Q&A for How to Create a Comic Character

Sure! You can draw your character in any way or style that you want. It's your character, you make the rules!

Totally. The more realistic stories will benefit from this, as the character will feel more real. How many times do you wear the exact same outfit day to day?

Most stories just have one, but if you want your main villain to have a sidekick, that would be just as interesting.

If names don't come to you naturally, try writing out 50-100 words that relate to your character. Think of ways that those can help create a name. For instance, if you had one character who has plant-related powers, you might name her Flora.

Yes, but make sure you make each very distinct so as not to confuse your readers - it can be difficult keeping track of many different characters! If you have a lot of protagonists, give each of them their spotlight and unique traits. If you have a lot of villains, try to keep them all connected in a certain sense.

No one can draw perfectly. If you want to get better, though, you can practice (and practice, and practice, and practice). You can also take art classes, but you don't have to.

Yes, but make sure you have a good backstory for how they got together. Were they friends who got powers, enemies who came together to defeat an ultimate evil, were they forced to come together by the government? Try to come up with something unique!

Yes, you can! You can do whatever you want! It's your character. Just make sure it's obvious to the reader that it is a robot if that's important to your story.

For a cover you just need an Illustration rather than comics with panels. If you want to make it digitally, you don't need to worry about the paper unless you want to print it. If you are doing it traditionally, then you want to start drawing on hardened paper.

There are multiple different references for this, both in drawing books and online. Separate the face into eighths. The halfway line is for the eyes. The line separating it into fourths (below the eyes) is for the nose. The eighths line below that is where the mouth goes.

You could partner with an artist (there are forums online designed to pair writers and artists), or you could check out tutorials and spend a lot of time practicing.

Think about where the character came from, and maybe look at the history of some existing superheroes to get inspiration. Remember to try to make something unique.

Baby name generators are a good place to start. Also, if you've already created your character, look at their characteristics. That could help, as you can search up the meaning of names to relate to your character.

Sure. If you want, you can also base it off of you but add other qualities.

A character is supposed to be an interpretation of whatever traits you wish to give them, and everyone interprets things differently. You can indeed make a character of yourself if you want, but give it traits you may want to have. The most important thing is to have fun with it, do whatever you want.

Perhaps you can make your comic into a series and introduce the characters gradually.

Yes. Many comic creators base their characters on magical features or attributes. Your comic could end up being a very unique story by using a completely normal character.

There's two things to think about: colors and designs (like shapes or symbols). Usually superhero characters have two or three bright, contrasting colors, but if you're going for a more moody feel you might choose dark colors. Symbols could represent the hero's name (like Superman's S), their powers (Spiderman's spider), or something else (Green Lantern's alien symbol). I'd recommend drawing your character in a blank costume, and then using either tracing paper or a computer art program to make a bunch of copies so you cam try a range of costume designs on them and see what you prefer!

This is one of the most important parts of the comic so you have some work to do. I assume you have characters and a world for the comic. It's time to brainstorm! Take out some paper (or a writing program on your computer or tablet) and start two lists: 1) what would be the worst possible thing to happen to your character? For example, if they respect authority, what if someone they consider a leader betrays them? Etc. 2) what could change the world of your comic? If your setting is a superhero world, maybe something like a new superhero alliance or an alien invasion; if it's a high school, maybe a new anti-bullying club. Make a list with as many wild ideas as possible and then pick!