t something that works in a horror movie. (Besides, that whole razor-blade thing is an urban legend. It never really happens. And secondly, what self-respecting boy is going to eat an apple where there’s so much candy floating around?)

The rest of the movie works in the same way. Police accidentally shoot a guy in a costume that looks exactly like the movie’s killer. Oops. Again, not scary, just sort of mean. A victim slips in a pool of her boyfriend’s blood and knocks herself out. Again, not scary, not suspenseful, just mean, and sort of stupid.

I think Halloween 2, oddly enough, provides a lesson for comics writers. You never know when you’re going to get called upon to write a sequel. (I’m working on a short sequel, in fact, for a comic series right now.) If you do, don’t forget what made the original successful. In the case of Halloween, the movie worked because Carpenter gave us characters we cared about, a villain who was a complete mystery and more thrills and suspense than blood. Halloween 2 doesn’t work because it willfully threw all of that out. In fact, every single sequel to Halloween is rather worthless. None of them remembered the lessons of the original.

A friend contacted me yesterday with a job opportunity. Her church is looking for someone to write a limited series of comic books that explains, through biographical stories, the tenants of the church’s faith. Did I know anyone, my friend asked, who’d be interested in taking on that project?

Well, sure. I know myself!

Here’s the thing. I am not a religious person. At all. But I respect those who do hold deep religious beliefs. And thanks to my Catholic-school upbringing and education, I’m fairly well-versed on religious matters. (Even my high school had four years of religion classes!)

So I know I can do this assignment. It’s like people say: You don’t have to be an orphan to write about being an orphan. But you damn well better know what it feels like.

The challenge here will be to make the comic script, if I get the assignment, interesting and educational at the same time. That can be a challenge. I remember reading Classics Illustrated when I was a kid. I remember them as being extremely boring, at least compared to the adventures of Spider-Man, Iron Man and their pals.

So that’s the key: How do you make a teaching comic — which is what this assignment would be — also one that kids will enjoy reading? To me, the key lies in creating characters that kids of today can relate to. It’s hard for kids to understand the motivations, or care about the motivations, of historic religious leaders. But if you can turn those religious leaders into real people, with real doubts, challenges, successes and failures, well, we can all relate to that.

Stay turned. We’ll see if I do write for this church and, if I do, if I can do it well.

I was talking with an older relative today and the conversation eventually led, as it often does, to how much more expensive things are these days.

My aunt was remembering when White Castle hamburgers cost 25 cents. They cost in the range of 70 to 80 cents now, I believe, depending on what part of the country you live in. (If you don’t know what White Castle hamburgers are, then I feel for you. Try one, if you can. It’s an experience you’ll never forget.)

I brought up comic books, telling my aunt that today’s comics generally cost in the neighborhood of $3 an issue. That came as a shock to my aunt, who remembers buying three plastic-wrapped comics for a buck. For that single, she’d get issues of Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich and the always good for a shake of the head Baby Huey. Going by her pay scale, my aunt could get nine comics for what it costs me to buy one. Rip-off!

This high price is one of the reasons that I prefer comics filled with lots of dialogue and story. Don’t give me page after page of wordless action shots. Don’t fill up space with unnecessary splash pages. Give me something to read. Give me something that will take longer than 10 minutes to race through.

If you don’t? I’ll break into those old Wendy the Witch or Dot comic books of my aunt’s.

What words bring more joy to the writer’s heart than “comp copies?” There’s “The check is in the mail,” but I don’t hear that one often enough.

I did get some comp copies today of IF-X issue #6. That’s the comic anthology published by the Hamtramck Idea Men. And, more importantly for me, it’s the same anthology in which my prose story Garbage Trouble appears.

Yes, I said “prose” story. IF-X, which focuses on a different theme for each issue, fills some of its pages in every edition with purely prose story. My story concerns a zombie who can’t get the garbage man to empty his garbage cans. And for a zombie, regular weekly garbage pickup is a must.

I used to get all excited whenever I received complimentary copies of the trade and consumer magazines that my non-fiction stories appeared in. That thrill has faded. I’ve been writing non-fiction stories forever (Actually, it’s only been about 15 years, but it sure seems like forever.), and the thrill of seeing my byline isn’t all that strong anymore. But with comics, it’s completely different. I haven’t had nearly enough comics published — or fiction in general, for that matter — to not look forward eagerly to my comp copies.

I got a thrill with each of the four issues of GEARZ, the comic mini-series I scripted for Bluewater Productions, that arrived in my mailbox. I know it wasn’t like having my name on a Spider-Man or Batman comic, but still, it was pretty exciting to see my name looking back at me from the cover of a comic book.

I don’t when or if that thrill will ever fade. For now, though, I plan on enjoying it. And, yes, I’ll re-read my story in IF-X several times over. That may be narcissistic, but it sure is enjoyable.

When my 9-year-old son can read a comic in 10 minutes, that comic doesn’t have enough words.

This has been on my mind this weekend following a conversation I had late last week with the editor of an anthology magazine who recently purchased one of my short comic scripts. He mentioned to me in passing that his readers sometimes complain that the anthology’s comics have too many words.

It made me laugh, because it’s a complaint I’ve received, too, from an editor or two. I’m a good soldier; I always go back and cut away some of my dialogue and captions. Often, the cuts make sense, and improve the flow of a story. Most writing, in fact, benefits from cutting. We usually are too wordy during our first swipes through a story.

There comes a point, though, when there’s just too much cutting. I hate nothing more than being able to read an entire comic book in five minutes. I didn’t plunk down $2.99 for five minutes of entertainment.

I’m working on a story now for an independent publisher who’s requested at least one double splash page of action. I’ll do it, of course, because I’m working on the publisher’s creation. He’s hired me, so I have to follow his wishes. However, I won’t necessarily like it. Splash pages are bad. Double splashes, to me, are a complete waste of storytelling space, especially when you only have 22 to 32 pages to work with.

I recognize that artists need their space, and that it’s impossible to draw a cool panel when it’s filled with multiple dialogue balloons. But I also think comics companies are robbing their readers when there isn’t enough dialogue or caption boxes to keep a reader sitting in his chair for more than five minutes.

There are times you suspect that a project you’ve worked hard on is dead. Then there are times when you know. What’s the difference?

To me, it’s when the editor/publisher disappears.

It’s probably happened to you. You make contact with an editor/publisher who’s thrilled with your story. This publisher promises you that your story will appear in an upcoming issue of his anthology series. Call or e-mail at any time with questions, he says.

Feels great. We all love to have our work appreciated, even when the payment is tiny.

But then, trouble starts. You notice that the comic company’s Web site hasn’t changed in weeks. You stop getting messages from the publisher. And, the final straw, the publisher doesn’t return any of your e-mails or calls.

That’s when a project is dead.

I think this has happened to me. A publisher enthusiastically accepted a story of mine for one of his company’s upcoming themed anthologies. I was pleased as could be. I’m still in the game of getting exposure in the comic world. Every little bit helps.

And at first, this publisher was awfully communicative, sometimes sending messages to me without me even sending one to him first.

But then, about two months ago … silence. I wanted to know if the publisher had come any closer to finding an artist for my script. No response. I waited two weeks and asked again. Nothing. Last week I tried one more message. Still nothing.

To me, that means this particular anthology is dead. I’ll shop my script around again. If it was good enough to attract this publisher, it should attract others. It’s a script I’m quite fond of, actually, so I do want to find it a good home.

I’d prefer that the publisher tell me if his company was going under. But I suppose that’s unrealistic. I’m sure he’s swamped with other pressing concerns.

And that’s my advice: Try contacting the non-responsive three times. If three doesn’t work, consider the answer to whatever question you had as a big fat “no.” For instance: Is your anthology still alive? No! Are you still searching for an artist for my script? No! Should I ever get in touch with you again? No!

And don’t take any of it personally. I’ve had enough experience with rejection and failed publications as a non-fiction freelance writer to know that it comes with the business. No one ever said writing for comics was an easy task.

You never know how a collaboration with a new-to-you artist is going to go. Right now, I have a whole lot of uncertainty going on: I’m working with three artists that I’ve never worked with before. Best-case scenario? I’ll have three short comics to pass among various publishers. Worst-case? None of the artists work out and I’m back to the drawing board.

Today, though, I received the first two pages of a short comedy/science fiction story that I recently wrote. It’s a story I especially like, so it was nice to see that the artist had captured the lighthearted spirit I was shooting for. I requested a few minor (I hope. ‘Course, I’m not the one who’s drawing the thing.) changes, but, overall, I’m quite happy with what I’ve seen.

I feel extremely fortunate to be making any sort of progress, to be honest. Anyone who writes comics, knows how hard it is to find an artist. Most talented artists are already busy. And, to be honest, most aspiring comic-book writers don’t have a lot of money to throw around. Without that cash, what incentive is there for an artist to come running when the novice comics writer comes calling? Not much.

So, today, is one of those highs. Yesterday was good, too. I had a long conversation with the editor of a comics anthology. He’s publishing one of my prose stories in the magazine. In fact, if you go to the Web home of the Hamtramck Idea Men, you’ll see IF-X #6, the Halloween-themed issue in which my comedy zombie tale, Garbage Trouble, appears. Anyway, the editor had some nice things to say to me, and I appreciated them immensely. He also invited me to look over the anthology’s themes for the coming year to see if I’d like to submit anything else to the magazine. That’s quite a nice thing to hear.

So if you’re having one of those bad days — We all have them. Just scroll down a couple of posts — remember that the highs of the good days are far more powerful than are the lows of the bad days.

Yesterday was a day for whining. At least for me.

You can read the blog post below this for proof. But I was down. I’d just lost two writing clients. Several others were cutting back because of the rough economic times. It was the kind of day where you long for a steady, regular job.

Fortunately, such blue moods don’t last long. When things do go wrong, I force myself to get busy looking for new work. Yesterday — well, at least the second half of yesterday — that’s what I did. I went on a blitz looking for new work.

The good news is that I had some positive results. I picked up some editing work — It won’t pay a lot, but it will pay some — for an independent comics publisher. I’ll be editing the company’s press releases before they hit the Web sites and magazines. Then I got a nice solid assignment to write a feature story for New Jersey Realtor magazine, the official publication of the New Jersey Association of Realtors. (I know that has nothing to do with comics. But the vast majority of my income still comes from non-comic writing jobs.)

When bad news strikes, when clients dry up or go out of business, writers have to be creative. They have to look at every cranny for new work. I’ve spent much of today, too, looking for even more new work. You never want to have only a few publishers to write for. You never know when one might go under.

I imagine there are many, many freelance writers out there struggling these days to get as much work as they did during the country’s headier economic days. (By the way, I’ve read many predictions, and talked to some financial experts for news stories, who predict that the economy will struggle throughout much of 2009 before finally beginning to pick up steam near the end of that year. If that seems like a long wait for better times, that’s because it is.) My advice to all of them is to spend no more than half a day — less, if possible — wallowing in self-pity. There are jobs out there for writers; You just have to work like mad to get them.

I assume that most fans of comic books and most aspiring comic-book writers don’t necessarily turn to the business page of the newspaper first thing in the morning. I know I don’t. I turn to the comics page, of course, and shake my head at how terrible Hager the Horrible and Broom Hilda are.

But it’s time for every write to start paying close attention to the business section, and, especially, to the nation’s struggling economy. For years, I’ve written about residential real estate for newspapers, magazines and Web sites. Well, that market has crashed, as you know, and has pretty much brought the rest of the economy with it. Yes, times are tough. Actually, they’re rotten.

This has a huge impact on writers. Many of the magazines and newspapers I regularly wrote for have either gone under or have curtailed their freelance budget. Instead of getting two assignment a month, I may get one every other month. Advertisers are cutting back, so that means fewer pages. That, of course, means fewer stories.

Here’s what happened to me yesterday, within about two hours. First, a blogging network that I had just signed on with to create a mortgage blog suddenly imploded. I was waiting for the tech people to put my mortgage site together before I began posting. Then an e-mail came into my inbox informing me that my contract had been canceled. Seems money is tight at Creative Weblogging, the blog network I had just been hired at. The company is canceling most new contracts, such as mine, and not renewing several existing ones.

Then I heard from a newsletter publisher who planned to hire me to write financial e-mails for him once a week. It looked like a good, steady paycheck. Unfortunately,the publisher changed his plans. Money, again, had become too tight.

This doesn’t bode well for comics-writing opportunities. The market is already dominated by the big two. Independent companies have always struggled to make a buck. What happens now when the economy continues going south? Expect to see many smaller publishers go under. I’m already not hearing back from a publisher who accepted a short script for one of his anthologies earlier this year. His Web site hasn’t changed in a long time. I fear that the publisher may have gone under.

The only solution? For me, it’s to tackle as many projects as I can at once, including comic writing and regular non-fiction writing. It also means taking some jobs that pay less than I’d like. After all, every little bit helps.

Writing has always been a tough job to make a living at. These days? It’s even tougher.

I’m fortunate: I make my living by writing. There are a whole lot of folks out there who’d kill to be in my position.

But it’s not always easy. Half the stuff I write — for trade magazines, newspapers and Web sites — barely interests me. The stuff I do enjoy writing — for comics, some of the more unusual feature stories I do for magazines — often gets pushed to the side because I need to make a certain amount of money each month to keep the bills paid.

So it’s a juggling act. I’m always more aware of it this time of month. That’s when the deadline for the real estate magazine I edit comes in, which means I’ll be spending hours writing stories, proofing them, picking photographs, writing headlines and editing copy. It’s a bit of a pain, but it does provide a good chunk of my yearly income. So it demands attention.

At the same time, I have several freelance non-fiction pieces due this week and next, the typical end-of-the-month rush.

Now, if I was more organized — and I’d recommend this to every writer — I’d spread my assignments out throughout the month. I would begin writing my non-fiction stories soon as I finished the necessary interviews. I wouldn’t leave the notes on my computer and procrastinate.

Some days, though, the words just don’t want to come. I turn to writing comic scripts, instead. I think this is a message: I need to make comic writing pay off more for me. I never procrastinate with comics scripting (well, mostly I’ don’t), but other writing? Sometimes I need to be facing that deadline square in the face before I get to work.

How about the rest of you out there? How do you juggle comics writing and the other work you need to do to pay the bills? Let me know. We all need all the help we can get!