Pro writer Chuck Dixon joins faculty & offers critiques on Creators Workshop!

We're pleased to announce that comic book writer Chuck Dixon has joined the Comics Experience faculty, where he will be providing script critiques to members of our Creators Workshop community and answering questions about all aspects of the craft and the industry!

Chuck Dixon is recognized across the industry as the most prolific writer working in comics today. His resume includes thousands of scripts for iconic characters like Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Iron Man, the Punisher, The Simpsons, Spongebob Squarepants, GI Joe and many others.

Chuck currently writes two monthly titles featuring GI Joe for IDW and The Simpsons for Bongo Comics as well as various other projects fro comics and motion pictures. He is also a partner with Gary Kwapisz at History Graphics Press where they are publishing an ambitious series of graphic novels about the American Civil War.

He is (along with artist Graham Nolan) the creator of the Batman villain Bane, the first permanent addition to the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery in forty years and for which he won 1993's Wizard Fan Award for best new character. His unprecedented 100 issue run on DC Comics Robin is considered to be a classic in the comics medium. Chuck’s contributions to Marvel Comics’ The Punisher are widely acknowledged as integral to that character’s development.

Chuck was nominated for an Eisner for El Cazador, a pirate epic created for CrossGen comics with Steve Epting. Along with Jordan Gorfinkel, Chuck created the successful comics series Birds of Prey for DC Comics which was developed for television by Warners.

The Creators Workshop is an on-going community of writers, artists, colorists, and letterers all dedicated to getting published and improving their craft. It's a community focused on making comics!

Our members post their work, critique each other, and discuss all aspects of creating comics in our members-only forums. But in addition to all that, members are eligible for critique by our instructors and pro members!

Chuck has now joined our regular line-up that includes working comic book editors, writers, artists, colorists and more.

Welcome to the Workshop, Chuck!

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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

iFanboy's "Make Comics" Podcast, Episode #30 on Story vs. Page Count

A new episode of the iFanboy Make Comics podcast is available!

In Episode #30, Comics Experience founder Andy Schmidt and iFanboy host Josh Flanagan discuss "Story vs. Page Count." Should your story be 5, 8, 22 or more pages, and how do you decide?

Take note! The Make Comics Podcast has moved to its own feed, which you can subscribe to in iTunes, or here manually.

Check out the new episode, plus all of the previous ones on iTunes, or follow the links right here:

Listen to Episode #30, "Story vs. Page Count"

Listen to Episode #29, "Graphic Designers in Comics"

Listen to Episode #28, "Find Your Voice"

Listen to Episode #27, "Self Review"

Listen to Episode #26, "Act Structure"

Listen to Episode #25, "Photo Comics and More"

Listen to Episode #24, "Running a Convention Table with Mike Dawson"

Listen to Episode #23, "Make Digital Comics"

Listen to Episode #22, "Be the Letterer"

Listen to Episode #21, "Question: From Editor to Writer"

Listen to Episode #20, "Page Turns"

Listen to Episode #19, "Where Should I Live?"

Listen to Episode #18, "Comic Book Coloring with Chris Sotomayor"

Listen to Episode #17, "Art Portfolio with Robert Atkins"

Listen to Episode #16, "Conventions and Critique"

Listen to Episode #15, "Pitching"

Listen to Episode #14, "Making Time for Making Comics"

Listen to Episode #13, "Story"

Listen to Episode #12, "Marketing"

Listen to Episode #11, "Artist Portfolio"

Listen to Episode #10, "Inspiration"

Listen to Episode #9, "Online Networking"

Listen to Episode #8, "Building A Page"

Listen to Episode #7, "Professionialism"

Listen to Episode #6, "The Comic Book Script"

Listen to Episode #5, "Convention Networking"

Listen to Episode #4, "Good Feedback"

Listen to Episode #3, "Long Stories or Short Stories?"

Listen to Episode #2, "Finding Collaborators"

Listen to Episode #1, "Start Writing"

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color 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

"Night of 1,000 Wolves #3" Hits Comic Shops July 18th!

IDW's Night of 1,000 Wolves #3 hit comic shops today, July 18, 2012!

With art by the Eisner-nominated Dave Wachter and story by writer Bobby Curnow, Wolves is a classic horror tale, set in the Dark Ages, about a family with dark secrets who find themselves under siege by hordes of wolves.

This is the final issue in what has been a great three-part miniseries. You can see for yourself by checking out a multi-page preview of Night of 1,000 Wolves #1 on Comic Book Resources:

Preview of Night of 1,000 Wolves on CBR

Bobby Curnow is both a Comics Experience alum and a member of the Creators Workshop, where he offers members pro critiques on their work.

Bobby is also an editor at IDW where he began by editing titles like Robert Bloch's That Hellbound Train and John Layman and Alberto Ponticelli's Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths before moving on to his current position working on both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Godzilla franchises.

On the writing front, Bobby also recently wrote Battle Beasts #1 released last week and at San Diego Comic-Con.

Wolves was "workshopped" in the Comics Experience Creators Workshop, and it was one of the first scripts workshopped in our community to hit comic shops across the country via Diamond Distributors.

The Creators Workshop is an online community where aspiring and professional creators can critique each other's work, offering feedback and serving as a sounding board for creators seeking to hone their skills.

Congrats on the release of the final issue of your miniseries, Bobby!

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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

"Night of 1,000 Wolves" Hits Comic Shops May 9th!

IDW's Night of 1,000 Wolves hits comic shops this week, May 9, 2012!

With art by the Eisner-nominated Dave Wachter and story by writer Bobby Curnow, Wolves is a classic horror tale, set in the Dark Ages, about a family with dark secrets who find themselves under siege by hordes of wolves.

You can check out a multi-page preview of Night of 1,000 Wolves on Comic Book Resources:

Preview of Night of 1,000 Wolves on CBR

Bobby Curnow is both a Comics Experience alum and a member of the Creators Workshop, where he offers members pro critiques on their work.

Bobby is also an editor at IDW where he began by editing titles like Robert Bloch's That Hellbound Train and John Layman and Alberto Ponticelli's Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths before moving on to his current position working on both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Godzilla franchises.

On the writing front, Bobby recently wrote Godzilla Legends #5 as well as the Battle Beasts Ashcan released at C2E2.

Wolves was "workshopped" in the Comics Experience Creators Workshop, and it, along with the recent Rex, Zombie Killer #1 (released last week), are the first scripts workshopped in our community to hit comic shops across the country via Diamond Distributors.

The Creators Workshop is an online community where aspiring and professional creators can critique each other's work, offering feedback and serving as a sounding board for creators seeking to hone their skills.

Congrats on the release of your miniseries, Bobby!

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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

Scott Snyder's LIVE Script Critique on Creators Workshop!

On March 13, 2012, Comics Experience Creators Workshop member, Don McMillan, received a live, web conference critique of his work by highly-acclaimed writer, Scott Snyder!

The Creators Workshop is an on-going community of writers and artists all dedicated to getting published and improving their craft.

Our members post their work, critique each other, and discuss all aspects of creating comics in our members-only forums.

But in addition to all that, members are eligible each month for critique by our instructors and special guests!

This month's special guest script critiquer was Scott Snyder, the red-hot writer of Batman and Swamp Thing from DC Comics, American Vampire from DC/Vertigo, and the horror title Severed from Image.

Scott not only agreed to provide a guest critique to this month's winner, but further volunteered to do it LIVE with Don.

Scott provided in-depth feedback on Don's script, "Down by the Pond," during a session that lasted over an hour and a half!

After it was all over, Don tweeted, "Thank you @Ssnyder1835 for the incredible feedback and for taking the time out of your crazy schedule to talk."

With Scott and Don's permission, the session was recorded so that all Workshop members could learn from Scott as well.

The recording will be available to members for several weeks.

Our past guests, who have provided written critiques of our members' work, include:

• Peter David
• Jason Aaron
• John Romita, Jr.
• Wil Moss, DC Editor
• Jim McCann
• Andy Lanning
• Pablo Raimondi
• Tom Feister
• Nathan Edmondson
• Jody LeHeup, Marvel Editor
• Allan Heinberg
• Jim Cheung
• Mike Raicht
• Charles P. Wilson III & Nick Pitarra
• Chuck Dixon
• Joshua Fialkov
• Jim Zub
• Michael Alan Nelson
• Paul Tobin
• as well as Scott Snyder!

This past month, members were eligible for a script review by Cullen Bunn or an art review by Brian Hurtt, the collaborators on books like The Sixth Gun and The Damned from Oni Press, among many other individual credits with Marvel, DC, and more.

Each month, a member also receives critiques from our staff members and professional contributors like: Comics Experience founder Andy Schmidt (writer, and former Marvel and IDW Editor); professional penciler and Comics Experience art instructor, Robert Atkins (Snake Eyes, GI Joe, Heroes for Hire); former Marvel Editors Alejandro Arbona and Nicole Boose; and other comics professionals like IDW Editor Bobby Curnow, pro artist Sean Chen, and pro writer David Gallaher.

The Creators Workshop is the ideal place to receive honest and helpful feedback on your work from both like-minded colleagues and professionals!

Comics Experience thanks Scott Snyder -- and ALL our guest reviewers -- for being so incredibly generous with their time and knowledge!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color 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

Comics "Workshopped" in the Creators Workshop Coming to Comic Shops Soon!

The Comics Experience Creators Workshop hit an important milestone recently, when two workshopped comics appeared in Diamond Distribution's Previews catalog, making both titles available to comic shops across the country.

Comics Experience members and alum appear in Previews on a regular basis, as writers, artists, colorists, letterers and editors for companies including Marvel, DC, IDW Publishing, Dynamite Entertainment and more.

But this marks the first time Previews has featured comics based on scripts that were workshopped through the Creators Workshop.

The Creators Workshop is an online community where aspiring and professional creators can critique each other's work, offering feedback and serving as a sounding board for creators seeking to hone their skills.

The Diamond Previews March catalog features Night of 1,000 Wolves #1 from IDW, written by Creators Workshop member Bobby Curnow, with art by the Eisner-nominated Dave Wachter.

Night of 1,000 Wolves is a Dark-Age horror tale about a family ripped apart by unthinkable tragedy – and a horde of wolves set on their destruction.

Night of 1,000 Wolves is a three-issue mini-series, and Curnow workshopped all three issues through the Creators Workshop.

Meanwhile, the February Previews catalog featured Rex, Zombie Killer from Big Dog Ink, written by Comics Experience General Manager and workshop member Rob Anderson.

Rex, Zombie Killer is a double-sized one-shot issue, and tells the story of a small pack of animals – including a bat-wielding gorilla -- who seek safety in the wake of a zombie apocalypse.

Rex marks the first time that an entire creative team on a book in Previews is made up of Comics Experience Workshop members, alumni and staff.


In addition to Rob writing the book, the team includes artist DaFu Yu, colorist Kevin Volo, letterer/designer ET Dollman and editor Paul Allor.

Both Night of 1,000 Wolves and Rex, Zombie Killer are available now for pre-order through comic shops.

Comics Experience founder Andy Schmidt said he is certain these will not be the last workshopped comics to appear in the Previews catalog.

"The Creators Workshop was designed as a place where people could come together to learn from comics professionals, as well as each other; where they can support one another, collaborate and create something new," Schmidt said.

"I am incredibly proud of the community our members have formed, and as a comics reader, I look forward to seeing what they come up with in the coming months and years."

-- Posted by Paul Allor

Pro Writer David Gallaher Offers Critiques on Creators Workshop!

We're pleased to announce that comic book writer David Gallaher has joined the Creators Workshop, providing script critiques to members. David has already provided his first script critiques to several members he selected.

David was named "Breakout Creator of 2008" by Comic Foundry Magazine.

He's received multiple Harvey Award nominations and won the "Best Online Comic Award" for his work on High Moon, a high-energy, deeply researched fusion horror/western webcomic for Zuda Comics, a part of DC Comics.

David is currently a Manga and graphic novel editor at Random House, where he edits many titles for the Random House / Kodansha Comics Manga line, including the popular Sailor Moon.

David has also written for Marvel Comics on both Hulk: Winter Guard and the Darkstar & the Winter Guard miniseries.

In addition to his work for Marvel, Random House, and Zuda/DC Comics, David has written Box 13 for comiXology / Red 5, and both Johnny Dollar and Vampire: The Masquerade: Blood and Shadows for Moonstone Books, among other titles.

The Creators Workshop is an on-going community of writers, artists, colorists, and letterers all dedicated to getting published and improving their craft. It's a community focused on making comics!

Our members post their work, critique each other, and discuss all aspects of creating comics in our members-only forums. But in addition to all that, members are eligible each month for critique by our instructors and special guests!

David Gallaher has now joined our regular line-up that includes working comic book editors, writers, artists, colorists and more.

Welcome to the Workshop, David!

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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

iFanboy's "Making Comics" with Andy Schmidt Podcast, Episode #6 posted!

The sixth episode of iFanboy's Making Comics with Andy Schmidt podcast has been released!

In the sixth episode, iFanboy host Josh Flanagan and former Marvel and IDW Editor (and Comics Experience founder) Andy Schmidt discuss "Comic Book Scripts".
As explained over on iFanboy:

"Recently, comics superstar Warren Ellis posted this piece on “What a Comics Script is For,” prompting a discussion between Josh and Andy, on what writers should be thinking about when putting together their script. "

Check out this new episode, plus all of the previous ones on iTunes, or listen to them right here:

Listen to Episode #6, "The Comic Book Script"

Listen to Episode #5, "Convention Networking"

Listen to Episode #4, "Good Feedback"

Listen to Episode #3, "Long Stories or Short Stories?"

Listen to Episode #2, "Finding Collaborators"

Listen to Episode #1, "Start Writing"

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color 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

COMMUNITY NEWS: Shaun Manning a Semi-Finalist in Stan Lee MTV Geek Contest!

Just a few hours ago, MTV Geek announced Shaun Manning as a semi-finalist in Stan Lee's The Seekers writing contest! Congrats to Shaun, who is a Comics Experience alum and Creators Workshop member.

Shaun wrote a treatment and a script for The Seekers and was selected as a semi-finalist by the MTV Comics editorial staff from the massive pile of submissions.

Now, the next stage of the competition will be determined by a vote. The top 5 vote-getters will have their treatments sent to Stan "the Man" Lee, who will personally pick the winner!

Regarding his submission, Shaun wrote: "Though I played this submission pretty close to the vest, Comics Experience has been invaluable in helping me put together strong treatments, improving the pacing of my stories, and formatting my scripts for clean, readable presentation. I owe a lot to this group and the business-side lessons learned in the Intro and Advanced writing classes."

The comic Shaun created for the Advanced Class will be published as a hardcover original next year from one of the major indie publishers. In addition, his digital comic, Hell, Nebraska, is available right now on Graphicly.

But for the next few days, we're sure his focus will be on the MTV contest!

Voting polls close Friday, September 30th at 3pm ET, and voting is extremely easy. Why not check out the treatments and scripts and then pop over and give Shaun Manning a vote?

Vote for Best Writer in MTV Geek's / Stan Lee Competition!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color 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

Creators Workshop Pro Critiques & Guests!

The Creators Workshop is an on-going community of writers, artists, colorists, and letterers all dedicated to getting published and improving their craft. It's a community focused on making comics!

Our members post their work, critique each other, and discuss all aspects of creating comics in our members-only forums. But in addition to all that, members are eligible each month for critique by our instructors and special guests!

This month's special guest critiquer is Chuck Dixon. Chuck has more than twenty-five years of experience in the graphic novel field as an editor, writer and publisher. He's contributed well over a thousand scripts to publishers like DC Comics, Marvel, Dark Horse, and currently writes in the GI Joe universe for IDW. One script posted on our forums by September 24, 2011 will be eligible for a written critique by Chuck!

In addition, one artwork post by that date will be eligible for a written review by professional penciller and Comics Experience instructor, Robert Atkins (Snake Eyes, GI Joe, Heroes for Hire).

Plus, every month, Andy Schmidt, Comics Experience founder, writer, and former Marvel and IDW Editor, provides a written critique of an additional script and artwork post.

Our past guest critiquers have included:

• Peter David
  
• Jason Aaron
  
• John Romita, Jr.
  
• Wil Moss, DC Editor
  
• Jim McCann
  
• Andy Lanning
  
• Pablo Raimondi
  
• Tom Feister
  
• Nathan Edmondson
  
• Jody LeHeup, Marvel Editor
  
• Allan Heinberg
  
• Jim Cheung
  
• Mike Raicht
  
• Charles P. Wilson III & Nick Pitarra
  

The Creators Workshop is the ideal place to receive honest and helpful feedback on your work from both like-minded colleagues and professionals!

Beyond our forums, we also have regular, live, online meetings -- often with special guests -- where we discuss comic-related topics like marketing, budgeting, cover design, breaking in, pitching, self-publishing, and more.

Our past live guests have included:

• Robert Kirkman
  
• Christos Gage & Chris Samnee
  
• Kurt Busiek
  
• John Layman & Rob Guillory
  
• Jason Aaron
  
• Tom Feister
  
• Nathan Edmondson
  
• Jim McCann
  
• Mike Raicht, Brian Smith & Charles P. Wilson III
  
• Adam Withers & Comfort Love

Our live guest this month is Jeff Lemire, the multiple award-winning writer and artist of the Essex County trilogy as well as the new Animal Man and Frankenstein titles from DC Comics. We'll be discussing Sweet Tooth, Volumes 1 and 2 in a special Book Club session on September 27, 2011. (See more on that right here.)

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!

Join the Creators Workshop!

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