SEQUENTIAL

STORYTELLING

A Companion to the New Masters Academy online course

George
Pratt
 This is a companion guide supplied by instructor George Pratt, to be used along with the NMA course
Comics 1: Intro to Sequential Art - https://www.nma.art/courses/comics-1-intro-to-sequential-art/
It is for the sole, private, educational use of the New Masters Academy (nma.art) subscriber who
downloaded it. It is not to be shown or distributed. Copyrights may apply. For infringements contact
[email protected]

Week 5:
Photojournalist List - p. 370

Week 6:
Elements of the Page - p.4
Terminology - p.49
Splash Page - p.62

Week 7:
Double Page Spread - p. 73
Camera Angles - p. 88
Gesture - p. 107
Tangents - p. 113

Week 8:
Layouts/Breakdowns - p. 123

Week 9:
Panel Arrangements - p. 32
Lettering, Word Balloons, and Sound Effects - p. 280
22 Panels That Don't Suck - p. 34

Week 10:
Penciling - p. 258
Mark Making - p. 185

Week 12:
Covers - p. 282
Styles - p. 305
 Contents
INTRODUCTION TO SEQUENTIAL STORYTELLING
Introduction to Sequential Storytelling 3 Bill Sienkiewicz 347 Chester Brown 567 Baru 654
Elements of a Page 4 Choosing The Moment 348 P. Craig Russell 568 Cyril Pedrosa 655
Snow Globe 6 Images And Our Minds 357 Robert Crumb 569 Hermann Huppen 656
Rotating the Scene 7 Mark Making 366 Spain Rodrigues 569 Nicolas DeCrecy 658
Independent Lighting 8 Various Tones 368 Gilbert Shelton 570 Danijel Zezelj 659
Push and Pull 9
Panel Arrangement 12
Scale of Seven Tones 368 Frank Stack 570 Franco Matticchio 660 Sequential art is an amazing storytelling art form. This powerful blend of words and pictures separates it
Crosshatched Tones 369 Greg Irons 571 Teddy Kristiansen 662
Grids 13 Scale of Tones 369 Richard Corben 571 Miguelanxo Prado 664 from other forms of literature (novels, children’s books) as well as cinema. When words and pictures work
Diagonal Panels 28 Gradated Tones 370 Daniel Clowes 572
Vertical Panels 30 Shape and Rhythm 371 Cyril Pedrosa 573
Darwyn Cooke 665
Craig Thompson 666
together in an oft-times perfect marriage, great things can happen.
Horizontal Panels 40
Panel-In-Panel 46
Examples of Mark Making 373
Franklin Booth 373
James Bama 575 Jim Terry 668 Sequential art can tackle any genre, fact or fiction. It handles flights of fantasy, to science fiction, to how-
Javier Olivares 576 Manu Larcenet 669
One Shot Sliced Into Several Panels 51 George Pratt 374 Marjane Satrapi 576 Man Arenas 670 to manuals, to Richard Feynman lectures, to personal memoirs with incredible grace, to unusual subtlety, to
Zoom Effect (Dolly Shot) 56 Jeff Jones 392 Samuel Hiti 576 Carlos Nine 671
No Borders 58 Arturo Castillo 393 Carlos Santos 576 Francois Boucq 673
horror, to raw frenetic energy, to tragedy, to uncommon strength. And unlike cinema it is not a passive form
Clarity in Panel Arrangement 60
Wally Wood’s 22 Panels That
Alex Toth 394
Leo Duranona 395
Jordan Crane 577
S. A. Harkham 577
Berni Krigstein 674 of entertainment. The reader must bring something to the table and interpret what they’re actively reading,
Paul Gulacy 675
Always Work 65
Silhouette 66
Al Williamson 396 Hugo Pratt 578 Al Williamson 676 decoding the visual and textual narrative unfolding before them.
Angelo Torres 397 Joe Kubert 579 Angelo Torres 677
Positive and Negative 84 Frank Miller 398 Michael Kaluta 580 Dino Battaglia 678 The art of sequential storytelling can range from the simplest of line art, like stick figures, to fully
Terminology 94 Joseph Clement Coll 401 Chris Ware 581
Title Page 94 Russ Heath 402 Jack Kirby 582
Jeff Jones 680
Attilio Michelluzzi 684
nuanced and detailed drawings, to subtle poetic watercolors, pastels or oils. Each medium bringing to the
Splash Page 120
Double-Page Spread 142
George Herriman 404
Lorenzo Mattotti 406
Jim Steranko 583 Sergio Toppi 685 narrative art form a unique visual and emotional perspective to every story told.
Frank Frazetta 584 Hernandez Palacios 686
Camera Angles 172 Attilio Michelluzzi 409 Man Arenas 585 Bill Sienkiewicz 687 I believe every person has a story to tell. One needn’t be a master artist to write and draw a compelling
Establishing Shot 172 Moebius 410 Jack Jackson 585 Mort Drucker 692
Extreme Long Shot 182 Frank Godwin 415 Peter Bagge 585 Alberto & Enrique Breccia 694
story. What really matters is the tale itself. And there are times when elaborate artwork actually gets in the
Long Shot 183
Medium Long Shot 183
Hal Foster 416
Alex Raymond 418
Danijel Zezelj 585
Craig Thompson 586
Russ Heath 695 way of telling the most effective story. So, anything goes. It helps, though, to understand how sequential
Arturo Castillo 696
Medium Shot 184
Medium Close Up 184
Noel Sickles 424 Scott Morse 586 Joe Kubert 698 storytelling, or comics, works. Knowing the ins and outs of visual narrative that are specific to comics makes
Jeff Smith 425 Serge Clerc 586 John Paul Leon 699
Close Up 185 George Evans 426 Loisel 587 George Pratt 700 creating one a more satisfying experience.
Big Close Up 185 Frank King 426 Dave McKean 587
Extreme Close Up 185 Milton Caniff 428 Bill Sienkiewicz 587
Frank Thorne 702
John Severin 703
If you want to be a good sequential/comics storyteller read a lot of really good comics. It doesn’t hurt to
Detail 186
Bird’s Eye View 188
Winsor McCay 430
Carl Barks 433
Lorenzo Mattotti 587 Neal Adams 704 watch a lot of movies also. But you need to be more than just a reader or a watcher, you have to dissect what
Joe Matt 588 Genevieve Elverum 705
Worm’s Eye View 206 Harold Gray 438 Philippe Dupuy 588 Jim Steranko 706 you’re reading and watching to understand the mechanics behind the choices the artists/writers/directors are
Gesture 210 Michael Kaluta 439 Milton Caniff 588 Joe Kubert 708
Tangents 223 Barry Windsor-Smith 458 Peter Kuper 588 Alberto Breccia 710
making.
Hidden Edge 223
Split Apex 223
Dino Battaglia 459
Jorge Zaffino 460
Paul Gulacy 589
Hergé 590
Benjamin Flao 711 I hope this reference companion adds to your understanding and enjoyment of the online course.
Leo Duranona 712
Stolen Edge 223 Bernie Wrightson 466 Dan Burr 591 Barry Windsor-Smith 713
Skimmed Edge 223 Grouping, Balance, and Overlap 486 Gahan Wilson 592 Lorenzo Mattotti 714
Types of Tangents 224 Visual Focus 487 George Pratt 593 Attilio Micheluzzi 716 George Pratt
Corner Tangent 224 Sequences 492 Styles 606 Joe Matt 717
Parallel Tangent 224 1. Harvey Kurtzman 492 Milton Caniff 606 Mike Mignola 718
Long-Line Tangent 225 2. Russ Heath 494 Benjamin Flao 607 Russ Heath 722
Directional Tangent 225 Darwyn Cooke 497 Brant Parker and Johnny Hart 608 Dino Battaglia 724
Kiss or Bump-Up Tangent 226 3. Hermann Huppen 498 Tom K. Ryan 610 Bernie Wrightson 726
Panel-To-Panel Tangent 228 4. Hermann Huppen 502 Charles Shulz 610 Greg Irons 727
Fake Panel Tangent 229 5. Hermann Huppen 504 Winsor McCay 614 Jose Ortiz 728
Don’t Cut Heads Off! 230 Manu Larcenet 507 George McManus 617 Gene Colan 729
Dean Cornwell 232 Berni Krigstein 508 Frank King 618 Jeff Jones 730
Gary Kelley 238 Dave McKean 510 Hal Foster 619 Jack Kirby 731
Eduard Thöny 240 Penciling 512 Hergé 620 Joe Kubert 732
Layouts/Breakdowns 242 George Pratt 513 Robert Crumb 622 Alex Nino 733
My Layouts Through The Years 244 Gene Colan 516 Gilbert Shelton 625 Neal Adams 734
Mike Mignola 247 Neal Adams 518 Serge Clerc 627 Jose Bea 735
Neal Adams 248 Jim Lee 521 Hugo Pratt 628 Assignments 736
Alberto Breccia 249 Jack Kirby 522 Victor Moscoso 630 Photojournalist Comic 736
Joe Kubert 255 Alex Toth 533 Rick Griffin 631 List of Photographers 737
Gil Kane 285 Gil Kane 538 Art Spiegelman 632 The Three-Panel Story 752
Dino Battaglia 292 Hergé 540 Peter Bagge 634 The Conversation 752
Francis Vallejo 302 Yves Chaland 541 Jeffrey Brown 635 Silent Story The Conversation 752
Hermann Huppen 304 Craig Russell 547 Jordan Crane 636 Movie Script Comic 752
Sam Glanzman 308 Loisel 551 S A Harkham 637 Facial Expressions 752
Ted McKeever 310 David Finch 552 Sam Hiti 638 Emotional Gesture and POV 752 NOTE: This is a supplemental guide to accompany the Intro to Sequential Art course at
John Buscema 317 Facial Expressions 554 Chester Brown 639
Jeff Jones 318 Alberto Breccia 554 Marjane Satrapi 640 Portfolio 781
the New Masters Academy (https://www.nma.art). It does not contain in written form the
Harvey Kurtzman 320
Hergé 324
Sergio Toppi 555 Wren McDonald 641 List of Artists to Study 785 complete information delivered in the online videos and demos and is not intended as a complete
Lettering, Word Balloons and Philippe Dupuy 642
Carl Barks 332 Sound Effects 556 Matt Boersma 643 informational manual on sequential storytelling. You need to watch the online course to get the
Michael Kaluta 334 Covers 561 Gipi 644
Dave Gibbons 336 George Pratt Old School Color Guide 561 Cyril Pedrosa 646 complete body of information. This serves only as visual reference/companion to much of what is
Loisel 338
Moebius 342
Marguerite Abouet 562
Bernie Wrightson 563
Javier Olivares 647
Peter Kuper 651
delivered in the course.
Jorgé Zaffino 344 Vaugh Bode 564 Dan Clowes 652
Ralph Meyer 346 Barry Windsor-Smith 566 Chris Ware 653

All art © Copyright their respective owners. Cover: Belleau Wood © Copyright 2000 George Pratt
 In Western world we read left to right. Our
ELEMENTS OF A PAGE eye starts at the upper left and scans across the top
tier to the third panel, then to the second tier first
panel (panel four) to the third panel (panel six), to
the third tier first panel (panel 7) to the last panel
(panel 9).

A comic or story usually begins on a right

hand page. The following pages are seen as
spreads. It helps to design for spreads so that you
control whatever reveals are there for the reader.

2-3

3-4
 SNOW GLOBE
I usually introduce the Snow Globe idea after the first round of layouts/breakdowns. I do this because I
want to see where each student is individually before being hit with too much information, to see what their
natural proclivities are. As I mentioned, that first round is vomit on paper time. Just get it out onto paper.
Once there we can see how effective our storytelling is. Some things might be just fine. It does happen,
YOU CAN ROTATE YOUR SCENE IN ANY DIRECTION: LEFT,
especially the more you practice laying out stories. But much will need rethinking. RIGHT, UP DOWN, ALL AROUND.
So the snow globe idea is just what it is. We all know what a snow globe is. That glass ball filled with
water and flakes of snow that we can pick up and shake and watch the snowfall over New York, or what BIRD’S EYE VIEW
have you. It’s a useful visual device for what we’re doing here. The funny thing is I use a cube instead of
a globe because it shows volume and depth easier without having to get into adding airbrush effects on a
globe, which would look like a simple circle without depth otherwise. But I think you get the idea.
Think of each panel in your story as a 3-dimensional space. You can pick up the scene and rotate it any
way you wish on the x and y axes. You can get closer or farther away from the scene. You can move your
camera high (bird’s eye view) or low (worm’s eye view).
If you hold a light on the scene, that too can be manipulated any way you wish independently of the
scene. Again, high or low, forwards or backwards. Totally up to you.
Thinking in this way you start to have a greater appreciation for the placement of objects in your space.
The operative word here is space.

WORM’S EYE VIEW

 It’s not enough to just rotate around the scene, you
also want to push and pull as well.

MOVE YOUR LIGHT INDEPENDENTLY

How close we are to the action…

…or how far we are from the action.

 We can create
interesting
compositions…

In a sequential narrative we can

suggest movement using a single
static image…

…or chop up
one image
to simulate
movement.

…just by cropping.
 NINE-PANEL GRID

PANEL ARRANGEMENT
In arranging panels you are limited only by your own imagination. The variations are endless. Yet a good
place to begin is by utilizing basic grids.
I’m assuming a fairly normal vertical page. However, other formats can dictate what grids are possible.
Maybe your format is square, or horizontal. These bring with them exciting possibilities, and their own
limitations.
On the next two pages I play with a six-panel grid and a nine-panel grid. As you can see by merely
combining two or three panels together you can create a surprising number of variations. A six-panel grid
can easily become a three-panel horizontal grid, or a two-panel vertical grid.
There are also four-panel grids, twelve-panel grids, etc.
Grids are useful because organization and stability is built into them. Some European comics stick with a
SIX-PANEL GRID nine- or twelve-panel grid without combining panels. This puts added importance on the content of each
panel since the shape of the panel never changes, similar to a movie, whose aspect ratio never changes. One
is forced to become inventive due to the limitation of the aspect ratio.
Limitations should not be viewed as problematic. In fact they push innovation. The less you have to work
with the more you invent ways to use what little you have.

Robert Crumb
 Jeff Jones used a nine-panel grid on most of his Idyl strips for National Lampoon, and a six-panel grid for
I’m Age for Heavy Metal Magazine. By connecting panels Jeff was able to vary the scale and scope of the art
within the grid.

Jeff Jones Jeff Jones

Jeff Jones Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones Jeff Jones
Hugo Pratt Hugo Pratt
 Baru
Joe Kubert
 Of course diagonal panels can also be effective as evidenced by this page of Neal Adams.
Again, you are only limited by your own imagination.

Joe Matt Neal Adams

VERTICAL PANELS

Enrique Breccia Jeff Jones

Alex Nino Alex Nino
Alex Nino Craig Russell
Man Arenas Dino Battaglia
Joe Kubert George Herriman
 HORIZONTAL PANELS
Horizontal panels can help to slow the narrative down. Depending on how thin they are sliced, of course, they can also be
used to speed a narrative up. But reading left to right takes us longer than reading up and down.

I love Hugo Pratt’s horizontal panel below as he plays with positive and negative shapes to lead us into his narrative. The use
of the shadow play on the wall of the hut is wonderful.

Hugo Pratt George Pratt

 Hermann Huppen

Hernandez Palacios

Alex Toth Dino Battaglia

Francois Boucq Alberto and Enrique Breccia
 PANEL-IN-PANEL
Panel-in-panel is a nice graphic choice for giving the feeling of multiple things happening in an instant or over a short amount
of time. I like floating panels inside of larger panels with a sort of epic quality, as it makes the larger panel take up more time.

Russ Heath Joe Kubert

George Pratt George Pratt
 ONE SHOT SLICED INTO SEVERAL PANELS

George Pratt Bernie Wrightson

Russ Heath Russ Heath
Frank King Frank King
ZOOM EFFECT (DOLLY SHOT)
The effect of zooming in to a scene using multiple panels, each getting progressively closer to the subject.

Jeff Jones Russ Heath

 NO BORDERS
Panels with no borders tend to create a sense of greater space. They can also be used to highlight a
character or object as in these two cases.

Jeff Jones Genevieve Elverum

 CLARITY IN PANEL ARRANGEMENT
This page and those following are easily read. By following the stacking or overlap of the
panels we can easily see the order they should be read.
Panel arrangement can be tricky and sometimes confusing to a reader. Make sure your panel arrangements
are clear and easily read. If a reader has to guess where to go you’ve effectively thrown them out of the story.
The page below is confusing. Do we read left then down, or down and left, etc?
Two examples of panel within panel.
 SILHOUETTE
The power of silhouette cannot be overstated. Besides being incredibly graphic it allows readers to
fill in the information for themselves, reinforcing their own perceptions of scene, character, etc.

Milton Caniff Milton Caniff

Alex Toth Carmine Infantino and Alex Toth
Carmine Infantino and Alex Toth Carmine Infantino and Alex Toth
Alex Toth Russ Heath
Russ Heath Russ Heath
 Russ Heath

Alex Raymond Frank King

Hermann Huppen Arturo Castillo
 Manu Larcenet

Manu Larcenet Jeff Jones

 POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE
While the use of positive and negative space is an integral part of most design, when used in a stark
graphical way it creates iconic imagery, lending a unique power to the narrative while sublimating
traditional realistic tropes.

Frank Miller Frank Miller

Jeff Jones Jeff Jones
Manu Larcenet
JP Leon
Danijel Zezelj
 TERMINOLOGY
Become familiar with the terminology in comics. Camera angles borrow heavily from cinema, while
balloons, visual sound effects and captions and panel arrangements are unique to the art form.

TITLE PAGE

An effective title page should draw your reader in to your story.

There are myriad ways to incorporate type into your story and a good knowledge of type is a good tool
in your tool belt. Even if you are not the letterer or the designer it gives you a solid footing to discuss with
confidence how you would like to see your work incorporated with type.
Not all story titles appear on the first page of a comic, some showing up on the first double-page spread,
or later, some not until the end of the story. Where you choose to place yours is totally up to you. But
historically the first page is where a title would appear.
Will Eisner’s solutions for incorporating The Spirit logo into his stories an amazing use of type as a
functional element to his pages. Many found inspiration in Eisner’s use of type in this way. I’ve included Gil
Kane’s His Name Is Savage and Joe Kurbert’s Firehair as examples of this.
Berni Krigstein’s title page for “Monotony” from Crime SuspenStories #22 originally published April-May
1954 is less about the type than about the six-panel grid illustrating the mundane routine of the character
and his prim and ordered existence.
Jeff Jones’s hand drawn type is always interesting to me and “Cold Cuts” has always been a favorite
of mine. Jeff was a master of the brush as well as the pen. This piece, and the complete story, ranks among
the greatest brush stories ever, in my opinion. “Death” was done in pen and is from his collection of short
sequential work Spasm.
Alex Nino’s type was always interesting to my eyes. I love his playful type design which, like his drawing
style, is uniquely his own.
Though not a title page, Frank Miller’s use of type-as-panel is wonderfully effective in his Sin City series.
Robert Crumb’s use of hand drawn versions of typefaces enhances his pages in so many ways.
Italian artist Dino Battaglia was an exceptional designer and played with interesting ways of composing
his pages, losing panel borders and gutters and incorporating textures and type into his works.

Will Eisner
Will Eisner Will Eisner
Will Eisner Will Eisner
Will Eisner Will Eisner
Will Eisner Will Eisner
Gil Kane Joe Kubert
Berni Krigstein Jeff Jones
 Alex Nino
Jeff Jones
Alex Nino
Frank Miller
Chris Ware

Robert Crumb
Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia
Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia
 In some forms of cartooning backgrounds and objects are objectified (rendered up to be specific)
while characters remain more simplified to be more iconographic. This allows readers to project their
own vision of the character onto the “mannequin”.

Dino Battaglia
SPLASH PAGE

A splash page refers to a full page image which can be a full bleed as well. A full bleed means the art extends to all the edges
of the page. A splash page should normally be used for effect, to call attention to some momentous or pivotal event in the story.
It does not mean it has to be action packed. In fact it can be an incredibly subdued scene, one that calls attention to a reflective
moment for a character. But of course, it could be a bold action scene as well.
When you have a set number of pages panel real estate is limited. Make it count. A page can hold upwards of twelve panels.
That’s a lot of storytelling that could be put to great use. Giving up that kind of potential for one large image could be risky, so
choose your moment carefully.
Dino Battaglia
Frank Miller
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Jose Ortiz Jose Ortiz
Jose Ortiz Greg Irons
Russ Heath Russ Heath
Berni Krigstein Jose Bea
Enrique Breccia George Pratt
George Pratt George Pratt
George Pratt George Pratt
George Pratt
DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD

A double-page spread refers to an image that stretches across two pages, which can be a full bleed as well. A full bleed means
the art extends to all the edges of the page. A double-page spread, like a splash page, can be used to call attention to some momen-
tous or pivotal event in the story. It does not mean it has to be action packed. In fact it can be an incredibly subdued scene, one
that calls attention to a reflective moment for a character. But of course, it could be a bold action scene as well.
When you have a set number of pages panel real estate is limited. Make it count. A page can hold upwards of twelve panels.
That’s a lot of storytelling that could be put to great use. Giving up that kind of potential for one large image could be risky, so
choose your moment carefully.

Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Javier Olivares
Benjamin Flao
Russ Heath
Darwyn Cooke
Hugo Pratt
George Pratt
George Pratt
George Pratt
George Pratt
George Pratt
George Pratt
George Pratt
George Pratt
 CAMERA ANGLES
ESTABLISHING SHOT

As the name suggests, the Establishing Shot tells the reader where the action is taking place, it
establishes context for the scene showing the relationship between the characters and objects. The beauty of
an establishing shot is that it’s a single panel of instantly downloadable content/information that the reader
will carry in their mind, relieving the artist from having to continually refer to the information over and over
again.
In Wolverine: Netsuke my four-issue mini-series for Marvel I open the story with the page below. The story
takes place in Japan at the ancestral home of Mariko. Aside from ancient feudal Japan this home is where
the entire story takes place. The reader will carry this image in their heads as they go forward.

George Pratt Alex Toth

 Jacques Tardi

Bernie Wrightson

Ivor Milazzo
Benjamin Flao Benjamin Flao
 Baru

Hermann Huppen Jordan Crane

Berni Krigsterin Harvey Kurtzman
 EXTREME LONG SHOT LONG SHOT

MEDIUM LONG SHOT

Top: Jeff Jones Top: Jeff Jones

Middle two panels: Manu Larcenet Middle & Bottom: George Pratt
Bottom: Sergio Toppi
 MEDIUM SHOT
CLOSE UP

BIG CLOSE UP

MEDIUM CLOSE UP

EXTREME CLOSE UP

George Pratt George Pratt

DETAIL

Jeff Jones
BIRD’S EYE VIEW
As the name suggests we view the world from the viewpoint of a bird, looking down on the scene.

George Pratt George Pratt

Joe Kubert Hermann Huppen
Will Eisner

Frank Miller
Frank Miller
 Alex Toth

Bernie Wrightson

Craig Russell
Alex Toth
Ivor Milazzo
Milton Caniff
Milton Caniff Jeff Jones
 Noel Sickles

Dino Battaglia

Manu Larcenet
Alex Raymond Russ Heath
JP Leon
WORM’S EYE VIEW

As the name suggests we view the world from the viewpoint of a worm, close to the ground looking up. This angle can suggest
a sense of powerlessness, submission or dominance as everything towers above us. It’s also earthy and brings us down from an
exalted view.

Left: Berni Krigstein

Russ Heath Alberto Breccia

Joe Kubert
 Milton Caniff

Attilio Micheluzzi George Pratt

 GESTURE

Gesture conveys incredible amounts of emotional and physical information about our characters and the scenes they are
involved in. Many times you will not have the benefit of a face to carry the emotion of a scene. Too, you may not even have words
to aid in fleshing out the emotional qualities of the scene. Yet the body, if posed correctly and with sensitivity, can describe not
only action, but the subtle nuances of a character’s inner psyche.

Alex Nino

Jose Ortiz Alberto Breccia

 Joe Kubert

Mort Drucker

Russ Heath
 Jose Ortiz

Alex Raymond
 Jack Davis

Bill Sienkiewicz Peter Bagge

Alex Toth Frank Godwin
Jeff Jones Jeff Jones
 TANGENTS

What are tangents? Are they inherently good or bad? How do we avoid them.
Tangents are two shapes that touch but do not overlap.
Not all tangents are bad, note the Andrew Wyeth below. Yet it’s prudent to understand them and to be
able to spot them as you work for clarity in your work.

Young Bull by Andrew Wyeth

HIDDEN EDGE SPLIT APEX STOLEN EDGE SKIMMED EDGE

 LONG-LINE TANGENT
The long line is when a line from one object runs directly into the line of another
This is the tangent that everybody knows. The one that’s easiest to spot, easiest to avoid. For a lot
TYPES OF TANGENTS: of folks, this is the only thing meant when one refers to a “tangent.”
Even in the work of the very best comic artists, a vigilant eye can find the occasional tangent. Even
Tangents affect our perceptions of objects and can lead to confusion for the viewer: Size relationships. when a cartoonist is constantly on the lookout, a tangent can slip through. But, as each of strive to
Spatial relationships. Depth of field. better ourselves and the quality of our work and our medium.
Below are some types of tangents with visual examples.

CORNER TANGENT
The corner tangent is when two lines in an object meet in a way intended by the artist, but another
(accidental) line runs directly into the place where they meet.

DIRECTIONAL TANGENT

PARALLEL TANGENT
The parallel tangent is when the containing lines of two objects run alongside each other. This
causes one of two negative outcomes. Either one object becomes “lost,” as the other overpowers it
(figure 1), or one object feels strangely contained by another (figure 2).
This can be avoided by ensuring that any object that COULD run alongside another is angled at
least 45 degrees from the first.
 In the first example I’ve simply made the figure smaller, lowered it, and moved it more forward. I’ve also
KISS OR BUMP-UP TANGENT moved the figure more forward on the mat also. In the second I’ve enlarged the figure. In both I’m implying
In the example below the frame on the wall just kisses the edge of the back. And in the corner of the that the head is actually resting against the wall.
room the line where the two walls meet just kisses the edge of the head. I guess I could have made the mat
run along the line of the back wall where it meets the floor to drive this particular tangent home even further.
This type of tangent gives the object the impression of being contained or blocked by the offending lines.
It also distorts our interpretation of the space.
Below and on the next page are two examples of how I can correct these particular tangents.

For fun I’ve added tones to play more with a light source and push the head against the wall.
 PANEL TO PANEL TANGENT
This is one I am hyper aware of, especially if I’m working with thin gutters or using a single line between
FAKE PANEL TANGENT
panels for a gutter.
Comics generally have panel borders, so readers are used to having images contained by straight lines.
Some artists don’t allow gutters between their borders. Though I believe that, as a rule, this can make it
harder for new comics readers to follow the story (and new readers are always important), it’s done with
enough regularity that we must expect the audience to feel comfortable with gutterless pages.
What does this mean? It means that we can’t draw a straight line in any panel, either vertical or
horizontal, without having some object overlap it. If we do, readers may think that it is a panel border,
incorrectly breaking one moment into two.
Don’t cut heads off at the neck!
 DEAN CORNWELL
While Dean Cornwell did not do sequential art his masterful compositions make for great study.
Cornwell pushed tangents to work for him rather than against him.
 Gary Kelley
Gary Kelley is one of, if not the, most awarded illustrators in history. He recently has put out his first
graphic novel, Moon of the Snow-Blind which tells the Abby Gardner version of the Spirit Lake Massacre .
Gary makes great use of tangents in a lot of his work.
 Eduard Thöny
Eduard Thöny (9 February 1866 - 26 July 1950) was a German caricaturist and illustrator known for
his work for the journal Simplicissimus, to which he was invited to contribute by Albert Langen. Born in
Brixen, he studied at the arts academy in Munich. His work for Simplicissimus included more than 2,500
pages of cartoons used to lampoon German society and the military. Thöny’s drawings would appear in the
journal until it ceased publication in 1944.
Thöny employed tangents in many of is illustrations to great effect.
 paper while doing layouts. After reading through the script I basically go through with a colored pencil and
place where I believe page breaks are.
NOTE: I write my own scripts and do not as a rule list page breaks or panels. Since I’m writing for
myself I don’t need that kind of direction. If a scene needs that I’ll put it down, but normally I just write a
LAYOUTS/BREAKDOWNS straight through scene by scene narrative with action and dialogue and simple notes on setting. Most comic
scripts are written in a movie script format with scene direction, page by page breaks and the number of
panels on each page. Some writers will even furnish simple layouts for the artist as well. I personally have
not worked from such a script.
The process of creating layouts or breakdowns is where the true hard work of sequential storytelling
When I worked on the short story “Run” with Paul Jenkins for DC Comics Weird War Tales he asked me
occurs. Along with pacing the various scenes, this is where you make all the decisions about the who, what,
how I wanted the script. I said I’d rather have him write a straight narrative, sort of like a short story and
when, where of the story. It’s the nuts and bolts of visual narrative.
that I would pace the whole thing, breaking it into pages and panels. He was fine with that and so that’s how
Layouts are NOT about drawing. They are about composition, pacing, gesture, camera angles and the
we approached it.
placement of balloons and captions. You want to work as efficiently as possible and not spend valuable time
My layouts have changed throughout the years. When I began I was putting a lot of detail in them
fleshing out details within the panels until you have explored the possibilities and committed to the most
and found myself worn out before I ever even started finishes. I’ve tried various sizes with which to do my
effective choices in panel arrangements, camera angles, gestures, etc. Then, if you feel the need to invest
layouts. For Enemy Ace: War Idyll I worked on 8.5 x 11 inch sheets with a few oddball small layouts along
more time in the fleshing out of details, then by all means go for it.
the way. This was to be my standard way of working until my Batman: Harvest Breed graphic novel. I wanted
Preserving your energy for the finals is a good rule of thumb.
to find a way to force me to simplify so that I expended less energy in the layout stage. I created a template
I’ve been fortunate in my career to be able to approach my layouts however I want. I’ve only had one
in Quark, a page layout program, at the time and set up guides for six double-page spreads or facing pages
instance where the editor, Axel Alonso, wanted to see my layouts for approval and that was on my Weird
printed on tan paper (I’ve included the first page of layouts on the next page at actual size). I made them
War Tales job for Vertigo. Axel also wanted to see finished pencils, but I was able to convince him to forego
facing pages so that I could design the spreads to work together. Using just a fine line Sharpie and a red and
that since I was inking the story myself and he’s approved the layouts. This was for sequential narrative. My
green colored pencil for simple warm and cool tones I drew in these little boxes. There was no way to get
layouts for covers definitely go through an approval process. However, since people know my work well
tight in these boxes. It forced me to be more graphic and to play with the idea of simple light and shadow.
enough my sketches have been very loose, but clear enough stating the idea and composition. Generally
I would go through many variations of each of these until I felt that each page felt solid, that I was happy
editors want to see the layouts and pencils for approval. So, depending on the editor’s sensibilities you may
with the panel arrangements and the content of each panel. Then I would redraw them, simply still, onto a
or may not have to produce fairly tight roughs so there’s no guesswork for the editor.
clean page for clarity. This worked extremely well for me on that book.
I personally try to keep my layouts as simple as possible. I keep my figures shape oriented, purely
When I moved on to Wolverine: Netsuke I changed my take on layouts. I did create a template for my
gestural. Figures should be easily read. Thinking in terms of silhouette shows you if something isn’t working,
layouts which included the logo that I had come up with for the series, which I put at the bottom of each
isn’t self-descriptive enough to read as what it is. Sometimes I will throw in simple lighting to lock down a
page. I did two templates. One in portrait mode for a single page on 8.5 x 11 inch bright white copier paper,
particular idea of how I believe the light should work. I think of everything in the panels as chess pieces that
and another in landscape mode for two facing pages. For double-page spreads I just used a full sheet of the
I’m moving around on a chess board, looking for the best way to delineate a scene with as much clarity as
copier paper in landscape mode. For these layouts I used a single regular pencil or a red colored pencil. I
possible. Questions I constantly ask myself as I work on layouts/breakdowns: Am I effectively showing what I
began to prefer the colored pencil, for though it could be sharpened it became blunt fairly quickly and forced
need to show? Will the reader get lost in my narrative? If so, why? What can I do to guarantee that the reader will follow my
me to work with a somewhat bold line, which forced simplification. These layouts were big on gesture and
visual cues without seeing the wizard behind the curtain?
composition, period. I did work balloon placements in them as well.
For the first run-through I tell my students to basically vomit on paper. Just get it down in a tangible
One very important thing: Make sure your layout is the correct format for the work you’re doing. It
form. It HAS to hit paper. Once down it’s real. Until then it’s just vapor floating around in your head. It’s
happens all the time with my students that they’ll show up with sketches/layouts that are squares when
nothing. This initial hit is invariably a very pedestrian spilling of the guts.
they’re supposed to be designing for a vertical page. If you do this then the compositions you’re working up
And that’s okay.
won’t actually fit the format.
We all, every single one of us on the planet, see the world in the first person, feet on the ground,
pedestrian viewpoint. Other than standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, or looking out of a window
seat on an airplane, we see the world from atop two legs. It’s why we love to go to see movies, read graphic
novels, picture books, and travel photography. Yes, we go to be entertained, enticed by the lure of a
good story. Where these art forms truly excel is showing us the world in ways we cannot normally see or
experience it. They take us on a visual joy ride of exquisite perspectives. We fly, we crawl, we travel below
the sea, through outer space, the depths of hell, and the light of heaven. We see the microcosm of our world,
and the epic panoramic sweep of history. And when these art forms play with slicing up time, we get yet
another whole take on time that we cannot otherwise be privy to.
So that first deep dive is simple source material to then be massaged into a greater whole.
I usually begin with a package of copier paper. Nice bright white paper. I will go through LOTS of this
 In Batman: Harvest Breed I forced myself to work much, much smaller than ever before. I wanted a more graphic approach

MY LAYOUTS THROUGH THE YEARS

to the story (though that was later lost in translation due to various constraints that were put on me editorially) and the smaller
layouts really were “thumbnails” that forced me to be more design oriented in my approach.
On this spread are samples from some of my layouts over the years which illustrate the diversity of my layouts and how With Wolverine: Netsuke I worked larger, simply working with shapes and gestures.
they’ve changed with each project. I wish this illustrated how I grew to be ever more simple in my approach to layout, yet I’ve “Debt” and “Bloodlines” were back-to-back projects and so the direction is similar, though one is done with charcoal pencil
found instead that each project insinuates itself on me and demands a different approach than the projects that came before. All of and the other a Prismacolor pencil. Both chosen because they become blunt fairly quickly forcing some simplification in what I’m
the layouts are on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. putting down.
I began Enemy Ace: War Idyll with fairly tight layouts, by the end I was working much more simply. “The Territorial”, “The As you can see, nothing too elaborate as far as panel arrangement, though you’re only seeing one page of each these stories
Call”, and “Cripple” were all roughly around the same time and I was really thinking not only of composition, flow, etc. but which did have more adventurous panel arrangements in them.
lighting as well. Light plays an important part in all of my work, but in these stories I was pushing it more than usual. What you’re not seeing are the pages and pages and pages of rough work that led to these final layouts. There’s a lot of mixing
and matching going on behind the scenes, as well as variations in gestures, camera angles, etc. It’s a constant paring down of
panels and content. I will add a spread that shows a complete set of breakdowns so that you can see everything that went into the
final layouts.

ENEMY ACE: WAR IDYLL “THE TERRITORIAL”

1987 1990

“THE YOUNG MAN AND THE “RUN” BATMAN: HARVEST BREED

SKULL” 1997 1998
1996

“THE CALL” “CRIPPLE” SEE YOU IN HELL, BLIND BOY!

1992 1992 1995

For See You In Hell, Blind Boy! I immersed myself much more fully into fleshing out some of the pages, taking them further than
any other layouts before or since, almost to the point of semi-finishes, though more cartoony than I usually work. I was seeing the
finished work as a two-color job and so worked hard at figuring out how those panels would look. Atmosphere and mood were WOLVERINE: NETSUKE “DEBT” “BLOODLINES”
extremely vital to this work. 2000 2001 2002
Mike Mignola
Neal Adams Alberto Breccia
Alberto Breccia Alberto Breccia
Alberto Breccia Alberto Breccia
Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert Gil Kane
Gil Kane Gil Kane
Gil Kane Gil Kane
Gil Kane Gil Kane
Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia
Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia
Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia
Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia
Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia
Francis Vallejo Francis Vallejo
Hermann Huppen Hermann Huppen
Hermann Huppen Hermann Huppen
Sam Glanzman Sam Glanzman
Ted McKeever Ted McKeever
Ted McKeever Ted McKeever
Ted McKeever Ted McKeever
Ted McKeever John Buscema
Jeff Jones Jeff Jones
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman
Hergé Hergé
Hergé Hergé
Hergé Hergé
Hergé Hergé
Carl Barks Carl Barks
Michael Kaluta
Dave Gibbons Dave Gibbons
Loisel Loisel
Loisel Loisel
Moebius Moebius
Jorge Zaffino Jorge Zaffino
Ralph Meyer Bill Sienkiewicz
 CHOOSING THE MOMENT
Choosing the correct moment for a sequence is vital. It can make all the difference in communicating effectively the power of
a punch, or the nuance of a specific emotion to your reader.
On the next few pages are Edweard Muybridge’s photographs of various actions. Shown first is the complete set of actions
and second are the actions I feel are the most self-descriptive of the beginning, middle, end of the motions. These effectively
telegraph the intent of the actions presented.
 Here are a series of screen captures from “Almos’ A Man” starring Levar Burton. I love these shots of him running because
the shapes and the energy are fascinating. By clicking through the scene a frame at a time we can see that some poses are more
powerful and energetic than others because they are extreme poses which underscore the speed that he’s running. That’s not to say
that these would necessarily be the best shots to use for a running sequence, that would depend on what is actually trying to be
conveyed. But each shot intimates a subtle change in action and emotion.

The two shots below are from a film from World War One titled “Verdun” shot during the war. The first shot is effective at
conveying the German soldier in action. It would be easy to draw and feels solid. No complaints there. However, the second shot
is interesting and captures the soldier in a position that’s unique which I feel sets it apart. I would choose this one because it’s
atypical.
 All of the poses in these photos are interesting and effective. Yet because of the various positions of the soldiers’ bodies and
the direction they lean, they offer subtle differences in how they convey action. Depending on the story and the energy needed to
tell it effectively one image might be better than the others.

IMAGES AND OUR MINDS

Our minds want to make stories out of the things we see. It’s built in to each of us. We thrive on stories.
The eight visual “stories” on the next few pages contain images that were taken from different movies and my own personal
photography. I’ve placed them here like a sequential narrative, yet each had nothing to do with the other (except the first two
images of the woman sharpening the scythe). Our minds will automatically connect these disparate images into a makeshift
narrative. Interestingly without words to explain what’s going on, each of us would create a different story in our heads.

1.
Here again the two images are of an individual character, yet each conveys a different mood and sensibility. I bring these to
your attention to underline the idea of truly understanding the unspoken material in a story, the emotional pitch of an image, and
illustrating that through subtle gesture.
2. 3.
4. 5.
6. 7.
8.
 MARK MAKING
The marks you make while drawing can be incredibly powerful narrative tools. It’s interesting that
many artists stick with one way of drawing come hell or high water. They rarely deviate from a pat
style. I certainly don’t think there’s anything truly wrong with doing this, but I personally would hate
to give up playing with the many ways of making marks on a page with pen or brush.
Different types of marks can be used to create the myriad textures we see in nature or the contour
of various objects, helping to give more information about their makeup. The type of line one uses
can underscore an emotion or heighten a tense scene. Think how a shaky line could add punch to a
character or scene that’s anxiety-driven. Or sensuous, organic lines enhancing a bedroom scene of
two people making love. Or, staccato marks and pointillism to create the feeling of a pebbled road or
cement wall. What about striated and dry-brushed lines to effectively render wood textures. Split-hair
brushwork can create believable hair or fur. The list is endless.
The types of lines you use to delineate objects can radically change the entire tenor of an object or
character, much less the complete visual narrative.
There’s a lot that goes into mark making. How you make the mark can determine it’s effectiveness.
Playing with the speed that one puts down a line can affect it’s outcome.
Note the Joseph Clement Coll pen drawing on the opposite page. The character and energy of his
line is unique. Note also the value structure of the piece, how he’s also using contrast to direct the eye.
Using undulating horizontal lines to follow the form of the stone behind the characters is very organic.
His use of crosshatch is not typical, a less rigid application of crosshatch that is much more of the
moment than premeditated hatching.
Looking at this detail of a Coll
pen and ink below allows us to
get a much greater appreciation
of the work he’s doing. There’s
brush work here too, to beef up the
darks. Behind the head we can see
that he’s scraping the ink out with
a flat razor blade which lends the
passage a sense of tonal value and
enhances the contrast of the deep
darks.
So, on the next few pages we’ll
look at the various ways to create
value through crosshatch and to
explore alternative methods to
create textures to enliven our
drawings.

Joseph Clement Coll

 SHAPE AND RHYTHM

BORING BETTER BETTER

EVEN CALM ACTION

BETTER CHAOS

BORING
Repetitious Bubbles

BETTER

Inverted Bubbles
EVEN
BETTER

Inverted and Scale Changed

 Variation in shape and rhythm will make your shape more interesting. In this case the less repetitive
line on the right creates more active visual interest.

On the right is a Franklin Booth. Look at the diversity of Booth’s line work! When he was a child
learning to draw he copied the artwork he saw in old magazines. What he didn’t know was that those
were engravings, but he thought they were pen and inks, so…
Look at his use of negative space/white and the rich values he creates throughout this piece.

Franklin Booth
 When I was in art school I experiments a bit with crosshatch but found that it was too methodical
for me. I was bored out of my mind! So I tried to create a way of working in pen that avoided rote
crosshatching yet still gave me a range of values. What I played with for quite a while was a directional
stroke that could be built up into values. Even that, ultimately, bored me and I moved on to look for
other ways to work with pens and values.
Over the next couple of pages I try to show you some of those efforts.

George Pratt - Dip Pen and Brush

 Directional Pen Strokes

Brush Pen

Brush

George Pratt George Pratt - Dip Pen and Brush

 Gel Pen Scribble

George Pratt - Dip Pen and Brush

Dip Pen with Charcoal
Brush, Ink, Splatter, White Acrylic Highlights
 Brush, Ink, Splatter, White Acrylic Highlights.
The first image is the final art before scanning. You
can see the initial brush drawing and splatter as well
as the cutting back in with white acrylic to simplify the
image in areas.
This is all scanned as bitmap line art.
I did additional black line and brush pieces on a
lightbox which were scanned the same way. These be-
came the color plates as seen on the final file at right.

Brush, Ink, Splatter, White Acrylic Highlights

Brush, Ink, Splatter, White
Acrylic Highlights.
Brush, Ink, Splatter, White Acrylic Highlights

Brayers with Black & White Acrylic

Putty Knife with Black Acrylic
Gel Pen Scribble, Gray Acrylic on Toned Paper
An oddball spill waylaid this large brush and
ink piece I had begun. It was going to have
all the splatter added, but my bottle of ink fell
over and ran all over the place. I ended up
liking the way it felt and left it in this state.
Jeff Jones Arturo Castillo
Alex Toth Leo Duranona
Al Williamson
Frank Miller Frank Miller
Frank Miller Joseph Clement Coll
Russ Heath Russ Heath
George Herriman George Herriman
Lorenzo Mattotti Lorenzo Mattotti
Lorenzo Mattotti Attilio Micheluzzi
Moebius Moebius
Moebius Moebius
Moebius Frank Godwin
Hal Foster Alex Raymond
Alex Raymond
Alex Raymond
Alex Raymond
 Jeff Smith

Noel Sickles
George Evans

Frank King
Milton Caniff
Winsor McCay
 Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay Carl Barks

Carl Barks Carl Barks
Carl Barks Carl Barks
Hrold Gray Michael Kaluta
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Michael Kaluta Michael Kaluta
Barry Windsor-Smith Dino Battaglia
Jorge Zaffino Jorge Zaffino
Jorge Zaffino Jorge Zaffino
Jorge Zaffino Jorge Zaffino
Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson
 Bernie Wrightson’s masterpiece, “The Muck Monster”, is a tour de force of story telling and mark making. The rich over-
abundance of mark making sets this story apart from just about everything else. Bernie’s masterful use of camera angles is
incredible, but the mark making imbues the story with rich tactile qualities. Here Bernie is employing all the tools he has worked
for years adding to his skill set.

Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson

Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson
 VISUAL FOCUS
Using the image below I created in Procreate we will explore Visual Focus — how to direct the eye
GROUPING, SCALE, BALANCE, AND OVERLAP within your pieces.

Scale and Cropping for Overlap and value

Visual Interest control creates even
more depth

While we have an indication of scale in the first panel it’s not as graphically interesting as the second panel. In the second
panel I’ve enlarged the background figure, brought him closer to be overlapped by the foreground figure. This creates a more
immediate interaction between the characters and gives us a greater sense of depth.
The minute you overlap two objects you give the viewer more information of depth and scale, while also activating the picture
plane in a more interesting way.
 By throwing a pattern over the picture we minimize the focus. We can still see some of the By adding a crosshatch to the background we focus our eyes to the foreground. The contrast
particulars but we’re not really sure where to look. leads our eye in a more interesting way from the bottom right to the head..

Creating a stronger sense of light by erasing out of this pattern we now have a greater sense We can also relight the scene and push our eye to the left through the use of contrast.
of focus and where we should be looking. But we can control this further.
 By adding graphic foreground elements that overlap our main figure we can easily create a By adding the same graphic foreground elements as the image at the left, coupled with the
greater sense of depth. I’ve left the background intentionally empty to stress the graphical nature more involved background a greater sense of depth, though not as blunt graphically as the other
of the image. image.

By adding more textural elements to the background we can create more space and depth Throwing in a highlight on the foreground elements brings the foreground elements more
also. into focus while also adding to the realism of the scene.
 SEQUENCES
On the next few pages are some sequences that are pretty exceptional for pacing and action.

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman

2

Russ Heath Russ Heath

Russ Heath Darwyn Cooke
3

Hermann Huppen Hermann Huppen

Hermann Huppen Hermann Huppen
4

Hermann Huppen Hermann Huppen

 5

Hermann Huppen Hermann Huppen

Hermann Huppen Manu Larcenet
Berni Krigstein
Dave McKean Dave McKean
 PENCILING
Once your layouts/breakdowns are complete and you’re satisfied with your visual handling of the ins and outs of the story
at hand it’s time to focus on penciling the final pages themselves. The amount of finish you work into your pencils is entirely up
to you. However there are things to consider: Are you inking these yourself? Or are they intended to be inked by an inker other
than yourself? If you’re inking the work yourself anything goes. How far you take those pencils is up to you. Unless your editor
demands to see completely finished pencils.
As I mentioned in the layout section I’ve been incredibly fortunate to not have to show full pencils, ever. In comics, especially
for Marvel and DC, and I’m sure for other publishers, penciling is an integral part of the process. Editors want to see the finished
pencils before handing them to the inker to be inked. These pencils have by and large been tight renderings of the panels. With
some notable exceptions the pencils were verbatim what the inked lines would look like finished. The two of the exceptions were
Neal Adams and Gene Colan. There may be others, but I’m familiar with the pencils of these two giants. Their work required
some interpretation on the part of the inker. And depending on the inker the work could be incredible, or not so incredible. Tom
Palmer is one inker who was brilliant on both of these artists.
My personal thoughts on penciling have changed over the years. This began when I started work on my still unpublished See
You In Hell, Blind Boy! novel of the country blues. I wanted the work to be more cut-and-dried, simpler, more to the point without
all the anal fuss of penciling and refining, trying to make things perfect. What I love about that music is how raw it is. The country
bluesmen didn’t nitpick over their technique, or get super fancy. They laid down these beautiful, honest, simple tracks and that’s
what I wanted my work to strive for. So I began working directly with dip pens and foregoing penciling. Let the lines happen and
live with whatever hit the page. That’s not to say I wouldn’t pick up a pencil if something required it, something fairly elaborate
where it would be helpful to have some kind of guide for the overall piece.
When I penciled I felt trapped by the lines, like I was basically tracing something that I’d already done. Mostly because I had
already done it—in pencil. The process wore me out.
The last time I really penciled anything was for Batman: Harvest Breed. In that graphic novel I found myself doing pencil
drawings for each panel on loose sketchbook paper. I was very happy with these drawings, then I’d transfer them to my boards
to paint them. I felt I lost so much of the spontaneity of the original drawings during that process. I just felt So when I began
Wolverine: Netsuke I went back to the lessons I learned in the blues novel and jumped back to the dip pen. This book was also where
I decided to embrace the computer as a way to digitally put pages together from traditional art. I would do the art on separate
sketchbook paper (Canson Drawing pads), scan those into the computer, then put them all together as pages in Photoshop based
on my layouts. There were benefits to this process which I’ll describe later.
Much of the work since then has been using the same process but with a variety of traditional media for the art. But penciling
took a hike for me, unless it was pencil that was to be the final art (see my second image).
I’ll include one pencil piece I did awhile back for a friend to ink, though it’s never been inked as far as I know.
But I will include examples of pencils by a variety of artists.

The typical original comic page in America is 11 x 17 inches on Bristol board. If you’re working for the big companies most
likely they will supply the paper. They have two kinds, Plate Bristol, which is smooth, and Kid Finish which has a slight texture to
it.
However, I always used my own paper because I like to draw larger. Remember, too, that if you are doing your own book you
can work in any format you wish, which can change the whole feel of the project and possibly entice readers. The independent
publishers experiment with format and packaging way more than the main companies. You can do square books, long horizontal
books, tall vertical books that when opened created a square, etc. It can be extremely fun to explore this territory.

George Pratt
George Pratt
Gene Colan Gene Colan
Neal Adams Neal Adams
Neal Adams Jim Lee
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby Alex Toth
Alex Toth Alex Toth
Alex Toth Alex Toth
Gil Kane Gil Kane
Hergé Yves Chaland
Yves Chaland Yves Chaland
Yves Chaland Yves Chaland
Yves Chaland Craig Russell
Craig Russell Craig Russell
Craig Russell Loisel
David Finch David Finch
 FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
Obviously drawing for narrative storytelling one has to be able to effectively convey a large set of emotions.
This can be through body language and gesture as well as facial expressions. If one draws realistically
the onus is to portray emotions honestly and hew to reality. Certainly though, reality can be pushed and
distorted by degrees until we break with reality completely. If one is doing more cartooning, then the sky is
the limit and one can push well beyond reality. But even here the greater range of emotions one can portray
is a valuable asset.
So no matter where we each fall in the style of drawing we do, we must be students of life, tireless watchers
of people in order to more effectively convey the emotional range of the characters in our stories. The
least effective, in my mind, are the cardboard grimaces that I see all too frequently in comics. The more
emotion we can convey in faces and not just with the exaggerated poses, the more subtle and powerful our
storytelling can be.
Here are examples of a couple of artists working with expressions.

SERGIO TOPPI

ALBERTO BRECCIA
a few pointers on lettering, word balloons, and sound effects.
 COVERS
Covers entice a reader to pick up the book and look inside. Most times the cover contains imagery that fits a scene from the
contents of the storyline itself, but many covers are standalone images. Some readers hate when a cover has nothing to do with
the contents other than tangentially showing the character. I personally loved picking up comics specifically for certain covers. I
would pick up anything that Michael Kaluta, Jeff Jones, Joe Kubert, Bernie Wrightson, Barry Windsor-Smith, Mike Mignola
did, to name but a few.
No matter how you slice it a cover must be visually engaging. A cover can be quiet, or action packed. There can be no color,
subtle color or loud color. Some series adopt a theme for their covers and rarely deviate from that. Others give the artists free rein
to play as much as they like.

My old school color guide for my Batman 431 cover.

Bernie Wrightson
Vaughn Bode Vaughn Bode
Barry Windsor-Smith Chester Brown
P. Craig Russell Top and Bottom Left: Robert Crumb. Bottom Right: Spain Rodrigues
Top Tier and Bottom Left: Gilbert Shelton. Bottom Right: Frank Stack Top and Bottom Left: Greg Irons. Bottom Right: Richard Corben
Daniel Clowes Cyril Pedrosa
Cyril Pedrosa James Bama
Top Left: Javier Olivares. Top Right: Marjane Satrapi. Bottom Left: Samuel Hiti. Bottom Right: Carlos Santos Top: Jordan Crane. Bottom: S. A. Harkham
Hugo Pratt Joe Kubert
Top Tier and Bottom Left: Joe Kubert. Bottom Right: Michael Kaluta Chris Ware
Jack Kirby Jim Steranko
Frank Frazetta Top Left: Man Arenas. Top Right: Jack Jackson. Bottom Left: Peter Bagge. Bottom Right: Danijel Zezelj.
Top Tier: Craig Thompson. Bottom Left: Scott Morse. Bottom Right: Serge Clerc. Top Left: Loisel. Top Right: Dave McKean. Bottom Left: Bill Sienkiewicz. Bottom Right: Lorenzo Mattotti.
Top Left: Joe Matt. Top Right: Philippe Dupuy. Bottom Left: Milton Caniff. Bottom Right: Peter Kuper. Paul Gulacy
Hergé Dan Burr
Gahan Wilson George Pratt
George Pratt George Pratt
George Pratt George Pratt
George Pratt George Pratt
George Pratt George Pratt
George Pratt George Pratt
George Pratt
 STYLES
This section is to give you some idea of the wide range of styles in comics. Not to urge you to copy
these styles (though you could learn quite a bit by doing so), more to show you the incredible diversity
that sequential art has embraced so that you can feel empowered to follow your own true artistic
desires. This is by no means exhaustive as it’s the tip of a very large iceberg. I hope it gives you a good,
if tiny, taste of what’s possible, and I urge you to study the incredibly rich history of this wonderfully
diverse narrative art form which is the most powerful marriage of words and pictures.

Comics can handle anything. You can go anywhere artistically that you put your mind to, whether
it’s stick figures or highly refined drawings. You can work in any medium available, whether it’s pencil,
pen, watercolor, oils, digital, collage, whatever! There is a home for everything in sequential art.

I used to be only interested in realistically drawn comics, save for newspaper strips and Disney
comics. It took me some time to realize that even crudely drawn or naive work can be extremely
powerful and are many times more suited to certain stories than refined work. I love it all.

Milton Caniff Benjamin Flao

Top: Brant Parker Bottom: Johnny Hart
Top: Tom K. Ryan Bottom: Charles Schulz
Charles Schulz
Winsor McCay
Winsor McCay George McManus
Frank King Hal Foster
Hergé Hergé
Robert Crumb Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb Gilbert Shelton
Gilbert Shelton Serge Clerc
Hugo Pratt Hugo Pratt
Victor Moscoso Rick Griffin
Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman
Peter Bagge Jeffrey Brown
Jordan Crane S A Harkham
Sam Hiti Chester Brown
Marjane Satrapi Wren McDonald
Philippe Dupuy Matt Boersma
Gipi Gipi
Cyril Pedrosa Javier Olivares
Javier Olivares Javier Olivares
Peter Kuper Peter Kuper
Dan Clowes Chris Ware
Baru Cyril Pedrosa
Hermann Huppen Hermann Huppen
Nicolas DeCrecy Danijel Zezelj
Franco Matticchio Franco Matticchio
Teddy Kristiansen Teddy Kristiansen
Miguelanxo Prado Darwyn Cooke
Craig Thompson Craig Thompson
Jim Terry Manu Larcenet
Man Arenas Carlos Nine
Carlos Nine Francois Boucq
Berni Krigstein Paul Gulacy
Al Williamson Angelo Torres
Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia
Jeff Jones Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones Jeff Jones
Attilio Micheluzzi Sergio Toppi
Hernandez Palacios Jose Ortiz
Bill Sienkiewicz
Bill Sienkiewicz Bill Sienkiewicz
Mort Drucker Mort Drucker
Alberto & Enrique Breccia Russ Heath
Arthur Castillo Arturo Castillo
Joe Kubert John Paul Leon
George Pratt George Pratt
Frank Thorne John Severin
Neal Adams Genevieve Elverum
Jim Steranko
Joe Kubert
Alberto Breccia Benjamin Flao
Leo Duranona Barry Windsor-Smith
Lorenzo Mattotti Lorenzo Mattotti
Attilio Micheluzzi Joe Matt
Mike Mignola Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola Mike Mignola
Russ Heath Russ Heath
Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia
Bernie Wrightson Greg Irons
Jose Ortiz Gene Colan
Jeff Jones Jack Kirby
Joe Kubert Alex Nino
Neal Adams Jose Bea
 ASSIGNMENTS PHOTOGRAPHERS
This is a fairly truncated list of photographers that you can use for the assignment. There are many,
PHOTOJOURNALIST COMIC many, many more that you should try to find. But for the assignment this should cover your bases.
I came up with this assignment while starting the Sequential Art classes at Pratt Institute as a
way to educate my students on the use of good reference photography. This assignment is about using
reference photography as a springboard for story. Abbott, Berenice Griffith, Philip Jones Penn, Irving
If you’ve ever wondered whether art can change the world, look no further than the work of some Adams, Ansel Guzy, Carol Peress, Gilles
of the great photojournalists. Photojournalists are storytellers. They have a point of view and are Adams, Eddie Heatherington, Tim Ray, Man
obviously working with visual narrative as a way to communicate. Photographers for Life magazine Alpert, Max Hine,Lewis Riboud, Marc
created powerful photographic essays that exposed complex issues in our society and effected great Arbus, Diane Holder, Geoffrey Riis, Jacob
change for the better in our society: Civil Rights, World War II, the war in Vietnam, the plight of those Arnold, Eve Horst, Hans Rosenthal, Joe
in poverty, etc. Atget, Eugene Huet, Henri Rothstein, Arthur
These photographers were not simply dispassionately recording what was happening before them. Baltermants, Dmitri Hurley, Frank Salgado, Sabastiao
They put their lives on the line during these violent moments to represent humanity and capture that Beals, Jessie Tarbox Karsh, Yousuf Sante, Luc
stark reality with little more than a camera and rolls of film. Berehulak, Daniel Kertesz, André Satolli, Emanuele
Yet their work did not end with merely capturing the moment. They then retired to their darkrooms Bischof, Werner Khaldei, Yevgeny Seymour, David
to hone the message, to further crystallize the raw emotion through composition, focus and value Black, Matt Kim, Yunghi Shahn, Ben
control, much the same way an artist confronts a painting. This powerful work continues today in Bourke-White, Margaret Kohut, Meridith Sheik, Fazal
battlefields, city streets, homes, and government halls, both foreign and domestic, shaping public Brady, Matthew Koudelka, Josef Smith, W. Eugene
opinion through sensitivity and empathy. Brandt, Bill Kozyrev, Yuri Steichen, Edward
This assignment will not only enhance your drawing skills, but also teach you the importance Brassaï Krementz, Jill Steiglitz, Alfred
of good reference in elevating the quality of your work. By working with the photographs of great Bravo, Lola Alvarez Lange, Dorothea Stirton, Brent
photographers the hope is that you will see how to better shoot your own reference by emulating their Bravo, Manuel Alvarez Leen, Nina Strand, Paul
work and understand the power of point of view while being sensitive to candid reality rather than Bronstein, Paula Leibovitz, Annie Sturges, Jock
stiffly posed figures. Burnett, David Lee, Russell Talbot, Fox
Their compositions, value structures, narrative content are all powerful tools to be studied by Burrows, Frank Levitt, Helen Taro, Gerda
anyone wanting to shoot their own photography for reference. Cameron, Julia Margaret Liste, Sebastian Ut, Nick
You can approach the material with a story in mind and find the images needed to complete your Capa, Cornell (brother of Mahurin, Matt VanderZee
ideas. Or work more intuitively and let the images spark a story in your mind. Don’t pre-plan, or put Robert) Maier, Vivian Veder, Sal
out fires that don’t exist, let the images and story work as a stream-of-conscious exercise. This is the Capa, Robert Mann, Sally Vishniac, Roman
way I have always approached this when I demonstrate the assignment for my classes. Caron, Gilles Mark, Mary Ellen Vitale, Ami
Carroll, Lewis McCullen, Don Weegee
1. Choose images from the supplied list of photographers and using only this material construct an Carter, Keith McCurry, Steve Welty, Eudora
8-page story on the fly. Cartier-Bresson, Henri McKean, Dave Weston, Edward
2. You can ONLY use images from the photographers. DO NOT make up any of the visual Cunningham, Imogen Meyerowitz, Joel White, Minor
elements. All reference is from the source images. Curtis, Edward Miller, Lee Winogrand, Gary
You CAN mix and match. That is, take a figure from one image and combine it with a figure or Doisneau, Robert Modotti, Tina Witkin, Joel Peter (Brother of
background from another image. Dominis, John Morse, Ralph Jerome Witkin)
DO NOT simply copy the complete photograph and composition from an image. This is all about Eakins, Thomas Moon, Sarah Wollcott, Marion Post
using photography as a reference tool. Crop them, chop them up, create new compositions. Eisenstadt, Alfred Mucha, Alphonse Yam, Marcus
DO NOT get super anal on this. Don’t pre-plan, let things flow. Don’t agonize over this. It Erwitt, Elliot Muybridge, Edweard Zachmann, Patrick
should be FUN and intuitive. This is a great way to flex your mental and visual muscles, to see story Evans, Walker Mydans, Carl
everywhere, to make connections from visual input and make use of it. Eyerman, J. R. Newhall, Beaumont
This is also training your eyes to know what great reference is. Take note of the interesting Faas, Horst Newton, Helmut
compositions, tonality, lighting, and point of view of the images. If you can recognize these things in Fenton, Roger Niedringhaus, Anja
these images you can apply them to your own reference photography sessions. Frank, Robert O’Sullivan, Timothy
Geddes, Anne Page, Tim
Gilpin, Laura Parks, Gordon
IN-CLASS DEMOS
The following pages are my demonstrations done in-class for students.

Anja
THE THREE-PANEL STORY
In three panels describe an action, any action. A beginning, a middle, and an end.
This could be as simple as tying your shoes, putting on a jacket, a baseball pitcher winding up and
throwing the ball, a batter in the batter’s box waiting for the pitch…swinging…missing…strike out!

THE CONVERSATION
Create a one- to two-page story illustrating a conversation between two people.
Each page should have a minimum of six panels per page.
The scene can take place anywhere.
The characters are totally up to you.
Are they arguing? Having a pleasant talk? Conspiring? Whispering?

What can you focus on other than their heads that might give us more insight into who they are and
what they’re talking about?
Think about other ways of presenting your characters without relying on facial expressions.
What kind of clothes are they wearing. What about their shoes? Does that tell us something about
the characters?
Think about where the scene takes place.
What objects are in this space that might be clues to what’s going on or might be good to focus on?
Think about where you’re placing your camera. What’s your point of view?

SILENT STORY
Create a one- to two-page story that has no text or dialogue.
Can you give your readers enough visually through character (gesture, expression), lighting, point
of view, etc. to carry the tale clearly and effectively?

MOVIE SCRIPT COMIC

Choose a scene from a movie script and break it down into an 8-page sequential narrative.

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
Work on facial expressions in your preferred drawing style. Play with profile, head on, 3/4 views.

EMOTIONAL GESTURE AND POV (POINT OF VIEW)

Create panels by choosing an emotion and a point of view.
GREAT VISUAL STORYTELLERS - ARTISTS
This is by no means a complete and exhaustive list of ink artists and sequential artists, but should give you a fertile
landscape to study.
For a very thorough list of sequential artists visit: https://www.lambiek.net/comiclopedia/artist-compendium.html

Ink Artists Sequential Artists

Abbey, Edwin Austin Gibson, Charles Dana Pogany, William Adams, Neal Caza, Philippe
Addams, Charles Goodrich, Carter Pyle, Howard Alcala, Alfredo Chaland, Yves
Ajhar, Brian Goya, Francisco Rackham, Arthur Alexander, Jason Chaykin, Howard
Arno, Peter Grant, Gordon Raemakers, Louis Shawn Chiarello, Mark
Arnold, Karl Greiner, Otto Raffaelli, J. F. Amano, Yoshitaka Clerc, Serge
Bairnsfather, Bruce Grosz, George Railton, Herbert Aragones, Sergio Cloonan, Becky
Batten, J. D. Gulbransson, Olaf Rembrandt Arenas, Man Clowes, Daniel
Beardsley, Aubrey Hall, Natalie Remington, Frederick Auraleón, Rafael Colan, Gene
Blit, Barry Heine, Theodore Rico, Martin Baker, George Cole, Jack
Blix, Otto Herblock Robinson, William Heath Barks, Carl Colón, Ernie
Blum, Robert Hiroshige Roth, Arnold Barry, Lynda Colquhoun, Joe
Bofa, Gus Hirschfeld, Al Russell, Charles Baru Cooke, Darwyn
Bone, Muirhead Holland, Brad Seitz, Otto Battaglia, Dino Cooper, Dave
Bonnard, Pierre Ibarra, Hannibal Shahn, Ben Baudoin, Edmond Cowan, Denys
Booth, Franklin Jardin, Walter Shulz, Wilhelm Bea, José Craig, Johnny
Brangwyn, Frank Jean, James Sickles, Noel Beck, C.C. Crandall, Reed
Briggs, Austin Justis, Lyle Small, William Bellamy, Frank Crane, Jordan
Brodner, Steve Kley, Heinrich Smedley, W. T. Bernet, Jordi Crane, Roy
Busch, Wilhelm Klinger, Max Sorel, Edward Bess, Georges Crepax, Guido
Butin, Ulysse Kollwitz, Kathe Steadman, Ralph Bézian, Frédéric Crumb, Robert
Cady, Harrison Krenkel, Roy Steinlen, Theophile Bilal, Enki Cypress, Toby
Casanova Y Estorach, A. Lalauze, A. Stoops, Herbert Morton Bissette, Steve D’Ache, Caran
Christy, Howard Chandler Lee, Jae Storey, Barron Blain, Christoph Davis, Guy
Ciardello, Joe Leloir, Louis Stuck, Franz Blake, Bud Davis, Jack
Cober, Alan Levine, David Sullivan, Edmund J. Blake, Quentin De La Fuente, Victor
Coll, Joseph Clement Lindsay, Norman Sullivant, T.S. Blutch De Zuñiga, Tony
Crawford, Will Mauldin, Bill Tegner, Hans Bodé, Mark DeBeck, Billy
D’ache, Caran May, Phil Tenniel, John Bodé, Vaughn DeCrecy, Nicolas
DeSeve, Peter Menzel, Adolf Thomason, John W. Bolland, Brian Del Castillo, Arturo
Detaille, Edouard Millar, H. R. Thöny, Eduard Bolton, John Del Rey, Vanesa
Dorne, Al Morgan, Wallace Tiepolo Borgman, Jim Delisle, Guy
Dulac, Edmund Mucha, Alphonse Tingham, Holland Boucq, Francois Ditko, Steve
E. W. Kemble Mumford, Steve Tito, E. Breccia, Alberto Drake, Stan
Eby, Kerr Nast, Thomas Topolski, Feliks Breccia, Enrique Drucker, Mort
Fabres, Antonio Neill, John R. Townsend, F. H. Brown, Chester Druillet, Philippe
Favretto, G. Nolde, Emil Van Gogh, Vincent Brown, Jeffrey Duranona, Leo
Fawcett, Robert O’Neill, Rose Vierge, Daniel Brown, M. K. Edwards, Tommy Lee
Flagg, James Montgomery Oliphant, Pat Vogel, Hermann Browne, Dik Eisner, Will
Forain, J. L. Parsons, Alfred Weaver, Robert Brunner, Frank Estrada, Ric
Fortuny, Mariano Partridge, J. Bernard Wilke, Rudolf Buscema, John Evans, George
Frazetta, Frank Pascin, Jules Wilson, Edgar Byrne, John Fegredo, Duncan
Freas, Kelly Paul, Bruno Yoshitoshi Campbell, Eddie Feiffer, Jules
Frost, A. B. Peixotto, Ernest Campi, Thomas Feininger, Lyonel
Furniss, Harry Penfield, G. W. Caniff, Milton Fernandez, Fernando
Galice, Louis Pfieffer, Jules Capp, Al Fine, Lou
Galifore, B. Phiz Cardy, Nick Fingerman, Bob
Gianni, Gary Pitz, Henry C. Caza, Philippe Fisher, Bud
Flao, Benjamin Larcenet, Manu Ploog, Michael VanFleet, John
Flenniken, Shary Lark, Michael Pope, Paul Veitch, Rick BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY
Font, Alfonso Lee, Jae Prado, Miguelanxo Vess, Charles
Foster, Hal Lee, Jim Pratt, Hugo Watkiss, John
Fox, Nathan Lemire, Jeff Pratt, George Watson, Andi
Frazetta, Frank Leon, J. P. Rabaté, Pascal Watterson, Bill WILL EISNER INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKS: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES FROM THE LEGENDARY
Gi, Kim Jung Leon, John Paul Raboy, Mac Williamson, Al CARTOONIST
Gianni, Gary Loisel, Regis Raymond, Alex Windsor-Smith, Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative
ISBN-10 : 039333127X
Gibbons, Dave Lomax, Don Ricci, Stefano Barry
ISBN-13 : 978-0393331271
Gillon, Paul London, Bobby Risso, Eduardo Wood, Ashley
https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Storytelling-Visual-Narrative-Instructional/dp/039333127X/ref=sr_1_1?d-
Gimenez, Juan Loustal Robbins, Frank Wood, Wally
child=1&keywords=Will+Eisner&qid=1623300270&sr=8-1
Giordano, Dick Lynde, Stan Robinson, Jerry Woodbridge, George
Gipi MacNelly, Jeff Rodriguez, Spain Wrightson, Bernie Comics and Sequential Art
Giraud, Jean Manara, Milo Rogers, Marshall Zaffino, Jorgé ISBN-10 : 0393331261
Glanzman, Sam Martin, Don Romita, John Zezelj, Danijel ISBN-13 : 978-0393331264
Godwin, Frank Masereel, Franz Rountree, Harry Zulli, Michael https://www.amazon.com/Comics-Sequential-Art-Principles-Instructional/dp/0393331261/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&key-
Golden, Michael Mattotti, Lorenzo Russell, Craig words=Will+Eisner&qid=1623300270&sr=8-2
Grandenetti, Jerry Mayo, Gonzalo Ruth, Greg
Griffin, Rick Mazzuchelli, David Ryan, Tom K. Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative
Gulacy, Paul McCay, Winsor Sakai, Stan ISBN-10 : 0393331288
Hampton, Scott McDonnell, Patrick Salinas, José Luis ISBN-13 : 978-0393331288
Hanuka, Assaf McKean, Dave Sanchez, Leopoldo https://www.amazon.com/Expressive-Anatomy-Comics-Narrative-Principles/dp/0393331288/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&key-
Hanuka, Tomer McKeever, Ted Sandoval, Tony words=Will+Eisner&qid=1623300270&sr=8-3
Harkham, Sammy McManus, George Schuiten, Francois
Hart, Johnny McNelly, Jeff Schultz, Mark JOE KUBERT INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKS
Heath, Russ McWilliams, Alden Schulz, Charles Superheroes: Joe Kubert’s Wonderful World of Comics
Hempel, Marc Meyer, Ralph Seth ISBN-10 : 0823025616
Hernandez, Gilbert Michelluzzi, Attilio Severin, John ISBN-13 : 978-0823025619
https://www.amazon.com/Superheroes-Kuberts-Wonderful-World-Comics/dp/0823025616/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&key-
Hernandez, Jaime Michetz, Marc Severin, Marie
words=Superheroes%3A+Joe+Kubert&qid=1623300236&sr=8-1
Herriman, George Mignola, Mike Sfar, Joann
Huppen, Hermann Milazzo, Ivo Shelton, Gilbert
Joe Kubert: How to Draw from Life (Vanguard Drawing Series)
Igort (Igor Tuveri) Miller, Frank Sheridan, Dave ISBN-10 : 1934331155
Illić, Mirko Miyazaki, Hayao Sickles, Noel ISBN-13 : 978-1934331156
Ingels, Graham Moebius Sienkiewicz, Bill https://www.amazon.com/KUBERT-DRAW-LIFE-Vanguard-Drawing/dp/1934331155/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&key-
Irons, Greg Moroto, Esteban Simonson, Walter words=Joe+Kubert+Instructional+books&qid=1623300178&sr=8-7
Jackson, Jack Morrow, Gray Smudja, Gradimir
(Jaxon) Morse, Scott Soglow, Otto DC COMICS — WATSON GUPTILL BOOKS
Jones, Jeff Muñoz, José Spiegelman, Art The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling by Carl Potts
Kalonji, Jean- Muth, Jon J Steranko, Jim ISBN-10 : 0385344724
Philippe Nine, Carlos Sterrett, Cliff ISBN-13 : 978-0385344722
Kaluta, Michael Nino, Alex Sturm, James https://www.amazon.com/DC-Comics-Guide-Creating-Storytelling/dp/0385344724/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=d-
Kane, Gil Nixey, Troy Swinnerton, James c+comics+watson+guptill&qid=1623299859&s=books&sr=1-2
Kelly, Walt Noto, Phil Tamaki, Jillian
Kennedy, Cam Nowlan, Kevin Tardi, Jacques The DC Comics Guide to Writing for Comics by Dennis O’Neil
Ketchum, Hank Ortiz, José Tezuka, Osamu ISBN-10 : 0823010279
King, Frank Otomo, Katsuhiro Thompson, Craig ISBN-13 : 978-0823010271
Kirby, Jack Oubrerie, Clement Thompson, Jill https://www.amazon.com/DC-Comics-Guide-Writing/dp/0823010279/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=dc+comics+wat-
Kotzky, Alex Palacios, Antonio Thorne, Frank son+guptill&qid=1623299859&s=books&sr=1-5
Krigstein, Berni Hernandez Thorne, Frank
The DC Comics Guide to Pencilling Comics by Klaus Janson
Kristiansen, Teddy Parker, Brant Toppi, Sergio
ISBN-10 : 0823010287
Kubert, Joe Pedrosa, Cyril Torres, Angelo
ISBN-13 : 978-0823010288
Kuper, Peter Pellejero, Ruben Toth, Alex https://www.amazon.com/DC-Comics-Guide-Pencilling/dp/0823010287/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=dc+comics+wat-
Kurtzman, Harvey Phillips, Sean Trondheim, Lewis son+guptill&qid=1623299859&s=books&sr=1-6
The DC Comics Guide to Inking Comics by Klaus Janson Vision by Hans Bacher
ISBN-10 : 0823010295 ISBN-10 : 1786272202
ISBN-13 : 978-0823010295 ISBN-13 : 978-1786272201
https://www.amazon.com/DC-Comics-Guide-Inking/dp/0823010295/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=dc+comics+wat- https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Composition-Hans-P-Bacher/dp/1786272202/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1DGZ5JU9U7TCO&d-
son+guptill&qid=1623299859&s=books&sr=1-3 child=1&keywords=vision+hans+p+bacher&qid=1623299641&sprefix=Vision+by+Hans+bach%2Caps%2C202&sr=8-1

DC Comics Guide to Coloring and Lettering Comics by Mark Chiarello and Todd Klein
ISBN-10 : 9780823010301
ISBN-13 : 978-0823010301
https://www.amazon.com/DC-Comics-Guide-Coloring-Lettering/dp/0823010309/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=d-
c+comics+watson+guptill&qid=1623299859&s=books&sr=1-1

MARVEL COMICS
How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema
ISBN-10 : 0671530771
ISBN-13 : 978-0671530778
https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Comics-Marvel-Way/dp/0671530771/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YL3HIFKZ09UP&d-
child=1&keywords=drawing+comics+the+marvel+way&qid=1623300139&sprefix=Drawing+Comics+the+Marvel%2Cstrip-
books%2C191&sr=8-1

OTHER BOOKS
Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers by Marcos Mateu-Mestre
ISBN-10 : 1933492953
ISBN-13 : 978-1933492957
https://www.amazon.com/Framed-Ink-Drawing-Composition-Storytellers/dp/1933492953/ref=sr_1_1?crid=32Y6S0M-
RP0NR2&dchild=1&keywords=framed+ink&qid=1623299748&s=books&sprefix=Framed+ink%2Cstripbooks%2C309&sr=1-1

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

ISBN-10 : 9780060976255
https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Comics-Invisible-Scott-McCloud/dp/006097625X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&key-
words=Understanding+comics&qid=1623299791&s=books&sr=1-1

Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling by Durwin Talon

ISBN-10 : 1893905144
ISBN-13 : 978-1893905146
https://www.amazon.com/Panel-Discussions-Design-Sequential-Storytelling/dp/1893905144/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&key-
words=Durwin+Talon&qid=1623300348&sr=8-1

Studio Space: The World’s Greatest Comic Illustrators at Work by Joel Meadows
Offering a unique glimpse at the way that the finest comic artists work, visiting their studio and getting into their mindset.
Studio Space also discusses the training the artists undertook, their big break, and whether their working methods have changed
over the years.
ISBN-10 : 1582409099
ISBN-13 : 978-1582409092
https://www.amazon.com/Studio-Space-Joel-Meadows/dp/1582409099/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Studio+Space+-
Joel+Meadows&qid=1623300452&sr=8-1

Dreamworlds by Hans Bacher

ISBN-10 : 0240520939
ISBN-13 : 978-0240520933
https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Worlds-Production-Design-Animation/dp/0240520939/ref=pd_sbs_4/142-6152565-
5576821?pd_rd_w=vassJ&pf_rd_p=180628c6-6f13-4dbf-9213-f09cdedc7815&pf_rd_r=D8WYX94GYQ5S0FKEW0XA&pd_rd_
r=c29c62df-88f1-401d-b90b-5583c4122352&pd_rd_wg=aQ6yX&pd_rd_i=0240520939&psc=1