Earlier this month in another terrific episode of the Make Comics podcast, iFanboy’s Josh Flanagan talked to Andy Schmidt about the merits of prospective creators trying their hand at short comic scripts. Andy is the founder of Comics Experience, a leading resource for writers, artists and letterers committed to learning more about their craft.
Art by Ben Dewey
Today we’re talking to Paul Allor, a graduate and active member of the Comics Experience community. Paul’s anthology Clockwork Volume 1 is available on Graphicly for just $0.99. We talked to the writer about his experience writing each of the short stories in Clockwork and his collaboration with a number of diverse artists.
Graphicly: What is Clockwork? What was your goal with this collection?
Paul Allor: Clockwork is a collection of a dozen short comics, all written by me and each featuring a different artist. It jumps around in genre and style, and includes westerns, sci-fi, crime, slice of life, and so on. It’s the first of two planned volumes, with Volume 2 set to be released later this year.
I had a couple of different goals with it. First, I wanted to practice my craft and improve my writing, while hopefully telling some great stories. Back in 2010 I took an intro to writing course through Comics Experience, and I came out of that class eager to make comics and become a stronger writer.
Second, I wanted to create a portfolio piece for my writing. Something I could hand to folks, and say, “here’s what I can do.” That’s why I didn’t stick to any particular genre or overt theme. I wanted it to feel like I was jumping all over the map. I wanted it to feel like a celebration of comics storytelling.
Art by Jesse Hamm
Graphicly: How do you go about pairing each script with the right artist? Were all the stories written with a specific artist in mind?
Allor: Most of them were written before the artist came on board. So for the most part, it was a matter of casting about, trying to match up an artist’s style with the story’s attributes. Ben Dewey’s art is infused with a sense of fun and wonder, and he worked on the space-pirate story that opens the book. Jesse Hamm’s art has a restrained, classical feel to it, which was perfect for a story about a lovestruck robot.
Other times I tried to go against type, and match artists to stories you wouldn’t immediately think of for them. Aaron Houston is great at building fantasy worlds and creating dynamic fight scenes, but he also has a real talent for small moments. So I asked him to write an intimate, humanistic story about a death row prisoner looking back on his life.
And then there are times when you think of a certain artist, and all of these considerations just fly out the window, since you just know they’re perfect for the story. That’s what happened with Brett Weldele on the story “Mercy Kill,” and JM Ken Niimura on “Warlord.”
There are several stories in Volume 2 that were written for a specific artist, but looking over the stories in Volume 1, the only one written completely for the artist is “The Things I See,” for artist Nikki Cook. Nikki is amazing at showing a character’s inner struggle; her scenes of violence are visceral, grotesque and gorgeous all at once; and she has a hyper-detailed, almost baroque style to her work. All of that came into play as I was creating and writing her story.
Art by Ken Frederick
Graphicly: How often does an artist surprise you in their interpretation of your scripts? Have you ever rewritten a piece based on an artist’s feedback?
Allor: Artists surprise me fairly often, and it’s almost always a very pleasant surprise. I’ve been very lucky to have worked with so many amazing artists so early on in my career.
One example I can think of is “Skull Buzz.” It’s a real-world story about a guy who’s changing a flat tire, while his interior monologue slowly reveals that he is, in fact, a dangerous nutjob with a twisted view of the world. The artist, Ken Frederick, used this really lovely ink-wash style that really highlighted our main character’s surreal state of mind. It was very cool.
I can’t think of any major rewrites I’ve done based on an artist’s feedback (at least on these stories; it has happened with some of the projects I’m currently working on). But it’s certainly not something I’m opposed to. I’m definitely a strong believer in the writer and artist as storytelling partners.
Graphicly: Any advice for writers just starting out who need to seek out and network with artists and other collaborators? Any classic pitfalls they should avoid?
Allor: Pretty much the basic stuff. Act professional when approaching an artist; be friendly, but remember that it’s also a business relationship. Don’t hire an artist unless you’ve seen sequential work, not just pin-ups. When an artist tells you how fast they work, add some time to guard against delays. And conversely, remember that they’re also evaluating you. Be honest about your own situation and skill level, and be prepared to show script pages and finished work (if you have any).
The other thing I would say is to make sure that you have a clear line of communication with your artist, and that expectations are clear from the beginning. What are the dimensions of the final product? Do you want them to avoid bleeds to help with your printing costs? Are you okay with them adding hand-drawn sound effects? Do you want to see and approve works-in-progress at every stage of production? Will you need to approve character designs? All of might not apply to everyone, but they’re all examples of things you should be discussing with your artist before work begins.
Art by Silvio dB
Graphicly: What did you learn in organizing this project? Are you approaching the next Clockwork any differently?
Allor: Well, I began work on Clockwork Volume 2 at the same time that I was working on Volume 1, so it’s pretty much been just one long process. Having said that, this entire process has taught me so much. I’ve learned more about what artists are looking for in a script, and about how to tailor your workflow to different collaborators. I’ve learned how to letter, and how to prep a page. I’ve learned about paper stock, about the printing process, about online sales and digital distribution. And I’d like to think that I learned how to be a far, far better writer than I was when I started.
Believe me, nothing will teach you how to make comics like making comics.