The best format for your comic script

To write a script you need to know what you’re writing it for.

I’ve been referring to these scripts specifically as “comic book or graphic novel” scripts, but those are NOT all encompassing for the whole of visual storytelling - and I say “visual storytelling” as a placeholder for the more specific term “2D storytelling using consecutive illustrations”.

Movies tell a story, but they’re 3D.

Books tell a story, but they don’t rely on illustrations - unless they’re picture books, comic books, graphic novels, KidLit, pitchbooks, yadayada, you get it. 

I say comic books, but that's an umbrella term for all the formats your 2D consecutive storytelling illustrations can take. 

If you’re interested in graphic novels or comic books specifically, it’s worth unpacking all your options within that genre to find the kind of “consecutive illustration” book format that will help you tell your story the best. When you know what kind of book format you’re going to use, you know how to format your script, which is the next step.

Here are some of your most common options: 

One Shot: One shots are standalone stories fully contained within 22 pages. They can have completely unique characters who ONLY exist within those 22 pages, or they can include characters from an already existing series who follow through on a plot that has no consequence on the original storyline, similar to filler episodes in any long standing series. One shots are a strategic way to create a lot of uniquely attractive comics, any of which might get picked up by a publisher to be made into a longer running series, and in this way one shots are similar to pilot episodes. 

Anthology: A comic anthology is just like any other anthology, but with comics - it’s basically a collection of individual comics from multiple creators (or the same creator, if you’re feeling up to it), ranging anywhere from 1 - 20 pages per (standalone) comic, generally, with a total anthology page count easily going into the hundreds. This is a strategic way to introduce your comic to publishers who want to support your work, but aren’t completely familiar or comfortable with you yet. Some anthologies get published regularly, allowing for multiple separate but continuous series to be told within them, which is a great way of dividing the production cost with other comic creators while also sharing in their audience base to increase readership.

Limited Series, Mini-Series and Maxi-Series: Mini and Maxi Series are a collection of separate but related comic issues which contribute to the same storyline. An “issue” is a floppy comic book around 22 pages with its own plot line contributing to the larger plotline, with each issue leading into the next. Mini-series typically have no more than 11 issues while maxi series have 12+ issues. The entirety of the story is told within the mini/maxi series - These series have a clear beginning, middle, and end, because without those these series would be considered “ongoing”. Limited series can be found in anthologies or done standalone.

Ongoing: Ongoing comics are probably the most well known in the US. These are the superhero series that have been around for decades. Ongoing series don’t have an intentional end, they end for one reason or another, but that’s typically not planned out, so you can have a bunch of contributors interchanging over the years while the series continues. An ongoing comic series has an unknown amount of future issues. If you’re unclear about your storyline, you probably feel like you belong in this category. While that may be the case, this category is best used when you are an established entity within the comic world, meaning you have a fan base and/or publisher who is comfortable with the idea of not knowing where you’re going with the series and trusts you to do a good job. Publishers don’t like taking risks on unknown entities with unknown plotlines. Sorry bud. 

Trade Paperbacks: TPB series are a great strategy to (re)stimulating an audience. When comics are released in single issues, either as a limited series, or an ongoing series, there’s an opportunity to gather all those issues into one or more books and sell them as such. We call those trade books (or trade paperback books, though they can be hardcover too). This makes selling in bookstores easier, it can sell the same story to the same person twice, and TPBs can include goodies and accoutrements such as standalone illustrations, or behind-the-scenes pictures, or guest artist renditions of the series. This can happen with comics that strike gold with a receptive fanbase in their ongoing forms, and then get picked up by publishers who collect the issues and republish them as trade paperbacks.

Graphic Novel: Graphic novels are really *in* right now, especially within the indi-publishing community which is also really *in* right now. Graphic novels are easily picked up by publishers. Graphic novels are basically longer versions of comic books, with a more complete and succinct storyline. Graphic novels can be a singular story, or they can contribute as parts of a larger story, hence the titles “Book 1” or “Part 1”. “The Watchmen” is a popular graphic novel, as is the venerable graphic novel “Maus”. Graphic novels have more pages than one shot comics.

Webcomic: Webcomics are comics published exclusively online, and are an excellent way to skip over the publishers. If you have a blog, or a facebook page, or any web platform, you can broadcast a webcomic. Webcomics can take any dimension, though there are a lot of considerations depending on how your reader is viewing your webcomic (on the wide and tall computer screen vs the small and slim cell phone screen, and anything in between). Webcomics can be standalone comics which set up and tell the punchline in 4 panels, or they can contribute to a larger plot with each page leading into the next page.

This is a great way to engage with an audience on a schedule, with easily shareable content to grow your audience, similar to how the funnies were (are?) published daily in newspapers.

Webcomics offer something special too - something new and unique to only the online platform: animation. As technology that was once cost prohibitive to the every-day person becomes more accessible, the world of webcomics is taking a huge leap forward, surpassing anything printed comics could hope to do. Of course there will always be a special something in the printed comics, but the possibilities for webcomics is increasing quickly. This is where I’d recommend life-time comics to start - build a name for yourself by producing regular, shareable content that can then lead to a Patreon backing, or a kickstarter campaign for self-publishing. This is probably the most accessible route for beginning comic bookers. 

These are the quick synopses of the most commonly formatted comics. Your homework, as a comic creator, is to decide which format best tells your story, which inherently asks you to define your story - which, if you've read this far, you're ready to do. 

If you’re wondering and have questions about which category your story falls into, feel free to reach out! We can chat about your project in a zero-pressure 15 minute zoom meeting, which will help you get started on your project goals → https://calendly.com/theartbard/chataboutyourproject

I hope you’re healthy and keeping busy!

Until next time!

Shani, The Art Bard