The bias against 3D Comics

Over at the Daz3D site, we were discussing comics in general and 3D comics in particular. Here's a highlight from a conversation that I thought might be of interest to others.

 I've spoken to a lot of traditional comics artists (professional, semi-pro and amateur) and have been writing comics for fanzines since I was a teenager. Back then, as a lousy artist, I had no choice put to work with other people who could draw but couldn't write as well as I could. I also found out that I was better at doing breakdowns/page design and panel flow than a lot of the artists I worked with. Just because you're good at drawing the figure does NOT mean you're automatically good at pacing the story and knowing what to show and where to add emphasis. I also knew a lot of artists who didn't know when to break for the end of the page. By that, I mean they didn't realize that you could build dramatic tension by making the reader wait to flip the page. The typical use of this is the last panel showing the hero turn and gasp, "You?" and then flip the page to see the villain holding the damsel in distress with a gun at her head. Or in the Captain America page below, note how the action is all building up:

1. Cap is desperately outnumbered
2. Teeth gritted, Rick is reaching for the gun, expressing self-doubt in his mind...
3. Even as Cap runs, we seen some cues that remind us we're in a graveyard
4. We see the horde in silhouette, the cycle is clearly visible (and that's why Cap is bent low, btw, because if he were standing up he would cut off the cycle and his height cutting through the plane of the cycle and possible the back horizon would make everybody seem closer than they are). And note how this page ends with us waiting to see what happens next. We have to wait to flip the page to see what happens when Rick pulls the trigger.

© 2020 Marvel Comics Group

But back to making my own comics... So I started doing my scripts as page breakdowns and worked with artists who liked it that way and would build on what I sketched out (Steve Addlesee was great at this, as he would change camera angles and move figures around a bit – he said it made his work better because when he started bringing his vision to it, the work was already more than halfway to where it was going to end up). Steve and I were great collaborators. (BTW, I found out recently that when Jim Shooter was a teenager writing the Legion of Superheroes for DC, he would sketch out the scripts as full breakdowns for the artists; his editor would then rip them to pieces and Jim would have to fix things based on what the Editor wanted). I'm not sure how many comics I did breakdowns for, but it was probably in the range of 250-300 pages, many of which were finished by artists and published in fanzines.

Let's get back to 3D and the discussion at hand.

Now with 3D art, I can cut out the middleman and try to do it all myself: take the images in my mind (and in my thumbnails) and bring them to life. 3D also lets me experiment with subtle changes to the pose and expression and camera angles and sometimes I have a "happy accident" and discover something even better than what I originally imagined.

But, this brings us to the unfortunate fact that most "traditional artists" think that 3D comics are crap. And I have to say that, for the most part, they are right. Not just right, but "100% right." But the traditionalists are almost completely wrong as to WHY. 

3D is not the culprit as to why the finished products seem dull and lifeless. The problem is that most 3D comics are not good comics.

It has nothing to do with the use of 3D tools, it's just that too many 3D artists don't actually read comics on a regular basis, or if they do, they're not reading them to learn anything. @Diva, you kept saying in that example above that it was an EXTREME example. You're partly right, but I also must counter and say, "No, it's not really extreme. It's a standard action page by Jack Kirby." Kirby, of course, is one of the masters of the medium who instrumental in inventing most of the modern tropes of comics as know them today. Do you want to frame a page of dialogue the way it was set up in that page? I hope not! But as far as action goes? Yeah, this is a great page. (If you want to see great dialogue pages, go look up Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore, Bone by Jeff Smith or look at Tomb of Dracula by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colon.)

Anyway, back to my point. Most of the 3D comics I've seen are not well done in terms of storytelling. The artists don't have a grasp of the basics as to when to include an establishing shot, when to allow a scene to play out slowly over a few panels, when to use close-ups and how to frame a scene with dialogue. In short, even if the artists are good at setting up their scenes and getting good lighting (not a lot are, btw, I see LOTS of 3D scenes that are not properly lit to show faces or reactions, or that don't know when to use a silhouette to simplify the composition, like Kirby did in that last panel of the page above). I've seen too many 3D comics that don't tell stories well. The next time you look at a page done in 3D, look at it and ask yourself, if a pro artist of the top caliber were to redraw that page, would it still be a good comics page? Unfortunately, the answer is almost always "no."

So, the solution to getting past the bias of the traditional artists? MAKE GREAT COMICS WITH 3D!

Write a good strip, block out your scenes, arrange your panels well, have good lettering, and above all else, do something in 3D that you cannot do better with hand-drawn comics.

As for something more concrete? Okay, here are some tips for 3D comics creators:

• Thumbnail your pages before you start setting up your scenes. No movie director would ever start a shoot without storyboards, and almost every professional comics artist does thumbnails or breakdowns, so why wouldn't you?
• Don't be afraid to tilt the camera (straight on shots are dull – we all know that, so why do I see so many of them?).
• Change the focal length on your camera (I cannot tell you how SHOCKED I am that most 3D artists tell me that they almost never change the focal length to get different results for different shots). Photographers may use 35mm lenses as the standard, but professional portrait photographers use lenses between 50mm - 100mm. 
• Don't be afraid of shadows (let figures be in silhouette sometimes).
• Light the heroes faces enough so that we can see reactions.
• Think about Character Design like a pro: Even in silhouette or at a great distance, you can easily tell Batman and Superman apart. If you have a group of soldiers, then use some bit of color or something on their uniforms to help us tell them apart. No, you don't have to be as vivid as the Power Rangers, but those crazy costumes make it VERY clear who's who.
• Don't be afraid to edit. Sometimes you can put a lot of work into a panel or page and it just doesn't work. Don't be lazy and keep it – toss it out and start over.
• On the other hand, don't cripple your output with perfectionist tendencies like I do! Sometimes you've gotta just cut your losses and move on to the next page or the next illustration.
• Above all else, read comic books done by great creators!
• Anyway, I hope this gives you guys something to think about. And I hope I didn't come off as a preachy jerk.

Ultra has arrived

It only took about 35 years from start to finish, but here she is!

Ultra - Cleaning up my act (and the art)

Apparently, cleaning up 30-year old artwork is harder than I expected. It seems like the old pencil lines are just embedded in the art board. And when erased, old ink is prone to crack and flake off in tiny pieces, leaving small gaps in once-pristine black lines.

So, I'm using Photoshop to carefully clean and tidy up the artwork for Fanzine Flashback: Ultra #1. And it's going a lot slower than I expected.

Nevertheless, it is progressing. I'm more than 80% finished and the material that is finished looks great. I think it's really going to be everything I had hoped for when I started working to bring this comic book to life.

Those of you who have scanned old artwork before may be wondering what I'm talking about. Most people I know just use Photoshop and adjust the levels to get rid of yellowing artboard and drop out the pencil marks.

And most people sacrifice a LOT of detail when they do this.

I like the detail and want to keep it. I'd rather plod along at a slow pace and make sure I'm giving you the best version of the art I can. To this end, I am cleaning up lines, removing pencils marks, scooping out the bowls and holes in the lettering, and applying a lot of touch-up to make sure the solid blacks are, in fact, solid. I don't want brush lines or streaks when this is printed.

In other words, I'm printing this comic the way I would have back then, not preserving it for posterity. This is not an "Artist's Edition" that will show all the warts and blemishes.

Step One: Scooping out the Gunk

Fanzine Flashback: Ultra #1, Page 7,
in progress of being cleaned.

The first step in this process is to "scoop out the gunk" on the pages. That is, clear out the large areas of white space in the page layout, including the gaps between panels. I do this because the process of using the Levels adjustment in Photoshop darkens the blacks and makes the light areas turn pure white. In this process, little blemishes in the paper (I wonder if they have increased with age due to acid in the paper?) turn gray or black, leaving lots of little spots all over the page.

I could wait until after the levels tool is applied to do the scooping, but I actually found out that it's a little faster to do it beforehand.

As an aid to track what has and has not been scooped, I change the background color to a light pastel. This increased contrast really speeds up my work. In the example I'm providing here, I've just started cleaning out the bottom. I will complete separating all the panels (and sharpening their edges), as well as cleaning out some of the edges of the inked lines.

Step Two: Digitally Erasing Pencil Lines
After this, I will actually go in and clean out more detailed areas and remove heavy pencil lines. In general, Steve Addlesee did complete pencils with heavy lines for the inker to follow. However, there are also a lot of lighter lines where he started to place a shoulder or collar and then changed his mind. Andrew Pepoy followed them closely, but sometimes he added additional touches and interpretations to put his own stamp on the book.

Close up of panel 1, with problem areas indicated.
NOTE: This is a big scan, so click on the image to see it in detail.

That included using zip-a-tone on characters to indicate they are Black. Shading film like this is tricky to adjust; it's easy to let it clog up and hide details of the inking underneath. There are times I have had to go in and scoop out gunk between individual dots. Tedious? You bet. But sometimes it's worth it, particularly around the eyes and mouth.

Here's a sample of what the page looks like after adjusting the Levels and duplicating the layer with the blending mode set to Multiply (if that sounds like gibberish to you, I apologize, but it's the sort of detail that Photoshop users will appreciate). This gives me two identical copies of the layer, one on top of the other, so that thin lines become darker.

Panel 1 after Levels & duplicating the layer and setting the top copy's
blending mode to Multiply. Again, click on this to see it in detail.
Red zones show places that need more work.

By the way, as you'll notice, this process really messes up the lettering. That's why I remove the lettering and process it differently on a separate layer. This method is slow, but it gives me solid results that I'm pleased with.

I also have to retrace the word balloons because, as you'll notice in the first example, Steve used a felt pen for those lines, and the ink actually turned purple over time. Using the Levels tool just turns these lines into a spotty mess (and the Threshold Adjustment isn't any better -- it just makes spotty lines everything).

The process is slow and steady, but as I said, I'm mostly pleased with the results and think it will be worth all the effort when it finally sees print at the end of this year.

I'll post more updates soon!

Ultra Update: The project in a nutshell

I realize that I haven't been exactly clear about what's going on here. So here it is:

• About 30 years ago (among other things), I created a superhero called ULTRA.
• I sent rough sketches to Steve Addlesee, who refined my initial costume ideas and did some concept art for me (check the last post for two of the images from the character design phase).
• I then wrote a 20-page story and Steve penciled and lettered it. I may or may not have done some layouts/breakdowns for this story.
• I then had some trouble finding someone to ink it. Ken Holden, Jr. inked the first 5 pages, then dropped the project due to other commitments.
• Andrew Peopy (who was a teenager at the time and has since gone on to become an award-winning artist) inked the first 11 pages before dropping it (it's also possible that he never got the second half of the story -- I'm not sure).
• I then got distracted with other things -- being the president of the Collectors' Club, going to college, dating, etc. All the usual things encountered by guys in their early 20s.
• So I dropped the project. It's been sitting in my files, unfinished and unseen for about 30 years.
• I recently went through my files and found a LOT of cool stuff.
• So, I've decided to reactivate my old fanzine label, MELEE PUBLICATIONS, and print/reprint some of this old material.
• I've contacted both Steve and Andrew, and they both gave me their blessings on this project. And they will receive royalties from each issue sold.

In future updates, I'll fill you in on the clean-up process for the artwork, and some of the other zines I'll be printing.

Ultra Busts Out in COLOR!

This may sound odd, but when I created Ultra 30+ years ago, I never really thought of her in color. I was pretty sure she was a redhead, but since I was working in b&w line art, I designed the costume to look good in b&w. Back then, color was prohibitively expensive for a small press publisher to use, so it really didn't cross my mind.

Of course, nowadays we have cheap Print On Demand color, and the Web is a cornucopia of color. It's everywhere. In fact, the only people using black and white on the Web are doing so to be artsy (and even then, most of them use pops of color for emphasis and drama).

But I digress.

Now that I'm going to reprint ULTRA in this modern era, that means I need to figure out what she looks like in color. And, I must admit, that's proving to be a challenge.  You see, I really like the idea of gold boots and wrist bands. I also know she's a redhead. So, of course, that moves me toward green as her costume color. Um... high yellow boots and a green outfit? Sound like anyone's favorite female mutant with a fiery bird motif? Yup. It would be very easy to have her look like Phoenix.

Which is something I don't want.

So, Right now I'm taking suggestions (my old buddy Eric C. suggested I glam her up with metallic colors and some greens, purples, and so forth. I like it, but I'm not sure it's exactly the look I'm going for.  

Ultra Color Concepts. If you have any suggestions, send 'em in!

 I also took Eric's advice about making the trunks and vest purple. I actually kind of like that (as you can see above, I extended that to the trim on the boots). I'm considering adding it to the wrist bands. I like the orange, but it reminds me a bit too much of when Nova Kane had super powers in the old E-Man comics. It's also a little too Aquaman for me. But -- well -- it does kind of work. 

If you have any suggestions for her costume colors, send 'em in. If I use your idea, I'll send you a free PDF of the comic when it comes out.

Ultra will soon appear in a full-size comic book, FANZINE FLASHBACK: ULTRA #1. It features a 20 page story penciled by Steven R. Addlesee and the first 11 pages were inked by a teenaged Andrew Pepoy. For project and ordering info, visit us at: www.meleepublications.com

Ultra is Coming!

Illustration by Steven R. Addlesee, created Sept. 1982
Copyright 1982, 2014 Mike Mitchell

Here's a little glimpse at what I'm working on next! If you blow this up to full size, you'll see that I did NOT draw this. It was created based on original sketches and ideas that I sent to the incomperable Steven R. Addlesee waaaaay back in 1982! Yup.

I was just out of high school, and must stop before I call myself a "fresh-faced kid," because, if I recall correctly, I was rocking a serious boy-stache back them. Yup. That bit of under-nose hair all guys think makes them look older when they're at that age. And, of course, it really just looks silly.

But I digress.

Back then, and for several years after, I self published comic books and magazines. I created this superhero and sent the very rough concepts to Steve (we knew each other through the auspices of the Collectors' Club, which is a group of people who collect & enjoy comics) and he created the stunning b&w inked illustration you see above.

I added the color to make her "pop" in this image.

Stay tuned for a big announcement next week!