phrases. - The Official GlobalComix Blog

Welcome to the next installment of the Creators at Convention series. In the last two entries, we gave ideas on how to make the most of attending conventions, whether you have a table/booth or you are roaming and focusing on networking.

In this particular entry, we'll be covering what to do after the convention is over to make the most of your new connections and keep your business rolling efficiently. Be sure to get some rest too, but the wheel never stops turning in comics, the next convention is right around the corner!

Even as a publisher, it's important to network and follow-up as much as possible! Here are some of the awesome folks we met up with at last...

Our last article of the Tips and Tricks series covered advice for creators while at a convention behind the booth or artist alley table. While tabling takes a lot of organization, and sometimes finances, there are lots of options for creators who still want to attend a convention as a creator. There's always more than one way to be productive, and sometimes, using your time for meetings, lunches, visiting tables, panels, and reviews can produce a lot of results.

Networking, networking! I can only imagine we all know that networking is important, but how can we network if we aren’t at a booth? In my personal experience, I find networking far easier when I’m not...

So what is Komawari?

Paneling for manga is done in the same spirit of western comics: creating a smooth experience for the reader. However, the thought process behind how it is done is a little different. “Koma” themselves are the panels. Komawari refers to the layout as a whole, and its flow.

From san-dangumi to wakusen there's a lot to cover. With our intro out of the way, let's get started!

Reading direction

The most notable difference between the two is the reading Direction.

Most manga does read right to left, traditionally. However, there is a movement of “Manga-inspired comics” that are in a manga style, but read left to right like...

In our last Creator Tips and Tricks article, we talked about the basics of paneling and flow. This week, we are going to dig a little deeper into this flow idea. Understanding gutters, panel layouts, and how to make your pages easier to read. A confusing page could cost you a reader, and nobody wants that!

With that introduction, let's dig into Gutters and Panel Layouts!

Looking at a standard comic page as a reader, you might not know that these pages are very carefully crafted to keep you reading. As a creator, you might know the pages take some time to plan and create. Now that we have some understanding of comic flow from our last article, visual narrative, and margins...

No matter the format we use to tell our stories, be it comics, manga, comic strips or koma, we need to understand the flow of a page. By flow, I mean panel to panel, bubble to bubble, and eventually, page to page. A good flow is very important, as it keeps the reader reading. Any type of disruption in that flow can knock the reader out of the experience and possibly cause them to stop reading. That's obviously the last thing that we want.

With that flow we need slower times and faster times, this is called pacing, or timing. You don’t want to speed through a moment that needs to be slower, but you don’t want to drag out something that isn’t interesting or...

Cameras aren’t usually something comic and manga creators think about when we are story boarding, doing layouts or pencils. But why is that? In my personal experience, a lot of those who seek mentorship in this way, especially writers, don’t tend to THINK in this way. We see the story in our own heads, typically as a film or animation. We tend to just replicate what and how we see it and call it a day. But how often do we sit down and critically think about what would be -BEST- for the scene we have versus how we see it in our own minds.

Being able to separate your own personal wants from the work and do what would be best for it, even if what you initially...