“Twenty-two pages is not a lot of space. Believe me. Having written a bazillion comics, I still find myself more often than nine pages into a script and realizing to my horror that I'm only about a quarter of the way through the story I wanted to tell, and the next thing you know, I'm making fresh coffee and tearing up the floorboards to rewrite.” KnowsWayBelieveStillsTwoBookStoriesWantedNextRealizingSpaceWrittenHorrorPagesTwentiesScriptsCoffeeNineComicQuartersBelieve In MeComic BookTwenty Two Author:Mark Waid
“Stan Lee always wanted to do another syndicated strip while we were doing Spider-Man. I was working two jobs, and he wanted to make time to do another strip. He wanted to do a humor strip. I said, 'Stan, I barely make it through the week now. How the hell am I going to do another strip?' He said, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I always forget it takes you longer to do a page than it takes me to do twenty pages.'” MenSaidTwoBookWantedJobsForgetHellWeekPagesTwentiesSorryComicTake MeComic BookI'm SorrySpidersForget ItMaking TimeSpider ManTwo Jobs Author:John Romita, Sr.
“The secret to writing sound effects is having a room you can be alone in, trying to make the sounds yourself, and seeing what comes out. It's similar to if you're writing a character talking with their mouth full: the only way I know to transcribe that is to stuff my fist in my mouth and write down what sounds I make when I try to talk.” IfsKnowsWayWritingTryingBookCharacterStuffSoundRoomsSecretTalkingSeeingEffectsMouthsComicComic BookFistsSound Effects Author:Ryan North
“All the other editors at DC never gave me a moment's time. They would take the thing and give me a check and say, 'I'll see you in two weeks.' They never gave any kind of encouragement or information. They were very competitive with each other. They didn't want to teach an artist and then lose him to some other editor.” WantGivingKindTwoBookMomentsArtistLosesTeachWeekInformationGive MeEncouragementChecksComicEditorsComic BookTwo Weeks Author:John Romita, Sr.
“When I went to Stan Lee - every time I was with Stan, I learned something every day. When I would do a pencil job, if I didn't have much faith in it I would hand it in and invariably Stan would make it look like it was a well-written and well-planned-out story. It made me tell people, 'If you want to become an artist, go to work at Marvel. Stan will turn you into a storyteller.'” PeopleIfsWantWellsLooksMadeBookStoriesHandsJobsArtistTurnsWrittenComicComic BookStorytellerPencilsWell Written Author:John Romita, Sr.
“Superheroes are also about immigrants. Superman, the prototype of all superheroes, is a prototypical immigrant. His homeland was in crisis, so his parents sent him to America in search of a better life. He has two names, one American, Clark Kent, and the other foreign, Kal-El. He wears two sets of clothes and lives in between two cultures. He loves his new country, but a part of him still longs for his old one.” StillsTwoBookCountryAmericaCultureNamesParentClothesCrisisComicImmigrantsComic BookSuperheroBetter LifeHomelandPrototypeKentTwo Cultures Author:Gene Luen Yang
“When I was there at Marvel, everybody thought if you could draw well and you could do sensational panels, that you were going to be a success. The truth is that no matter how good or bad you are as a draftsman, if you can't tell a story, you don't last in comics. ...About halfway through my stay at Marvel, I realized I was being paid to tell a story, not do a drawing. That's why my stuff is always rather simple and uncomplicated compared to a lot of guys.” IfsWellsBookMatterStoriesLastsGuyStuffSimpleTruth IsDrawsPaidDrawingI RealizedComicComic BookHalfwaySensationalUncomplicatedDraftsman Author:John Romita, Sr.
“I think luck is the sense to recognize an opportunity and the ability to take advantage of it... The man who can smile at his breaks and grab his chances gets on.” ThinkingMenOpportunityChanceAbilityBreakAdvantageLuck Author:Samuel Goldwyn
“Almost everyone working in mainstream comics started off as a starry-eyed kid reading and loving comics. We're all fans, and that's great. But when we start working on company-owned comics professionally, we have to think like storytellers instead of fans. Editors aren't looking to hire the biggest fans of the characters. They're looking to hire the best creators with the best ideas.” ThinkingBookIdeasCharacterKidsReadingCompanyFansCreatorComicEditorsMainstreamComic BookStorytellerReading For KidsBiggest Fan Author:Greg Pak
“The good news is that the comics field is small enough and informal enough that once you have made a comic, you have achieved your dreams: you have broken into the comics industry. The problem with breaking in, though, is that staying in is harder.” MadeBookEnoughProblemDreamFieldsBrokenIndustryNewsHarderComicYour DreamsStayingComic BookGood NewsDreams You Have Author:Greg Pak