Wrapped in Plastic II: Back to the Front

Back before MySpace fell off the edge of existence, I actually cranked out a blog a week in regards to any comics that I was currently reading. My blog even had a title, “Wrapped in Plastic.” I liked that name because every Wednesday night I would rush off to the local comic shop and score a (hopefully) heaping pile of comics all nicely backer-boarded and WRAPPED IN PLASTIC. So, that’s what I called my blog. I think at its height, “Wrapped in Plastic” had a whopping 12 subscribers.

How times have changed. Now I’m trying to make comics instead of writing blog reviews about them.

Back during the old WiP (Wrapped in Plastic) days, I was easily getting 10+ books a week. Now, on a good week, I might get 5. Heck, I don’t even pick my books up every week, anymore. I think the combination of Marvel raising their prices and suffering through long, drawn out arcs that should have been done in (much) fewer issues took a toll on the fan in me. I could no longer support laying down $20 for 5 issue arcs that should have been done in ONE issue. Bottom line is that times are tough all over, and I was spending way too much money on comics I wasn’t getting enough out of.

Sure, going from realizing that one is spending too much $ on comics to deciding to make their own comics is probably the next dumbest step ever. But, that’s exactly what I did. Recently, two opinion leaders in my life mentioned that an ongoing blog on making my comics may be beneficial for promoting my books. So, I think it’s time to bring back my Wrapped in Plastic blog, this time from the creator side.

When I started aspiring to write comics, I thought I could simply write a story with the characters I already knew and loved and then submit material to the publisher for review. So that’s what I did. For me, this revolved around some D.H. characters. Well, that was shot down as soon as it was submitted. Although I was given some kind words in regards to the story I was writing, I was also informed that writing unsolicited material without the consent of the character creator/owner is strictly prohibited. I can’t express how stupid and naive I was about all of this at first. But some of my friends pointed out that I got a response from the publisher, where as in most cases a response would not even have been warranted. There was enough of something there that they got back to me. This somehow turned getting shot down into something positive. So, I stepped back and created my own characters to work with. And that’s how and why there’s an Elementis Special Operations Unit (Elementis is my ongoing comic series).

Shortly after this I also realized that most every comic publisher you NEVER heard of is NOT taking writing submissions. Seems like ALL publishers will accept art submissions, but writing? Seldom. I think when you are an aspiring comic writer this may be the most daunting revelation you will encounter; THERE IS NO SIGNIFICANT DEMAND FOR NEW COMIC BOOK WRITERS. That’s the reality of it. Regardless, it doesn’t matter if you want to write, draw, ink, color, letter or edit, you won’t start at the top and you better be willing to W-O-R-K to prove what your abilities are (or in most cases, realize what they are not).

I still wasn’t deterred (how many times should I have given up by now?). I would simply find the people to work with (and I did – more on them later). About one year from starting all of this I have two ESOU issues done, a collected 52-page volume completed, ½ of the third issue done and also have other comic related projects that are currently under construction. Now, I can’t imagine NOT doing this. I need to create, and I also need to learn. This, this comic making exercise, is perfect for me. I'm so looking forward to applying what I have learned to date with/for/on my future work.

Well, I made the call when I started typing this that I CAN NOT go over one page. I’m dangerously close to the bottom right now, so it’s time for me to either sign off or start editing junk out. Look at this as the formal introduction into Wrapped in Plastic II. There will be many more details of the highs and lows and insights to the trails and tales of publishing an unknown Independent Comic to come.

Make the most of today, People. Later,
-Keith