Q&A for How to Make a Comic Book

You can absolutely make a webcomic! There are plenty of online programs that you can use to make webcomics, like Make Beliefs and Pixton. You can also scan your comic and upload it to an image-sharing website (like Flickr, Tumblr, or Imgur) and share it with people that way. A lot of people only read comics on their computer or phone, so there's nothing wrong with publishing your work that way.

Unless drawing a comic is listed as an available option, you shouldn't use comics to answer any questions on an exam or test. Read your questions carefully. If the question suggests drawing something though, a comic should work just fine.

On a piece of paper, your speech bubbles and text boxes will likely only be 2-3 inches, but you can make them a little bigger or smaller every once in a while. Draw a text box by sketching out a simple rectangle or square. Make it as big as you need to for the script. You can either do this before you draw the art or after you've sketched out the initial image.

Absolutely. The methods detailed in this article are general guidelines for creating any kind of comic, whether it's Manga, comedic, or standard superhero comics. The overall method is the same regardless of your visual style.

Share your idea or script with a few friends and ask them what they think. You can also ask a teacher or more-experienced reader about what they think. People are often their own worst critics, so what you think will be cringy may come off as sweet or powerful to other readers. You can also post your idea on an online forum for writers or creatives and see what strangers think, although the internet usually isn't the most helpful source for constructive feedback!

You can use standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper for a simple comic--there's nothing wrong with that. If you want a more professional look, get some bigger paper to add more details and textures. Anything bigger than 11 x 14 inches works for this. Then, scan your images and scale them down to make them fit in your book's pages.

Blurb is the most commonly-used site for self-publishing comics. You can visit Blurb and check out their pricing on their website. While there are no hard rules on the number of pages for a volume, you're probably going to have a tough time binding more than 200 pages without using a highly-expensive binding process. If you do choose to use an expensive binding service, you can fit roughly 1200 pages into a single hardcover text.

Yes! You can scan your individual pages and pull each page (or each individual drawing) up in PhotoShop, Illustrator, PhotoScape, or some other digital editing program. Then, adjust your colors, change the contrast, or use filters to edit the image. Next, export the individual images and print them to get your digitally-edited work on to the paper.

Yes! It is a fun activity for any age. If you need help though, you can ask an adult to assist you.

Try making comics that interest you. For example, if you like Sci-Fi, make a comic involving robots, spaceships, lasers, etc. Have fun with it.

Colored is way more work than black and white. Some artists only have the cover colored, or the first page or something.It's completely up to you if you want to use color or not. Don't forget: it's your work. Do what ever you want!

Practice! It's fun, and the more you try, the better you'll get. If you don't like drawing, maybe you could come up with the stories and have a friend draw it for you.

No. Because you are only basing the comic on real life, you can always tweak or exaggerate certain events to make them more entertaining or humorous.

It's perfectly fine to color in your characters. You can also leave them black and white in the comic and color them only on the cover page.

Normal pencils work well if you have a good pencil sharpener. The mechanical pencils are great for this purpose. As for pens, ink and brushes are cool if you have them. If not, use fine point pens.

It is preferable to use a pen for inking because pencil can smear. If you do not have access to a pen, use a sharpened 5B pencil.

Do it very carefully. Ink the outlines and, if required, you can ink the shadows.

It depends on what you want your characters to look like. Find a similar character or style to what you want to use, search for images on the computer and try to copy them.

A smoother paper works best; you want the page to grab the pencil, but you don't want the ink to bleed. If the paper is too rough, the pencil will smudge easily, the texture will be patchy, and the inked lines will not be crisp and clean. If you don't have any on hand, check a local art supply store. Regular printer paper works well, too - just don't press too hard with your pencil.

Do it the old fashioned way with paper.

You can be any age to make a comic but it is more likely to be chosen by a publisher when you are older because by then your artwork and your nuanced storytelling abilities are likely to be more mature and market-ready.

This depends on your own interests and area of strength, since there are many different types of comics. It is best you draw what you are familiar with through constant practice. because you'll make fewer mistakes and be more ready to draw.

You can stat off using printer paper and ballpoint pens. You don't have to use the most expensive stuff out there.

Have a comic with explosions and action and the teens will definitely pay attention. Topics of interests are likely to include relationships with other teens, with parents and with authority figures; the future; ways to have courage in the face of fears; novelty, etc.

He can, but it depends on the type of story you are going to write. Many Japanese comic books tend to have powerful characters with a lot of trouble.

Practice. It can take some time to get used to drawing on a small scale. The more you practice, the more natural it will become. Alternatively, consider drawing on a computer or tablet; that way you don't really have to worry about the size, as you can resize it afterward. Or you could even scan your hand drawings onto the computer and resize and arrange them there.

There's no "usual" length of time. It will vary depending on the length of the comic book you're planning and the level of detail you want to include.

Oh boy, is that ever a problem that I had! All I can say is practice, practice, practice--and look at other artists! I always look at manga/chibi/anime artists because that's my style, but you can just look up any style you prefer. For example, you could type 'classic comic male characters'. But really, what I did was look at some pictures, sit at my desk, and spend three hours working on it. It's not gonna happen magically overnight, but it will click eventually!

Hire an artist to draw it out for you in a comic style. Small-time artists will have more affordable fees than professional comic book artists, and some may even be able to help you with publishing.

Simply draw and ink them the way you would normally. To convey a darker skin tone without using actual colour, you could shade them in a darker colour with pencil.