In 2015, thanks to a very kind introduction from Marvel Talent Relations Manager Rickey Purdin, I was invited to be a guest at Comics Uncovered, an intimate aspiring comic creator seminar attached to Birmingham, UK’s International Comic Expo. I was being flown out to do portfolio reviews and hang out and talk comics—it seemed too good to be true. Feeling guilty about being flown across the globe and put up in a hotel in order to do a few hours of portfolio reviews, I suggested: “I can do a presentation or something. I want to earn my keep.” My gracious host Shane Chebsey*, the show organizer, was delighted to take me up on that offer, so I set about hastily putting together a presentation on a topic that I, as an editor, get asked about most frequently: breaking into comics. Thanks to the tireless talents in Dark Horse’s design department, my slapdash** ideas were stylishly and swiftly converted into a Powerpoint presentation and I headed to England to preach to a young, impressionable group of writers and artists. I think it all went pretty well, so I’ve taken the time to update my talk (trying to keep the conversational tone in which it was originally presented) and post it here in the hopes it can, in some small way, aid the burgeoning careers of any up-and-coming comic talent looking for some advice. Continue Reading “Breaking In: Advice on Starting a Career in Comics”
