At any comic book convention in America, you'll find aspiring cartoonists with dozens of complex plot ideas and armloads of character sketches. Only a small percentage ever move from those ideas and sketches to a finished book.
That and the fact that I knew that nobody was going to publish my work at Dark Horse or DC or anywhere.
If you do approach a comics publisher, make sure it's one that publishes the kind of book you want to make. Don't take your literary fiction to Marvel or DC; don't pitch your Spider-Man epic to Image.
The comic book world is a tough business.
I'm very distanced from the comics industry. I love the comics medium, but I have no time for the industry.
The first time I shopped at a comic shop, it was because I had been published in a comic book. As I became more involved in comics, I started going more and more, usually to support my friends or lady-friendly comics.
The first work I ever did in comics was for Archie Comics, and I didn't do that very long because I did other stuff.
I tried to get into comics initially after I graduated Clemson in 1994. I spent a year trying to get in, and I quit reading books because not getting in made me sad.
Listen, people like Brian Bendis did great things for comic readers, great things for comic readers.
I thought I had a great opportunity when I started doing my comic book in 1972. I thought there was so much territory to work in.
I created lots of characters in high school and college, and the first character I created in pro comics was Liana, Green Lantern of M'Elu, for a backup story in 'Green Lantern #162,' my first professional sale.
As lifelong fans of comic books, Dan Didio and myself, we definitely have our own takes on what make for successful comics and the kind of comics that we want to publish.
I love creator-owned comics. Most of my favorite books these days are creator-owned, from stuff DC publishes, like 'Fables,' to books like 'Saga,' 'Fatale,' 'Hellboy,' and 'Courtney Crumrin.'
Pretty much all I ever expected out of comics was page rate. You could make money doing sketches at conventions, and that could supplement your income. But page rate and some supplement, maybe, was all I ever expected.
