Graphic Novel Research:
The first ever Batman comic was published in 1940 by DC which is the company that owns the rights to Batman and all characters in the franchise still to this day. During this first issue of Batman we learn about this origin story of how his parents were murdered during a mugging and Bruce Wayne (a.k.a Batman) was now the sole heir to his parents riches and decides to become a crime fighter using his money to create new gadgets to further help him rid Gotham of crime. We are also introduced to the character of Robin (Richard Grayson) who like Batman witnessed both of his parents being murdered before his eyes after his parents refused to pay a gangster for protection. This young acrobat was spotted by Batman and taught how to channel his hatred into a positive by fighting crime as well. Another character we get introduced to is The cat who is planning a robbery at the time but we don't find out too much about her however I know that she later on becomes Catwomen. The last character that we get introduced to is the Joker which we later on find out is Batman's main villain throughout the entire series of graphic novels. As we can see the first Batman graphic novel is full of back story and unforgettable characters which gets people interested straight away because people want to find out what happens next to all the characters and how they will interact with each other. The environment that Batman and Robin protect is the fictional town of Gotham which is a place where it seems that nobody would want to live as it is riddled with crime, gangs, super villains and apparently everything else horrible but this is the environment that the audience would want as they know that something will always happen in the town of Gotham which will require the help of Batman and Robin. The town itself resembles an industrial town with big chimney stacks, factories, skyscrapers, ally ways, an asylum, giving the town a feel of mystery as you are left wondering what could possible happen in these areas and if they will overlap with each other to create a more in depth story. However the two main hero's are not easy to connect with as Bruce Wayne is a billionaire which a lot of people aren't and Richard is an acrobatic from the circus which makes these characters had to connect with physically but emotionally everyone has felt loss, maybe not to the extreme that they did but we understand why they want justice and are angry at the criminals who took them away.
The first ever comic book of The Walking Dead was published in October 2003 and starts off with Rick Grimes who is a sheriff in the state of Kentucky in the middle of a shoot out with a crazed criminal which we do not know the name of alongside his partner and best friend Shane. Rick attempts to surround the criminal and asks Shane to give him cover fire. However this goes horribly wrong and rick gets shot right through the chest and is hospitalized in a coma for what seems to be years. The next scene we see that Rick wakes up from his coma wondering where he is and what happened, he shouts for help but he hears no replies to his pleads for help. He gets up, finds his clothes and badge in a draw, puts them on and goes to look for someone but it seems that the hospital has been abandoned for quite some time. Still attempting to find civilization Rick notices that the door to the cafeteria has a board blocking the door without realizing how bad of an idea that is he breaks the board to see that the room is full of the un-dead and as one attacks him they both fall down the stairs and luckily the zombie breaks his neck, killing him. Later on Rick finds a survivor that has his son with him. They begin to talk and Rick learns the truth about what has happened to the world surrounding him and hopes that his family is still alive and well. They go to the police station to grab supplies and guns shared between them so they both have a chance of surviving. Rick leaves to look for his family and the father and son decide to stay where they are but promise to meet up with Rick sometime in the future.
Process Of Making Comic Books:
When making a comic book there are 10 steps to go through to ensure that the comic book is to the highest of standards.
Step 1: Idea/Concept:
When creating a comic book you have to think of many different ideas that could amuse your target audience but also try to think of something creative and unknown to the mass public so that your comic stands out from the rest of them. Finally you should try and relate the story/character to you so that the audience can relate to the character you have created.
Step 2: Writer/Story:
This is the person that takes the few concept ideas that have been selected and creates an overall story for the comic book, this includes setting, dialogue, rhythm and pace. This can be a difficult stage as this will take a lot of time and effort to create all this for like 4 different concepts and only one will be chosen to go forward into the next process.
Step 3: Penciller:
Once the story is selected it then goes to the penciller which is exactly what you think it is, this person does all the first drawing/sketches for the comic book in pencil so that mistakes can be easily put right. This person will decide the overall art style for the comic book weather that be realistic, cartoon, cel-shaded, etc.Step 4: Inker:
After the final artwork has been done by the penciller, the process then moves on to the inker who makes the artwork final and this is the point of no return when it comes to making a comic book because mistakes can't easily be changed or erased.
Step 5: Colourist:
Once the inker has completed the whole comic book it will be given to the colourist who will bring the comic book to life, adding all the colours, lighting, shading, etc. This stage is also crucial so that the colours for each scene/character are consistent and don't randomly change half way through the book. Some people may skip this stage if they want their comic book to have a certain feel to it or even just to save money.
Step 6: Letterer:
After the colouring stage the comic book is given to the letterer who puts in all the dialouge, speech bubbles, sound effects, thought bubbles and whatever else there might be, this helps the reader to follow the story and not get lost with what they are seeing. Most companies will use a computer for this stage as it is easier and more reliable in certain ways.
Step 7: Editorial:
This is the person that has the final say over the whole comic book and every aspect within. If there is a mistake within the comic book they will often send it back to be fixed before they check it again or they may even fix it themselves if the problem isn't too major.
Step 8: Printing/Publishing:
Once the comic book is approved by the editor they are able to mass produce by printing a certain amount.
Step 9: Marketing:
When the comic book is finally ready then the company will start to generate hype for their comic book with websites, advertisements and will also send out the first few copies to reviews to see if the comic book is taken well by the community. This can also happen in the editorial stage after the as the comic book is almost finished, this would be the perfect time to release it to the press.
Step 10: Distributing:
There are many ways to distribute a comic book once it's complete, the company can set up their own website and advertise it so that people visit and order books from online. They could also take their comic book to conventions which are becoming vastly popular and happen in almost every major country in the world. Finally they can just ship out their comic book to retailers such as comic book stores, online shops, etc.
I evidenced this from: http://comicbooks.about.com/od/creatingcomicbooks/tp/process.htm
I evidenced this from: http://comicbooks.about.com/od/creatingcomicbooks/tp/process.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment