HOW TO MAKE A COMIC STRIP STORY
Hi! I am Alan Nolan, illustrator, author and comic book creator. I am the co-creator of the award
winning Irish comic SANCHO, and the writer and illustrator of the Murder Can Be Fatal series of
murder mystery graphic novels for the O’Brien Press, as well as the creator of popular The Big Break
Detectives Casebook. My latest book, Fintan’s Fifteen, is Ireland’s first illustrated novel on hurling. I
am delighted to be involved with this project for Cork Libraries, and look forward to seeing all your
submissions!
THEME
The theme of our comic book is Fairytales. These can be traditional or modern retelling of classic
fairytales – from The Gingerbread Man to Little Red Riding Hood; from Snow White and the Seven
Dwarves to Rumpelstiltskin – the choice is yours. Celtic myths and legends will also be considered for
inclusion.
THE TELLING
We aim to tell these stories through the medium of 1 to 3 page comic strips, which will then be
collected into an anthology book. These strips can be black & white or full colour (hand coloured or
coloured on computer). Templates for different A4 size page layouts can be downloaded at the end of
this tutorial.
A page can consist of one big panel, or many more (within reason!)
HOW I DO IT
I suppose the best way to show you how to produce a comic strip is to run through how I do it!
THE STORY
I always start off with a STORY. And not just any story, I like them to have a Beginning, a Middle
and, most importantly for this book, an End. I always like stories that aren’t just straight retellings,
stories that are told from unexpected points of view. So, for instance, for The Billy Goats Gruff, you
could tell the story from the point of view of the Troll, beginning could be the Troll hiding underneath
the bridge, wondering why he is alone all the time and always hungry. The middle section would be
about the mean bullies, the Billy Goats Gruff, attempting to tramp across the bridge that the Troll
always keeps so clean, pristine and free of mucky hoof prints. The end could be how the Goats trick
the Troll, leaving him alone once more. Poor Troll… When you choose which story you want to tell,
write down what will happen under the three headings – Beginning, Middle and End.
THE SCRIPT AND PANEL BREAKDOWN
Once I have the Story, I start on the Script. I think up funny, interesting or action-packed scenes that
might happen in the story, and write down roughly on paper dialogue and banter that may happen
between the characters.
I then formalize this into a Script that is almost like a script for a play, but instead of giving stage
directions I write down a description of what will be happening in each picture panel on the page. It
helps to experiment with sketching out the action as you write the panel descriptions – there are
downloadable pdf files with different page layouts available here, feel free to print out as many as you
like and sketch away until you are happy that your story is working!
A script usually reads something like this…
PAGE 1
Panel 1
Big panel to establish setting.
An ugly Troll sits under a dank, wet bridge, half in shadow, not looking happy. A Rat is crawling
over the Troll’s huge, hairy foot.
TROLL: Ho-hum…
Panel 2
Mid close up on the Troll as he holds the Rat up in his hand. The Rat looks terrified.
TROLL: You know, Robert, if it wasn’t for you, I’d be so lonely.
LINK (ie. Two speech bubbles linked together to signify a pause in speech)
Sometimes I think you’re the only one who understands me.
Panel 3
Close up on the Troll’s face as he looks up at the ceiling of the bridge. Large cobwebs hang
down. We can’t see the Rat.
TROLL: I’m so hungry, but I’d never eat YOU. You can take that to the bank, pal.
LINK
I… I love you, Robert, you’re my best bud…
Panel 4
Close up on the Rat as he savagely bites the Troll’s dirty, hairy finger.
SFX: (ie. Sound Effect) Chommpp!
Panel 5
The Troll screams in shock and pain, holding his finger. The Rat is scampering off.
TROLL: Yee-ouchh!!
LINK
Not you too, Robert! Come back…
If you were planning a 3 page story, that would be the Beginning part, the next page would be
the Middle and page 3 would be the End.
Here is a script and finished page that I did for my book, Death By Chocolate, just one page of an 80
page story:
You can see from this how I sketched out the panel descriptions prior to drawing the finished product –
planning is essential!
TIP: If your panel has dialogue, remember to leave room in your panel layouts for the speech bubbles.
THE ARTWORK
Once you have your Story and Script/Page Layouts worked out and sketched, you can move onto the
Artwork. Using the downloadable A4 pdf files, you can make any panel layout you require by using a
black pen and a ruler (or if you are used to using a vector-based application like Adobe Illustrator, you
can modify the pdf file!) The page layouts supplied are based around a six panel grid, but you can use
3 panels, 5 panels, 2 panels or even just one big panel – whatever works for your story.
The next thing is to get drawing, using the A4 pdf layouts provided. I usually draw out in pencil first,
quite lightly, and then draw over this with a thin, black felt tip pen, and rubbing out the pencil lines
when done. These pens are available in a variety of different nib sizes and I tend to use nearly all of
them, depending on the amount of details I want to get in.
But! Draw and create your artwork in whatever medium you are comfortable in! Some people favour
ink dip pens, some use biros, some use pencil (although, make sure the lines are nice and visible!)
If you prefer to do colour artwork you can use gouache, watercolour, colour pencils or computer
colours – whatever works to tell your story better.
LETTERING YOUR STORY
If your story is chosen for submission, we would be happy to computer letter your comic strip for you,
as well as adding any sound effects – just send us your Script via email in a MS Word document or
similar when you are sending your Artwork.
If you prefer to add your own speech balloons and dialogue, please feel free to do so. But remember,
not everyone is as neat and consistent in their handwriting as a computer, and we ARE here to help!
SUBMITTING YOUR STORY
When your Artwork is completed, please scan your A4 page(s) at a minimum of 300dpi and send,
along with your Script, to [email protected]
And Bob’s your auntie! We will have a read through all submissions, and will be in touch.
…So get your thinking-trousers on and good luck with your stories!
Alan.