Indy Comics Writer

I got my start in freelance writing at a local community newspaper in the neighborhood in which I grew up. The editors there had me writing police reports, obituaries and feature stories. I covered high school and, even, elementary school sports. My first assignment was covering the local elementary school’s science fair. Scintillating stuff, all of it.

But I learned a lot at that little paper. And one of the most important lessons I learned was how important it is to proofread your work, no matter how confident you are that you haven’t made a mistake.

The newspaper publisher was writing a caption once, one that was supposed to go under a group photo of a local business opening its doors. My publisher knew everyone’s name except for one man. He wrote “Joe Blow” for the man’s name, to gauge how long the completed caption would be, and then said he’d find out the man’s real name and slip it in.

You guessed it: He forgot. The paper went to press with “Joe Blow” proudly celebrating the opening of his family’s business.

Needless to day, Mr. Blow was not pleased when he read the caption.

Mistakes can be simple, or they can be embarrassing. That one was embarrassing. As I was proofing a page of comic art from a story in development now, I noticed that a dialogue balloon was attached to the wrong character. Another character mistakenly referred to herself as a “Mr.” instead of a “Ms.”

Those mistakes were just mistakes. But, if they would have gone to print, they would have taken the reader out of the flow of the story. The readers would have paused to say, “Why does that lady think she’s a man?”

Proofreading may be boring. It may be tiresome and, at times, mind-numbing. But don’t skimp on it. You’ll be glad.

I’ve been making a living through my writing for a long time now, more than 16 years, actually.

Much of this time, though, has been less than fulfilling. Don’t get me wrong: Writing is a great career. It’s better than schlepping into an office every day and frantically clicking off computer hearts every time the boss walks past.

But a lot of my writing assignments haven’t exactly been scintillating. I mostly write non-fiction for newspapers and magazines. It’s where 99 percent of my writing income comes from each year.

This means a lot of stories for obscure trade magazines and special sections of newspapers. I’ve written about the proper care and maintenance of grease traps, and that’s one of my more exciting assignments. (You’d be surprised at how challenging it can be for a restaurant owner to maintain those suckers. Trust me on this. Or, if you’d like, I’d be happy to send you a copy of the story. $7 shipping and handling please.) One of my steady clients is a magazine devoted entirely to the treatment of wastewater. Yes, wastewater. I’ve even written for a podiatry magazine. The wonders of the human foot!

I don’t want to give you the wrong idea. I have had the chance to write some fun stories. Last year, for example, I write a long feature about people who dress up in their own superhero outfits and actually try to fight crime in their neighborhoods. Many of these folks are deadly serious. And not a one of them have been bitten by a radioactive spider. I’ve also had the occasional short story published. It’s not easy putting together a readable piece of short fiction. If you don’t believe me, try it some day. It’s more than just stringing words and sentences together. If you can do it well enough to get published, well, that’s an ego boost.

Here’s the thing, though: Something was always missing. What I really want to do is write for comic books and graphic novels.

And that’s one industry that’s damn near impossible to break into if you can’t draw – which I can’t – and if you don’t have at least a bit of good luck.

Fortunately for me, I had the good luck part.

Here’s how: I sent an e-mail message one day to Darren Davis, owner of Bluewater Productions, a busy independent comics company. My message basically pleaded for work. Darren read and, I can only guess, took pity on me. He gave me the chance to write a mini-series his company was producing. I wrote the four issues, he liked what he saw and had me write two more mini-series.

There you have it: I was writing for comics. For a real publisher. This was different than those flip books I’d made back in the sixth grade.

That first mini-series, GEARZ, came out this July. Writing it was a blast, the most rewarding assignment I’d ever taken on. You can see a sample page from the first issue next to this post. And, if you’re so inclined to buy a copy online, you can visit my favorite comics ordering site, Heavy Ink, and search for GEARZ.

I was lucky to get my first break into comics. But this, I hope, is just the start of something bigger. My dream, and it may be nuts, is to make a living as a full-time comics writer. I know that’s rarer than rare: Hardly anyone makes a living at comics, right?

Well, I think that’s changing. Just look at the booming graphics novel industry. Comics creators don’t have to rely on Marvel and D.C., or maybe Image and Darkhorse, to make solid page rates these days. Look at Scholastic, the venerable kids publisher. Its graphic novel division is busier than ever. Think Scholastic isn’t shelling out big money to its publishers? It is.

I hope this blog serves as an inspiration to others who are just getting started in the comics business, whether as writer or artist. I’ll be updating frequently, so you can see my progress as I try my best to make a go at this industry. Visit often, and see how it all turns out.