[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: What are some common mistakes you see in bad comic books?
Stephen L. Stern, Comic Book Author/President of Storyboard Graphic Novels: Well, there’s a lot of comics that come out that I can’t read.
You see, in the comic book industry, especially if you’re talking about major companies like Marvel and DC, they put out an enormous number of books. I’m not talking on a monthly or yearly basis, I’m talking on a weekly basis.
If you go to your local comic book store you’ll probably see around 50 new books a week. What that means is there’s an insatiable need for product. When you are doing something almost on a mass production basis and you have a really strict deadline, that can produce far from an optimal book.
I can’t fault any of my fellow writers who are making their livelihood by producing books or fault artists. They’ve got to get the book done on schedule. When you’re working for a publisher that’s putting out from 25 minimum new books a week, it’s a process and you have to be a little forgiving to people who have to meet that deadline.
Maybe before there was a richness to the story or to the drawings and it’s a little too formulaic now. Well some people say that there’s a lot of things going on in the industry…(Watch then video interview on YouTube here).
About:
Stephen L. Stern is the president of Storyboard Graphic Novels. Steve is best known as the creator/writer of the indie comic-book Zen Intergalactic Ninja that has sold over three million comics and graphic novels and been licensed for video games, action figures and numerous other products. He is also the creator of Shygirl and Frickin’ Butt-Kickin’ Zombie Ants, and the author of Beowulf: The Graphic Novel and the A Christmas Carol Graphic Novel, both published by the UK’s Markosia. His other works include Alien Hero, a collection of novellas and stories about Zen, and the upcoming Majestic Comics Graphic Novel. Stern is a native of New York and former advertising agency president with clients including Johnson & Johnson, Rosenthal China and The Singer Company. He lives in Los Angeles, where he launched Storyboard Graphic Novels in 2011, working with several of his longtime friends and associates—who just happen to be some of the highest-profile artists and writers in the industry today.
BUY THE BOOK – A Christmas Carol (A graphic novel)
CONNECT WITH STEPHEN L. STERN
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