I have been itching to get back to one of my favorite creations, Margo Intergalactic Trash Collector, for some time now. I have cleared my schedule so I thought it this would be a good time to take you through my process as I create it step by step.
I have mapped out the 72 pages of the next storyline. In future emails, I will be taking bite-sized chunks of the story in chronological order and sharing my process for creating this comic series.
I begin with the thumbnails of the pages. Since I write and draw my own comics, I have the story beats worked out in my head and I can formulate the story outline first and move into the page breakdowns without a script. I will do one for dialog later before moving into the lettering. This system is similar to the Marvel style, but with one creator instead of several.
After finishing the breakdowns on snap paper, I lay out the entire story to determine what works and what does not, often cutting and pasting panels and redrawing whole segments. Fine tuning the flow of the story. When I am staffed with how the story flows, I scan the breakdowns and import them into a Clip Studio Paint layer to ink.
Pages 1-3
The setup:
One year has transpired since the events of Margo #3. Margo has blown a giant hole into the fabric of the universe sucking up the x-15 weapon, saving the galaxy but inadvertently, allowing an evil entity access to our universe.
Page One, Panel one, opens with IWM the waste collection corporation Margo works for, monitoring the hole as it shoots out spores. I have left room for the logo and credits. The spores travel through space in panels 3 and 4. Some of my changes are more obvious with the sketch and inks side-by-side, as you can see in panel 1. X's indicate where I will create outer space using colors.
Page Two. The spores travel to a near by planet, where a priest sits meditating atop a mountain. In panel 5, the priest sees the spores. Again, X's indicate where I will create outer space and the sky using colors.
Page Three. In panel 1, the priest welcomes the spores as a holy sign, but the spores open a portal and he is attacked by creatures in panels 2-5. I also redrew panel 4, as I felt I needed to show the strength and numbers of the attackers better than in my original art. Also, it enhances the panel/eye flow from left to right as indicated by the red arrows.
In the next segment, I will demonstrate the coloring of these pages.
Keep creating,