How to Make a Web Comic, Part 1 : Brainstorming and Story
By Kelly | January 29, 2008
This in-depth tutorial will cover the stages of creating a web comic, from start to finish. As an example I’ll be using my short comic Nymph.
The process can be broken down into 8 stages:
- 1. Brainstorm
- 2. Rough Story
- 3. Character Design and Planning
- 4. Final Script
- 5. Drawing the Comic
- 6. Get it Online
- 7. Get it Seen
- 8. Profit?
Part One covers steps one through four. Part Two covers fives through eight.
Note that ‘Drawing the Comic’ is step 5! The most common mistake I see among aspiring webcomic creators is to start drawing without a plot or plan of any sort. Before you reach that point there are several more steps, the first of which is Brainstorming.
1. Brainstorm
Brainstorming is a process of generating a variety of ideas. No idea is ’stupid’ or ‘weird’ since even the most random concept can spawn something original and appealing. It’s easier to target your brainstorming to something a bit more specific if you can. For example, what do you like to draw? What kind of story do you want to tell? What can you draw quickly, or draw well? Targeting your interests and abilities will make the comic process easier in the long run. There’s no such thing as a bad drawing at the brainstorming phase, since you should be quickly jotting down ideas, and just noting whichever bits are appealing.
For ‘Nymph’, I had a theme that was my inspiration and the basis for my brainstorming. The character would be sexy, but empowered and not purely for eyecandy pin-up poses. She would be a semi-barbaric princess type, something like a jungle queen or a female Tarzan. And, she would live in a jungle that’s underwater. So my core theme incorportated things I like to draw (cute girls, jungles), themes that interest me (empowered girls, wilderness survival) and things that are easy to draw (underwater setting).
If you’re starting a new comic from scratch, inspiration can be found in many places. Let your pencil lead you, and draw whatever pops into your head. Read fiction, news, history, science. Sit on a cafe patio and sketch the people who pass by, imagining their problems and personality. Find a place you’d like to visit, and look for photos of it online. Imagine you’re walking there, feeling that climate, and hearing and smelling the scents of that world. Who are the people that live there, and why? Even a random word can get you started.
Think about the main character, your protagonist: they should be the one with the biggest problems, and the most to gain or lose. After all, that’s why the villains in ‘Batman’ are often more interesting than Batman himself! What is the protagonist’s goal, how did it arise, and how do they intend to achieve it? How are their plans altered as other characters or events interfere? What is it that they ultimately achieve? How do they change in the process?
Think about the setting: is it real, or fantastic? What is the level of technology? How do the people live there that’s different from how I live? What animals and plants live there? Can I research a particular place or era that’s relevant? How does the setting affect the protagonist?
2. Rough Story
Some story ideas should emerge as you brainstorm the characters and setting. Even if you intend to make a long-running comic, dividing the story into tidy ’story arcs’ will make planning more manageable. Each story arc needs a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning should quickly establish the characters, setting, and your protagonist’s primary conflict. The middle will cover how your protagonist struggles to resolve their goal against the obstacles that emerge. The end should provide a climax and some sort of resolution for the particular story arc. The protagonist may have one over-arching goal, and story arcs could be smaller goals or conflicts that emerge along the way to achieving the ultimate goal.
When roughing out the story, I keep a text file that has my ideas for the overall story, scenes that I may include, character notes and names, as well as links to online reference and inspiration. Anytime an idea pops into my head I’ll quickly jot it down in the file. Later I can look over all these bits and pieces, and start assembling a rough sequence of events.
The nymphs dance underwater, amongst the strange aquatic creatures, gathering bubbles (nymph eggs which fall from above) and swimming in synchrony.
One nymph dreams of flowers and sunshine, a world gold and shining.
Leaving the group, she sets off on her own.
She avoids many dangers and predators as she searches.
She is swept up in a powerful current, unable to break free.
Caught in the current, she grabs desperately onto a column that extends up beyond her sight.
Following it, she sees the glow of distant sunlight.
The current is strong, and she clings to the stem to avoid being swept away.
With the last of her strength, she hauls herself out of the water, still clinging to the reed.
The reed stem catches the warming rays of the sun. The nymph is deathly still.
Then, the reed stem jiggles.
A pair of wings emerge from the nymph’s body, now a dry husk clinging to the reed.
A dragonfly-like insect emerges – actually on closer look, it’s a faerie.
The world she sees is gold and shining.
The faerie zips away amidst blossoms and sunlight, wings shining.
The rough story should contain all the big pieces you’ll need for the comic : characters, settings, props, and the entire arc of the story. Don’t sweat the details yet, just make sure the rough story sounds plausible and entertaining. The rough story above is for about 14 pages of comic. Note that there are about 14 sentences- each page has a ‘beat’, a key moment in the story or character developement. You’ll want to keep that beat in mind when you reach the drawing stage.
3. Character Design and Planning
With the rough story complete, you should have a good idea of where your characters will go, and what they’ll need. If a character has to ride a horse, then they probably shouldn’t wear a hoopskirt- or you’ll need to add a sequence where the character is able to change costume. The same goes for props- you’ll have to remember to draw pockets, if they’re going to pull a wrench out of one on page 12. Your rough story should include not just obstacles, but their solution as well, so that your character can be prepared to overcome them from page one.
For Nymph, I decided that the climax of the story would be the main character, Ophelia, climbing a reed out of the pond. That meant the earlier mermaid designs I’d made simply wouldn’t work. She’d need legs for sure, but how else could I make her look aquatic? I decided instead to give her finny hair, and a contrasting coloration that mimicked a fish or a bug more than a mammal.
The finny hair was replaced by mudpuppy-like gill ‘hair’ as I continued to draw and refine the character. Lots of sketches were made, drawing and redrawing the character with small changes to features, proportions and patterning. When I settled on a look that was satisfactory and fit the story requirements, I put together a modelsheet. A formal modelsheet isn’t required, but it’s certainly handy to have a page of sketches that embody the character and make note of all details which need to be consistent. You’ll probably want a reference page for all the main characters, as well as any notes you need for their possessions and abilities.
In addition to characters, you should start planning the environments and scenes as well. Imagine each scene as if it’s a house, sketch out a rough floorplan and decide on the furnishings. Keep in mind the details of setting, era, and culture that you brainstormed up before.
4. Final Script
The final is script is based on the rough story, but broken down into pages and panels. This is the blueprint for the pages you’ll start sketching, but first you must make sure everything flows smoothly. The script needs to respect the story ‘beats’ you identified in the rough story. Avoid breaking your beats across different pages. Each page should be something like a mini-story, with a beginning, middle, and end. Even if the end is a cliffhanger! Just don’t break things off in the middle of a conversation, if it’ll be hard to pick up on the next page. Remember that your reader will be flipping pages to read the story, so they will need occasional reminders of the setting and important details. You can test out your script on friends and identify weaknesses before you start drawing.
p1
An underwater forest, strange plants and creatures swim about, luminous and alien
Closer – brightly colored nymphs flit about
They are catching bubbles which fall from somewhere above
p2
One nymph is resting on a plant-creature, looking up
Close up of her face, eyes shining
A bubble drifts into her grasp from above
Looking into the bubble, she sees a curled nymph embryo
p3
Clasping the bubble, she swims away toward the other nymphs
They are dancing and swimming around a cluster of bubbles
A new nymph emerges, welcomed by the dance of the others
She sets the egg near the others, disinterested in the dance
She gazes up again into the endless depths
With the story complete, the drawing can begin!
Click Here for Part Two of this tutorial, which covers drawing and promoting your webcomic! 
Topics: Comic tutorials | 31 Comments »
July 10th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Thank you for this tutorial, I’ve had ideas in my head for so long, and although I’ve been writing them out, I feel like the flow is more like the flow of a book. Seeing your examples of script flow really helps put the images in my mind, into words that could help me make my webcomic.Thank you so much, and keep doing awesome work! :)