Comic Book Graphic Design

Comic Art Terms – Flashforward

Ralph Contreras — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:00:43 +0000

Comic Art Terms – Flashforward
A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story. Flashforwards are often used to represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future. They may also reveal significant parts of the story that have not yet occurred, but soon will in greater detail.

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Comic Book Charities – Reading With Pictures

Ralph Contreras — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:00:57 +0000

Comic Book Charities – Reading With Pictures
Reading With Pictures is a nonprofit organization that advocates the use of comics in the classroom to promote literacy and improve educational outcomes for all students. The organization works with academics to cultivate groundbreaking research into the proper role of comics in education. Reading With Pictures collaborate with cartoonists to produce exceptional graphic novel content for scholastic use. Most importantly, they partner with educators to develop a system of best practices for integrating comics into their curriculum. At Reading With Pictures, their goal is to get comics into schools and get schools into comics.

The Reading With Pictures Network is a group of friends, colleagues and supporters from backgrounds including: education, cartooning, writing, parenting and publishing among others. Their network provides access to moderated forum; allowing people to register for events, make contributions, apply for positions, share curriculum and other resources; and allows others to network with like-minded professionals.

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Comic Book Terms – Sun Shadow

Ralph Contreras — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 16:00:59 +0000

Comic Book Terms – Sun Shadow

What is a Sun Shadow? A sun shadow is the Darker, usually linear area at the edge of some comics stored in stacks. Some portion of the cover was not covered by the comic immediately above it, and it suffered prolonged exposure to light. A serious defect, unlike a Dust Shadow, which can sometimes be removed.

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Comic Art Terms – Flashback

Ralph Contreras — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:00:46 +0000

Comic Art Terms – Flashback
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. This helps to conveys relevant information needed for the reader to understand the character and/or scene better. This flashback writing technique is often used to communicate information that can’t really be relayed through other means due to constraints imposed by the story itself.

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Comic Book Charities – Comix Relief

Ralph Contreras — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:00:53 +0000

Comic Book Charities – Comix Relief
Comix Relief provides comic books to troops overseas and on the front lines. Many soldiers do not have the ability to purchase such items and it provides a much needed escape from their worries fighting for our country. Comix Relief is a small home based organization that was started by Chris Tarbassian, who wanted to send some comic books to his friend, an Air Force Flight Nurse. His endeavors have grown and now Chris has committed to sending comics to any soldier that is on the front line. Chris accepts comics and money to spread the cheer of comic books to those in the military all over the world.

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Comic Book Terms – Shared Universe

Ralph Contreras — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:00:37 +0000

Comic Book Terms – Shared Universe

What is a shared universe? The concept of a shared universe is one in which a multitude of different characters co-exist and/or interact. Typically this concept confines itself to one publishing company’s output (although concepts such as the Wold Newton family extend the boundaries considerably), and it is most common in the main superhero universes of DC and Marvel. The benefit of having a shared universe is that characters can make (sales-boosting) guest appearances and allow for team-ups between different characters, as well as allowing the “team” concept (JLA, Avengers, etc.) to exist at all. Stan Lee’s initial Marvel Universe creations in the 1960s best exemplify the “shared universe” concept, whereby characters (and villains) would feature across multiple titles, sometimes in the foreground of the story, sometimes as cameos in passing, but always underlining the interlinkedness of the shared universe.

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Comic Art Terms – Crosshatching

Ralph Contreras — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:00:28 +0000

Comic Art Terms – Crosshatching
Crosshatching is an extension of hatching, which uses is the use of fine parallel lines drawn closely together, to create the illusion of shade or texture in a drawing. Crosshatching is the drawing of two layers of hatching at right-angles to create a mesh-like pattern. Multiple layers in varying directions can be used to create textures. Crosshatching is often used to create tonal effects, by varying the spacing of lines or by adding additional layers of lines. Crosshatching is used in pencil drawing, but is particularly useful with pen and ink drawing, to create the impression of areas of tone, since the pen can only create a solid black line.

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Comic Book Charities – Critical Care Comics

Ralph Contreras — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:00:49 +0000

Comic Book Charities – Critical Care Comics
Critical Care Comics is dedicated to bringing joy to the faces of kids in hospitals. Delivering comic books and helping kids escape the pain, trauma of the situation. If only for only 28 pages. Critical Care Comics is currently in the process of building up a stockpile for distribution, along with raising the necessary funds to get 501c(3).

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Comic Book Terms – Distributor Stripes

Ralph Contreras — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:00:32 +0000

Comic Book Terms – Distributor Stripes

What are Distributor Stripes? A distributor stripe is a color brushed or sprayed on the edges of comic book stacks by the distributor/wholesaler to code them for expedient exchange at the sales racks. Typical colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Distributor Stripes are not a defect.

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Comic Art Terms – Thumbnails

Ralph Contreras — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:00:58 +0000

Comic Art Terms – Thumbnails
When shooting a movie, a director creates a storyboard. A comic book artist must do the same thing for drawing a comic book. Thumbnails are small blocks that represent the pages in a comic book. There is no finished work, but sketches. When following the script, the artist needs to be aware how many words are in each frame. The publisher will not be shy about putting the words on top of the drawing, or yelling at the artist. The thumbnails allow the artist to pay close attention drawing varied frames. They Don’t worry about it looking pretty, but the layout is the biggest concern.

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Comic Book Charities – Wonder Woman Day

Ralph Contreras — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:00:16 +0000

Comic Book Charities – Wonder Woman Day
Wonder Woman Day is a charity event that is held in Portland and Flemington, NJ each year to raise money for domestic violence shelters. To date, the organization has raised over $69,000 for shelters that help battered women. This charity event has been put together by Andy Mangels, a comic writer and curator of the Wonder Woman Museum. The event sells one of a kind pieces of art and comic memorabilia that is contributed by comic book creators all over.

In October 2006-2012, the Wonder Woman Day I-V and Women Of Wonder Day events raised money for Domestic Violence programs in Portland, Oregon, Flemington, New Jersey, and San Antonio, Texas. The five-year combination of auctions of over 1,100 original art pieces, plus collectibles, autograph signings, and photo opportunities garnered spectacular turnouts and five Mayoral Proclamations. 100% of all monies raised during Wonder Woman Day goes to the designated 501(c)3 tax deductible charities.

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Comic Book Terms – Dust Shadow

Ralph Contreras — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:00:06 +0000

Comic Book Terms – Dust Shadow

What is a Dust Shadow? A Dust Shadow is the darker, usually linear area at the edge of some comics stored in stacks. Some portion of the cover was not covered by the comic immediately above it and was exposed to settling dust particles.

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Comic Art Terms – Colorist

Ralph Contreras — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:00:49 +0000

Comic Art Terms – Colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is most often done using digital media, with printing separations produced electronically. Colorists may work directly for comics publishers (either as employees or freelancers), or they may work for coloring studios which offer their services to publishers. American Color, Olyoptics, and Digital Chameleon are companies notable in this field within the comic strip industry. Historically, the colorist (and the inker) would work directly on the original artwork, but modern advances mean that the coloring (and sometimes inking) is now done digitally on a computer, and hence can be refined and changed with comparative ease. The colorist will often make the ultimate decision over palette (color scheme), adding to the tone of the book. “Muted”, “Pastel” and “Technicolor” color schemes can change the whole tone and feel of a comic, and is a key part in comics production, despite being arguably the most overlooked artistic role.

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Comic Book Charities – The Comic Book Project

Ralph Contreras — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:00:06 +0000

Comic Book Charities – The Comic Book Project
The Comic Book Project is a program that offers literacy development through and arts based learning initiative. It operates through schools and after school programs that help children create their own comic books about topics that range from bullying to conservation.

It also helps build community with the children as they have to work together to create their comics. The ones that get finished get their comics printed through an alliance with Dark Horse Comics. The Comic Book Project engages children in a creative process leading to literacy reinforcement, social awareness, and character development, then publishes and distributes their work for other children in the community to use as learning and motivational tools.

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Comic Book Terms – Ashcan

Ralph Contreras — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:00:49 +0000

Comic Book Terms – Ashcan

What is an ashcan comic? A publisher’s in-house facsimile of a proposed new title. Most ashcans have black and white covers stapled to an existing coverless comic on the inside; other ashcans are totally black and white. In modern parlance, it can also refer to promotional or sold comics, often smaller than standard comic size and usually in black and white, released by publishers to advertise the forthcoming arrival of a new title or story.

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