How do you make a horror story in a static medium like comics? What are the tricks to building dread and suspense? And how does visual style contribute to creating images that are unsettling or frightening?

I’m joined by cartoonists Jon David Guerra and Eric Orchard, who help us uncover some of the dark secrets of haunting your readers with your story.

We close with another round of book recommendations with Rachel Moir of the Ann Arbor District Library.

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting the links!):

• Ghost King, a digital comic by Jon David Guerra
• Night of the Living Dead
• The Woman in Black
• The Ring
• The Amityville Horror house
• Uncanny Valley
• The creepy parents in Coraline
• Hellraiser 2
• Torture Porn
• John Carpenter’s Halloween
• Fright Night
• The Pale Man
• Creaure from the Black Lagoon
• Predator
• Mickey Mouse Haunted House
• Agnes Quill
• The Changeling
• The Turn of the Screw
• The Innocents
• The Orphanage
• The Omen
• Alfred Hitchcock on mastering tension
• Evil Dead 2
• Cabin in the Woods
• Bride of Frankenstein
• Christopher Lee vampire movies

Comics and Book Recommendations:

• The Hidden
• Daybreak
• Eerie
• Creepy
• Fall of the House of Usher
• Melvin Monster
• Charles Addams
• Edward Gorey
• Luther

What are the secrets to designing a world that your readers will believe in? How do you compose panels that communicate tone, tension, blocking, and character? If the “camera” in comics can be anywhere, how do you navigate the nearly infinite choices to create moments that tell the story?

I’m joined by Nicolas Bannister, artist of many amazing comics including The Elsewhere Chronicles and Tib & Tumtum, for a discussion on the narrative power of choosing the right angles in your panels.

Later we’re joined by Sharon Iverson of the Ann Arbor District Library for another round of book recommendations!

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting the links!):

• Bannister’s Iconic Footwear series
• Bannister’s Pole Position fanart
• The Frighteners
• Aliens Stompers
• The Flight anthology series

Book Recommendations:

• Ariol
• Bone
• Burquette
• The Chicken Thief
• Vampire Loves
• Big Bang Cats
• Perkeros

Is there anything wrong with agreeing to do some work for free? After all, it might catch on with the Internet, and you can cash in later.

And this is the webcomics model, after all! You put out consistent and professional-quality work for free, hoping to attract an audience, and only begin to sell to them once you’ve got 5,000 fans or more. It’s an investment!

Or you may just be doing your work for “the sake of art.” And if this is so, what’s wrong with others asking you to do the same work, in the same name, for them?

I’m joined by Ryan Estrada, creator of the @forexposure_txt Twitter account and producer of the For Exposure dramatic readings series, for a discussion on the perils and misconceptions of “working on spec.”

Later we’re joined by Sharon Iverson of the Ann Arbor District Library for another round of book recommendations!

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting the links!):

• Comics Are Great! 82 – Funding Your Kickstarter
• Kids’ Comics Revolution! 09 – Kickstarting Your Graphic Novel
• Comics Are Great! 29 – Just Be Interesting!
• Aaron Diaz weighs in on “doing it for the sake of art”
• A comic inspired by a speech by Bill Watterson that sparked some debate amongst cartoonists on the topic of “following one’s dream”
• (and David Willis’ reaction to said comic)
• Rob Stenzinger’s Polytechnicast on “doing what you love”
• Harlan Ellison’s stance on whether or not artists should get paid (NSFW – SWEARS)
• The Submissions Guidelines for Every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe
• Lean Into Art Cast 84 – Getting a Reaction and Showcasing Yourself
• My Three Sons

Book Recommendations:

• Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry
• Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta
• Mal & Chad: Belly Flop!
• Tales of the Brothers Three: Mustaches, Monsters, & Other Hairy Situations!
• Aki Alliance

Comics may be a static medium, but the best cartoonist create an illusion of movement so convincing we’ll often forget that we, the readers, are creating the movement in our minds. How do they do they pull off this trick? And what’s the “secret” to writing engaging and interesting casts? Is there one? Or is it a simple matter of doing one’s research and writing characters with contrast?

Tony Cliff of the recently released Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant stops by the show to share the secrets of creating dynamic and interesting characters, reference strategies for your story’s location, and “The Importance of Being Important.”

We’re joined at the end by Rachel Moir of the Ann Arbor District Library for another round of book recommendations!

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting the links!):

• Tony’s appearance on CAG 77 -Action and Comedy
• Tony’s Tumblr
• Calista Brill (and check out Calista’s talk on pitching books on CAG 75!)
• Jerzy’s take on Delilah Dirk
• Foreshortening
• Eric Orchard
• Dan Mishkin
• Fustanella
• Star Wars art books
• Elmore Leonard and his Ten Rules of Writing
• Jane Austen
• Jake Parker and his amazing Pinterest boards
• Corbis Images
• Jon Klassen’s refrence Tumblr
• Jerzy’s take on the Masters of the Universe
• Calvin and Hobbes: Santa’s a CIA Spook?

Book Recommendations:

• Superman: Birthright
• Gunnerkrigg Court
• Koko Be Good
• Good Dog
• Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry
• Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
• Hilda and the Bird Parade

Learn how nationally-known graphic novelist Shawn Martinbrough became a graphic artist, illustrator, and novelist and about his approach to art. Shawn's works include DMZ: Free States Rising with Brian Wood; Batman: Detective Comics; Luke Cage Noir; a new monthly series, Thief of Thieves with Robert Kirkman (The Waking Dead); and How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling. The bulk of Shawn's work has been done for Marvel Comics, Vertigo and DC Comics. His client list includes Coca Cola/POWERade, The Hershey Company, The Topps Company, Cricket Wireless, Vibe, Bad Boy Entertainment, Penguin Books and McGraw-Hill.

Guest artist Dan Mishkin will talk about what a comic book writer does, and how it's important to think visually and to understand how comics work -- valuable information for writers, but also for artists. Dan is the co-creator of the comic book series "Amethyst", "Blue Devil", "Creeps" and "Spellgame", and author of the children's illustrated novel "The Forest King." Join the Forum to get fresh ideas for your next comics or graphic novel creation. Drawing supplies will be provided, so drop in for drawing, learning, and sharing.

Matt Feazell will discuss how he adapted his long-running comic strip, "The Amazing Cynicalman," into a feature-length screenplay - now a soon-to-be-released film - by the same title.

Kevin Coppa and Dave Roman will entertain the audience with puppets from the fan favorite "Puppetbenders," showing examples of the work and production involved in the making of the web shorts. They will treat fans to a sneak peek at the upcoming "Avatar-The Lost Adventures" from Dark Horse Comics, and MC a live comics read-through involving audience participation. Held in conjunction with the KIDS READ COMICS CONVENTION at Chelsea District Library, June 18 & 19

Raina Telgemeier ("SMILE," "Baby-Sitters Club") and Dave Roman ("Astronaut Academy," "X-Men: Misfits") discuss how reading comics affected their lives, inspiring them to become full-time cartoonists. This event includes live comics readings from graphic novels with lots of audience participation and silliness! Volunteers from the audience will be chosen to play a few of the comic characters.

David Malki! is the nationally-known author of the celebrated comic strip Wondermark, which repurposes illustrations and engravings from 19th-Century books into sarcastic, silly, and surreal collage-style comic strips! For this special event, David will present a slide show of fascinating, forgotten articles unearthed from Victorian-era newspapers and magazines. A man breathes fire! A steam-powered flying machine attempts its first flight! Inventors and adventurers dream big, and often die! And human nature remains unchanged through the ages.