Visual scripts
Making my comic scripts more than just words.
As you all know I’ve been slowly getting back to my cartoonist roots, writing and drawing my own stories. There’s the upcoming Image book, which I’m jokingly “Project Princessa”, but the book I’ve been talking about most openly is Hysteria: One Man Gang.
We recently funded issue two and I’ve been hard at work prepping it for press.
Part of that process is finalizing the visual script, which is a fun but challenging for me. Challenging because I tend to over-think it all. I don’t just write a script and draw it, but rather I start out with rough story ideas, draw some layouts, working out the visuals, then come to the script and nail down the dialogue afterwards.
That allows me to match the action to what’s being said as well as helps me plan for how the dialogue content will physically fit into each scene.
I also try to keep the reading fluid to the eye, so I draw rough placement boxes and balloons on the actual page as part of the visual script for the comic. I shoot for dialogue to follow “paths” that allow the placement of each balloon or dialogue box to work in tandem with the art itself.
I finished this up last night and it hit me just how much I was enjoying the return to this kind of work. I’ve spent so much time drawing other people’s stories that I’d gotten far afield from my own story telling process.
Now that the funds have cleared from Kickstarter I’ve reached out to my designer and letterer. I’m hoping to have this to the printer very soon and in everyone’s hands shortly after.
Shout out to my daughter Maria for helping with edits on the book!
You really ought to be reading her Substack!
My next show appearance will be at New York Comicon!
Hope to see some of you there!
I dropped my newest episode of Life Studied last week, and pay-subscribers get it a week early.
BUT, it’ll be free to watch this coming Thursday. Mairin-taj and I ask the question, “Why should I draw?”
Brought to you by the fine folks at Blackwing pencil, you can get their amazing pencils and gear here!
Thanks, everyone!
Mike