My two comicbook ideas

[jackthesketcher]

Okay i need everyones opinion i have been working on two comics one is called, the gamers will rise which is about a bunch of nerds and gamers who are the outcast type and the last in there town to be living and since being gamers and nerds they know what to do and they are needing to get too the bottom off the zombie problem and find the cure i have 8 characters but can't think of what to name them my second idea i have actually been working on for 2 years called nighthawks which i based of 1920s alcohol prohbation and gangs the main characters are levi hellios and jimmy nickles they used to be the biggest gang but over time have been knocked down and they want to rise back to power and put alcohol back to the streets and do whatever it takes i have more ideas but these are my main give me some ideas guys :')

[G@m]

The first idea is as cliché as it gets, face it, playing games where you shoot with guns does make you an expert gunsman, a random redneck would be way more suited for survival the only useful dude from you cast would probably be the one who played this game "click me" extensively as a young boy. Do you seriously believe that, if a zombie apocalypse ever happened, the only people who could watch the rotting man spilling brains all over the road and understand that something is very wrong are gamers? What would the "normal" people do? Think its Christmas?
The second idea sounds on the other hand is way more interesting

[TinyBird]

Yeah, (though I'm being hypocritical here) both of those seem generic and are lacking a hook or any interesting view. I could see the first one work out if you angled it right and especially if you played it as comedy, like what if it was not a town but a zombie infected science-y university campus filled with IT nerds where pretty much everyone would be a weak pencil-neck, even all the zombies, and only the "toughest" nerds were the ones that had survived this long? Then they'd have to use their science-gamer-popculture-skills to take out zombies (where teachers would be like extra-tough enemies) and find a cure or help. And probably fail hilariously. In the same way as the original idea could work if it were this sort of really black humor story where the nerds and gamers thought they'd survive but actually just died in the end when the things they learned from games wouldn't work in real life.
Or what if there were eight zombies that had to survive the onslaught of humans?

The second one is also just too vague to get me interested either. "Do whatever it takes" can just mean almost anything.

[keeptime]

It slightly worries me that you think the character's names have more value than their personality traits.

These sort of posts have always been a pet peeve for me because it's so hard to judge a book by its synopsis. Catcher In The Rye was about a teenage boy who went to boarding school and complained about everything. Romeo and Juliet was about two teenagers who fell in love after being around each other for an hour. Animal Farm was about an, uh, animal farm. A bland story can be made interesting by good writing, and an interesting story can be ruined by bland writing.

[JFierce]

Doesn't matter unless you can draw and design well enough to do a comic. Which I'm just saying based on your sig worry less about story more about drawing and storytelling. Comics are hard as hell to do alone frankly. You have to know how to do everything. You need to be able to draw figures, know perspective, environments and drawing rooms, close ups of faces far offs of figures and everything in between. You need to know how to pencil and how to ink, how to color if your coloring, basically you need to learn an ass ton about everything. The better you are at all of the above the better chance someone would actually want to read your comic willingly.



Comics are good practice for drawing if your doing them seriously and with thought, but I'd worry far more about learning to draw and being able to tell a simple story about a kid riding a bike, or a strip about something simple working on simply communicating and the basic foundations before getting into story.

[Star Eater]

Speaking of which Jack, I have approved your sketchbook thread. It should be visible now.

[Arshes Nei]

Okay i need everyones opinion i have been working on two comics one is called, the gamers will rise which is about a bunch of nerds and gamers who are the outcast type and the last in there town to be living and since being gamers and nerds they know what to do and they are needing to get too the bottom off the zombie problem and find the cure i have 8 characters but can't think of what to name them my second idea i have actually been working on for 2 years called nighthawks which i based of 1920s alcohol prohbation and gangs the main characters are levi hellios and jimmy nickles they used to be the biggest gang but over time have been knocked down and they want to rise back to power and put alcohol back to the streets and do whatever it takes i have more ideas but these are my main give me some ideas guys :')

[tobbA]

Which I'm just saying based on your sig worry less about story more about drawing and storytelling.

I don't necessarily agree. If you're going to be both writing and drawing a comic book, story and drawing skills are gonna be equally important. Write a script/outline and work on it to make it as good as possible. Read comics with good storytelling and see how they handle things like dialogs, story progression etc. Look at movies, read books, etc. Writing is just as much a craft as drawing is.

Ideas are cheap. It's the execution that's going to make a difference. A good artist/writer can make a good story out of a bad idea, and a bad one will screw up the best of them.

[vineris]

i have 8 characters

Why? Why 8? Are they all main-ish characters? Does every one of them have a unique place in the plot/story that can't be filled by one of the others? Is it easy to tell them all apart because of their different personalities and motivation? If not, dump a few or demote them to supporting cast roles.

[Dusty]

My opinion of your ideas depends on your age.

If you are 10 yrs old, then I think they are fine. Keep on trucking with any creativity you have!
If you are 30, then I'd say there is a lot of room for improvement.

[Kolbenito]

I think most gamers would be too out of shape to actually do much in the zombie apocalypse, and they would probably end up shooting their friends because they have no idea how to actually use guns - which jam, get dirty and need to be reloaded incidentally.

However, if the tone was comedy and played to the strengths of a group of mt. drew chugging cheetos munching layabouts who find themselves in the hilariously unlikely position of needing to actually save what is left of humanity... it would have a chance.

For the other idea I suggest a lot of research into the American prohibition days, the mobs and all that good stuff. It was a cool period that is why Batman and many others have used it over the years. If the story was pretty dark, based at least partially on reality and had great characters it would work. Can you believe at that time you could mail order a Tommy Gun? Amazing.

[JFierce]

I don't necessarily agree. If you're going to be both writing and drawing a comic book, story and drawing skills are gonna be equally important. Write a script/outline and work on it to make it as good as possible. Read comics with good storytelling and see how they handle things like dialogs, story progression etc. Look at movies, read books, etc. Writing is just as much a craft as drawing is.

Ideas are cheap. It's the execution that's going to make a difference. A good artist/writer can make a good story out of a bad idea, and a bad one will screw up the best of them.

If you can't tell a story with your pictures you can't tell a story.

[jackthesketcher]

thankyou

[jackthesketcher]

Thankyou for the good criticism i guess i should explain the story more since i did put it down a tad rough i also had one more about a superhero named the intellect Its about a guy who works at a science fiction store who is kinda low on his money he is a big guy for science but quite poor so i guess i better hop too the story. So alex (guys name) decides one day too spend some time on his own and go to a science show, so i guess you know he browses around and such and comes across a area that seems forbidden at the time of looking a man walks out with a brain and can see it glowing basically alex has seen too much and one of the guards shock him until he is knocked out, alex wakes up on a medical bed right next to some sort of alien hybrid and its brain is cut out alex is woozy and feels not so whole headed and notices that apart of his brain is missing over time of experementing one of the men who are in gas masks have taken the alien brain and merged it with his which causes a cosmic calamity and the race of alien hybrids come and take him alex is knocked out yet again and this time finds himself in a chair were one of the hybrids come up and ask him "were is the ultra hybrids brain?" alex knows nothing and is left there for a couple days slowly getting his sesnses back and notices he can think differently the alien comes back and asks and alex figures out what had happend about the brain since now his brain and the aliens brain is merged so alex finds out he has powers of a race highly superior he can alter time and space create universes just by thinking and shrink earth into the palm of his hand and make parrelel univereses so he gives him self the name the intellect. So i have to work on the story more and yes for the zombie one im tempted to change it because when you think about it you do have a point it kinda is lame my nighthawks one i have the full story but it will take ages to go through but as i said again thankyou allot guys it was quite a big help much thanks

[vineris]

Also, just make your comics. Everyone's first few comics kinda suck. You have to get them out of your system before you get to the better comics. You learn to make comics by making comics. So apply your butt to a chair and make finished pages happen. Even if they're less than ideal and you quit 100 pages in that's you being 100 pages closer to comics that are awesome.

Edit:

i guess i should explain the story more

No, you shouldn't. Plot text dumps are not fascinating, people want a finished product. At least rough out some pages for C&C.

[jackthesketcher]

cheers man

[jackthesketcher]

Hahahah sorry about that :/

[vineris]

Hahahah sorry about that :/

S'alright. It's just that comics are so hard that it's easy to procrastinate by getting opinions and retelling the story. Telling the story feels like you've done the work, and it sucks your energy away from the real project. Especially if people criticize the idea. The comic doesn't need to be perfect, it doesn't even need to be the best idea ever, *it just needs to get done*.

[jackthesketcher]

Well i guess im off too make some new ideas and sketch away this has helped quite well

[JeffX99]

Annnnd I would just like to add to some of the spot on comments...this is what friends are for...colleagues and peers in art. Bounce your ideas off them, get together, learn together, grow together. The internet is a poor substitute for personal associations.

[jackthesketcher]

That is a really good point there mate

[JeffX99]

Glad you think so...it seems like something missing today...at least that's the impression I get. We used to all hang together...go to galleries together...work on writing together (in my writing circle)...very common in creative disciplines to grow together and support each other. You can almost learn more from each other, and be inspired by each other than anywhere else - because you act as filters and magnets and sounding boards.

[idenzel]

I think the first idea is interesting, if I saw it on bookshelves, I'd definitely take a look at it.

[themegagod]

The zombie idea sounds fun, again if done in a comical way. It could be different and stand out, but logic would state that it would have to be non realistic.
like for instance,
while the apocalypse is happening, the geeks have hunkered down into a halo competition. while the whole world ends, the 8 of them (four on each screen, and having played this way it's awesome) are too busy eating dorritos in the basement to acknowledge the world has ended. They run the game stations on a generator, in case of power outages they won't be interrupted. when they run low on chips, the kid who lives in the house calls to his mother. she doesn't respond. eventually they find the zombie apocalypse when they have to pause the game to go upstairs and get chips.
make your character types ones that are realistic yet fuel off of each other.
1.cat girl
2.unemployeed older guy (he hangs out with people many years younger, tends to like to get drunk)
3. Arrogant super skinny D&D steryotype. uses inhaler.
4. very fat geek. constantly hungry.
5. Really attractive girl. she breaks the mold, and only recently was found to have an affinity for games. the main protagonist's love interest (obviously because she's hot).
6. Kid with ADHD. probably be most capable in most situations, yet often cannot focus, nor be asked to do things.
7. GOth- inustrial or old school, just make sure to catch the arrogance and smugness.
8. protagonist. Battles with the idea of being a geek and an outcast. thinks he wants to be normal, but the story unfolds becoming a bit of a coming of age. he needs to question what he really wants. He is shy and smart, and he becomes the group's leader (because the protagonist 80% of the time is).

I'd advise you watch shaun of the dead many times, and work out an appropriate story to your liking. I've just given you a way you COULD work that story. It needs a lot more, but that could be a start of a draft if thats the route you'd like to take it. also read the walking dead series. This is a great example of how characters often drive a story more than the conflict.
you want people to care about and relate to your characters. Do like stephen king (famous author) says he does in his writing practices. he less worries about writing the story and then throwing characters in, but more he deals with creating fully rendered characters with motivation and needs, and then just places them into a situation and alows them to act out the stories the way they would. For instance, he never intended for the child in 'pet cemetery' to die, it "just happened" as he was writing. I find it an interesting way to think of story development.
develop character that you can put them all in the same situation, let's say they were out of milk, and you can personally see how they will each act differently.
Think of a famous character,
lets say spongebob, being out of milk- what would he do? freak out? call patrick? make it a state of emergency?
how about Batman/ bruce wayne? leave a note on the fridge calmly asking alfred to pick up milk?
how about Tony stark? Turn it into a photo op, and arrive at the corner store with his suit on? or is he suffering a bout with alcoholism again so he's depressed?
What would bugs bunny would do? how about judge dredd? maybe frank miller's characters? Mickey mouse? yes, chances are they'd all get more milk- that is their motivation, but would they go about it the same way?
If a character is real, they will tell your story for you.

Your second story is a bit vauge, but I'd say read M: by Jon J Muth. this comic should give you an idea of what type of mood you may want to generate to tell your story.

and your super hero story... what?
seriously, I started reading over that description and got lost and confused.

If you really want to create comics- go ahead, but it's a lot of work. Both your art needs work as well as it seems your writing skills. BTW what is up with your grammar on these posts?

If you don't mind my asking, how old ARE you? if you are young, I support you fully, but if you are already in high school or higher, I hate to say this, but you need to seriously step your game up.

[JFierce]

Highschool or higher? I started only serious drawing when I was near college. Others on here in their late 20's there's no time limit or constraints to learn.

[JDSart]

make your ideas. Try them out, flesh them and work on them, test them for approval later. Ideas mean nothing by themselves. Every one has them, and everyone has opinions on everyone else's ideas but .to suceed you gotta do, even if the result is flawed is a learning oportunity and you never know whatbyou can accomplish until you have done it.

[themegagod]

Highschool or higher? I started only serious drawing when I was near college. Others on here in their late 20's there's no time limit or constraints to learn.

Actually thank you, and I did actually speak out of term.
I would edit my post, but I'm actually deserving of the shame that misspoken sections brings.

I didn't start really understanding how hard art was as a career until I graduated high school, and then almost went to an art school I would have greatly regretted.
It was then that I started really working on a portfolio and looking up what it takes to be an artist. I was amazed, and terrified. Yet since that realization, I've learned more in some months than all that I learned in my time in high school doodling, thinking I was "the sh*t".

So if my comment was at all offense to anyone

I am genuinely sorry about that- It wasn't intentional.

I was thinking along the lines that the art work in the fliker seems to be at around the drawing age of ten. According to some books, all this means is this may be a point when a person stoped drawing, and there is nothing wrong with that. that is when many stop drawing, and most seem to draw at around those levels. but at any time one can choose to break those habits, and I think even showing your work publicly and getting criticism is a great way to do that.
Yet JFierce is RIGHT with a drive to learn anyone can learn to create good, I mean amazing, art, with enough drive and passion.

I spoke rudely, and out of hand, and I apologize for that.
I still stand by, you do need to work on your art in order to reach what society deems to be "professional level", yet with enough perseverance this can be achieved.

JFierce thank you for reminding me to think before I speak, and Jackthesketcher, I did not mean to offend or dissuade you from your passions in the least.
As long as you keep learning you are on the right path.

[jackthesketcher]

I just turned 17 and it is quite funny you say that about my grammar when its the complete opposite on paper i don't know why honestly

Thankyou and i accept your apology nothing against you and you're giving me friendly pointers which im happy with i usually draw everyday and im still working on it

I guess i will put it this way the more criticism the more it pushes me to get to my goal and get out of this shit town i live in

[Star Eater]

I have merged your posts together. Please guys, this is not skype, if you want to add something to
a post use the edit function.

No more triple posting. Thanks.

[jackthesketcher]

Alrighty man hahah my bad