How to Draw Cartoons

Clare Briggs was one of the titans of the comic strip in the early 20th century. In this 1926 volume, he explains how to build a career in comics, and how he found the humorous aspects of life that informed such classic strips as When a Feller Needs a Friend and The Days of Real Sport. With over fifty example cartoons, plus added advice from such key cartoonists as H. T. Webster (creator of The Timid Soul), F. Opper (Happy Hooligan), Frank King (Gasoline Alley), Winsor McCay (Little Nemo), and more, this book proved inspirational. Charles Schulz cited this book as leading him down to the road to Peanuts.
Out of print for many decades, this collectors’ item is now available again in this complete paperback edition.

  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 223 pages (note: 40-some of these are blank pages behind pages of art)
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1949996425
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996425
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.25 x 0.56 x 10 inches

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Panel Three: Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers

Panel Three coverEvery comics writer brings their own style to their script, and here you’ll find nine example scripts from writers of comics and graphic novels. See how Mark Waid writes a crime tale, Eric Shanower writes an Age of Bronze script for himself to follow, Bryan Talbot writes one for a fellow artist. You also get Mark Verheiden showing a script for his own superpowered hero The AmericanThe Men In Black creator Lowell Cunningham writing a new concept, Watchmen editor Barbara Randall Kesel writing an all-ages short story, and Professor R. Alan Brooks showing a brief tale from his Burning Metronome series. Most of the scripts are introduced by the writers, like Ryan Estrada telling how he and Kim Hyun Sook co-wrote the script for a chapter of their acclaimed Banned Book Club, or Shaenon Garrity explaining how she uses both script and thumbnails when writing her The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor graphic novel, and more. A great tool for aspiring comics writers and artists alike!

  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 207 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1949996395
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996395
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.47 x 11 inches

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The Blank Comic Strip Panelbook – Basic, 7″x7″, 127 pages

The BlankTM Comic Strip Panelbook is a simple sketchbook for drawing daily-format comic strips, with four square panels on each page. Intend as a sketch-and-concept book, this handy volume will hold months worth of daily strip concepts.

(Please note: this book is not intended for final artwork, and the paper is neither archival nor acid-free.)

List Price: $7.99
7″ x 7″ (17.78 x 17.78 cm) 
Black & White on White paper
128 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1979107532
ISBN-10: 197910753X

 

The Blank™ Comic Book Panelbook

The Blank™ Comic Book Panelbook

About Comics has created a series of comics notebooks, The Blank™ Comic Book Panelbook volumes are available in a variety of formats.

There’s the standard format – every page has six equal panels.

Order from Amazon: 63 pages of panels, $6.99127 pages of panels, $8.34.

The staggered format – every page has six panels in a big panel/little panel/little panel/big panel pattern.

127 pages of panels, $8.34 Order from Amazon

The graphic novel format – every page is a different layout, taken from actual comics

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The Blank™ Comic Book Gridbook

For those who like more complex layouts, these books are pre-ruled with light lines that will help you make the panel layout you want.

Some examples of the panel layouts you can make with the gridbook.

 

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Please note that neither the Panelbook nor the Gridbook are printed on archival or acid-free stock; these are meant as design and thought sketchbooks, and not as the final home for your masterpiece. Printed on 60# white stock, they handle pencils and ink pens well, but markers are apt to bleed.

The Blank™ Comic Book

What is The Blank™ Comic Book?

It’s just what its name suggests – 24 blank pages wrapped in a blank cardstock cover, standard comic book size and ready for whatever you want to do with it. Uses include:

The Blank™ Comic Book front cover (click to enlarge)
  • Drawing your own comic book
  • Convention sketchbook (folks love getting custom-drawn covers!)
  • Keeping lists that you want to file in your longbox
  • Novelty present
  • …or anything else that comes to your mind!

Ordering The Blank Comic Book in quantity

The Blank Comic Book is no longer offered through distributors, but sold wholesale direct from the manufacturer only.

You can get 50 copies for $95 postpaid, or, if you have more modest needs, 10 copies can be had for $35 postpaid anywhere in the 50 U.S. states, DC, or Puerto Rico. These will be shipped Priority Mail and will usually arrive within a week after payment clears.

For a 10-copy order, click here.

Or send a check to About Comics, 1569 Edgemont Dr., Camarillo, CA 93010.

California retailers: include your retailer ID in the comments to avoid sales tax charges.

Panel Two: More Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers

panel-twoA book for anyone who wants to understand the comics-creation process. Contains annotations, plots, interviews, and scripts by comics scribes Otto Binder, Peter David, Mark Evanier, Bill Mumy & Miguel Ferrer, Judd Winick, and others. Includes illustrated scripts by Mike Baron and Scott McCloud. Features commentary on how to illustrate from comics scripts by artists Steve Lieber and Pop Mhan.
List Price: $20.95
8.5″ x 11″ (21.59 x 27.94 cm)
Black & White on White paper
216 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0971633810
ISBN-10: 0971633819
BISAC: Language Arts & Disciplines / Authorship

Comics Creator Prep

ComicCreatorPrep_cover_640x960Where inspiration and spontaneity prime a comic’s pump, create a vision, propel it forward, and give it life, Comics Creator Prep raises the level of comics craft to give a creator the requisite tools to consistently realize that vision.

It shows creators how to use the tools in their comic toolboxes well.


Here’s what comics industry legends and pros have to say about Comics Creator Prep!

“If you’ve ever wished you had someone to walk you through the potential pinnacles and pitfalls of a career in comics, then Lee Nordling’s Comics Creator Prep is the book for you. In this guide to a plethora of perplexing situations you’re likely to find yourself in at one point or another in the world of sequential art, Nordling delivers a Master Class in the creative and business issues that confront pretty much everyone who’s ever tried to tell a story in words and pictures. Lee will help you avoid many common mistakes comics beginners—and grizzled pros, for that matter—often make. And for those times when you do find yourself in the middle of a thorny situation, his insights and advice should enable you to dig your way out faster and more gracefully than you otherwise would have.”
—Danny Fingeroth, comics writer, editor and historian; author of books including Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society

“There’s no one magic way to create comics, but Lee Nordling brings a lifetime of experience in strips, periodicals and books to a discussion of how to approach the medium as a professional and do your best work.”

—Paul Levitz, comic book writer, educator, past President and Publisher at DC Comics 

“I really wish I had been able to read Lee Nordling’s Comics Creator Prep forty years ago when I was a newbie at this comics lark. It’s stuffed full of invaluable information and useful advice about the craft of storytelling and using the medium to its full potential. I had to learn the hard way by spending years making mistakes! It covers everything from the placement of word balloons to the best way to pitch your story to potential publishers. And, what’s great about it, is that it
really hammers these lessons home.”

—Bryan Talbot, writer/artist Grandville, The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia, Alice In Sunderland, The Tale of One Bad Rat

“As someone who directly benefited from working with Lee Nordling, I’m glad to be able to recommend this book that shares his laser precise insight into what makes a great story in comics, film, and beyond.”

—Dave Roman, Astronaut Academy and Teen Boat!

6″ x 9″
Black & White on White paper
292 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1936404582
ISBN-10: 1936404583

Order Comics Creator Prep from Amazon.com!

Panel One: Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers

Panel One Comic Book ScriptsFor anyone who makes comics or wants to, here is a collection of sample scripts from some of the best and brightest folks in the comic book business. Includes a Marvel-style plot from Cyborg creator Marv Wolfman, full scripts from Neil Gaiman (Miracleman), Kurt Busiek (Astro City), Trina Robbins, Nat Gertler (including the finished art by Steve Lieber), Greg Rucka (Whiteout), Dwayne McDuffie (Deathlok), and Kevin Smith (Jay & Silent Bob). Plus a drawn script by Jeff Smith for his Bone tie-in series Rose! Each script is introduced either by the writer or by About Comics publisher Nat Gertler.

  • Anything you’ve ever wanted to know about comic scriptwriting is in here – Savant
  • It’s an attractive package put together by comics writer Nat Gertler, and it’s welcome, indeed. GRADE: A – Comics Buyer’s Guide
  • There aren’t many books that pass for “invaluable references” in our field, but this qualifies. – Steven Grant, writer of Two Guns
  • The book is fantastic, containing actual scripts in their purest form. Even if you’re not a comic book person, you’ll learn a lot and be entertained… There’s a lovely feeling of peeking backstage that you get with these scripts. – Jane Espenson, consulting producer and writer, Once Upon a Time; writer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica

List price: $19.95
Paperback: 200 pages
ISBN-10: 0971633800
ISBN-13: 978-0971633803
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 11 inches

Order Panel One: Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers from Amazon!

(Wholesale note: while Panel One is subject to the same wholesale and shipping terms as other About Comics paperbacks, it needs to be ordered separately and cannot be mixed in with the order.)