Step Five

The Five Bad Band
Here we are again, with the next step in the creation of a comic world. Now we have our heroes, but...What are the heroes going to do? Obviously they fight the bad guys! Do we have any of those? Well I great way to think of it, is to look at examples that exist in media (Films, Comics, animation, and real life).
Both sides of the Good vs Evil both have their own dynamics. Usually the bad guys are more organized then the good, but that's just always seems to be a result of circumstance. No one really knows why. Usually it's the funds. Example, Firefly... Brown-coats Vs. Alliance.

The Big Bad, Counterpart of the Hero. The Bad all the others fear, the one in charge. He has the charisma to be loved or feared by his followers. He makes you shake in your boots, or hang on his every word. Best example here would have to be (We can guess which comic publisher I like best) Magneto! Real life example would be (WWII for the Win) Hitler

Next up is The Dragon. The Big's right hand man. Usually a classy mo-fo, best of the best. Without a sixth-column bad guy, "the Dragon is most likely to betray the bads (Especially if they're Starscream)"~ TV Tropes. The Final challenge before the final Boss fight, and what not. A comic example could my Mystique, Real Life can easliy be Heinrich Himmler.

Everyone's favorite next, The Evil Genius. Also known as The Mad Scientist. What is there that needs explaining? They're usually in some basement room type place experimenting on babies or something like that. He's mission control and creator of evil schemes. If he isn't together, the team can be screwed. Fun examples include Mastermind (Amusingly enough), and Josef Mengele.

Then we have The Brute. Stereotyped as the big dim-witted second in command of the evil army (Next to the Dragon), the Dim-witted is not always the case. They are almost always huge guys/gals, but even the example they give isn't. Quicksilver (who is actually a speedster). Klaus Barbie (The Butcher of Lyon)

Finally we have The Dark Chick. The one who stands out in some way. If most of the baddies are in control, she's a loose cannon, or she is the least terrifying. They can act as a romantic interest for the Hero, or not. It all really depends. In some cases, they have the highest chance of not dieing horribly by the Five Man Band's hands. Comic books once again give a good example in Scarlet Witch. In Real life, Eva Braun.

There is a chance of a Six Column type when it comes to the bad side, but the Sixth is most likely to be the Heel Face Turn (Likely to turn-coat). Hope this helps in the creation of those nasties!

Next up: Step Six; Particular Staples

Step Four

The Five-Man Band
This is the team dynamic. Best example I can give is like the power rangers or Voltron and The Defenders of the Universe (Again I am a geek). Appointing a team dynamic is useful as a writing tool to keep your mind organized for which characters do what.

If you visit TV Tropes, this well sound familiar.

There is of course, The Hero. The main character who is usually the main character, the leader, ect. In this case not the leader, but still. (The Red Ranger-Jason)

Next comes, The Lancer. The Hero’s right hand person, best friend, rival, BFF, whatever. Normally the second one in charge. In my case, I reversed the team positions of the Hero and the Lancer. (The Yellow Ranger-Trini)

Which brings us to, The Smart Guy. This one is pretty much summed up in the title. The big brained wonder, the know-it-all, yata-yata. My Smart guy is sure going to be an interesting site. (The Blue Ranger-Billy)

Inevitably, The Big Guy. Now, this doesn’t mean the recipient of this role does not need to be a guy, they can be a girl. In my team, this happens to be the case. This is the heavy hitter, the mass damage person. (The Black Ranger-Zach)


Finally, this brings us to, The Chick. In contrast to the big guy, this doesn’t always have to be a girl. Again, in my team, not the case. This is the team mom/dad, the care taker, and sympathetic one. A great example of none female “The Chick” is Quatre from Gundam Wing. The fact that he is voiced by a girl (In Japanese) has nothing to do with it. (The Pink Ranger-Kimberly)

There are of course tack-ons to this Dynamic.
The most famous being, so aptly named, “The Sixth-Ranger”. If your as old as me, I don’t think I need to mention my generation’s favorite sixth power ranger. The back up, can act as a secondary Lancer, the Cavalry, and so on.


Additionally there can always be, “The Tag-Along Kid”. You know, the always being kidnapped, in the way, warm hearting, usually befriending the ‘special baddie’, and so on. Then, Finally, the Team Pet. This can be literally, whatever you wish. Bugs, cats, aliens, another person if you have a twisted sense of humor like me. My cause happens to be a baby dragon. You’ll love him, his name is Steve!


So this has been a basic break down of the Team Dynamic, or The Five-Man Band brought to you by TVtropes.com. Coming up next, Step Five…The Baddies.

Step Three

Character Creation
My most favored part of the process. I think that can be attributed to the fact that I'm a D&D geek, and I like my characters to have depth and a background, and a name that means something.
So you have a general idea for your story. Mine being demon/devil hunters who drive around in a double-decker bus in a world all my own. Trust me, I've had weirder thoughts. Now, to help develop your story the first thing you'll need are characters. They can be male, female, elderly, college age, fully grown, or as my creative writing teacher once called children, literary furniture, or even aliens. Whatever you chose. There are of course team dynamics to this as well, but that will come later.
I shall use my own character, hm...I think I'll use Ge, no I think I'll stick with Lenka for this. Olenka is her full first name. Now the bare bones concept of her is 'the slutty blond bombshell'. Of course I plann to develop her passed that. Now the image in my head was a gun slinger kind of character. At the point I had thought of her I ran into a problem, I already had a gunslinging character for this particular tale, so I thought. Then I realized, I didn't have a 'Heavy'. Someone who has the 'big guns' in their possession. This instantly placed Lenka in a group known has "Gun Bunnies". Now if you are not familiar with this term, I'd suggest googling it with the safety on. Mind you during this whole time I didn't have a name for her. What I knew I ended up with was a blond haired girl, who isn't afraid to use her sexuality to get what she wants, and is packing sever amounts of heat. There is more to here of course, but that will be revealed all in good time my friends.
Now, from here, if you have only one main character, or seven, any which way, you need to name your character. Now names can come from anywhere. Cultures, history, fancy, if you can't think of any, babyname sites are great for this.
My personally favorite: http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/
This not only will allow you to select cultures and languages to pick from, it will give you meaning of the names if the site knows them. It's been pretty good about it for me personally.
So once you have your name(s), your should be about ready to get set for the next step; Team Dynamic (5 Man Band).

Step Two

"In the beginning god(s) created the heavens and the earth"
Well in this case you get to be god. In your head, but hey, we all have some form of narcissism and megalomania to some degree. What is the setting of your story, or rather, the world it takes place in? Is it in a desert, on the moon, under the ocean, or in modern day 'generic city USA'? This is one of the first things you should get cracking on.
Me personally, I like to create a world. Not always mind you, but in this case it was easier. So I have a planet that needs places, land masses. So I decide, first things first, how many land masses to I have? Personally this is when I break out the dice, but that's just me. (D&D nerd, do forgive me); Now I ended up with 6. That may be a lot of places, so for beginners, I'd like to suggest not exceeding 3 unless you are capable of handling it.
Cultures are needed for these places, unless you have one governing body to rule them all, and each place just has slight differences. Personally I like variety. For instance, the continent that has the better part of the story taking place on it, has five countries, originally 6, but one country annexed(took over) another. Each of those countries has it's own distinct culture. One is Germanic based, one is Anglo-Saxon based, one is Russian based, one is more Gaul, and lastly one that is a weird cross between Italian and Spanish. The country that was taken over, was like a Hungarian/Prussian mix.
Now I'm not going to lie, I like to base cultures off ones here on earth (Obviously), so I have an archipelago (cluster of islands) that is like you took the cultures of Asia and shook it all up, and another strongly Egyptian based, and then a Greeko-roman mix, then of course I have the Atlantian culture of perfection (Not sure if its Pre or Post destruction yet), and this mass of a continent that has only recently been colonized by the other.
The World:

Now lastly, this is mainly for superstition, but, does your world (if not earth) have moons? If so, how many? Does your world Rotate the same as Earth, or the other way? Trust me, being this anal-retentive about detail can come in handy later.
Okay next time-for reals, character creation.

Blessed Be-
P.S. If you get a sudden diagnosis of creation blockage and can't think of names check out sites like these:
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-name.php
http://nine.frenchboys.net/

Step One

The Idea
Sometimes its calculated, sometimes, its a spark and sometimes its an old spark that you thought was stomped out, but someone found it and gave it back to you.

The later of the three is what happened this time. You see, I had worked on a comic with an ex-boyfriend of mine. We agreed to work on it 50/50% which turned into he did his half and I did mine, and anything I did that didn't match what he liked, he bitched until I changed it. So with the end of our relationship went the end of 'Nocturnal Instinct'.
Some time later, say, a week ago, my SO and I are cleaning out our bedroom closet so we can move to the other room when we come across the comics, or rather what's left of them. Now we get a kick out of reading them. Mainly for my ex's bad writing and amusing spelling errors. I figured that would be the end of it. Boy was I wrong. My SO kept mentioning what a neat concept that was, and I should take what I made and run with it. He knows how my mind works so that was unfair, cause look what I'm doing now.
So mentally I tore the old comics apart, picking my bits from the Ex's. Separating the workable and the trash. After several days of letting my mind work its magic (best not to ask how it does) and I was left with a bare bones idea with only 10% meat left.
That's all so far, coming soon; "In The Beginning" - Creating your World.

Blessed Be

It Starts with a Spark

So, why am I here?

I've heard blog series of all kinds of things, from cooking to making movies. I figured since I just started a new project, I decided that, "What the hell, lets do a blog thingie about creating a comic series!" Now this will have several purposes, catalog my process, and to allow the audience a glimpse into the mind of a writer and illustrator.
Now I'm not going to lie, my process is that of chaos and confusion. I am currently working on two other comics, and three Novellas. All of which started in completely different processes. One started as a joke, one started as a doodle from 5.5 years ago, another started with a shadowrun character I never got to use, a Vampire, Dark Ages character with to much back story, and the last one's conception is beyond belief. So this will be interesting for me, and a learning experience for others out there.

So come along on this journey with me, and we'll all learn a thing or two.

Blessed Be.