Comics and Graphic NovelsProduction Roles

Aims:• All of you will be able to discuss the

different types of graphic narrative

• Most of you will be able to discuss genres of graphic novels and comics

• Some of you will be able to draw on examples to discuss genres and features of graphic narratives.

Job Roles in Graphic Narrative• Writers Pencillers Inkers Colourists

role of writers• Produce the storyline for the graphic novel or

comic book

• Produce the dialogue, narration and sound effects for the graphic narrative.

• It is the writer’s job to set things up like characters, plot, setting, dialog, and other elements like pacing, action, emotion, and closure.

• The writer is the visionary of the team, creating the basic world, who lives in it, and what they do.

What skills do you need to be a comic book writer?

What skills do you need to be a comic book writer? • Good Vocabulary•Good at spelling and grammar•Good at editing words•Imagination•Good communication skills

Frank Miller• Frank Miller burst onto the comic book scene with his work

on Daredevil, for Marvel comics.

• Frank Miller, along with Alan Moore, is credited with helping the birth of the dark and gritty comic book with the graphic novel.

• The Dark Knight Returns, which he wrote and drew. It has been hailed as one of the greatest Batman tales of all time.

• His gritty, dark, and ultimately realistic portrayal of the Batman character paved the way for comic books that would be geared toward adults with a mature theme.

Role of pencillers/ artist/ illustrator• The pencillers take the script and turn it into

images.

• It is the pencillers job to take words and give them life in a way that makes sense, moves the story along, and with a consistent quality.

• Pencillers tell the story through the emotions of the character, frame/shot choices and the content of the image.

What skills do you think you need to be a penciller?

What skills do you think you need to be a penciller?

• Create What Your Mind Sees • Flexibility to change work quickly• Work to a tight deadline• Team working and collaboration• Consistency in your drawings

Jack Kirby• Jack Kirby is considered to be one of the great comic

book artists.

• His style has been adopted and emulated by countless artists since.

• The speed at which Kirby worked was amazing. During his career, he has drawn around 25,000 pages of comic book art.

• His was a great influence on both Marvel and DC comics.

Role of inkers• The Inker takes an artists pencils and goes over

them in ink, taking the image and turning it into a finished piece of work.

• The dark ink lines makes the art jump off the page as well as helping to add depth and dimension.

• At one time, inking was mostly used to prepare the comic page for printing, as the printer would pick up the light pencils, but today, the inker is a vital part of the comic creation process.

Skills needed to be an inker• Artistic skills• Understanding about light• Ability to work fast• Ability to make improvements and

be flexible

Role of colourists: • Simply put, the colourists job is to apply colour

to a comic book.

• The job is broken up into two parts, flatting and colouring.

• In the flatting process, the basic areas of colour are blocked out so the colourist knows what spaces to colour what.

• In the colouring stage, the colourist applies not only the colour, but adds lighting and shading to help give the three dimensional feel that comic books are known for.

Skills needed to be a colourist• An understanding of

colour• Artistic mindset• Ability to work fast• Technological skills

TASK: Write about production roles (at the end of what you have already written last week)

• Writers• Pencilers• Letterers• Inkers• Colourists

• Use examples: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Bob Kane, Will Eisner, Kev F. Sutherland, etc