Easing into the Narrative

The first five pages of Terminus, in my mind, are pretty full. Between the prologue and everything JM and I are doing there, then the reveal of the dead body, there’s a lot happening. What I wanted to do from that point, once the world is introduced and the mystery established, is slow things down a bit. I’ve always appreciated stories that take their time to unfold and, in the process, do so in indirect ways. Television shows like Carnivale and Mad Men are so effective because they allow viewers to saturate themselves in the atmosphere as well as the plot. That’s also vital to the storytelling method behind Terminus; JM and I are intent on setting a mood that readers can indulge in, can lose themselves in. And who knows, I may be shooting myself in the foot here because a lot comics I’ve read lately, in my opinion, are paced way, way too fast. It’s all narrative and no exposition. I don’t know why it is–and I have to be careful lest I be pinned down as a curmudgeon railing against comics–but so many books seem to be based around a clever and imaginative conceit, yet they never stray from that conceit. Sometimes stories need to step outside themselves in order to be enriched. And while I don’t believe a plot can rely on exposition alone, it certainly does have its place in sequential storytelling.

That all being said, what we have here, on page six, is the beginning of scene between Hobbes and his former partner, Murdock (who is now the police captain). JM does a nice and subtle job in the first panel–what’s depicted is the detective’s bullpen, the cleanest and dullest one I’ve ever seen. But that’s the point–this is a society that’s been without violent crime for nearly a decade. The police force, in turn, has grown lazy and bored. The purpose in this panel, then, is to not only take a moment for this kind of detail (create the atmosphere) but to also show Hobbes’ importance–he’s of the old guard, a cop who still knows how to get his hands dirty. Hobbes and Murdock touch on this in their talk, but I wanted to show this visually as well.

Other than that, in this page I wanted to further establish the relationship between Hobbes and Murdock. The two of them share a history, one that wasn’t always agreeable. They know each other well, and Murdock being privy to Hobbes’ past is ultimately important. For starters, we get to see Hobbes’ backstory unravel, but also the kinship that exists between them, even if it is based purely on nostalgia. There’s friction there, but also an understanding that they’re all that’s left of the former world; once Hobbes and Murdock are gone, their brand of detective will be all but extinguished. In a way, that binds them together.

So there you have it–the start of something slow. And I mean that tongue-in-cheek; there is plenty of action and suspense to come, but those things need to be earned. Both become much more potent the more invested you are in the characters and the world being presented. Nabakov once said that every book teaches you how to read it. I’ve always taken the wisdom to heart. Books all present their own unique reading experiences, and as a writer you must find a way to convey that experience in a way that is most fitting to your project. In the case of Terminus, part of that experience is based on being specific and methodical.

Pitching In

Now comes the part I like least and, not surprisingly, the part I struggle most with: delivering a pitch. Don’t get me wrong: if my task was to put together a packet, mail it off, and await a reply, I’d be absolutely fine. Because I’m meticulous with my work, by the time I’m ready to show it to prospective publishers, believe me, it’s ready. As evidenced in this blog, JM and I have put in a lot of time crafting each panel on every page, paying special attention to each painstaking detail. I had the entire script written before even finding an artist—a script that went through many drafts and rewrites.

But this is getting a bit off point. We’re talking about the practical function behind making pitches, and how they work. Well, that’s tricky. A number of publishers accept mailed or emailed pitch packets (though some of them have a well-established reputation for not reading/replying) usually consisting of a few completed pages, lettered, colored and all. Sometimes it’s a few pages, sometimes an entire issue. The problem here is your work, regardless of how closely you followed the guidelines and how worthy it is, gets dumped in the slush pile. Editors are busy people and, unfortunately, they have little patience for the slush pile, since most of the submissions there read like the work of a madman. (Believe me, I’ve been there—the things I’ve read from the slush pile range from incoherent to absolutely insane, I kid you not).

Other publishers don’t take submissions, either for legal reasons or because they simply can’t overburden their already overworked staff. Totally understandable.

So where does that leave the prospective contributor? In a tough spot, though it’s by no means a hopeless situation. The key is in that dirty word that makes all artists cringe: networking. And there’s no place better to let editors and publishers know who you are and what your work is about than at a con.

Now, of course, a lot of this information isn’t groundbreaking. Ron Marz, Jason Aaron, and Warren Ellis have all written about how to make the rounds at a con. Basically, it’s the rules of basic social etiquette: be friendly, polite, and professional. Easy enough, right? It is, but I still get full of nerves when thinking about approaching publishers about my work—catching editors at the right time, having their full attention, saying what I mean to say, there’s a lot of factors that go into this pivotal moment.

Nonetheless, I’ll be making the rounds at c2e2 a week from today, shopping Terminus for the very first time. JM and I have been ready to show the book around for awhile, but wanted to wait not only for a con, but also to get some Hoax Hunters under our belts (part two releases March 16, two days before c2e2 begins).

I think what we have is pretty strong, to be honest. For starters, JM’s art is flat-out amazing. I’ve applauded his intelligence and skill many times on this blog, and since the release of Hoax Hunters, numerous people have come out to praise his work. And I absolutely stand by the story. I think the content, themes, tone, pace, and art combine to create something that comics isn’t delivering much of these days: contemplative, slow-burn sci-fi in the vein of Blade Runner and Gattaca. Hell, no medium is doing much in that tradition. It’s a risky story we’re telling, in content and method, but it’s the one JM and I want to tell.

What I have for the con is a 12-page comic-sized preview, containing the first 8 pages of Terminus (you can read the fist five of those pages here), two character sketches, the cover (shown above), and a synopsis page. I also have this site to direct people to, as well as some other published works. Owing to that, I feel more confident than I have in the past, but there’s just no telling how these things will go. If you’re a publisher and reading this, feel free to jump the gun and contact me if you’re interested!

(One can dream, of course).

While I’m here, it would be remiss not to mention a word on the cover. It’s a little different, in terms of comics covers go, yet classic as well. JM and I looked at a lot of European designs, film posters, things of that nature, and came up with the cover together. JM executed is perfectly, giving a sense of intrigue with the images and disharmony, reflecting the themes of the book, in the way they are laid out. As before, we’re paying special, careful attention to layout and design.

That’s it for now–hopefully I have good news to report from c2e2!

Making a Splash

After a brief hiatus (the entire Terminus team, along with Steve Seeley, was busy working on Hoax Hunters, which you can find running back up in Hack/Slash), we return with page five, the first splash page of the book.

As was the case with the other pages—and many more in the book—there is a specific effect JM and I were trying to achieve. If you look at page four, you’ll notice that each panel runs in a progression, from small to large. That progression continues, and concludes, with page five, obviously the largest image in the progression.

There’s a few reasons why I designed these two pages in this way. The first was that I wanted another way to separate the prologue pages of the book from the narrative proper (and having text boxes with ‘begin prologue’ and ‘end prologue’ was pretty unappealing to me). JM worked to achieve this in the colors he uses for those first three intro pages, which establishes a tone that is much different from the rest of the book. He mixes bright greens and subdued grays that, we’ll see, are of a very different palette from the pages that follow.

JM and I also established, in those first three pages, layout schemes based on symmetry, which I’ve discussed before. With that in mind, I decided that the best approach would be to achieve a different layout principle, other than symmetry. The end result is what you see in pages four and five: a progression of size.

I think, also, we wanted to give a sense of the world of Terminus opening up. The prologue pages are meant to be very controlled, very confined so to stay true to the themes of the book. Here, we enter the chaos of the system, the dead body, the mystery, the threat to what this society is/has become. Each panel builds on one another until we reach page five and have our perspective framed around the crumpled body, delivering maximum impact. It’s a take on the classic, Chandler-esque dead body imagery, infusing the story with mystery—his identity isn’t given, the dialogue is ambiguous. The idea, in my development of the story, is to give things slowly, to build as pages four and five do and have the reveals all the more meaningful.

I’ll be posting JM’s cover soon, and that may be it for a while, in terms of art. We’re currently working on a package to show publishers at C2E2 next month, and hopefully we have success in getting Terminus in the right hands.

The Narrative Begins

After three prologue pages–though no less important–here’s the first page of the proper narrative. Like the first three pages, there is a specific principle guiding the design and layout, which will become more apparent on the page to follow.

Thinking about what JM are doing on a page to page level, and a narrative level, I’m starting to realize how dense this issue is. JM and I have worked hard to make this issue, and will continue to do so in subsequent issues, as full as possible. And for good reason (other than to congratulate ourselves for being waaay smart).

I don’t think the state of the comics industry is a secret: things aren’t going too well. I won’t get into things here, mainly because this discussion has appeared in so many other places and in much more thorough ways than I care to dedicate the time and effort to. But the truth is that comics are stumbling a bit, and a lot of people out there are questioning everything from content to pricing to distribution methods to publishing models. That all being said, not only is it hard for a relative newcomer to carve out a space in this uncertain landscape, but it’s also hard for consumers to take a risk on something new and different. Times are tough, and comic prices aren’t cheap. So if JM and I are going to ask someone to buy our book, we’re going to deliver the best, richest, fullest work we can. The proof of that is in the pudding–this blog is meant to be a complimentary piece to the book, even when it finds a publisher and gets released. It’s a preview for now, but I’ll continue, hopefully, to make the experience of reading Terminus as worthwhile as possible.

Unexpected sidebar aside, this page introduces Hobbes and Murdock, who you can learn more about in their respective character design posts. The location is what’s know as “the lower half” in the unnamed city that is the central location in Terminus. Designed with films like A Clockwork Orange and Blade Runner in mind, what we have here is a rather bleak urban landscape. I’m not sure if this is the future I envision necessarily, but a sharp decline in urban spaces isn’t completely unimaginable, I’d say.

There’s an Easter egg on this page as well, one that calls back to a similar Easter egg on page two. Not necessary to the story, of course, but fun if you can spot it.

JM, Jim, and I will be off for the holiday for awhile, as well as busy working on Hoax Hunters (along with Steve Seeley), a creator-owned story appearing in the pages of Hack/Slash starting in February. I’ll have more on that soon, what it’s about and some preview images. Until then, happy holidays!

The Anatomy of a Page, Continued

This third page is a transitional page. Not that it’s any more or less important than those that proceed it or follow, just that it has an important function of bridging the gap from the book’s first prologue into the main narrative.

The way this functions is to begin shifting the tone–the first two pages are, purposefully, rather cold and sterile. This page here, though, begins to break into the human side of Terminus–the effects this new world we’re beginning to discover has on the daily lives of real people.

JM and I established this through two techniques. The first is the most obvious–through the juxtaposition of Maxwell’s voice-over. We see the beginnings of the cost of a “perfect world,” that there are always those at the bottom, always those who draw the short straw, and they are affected in very real ways. This is exactly what I wanted to show, but without being melodramatic or shifting the tone too far away from what’s established in the first two pages–that cold feel is something JM and I are very sensitive to, especially its need to be at least in the background of the entire book. It’s necessary to be aware of how the world of Terminus functions, and that is the purpose behind the prologues in each issue. I’ve seen later pages and can attest that JM has established to book’s mood perfectly.

The other method is of JM’s creation, and again involves symmetry. This page is divided perfectly in half. On one side you have the cold, detached world of the nursery, of Maxwell and his rhetoric. One the other you have the much more human side. A real couple, filled with fear, anticipation, love, and, eventually, sadness. That’s the battle of Terminus–the dictates of science against the allusive nature of humanity.

So there you have it–page 3, and the end of the prologue. Next up, page 4, which introduces two of the book’s main characters. I also plan on dedicating a post to the editing process, which Terminus underwent heavily. The book was completely scrapped at one point–my first complete draft resembles what now exists in few ways. It was the most intensive editing process I ever put myself through, yet completely necessary. More on that later.

Pages 1 and 2, Lettered

I’ve already given what insight I had on these two pages in previous posts, so I won’t go into much detail here. Suffice it say, though, that Jim’s lettering job is as impactful as ever. This is the third book Jim and I have worked on together–the other two being Quarantined and Reincar(Nate)–and the thing I really admire about Jim is that he manages to adapt his lettering style, in subtle yet effective ways, to the different projects he’s working on. These three projects we’ve worked on together have all been very different in tone, style, and content. Yet Jim’s letters have blended seamlessly with the art in each. Jim knows how a page works, how to make each page flow, and I think that’s why he and I work so well together. The more I’ve honed my comics writing craft–granted, I’m still not where I’d like to be–I’ve gotten more meticulous in how I approach a page, heavily considering design, layout, and what seem like to others small details. It’s no coincidence that I’ve mentioned Stanley Kubrick in this blog on different occasions. His work has inspired nearly every page of Terminus.

Getting back on topic: I wish I had more in-depth things to say about lettering, so I’ll turn it over to Jim instead. Just recently, he’s started a “how-to” lettering guide over at his lettering blog. He offers guides, wisdom, resources, feedback, and some general thoughts on comics and the inner, working relationships between a comic book team. He’s garnered a big following in the short time he’s been operating the blog, and it’s no wonder–not only are his insights invaluable, but Jim also possesses a wicked sense of humor that makes for an enjoyable read for anyone involved in comics.

So here we have some samples of Jim’s work–the first two pages of Terminus. We now have four in the bag, completely done. I’ll be previewing them soon enough. In the meantime, JM is busy working on pages 5 and 6, which should be done sometime after the holiday. Until then, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy our work on Terminus thus far.

And Now, Something New

While I wait for page one to be lettered, I figured I’d move forward a little bit. We’ll get back to the completion of page one soon.

Here, we have…page two! Like page one, there are a few things going on here, in terms of what JM and I were working to accomplish thematically. First, again, is symmetry. You’ll notice that panels one and two mirror panels three and four. The television is replicated in a computer monitor; the zoom, or perspective, also mimics between the four panels–a medium close in panels one and three, then a close in panels two and four. I have to admit, this is all the work of JM–he’s responsible for carrying over our control themes from page one directly into page two.

I’ll show, soon, how the symmetry continues into page three.

So why such attention to symmetry? What’s the big deal? Well, there are a few things. The first is that, in each issue, there is a short prologue–as mentioned before–that works outside the main narrative. The purpose of these prologues is to give a more in-depth understanding of the world of Terminus, to get a feel for the culture that is very much like our own, yet different as well. To achieve this end, I wanted to have these prologues consist not only of specialized content, but have a different look and feel as well. When you see the main narrative pages, the difference will be more apparent. That style–while working in its own unique way that doesn’t involve symmetry and such control–is more gritty, more raw, than what you see here.

Speaking of which, color plays a large role in this page. JM purposefully infused panels one, two, and five with very vibrant blues and greens. In the script, I note how this is basically the only outdoor/ sunshine scene in the book, so JM really wanted to exaggerate the luminosity of the color to make that apparent.

There’s also a thematic Easter egg that JM planted in here…see if you can spot it.