Justin Jordan on Crafting Second Issues

Comics writer Justin Jordan joined the Comics Experience Creators Workshop recently, and discussed his career in comics, including his work on The Legend of Luther Strode, Team 7, Shadowman and other projects.

During the session, a workshop member asked Jordan about the difficulty of crafting an effective second issue in a comics mini-series.

The first issue, Jordan said, contains the inciting incident, introduces the characters and kicks off the plot.

"But issue two, for me, is almost always a transitional issue," Jordan said. "The heroes are starting to react to stuff, but the plot really hasn't started rolling."

Jordan said that when he finishes the draft of a script, it's either 90 percent complete, or he simply starts over from scratch, with very few drafts falling in-between.

"And issue two's are always like pulling teeth," Jordan said, "That was true of Luther Strode, too. It's been consistent in every mini-series I've done in recent years."

Andy Schmidt, moderator of the session and a former Marvel and IDW editor, noted that the serial nature of mainstream comics causes many writers to jam their first issue with plot and character development, in order to attract readers. As a result, many things that would normally fall in issue two are instead front-loaded into the first issue.

"And so two tends to be a little lighter, a little less heavy, a little less action-intense," Schmidt said.

Jordan noted that by issue three, "all the pieces are in motion and you have an inevitable narrative drive. Or at least I do if I'm doing my job right."

Other topics discussed by Jordan included:

* Putting together pitches, and the pitch process for Luther Strode;
* Jordan's process for plotting out issues;
* Parlaying Luther Strode into work-for-hire gigs at DC Comics and Valiant Entertainment;
* Finding and working with artists, early in your career;
* Jordan's daily work-flow, and the number of pages he writes in a typical day;
* Marketing your creator-owned work.

For those interested in seeing more of Jordan's work, The Legend of Luther Strode, a sequel to the hit mini-series The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, hits comic shops in December from Image Comics.

Comics Experience Creators Workshop sessions take place every month, giving members real-world knowledge that will help them succeed in their comics career. Additionally, the monthly Creators Workshop Book Club sessions feature guest writers and artists discussing the craft and art of comics, as well as the business side of things.

There's still plenty of time to sign up before the next session. We hope to see you there.

--Posted by Paul Allor

Justin Jordan joins Creators Workshop Tomorrow Night! (11/20/12)

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, Justin Jordan will be our live, online guest at the Creators Workshop!

Justin is the co-creator and writer of the hit Image comic book The Strange Talent of Luther Strode.

Luther Strode was a six-issue mini-series following the tale of an average teenager who orders The Hercules Method, a bodybuilding course advertised in a comic book, that promised to make a man of him. But it didn’t just make him a man, it made him a super man!

Comics Bulletin called Luther Strode "...a magnum opus of guts, gore and ultra-violence hanging within the frame of morality."

And CBR said it was an "...awesome, nasty, gripping, crazy, fun comic...by the kind of new voices that comics needs, an energetic infusion of raw talent."

A sequel, The Legend of Luther Strode, hits comic shops in December from Image Comics.

Justin lives in the wilds of Pennsylvania, and has worked as everything from a lumberjack to a librarian.

He says he's settled on writing because "...it doesn't require an axe, which was a flaw in both lumberjackery and librarianhood."

In addition to Luther Strode, his comics work has appeared in more than a dozen anthologies.

The success of the Luther Strode series has led Justin to writing gigs with both DC Comics (Team 7 and Deathstroke) and Valiant Entertainment (Shadowman).

His work on Team 7 garnered a story and special preview on USA Today, which can be viewed right here.

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We're looking forward to a great discussion with Justin!

There's still time to join us at the Creators Workshop before these two live sessions. We hope to see you there.

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If you want to make comics, write or draw comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook

Karl Kerschl and Justin Jordan - Upcoming Guests on the Creators Workshop!

In November, we'll have two great live, online sessions at the Creators Workshop: a Book Club discussion of The Abominable Charles Christopher with creator Karl Kerschl...

AND a Workshop session with writer Justin Jordan on his writing, including The Strange Talent of Luther Strode from Image, Team 7 from DC Comics, and Shadowman from Valiant!

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On November 13, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, we'll be discussing The Abominable Charles Christopher with Karl Kerschl.

Karl Kerschl has been drawing comics professionally for 15 years. He has worked on Superman, The Flash and the Teen Titans, among other heroic things, and has also published collections of his weekly webcomic, The Abominable Charles Christopher, the second volume of which is now available. He lives in Montréal with his wife and his cat, Jacques Cousteau.

The Abominable Charles Christopher tells the path of a shaggy man-beast, Charles Christopher, and the forest creatures and gods with whom he comes in contact.

Neil Gaiman has said of the story:

"To say it's like an unholy mash-up of Walt Kelly, Jeff Smith and Sumerian Mythology is true, but it misses the point completely. It is it own thing, and it does what comics do best: make a world and draw you into it."

The story has won the Shuster Award for Best Canadian Webcomic in 2010, and the Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic in 2011. It updates weekly at www.abominable.cc.

Volume 1 and Volume 2 print collections are also available.

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Then, on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, we'll be joined by writer Justin Jordan!

Justin is the co-creator and writer of the hit Image comic book The Strange Talent of Luther Strode.

Luther Strode was a six-issue mini-series following the tale of an average teenager who orders The Hercules Method, a bodybuilding course advertised in a comic book, that promised to make a man of him. But it didn’t just make him a man, it made him a super man!

Comics Bulletin called Luther Strode "...a magnum opus of guts, gore and ultra-violence hanging within the frame of morality."

And CBR said it was an "...awesome, nasty, gripping, crazy, fun comic...by the kind of new voices that comics needs, an energetic infusion of raw talent."

A sequel, The Legend of Luther Strode, hits comic shops in December from Image Comics.

Justin lives in the wilds of Pennsylvania, and has worked as everything from a lumberjack to a librarian.

He says he's settled on writing because "...it doesn't require an axe, which was a flaw in both lumberjackery and librarianhood."

In addition to Luther Strode, his comics work has appeared in more than a dozen anthologies.

The success of the Luther Strode series has led Justin to writing gigs with both DC Comics (Team 7) and Valiant Entertainment (Shadowman).

His work on Team 7 garnered a story and special preview on USA Today, which can be viewed right here.

----------------
We're looking forward to great discussions with Karl and Justin!

There's still time to join us at the Creators Workshop before these two live sessions. We hope to see you there.

---

If you want to make comics, write or draw comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook