Special Guest Robert Pope on Drawing Comics -- Part 1

Robert Pope is an animator and a fantastic comic book artist. Robert has provided the pencils for numerous stories that I have written as well as many more written by other people. You've probably seen his artwork on the covers and inside of comic books such as Scooby-Doo, Batman The Brave and the Bold, as well as stories featuring Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends in Cartoon Network Block Party and Cartoon Cartoons. 

He has generously agreed to answer some questions about what it is he does as a penciller, how he works, what inspires him, and many other things. He's provided such great detailed answers that we can't fit them all into a single post.  Here is Part One. 

1.  How do you interact with the writer (if at all) the editor, the inker, letterer, and colorist?  

Most of my interactions are with the editor.  Typically, the editor will call me up and say he or she has a script that they think would work for me.  This can be due to any number of reasons, including the subject material, number of pages I can do in any given month, etc.  Sometimes I call the editor up and ask for work before they call me.  The editor describes the story to me over the phone, then they e-mail me the script for my review.  The editor tells me how long I have to draw the script, and once I have read through it if I need more time, I ask for it (usually no more than a day or two, sometimes an extra weekend.)  If I am given a long script, I will "feed" the editor pages in batches of five or ten, and upon his or her approval, ship those pages to the inker to keep the process in motion. 

 Most of the writers I work with have very specific visuals in mind, and often provide useful reference to help me "see" props, supporting characters, and settings.  Aside from reviewing these materials, I have not had much regular interaction with my writers over the years concerning scripts.  Sometimes, I will adjust panel layouts, move dialogue bubbles from one panel to another, break up a single panel into multiple panels and other small things to help the narrative flow and make for smoother reading and recognition.  If I become concerned that I may be altering or compromising the writers' vision, I'll shoot the editor a quick description of my intentions and make sure they're O.K. with my actions.  Usually, my goal is to get the writer's idea across in a way that's fun to read multiple times.  I think the best comics are the ones you can return to and keep finding new bits of visual and verbal interest. 

 If I have suggestions for the colorist, I usually send them via the editor, but unless I feel a panel or page has a very specific or necessary coloring effect, I have no stomach for telling other pros how to do their job.  My regular inker Scott McRae and I talk quite often, but again, unless I'm asking him something specific (like to fill a space scene with stars made of white correction fluid) I wouldn't presume to direct him.  Once the story is completed up to inking and lettering, the team (writer, editor, penciller, inker) get a copy via e-mail and have the chance for correction.  Usually, there are very few flubs, most often a dialogue balloon pointer aimed at the wrong character, something like that.

2.  What do you do when you get a script for a story?  

The first night I get a script (and it's always at night, comics are my night job!) I read the script all the way through, and note any reference I may need above and beyond what the writer has provided.  The internet, and specifically Google images, have made this much easier than it used to be as we now no longer need to keep massive "swipe files" [ a swipe file is a collection of reference material that artists collect. These are images of anything they might be asked to draw from horses and army uniforms to old cars and airplanes and monkeys and clothes from the 1500s or the 1960s] on hand at all hours to provide examples of the many new and different things we draw in our comics.  After I have read and re-read the script, I do thumbnail sketches [ a thumbnail sketch is a small (about the size of an adult thumbnail, or bigger) drawing without a lot of detail that artists use to try out compositions for finished drawings] right on the script page, just to get a sense of flow and to get a good idea of how much work each individual page will take.  After a few years, you get good at estimating how much energy certain things take to draw.

Above is one of Robert Pope's thumbnails for a panel with Bloo talking to Mac from a Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends story. There isn't much detail but it shows where the characters are in the panel and where the word balloon will go. It also show's Bloo's expression. 

3.  Does the finished artwork veer from those thumbnails?  

For a twenty page script, I figure on average I re-think at least one or two pages when I blow up the thumbnails.  But mostly, I stick with my first instinct, my first try.

4. For new characters do you do sketches of them separately, or do you just make them up when you get to them? 

If the character is going to appear in just a few panels, I'll probably make them up on the fly.  However, if he or she (or it) has a bigger role in the story and shows up repeatedly, I'll create a model sheet for myself to maintain the look throughout (recent stories like "Howling Good Time" and "Monster of 1000 Faces" had several important characters that popped up throughout and had to be very clearly defined-the director in "Monsters" was based on, in part, Jim Steranko!)  And of course the writer often has an idea of how these ancillary or new characters should look, and forward helpful reference.

Above is the real Jim Steranko, an innovative comic book artist best known for his work at marvel Comics in the 1960s. He also did some illustration work for the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

Here is the movie director from "Man of a Thousand Monsters" from SCOOBY-DOO #145. Do you see the resemblance? 

5. What about backgrounds, props and locations? 

I like to get as much reference as I can stomach before I begin and really absorb it.  Some stories are fun to draw because the backgrounds are vague and nondescript enough to allow you to concentrate on the characters themselves and their "acting."  DC editor Joan Hilty considered any Scooby story that featured a beach practically a gift to the penciller, because it's something that's very easy to draw.  I am not one of those cartoonists who can draw much "out of my head," and reference plays a BIG part in my work.  Unless it's a very imaginary setting, prop, or set piece, I feel better with reference.

6. Do you have favorite things you like to draw? 

I love drawing characters in motion.  I have staged Shaggy and Scooby running from ghosts and monsters more times than I can count, and I always love the challenge.  Same with Batman swinging or throwing a punch.  I love drawing characters that are more or less grounded in reality, but still very cartoony.  The great designer Iwao Takamoto, who worked for both Disney and later as Hanna-Barbera's main man for character design, was one of my big heroes and best personified this kind of cartooning.  His creations are both cartoony and realistic at the same time, sort of like Alex Toth, but even more rubbery and skewed for animation.  As the bulk of my career has been translating animated characters to the printed page, my personal "style" has been deliberately subverted and it's main outlet is in the elasticity and momentum of the characters themselves.  

7. Things you hate to draw? 

Buildings.  Cars.  Crowd scenes with masses of incidental characters that are both generic and specific at the same time.  Most of my heroes or influences (with the exception of Charles Schulz) were cartoonists who filled the page with copious amounts of details both relevant and incidental (Jack Kirby, John Byrne, George Perez, John Romita Sr., to name a few) and while I love packing in the bells and whistles, it certainly can be regarded as much more like work than staging the foreground characters.

Above is a panel where Robert Pope really packs in the details. This is also from "Man of a Thousand Monsters" from SCOOBY-DOO #145.



Before we continue, here is some information about the people that Robert mentions in his responses to questions  6 and 7. 

Iwao Takamoto (1925-2007) worked as an animator on Disney movies such as Cinderella and 101 Dalmations, but is best known for designing the characters on Scooby-Doo, as well as Astro on The Jetsons. He also directed the animated adaptation of Charlotte's Web.

Alex Toth (1928-2006) was a comic book artist and a character designer for animated television series such as Space Ghost, The Herculoids, Jonny Quest, Super Friends, and other "realistically' styled shows. He drew in a very clean high contrast style using mostly white and black, and is a favorite of many comic book artists and animators. You can see some of his character designs below.

Charles Schulz (1922-2000) was the creator of "Peanuts" the long running newspaper comic strip starring Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

Jack Kirby (1917-1994), John Byrne (b. 1950), George Perez (b. 1954), and John Romita Sr. (b. 1930) are all comic book artists popular for their styles of drawing and their approaches to visual storytelling. Some exciting panels by Jack Kirby can be seen below.

Check back tomorrow for part two with Robert Pope!

Working with Artists

Some of the questions I asked most frequently by kids (and often adults) involve working with artists as a writer. "Do you get to choose the artist who illustrates you story?" is one and "Do you and the artist work separately, or together?" is another.

The answer to both is "it depends."

Generally, the person I work with most closely is the editor. For most projects the editor will decide who will draw the story I've written. For example, some of the questions that might run through the editor's mind when choosing an artist are: How they choose the artist depends on a number of things. has the editor and artist worked well together on previous stories? Has the artist worked well with the writer on previous stories? has the artist drawn these particular characters before? Does their style fit the mood of the story? can they draw fast enough to meet the deadline for the story? Is this artist currently available to draw this story?

Most of the time, the editor will assign an artist to illustrate a story without even telling me who will be drawing it. This is how it is most often done on the various Cartoon Network titles I've worked on. For each of these titles, the editor will choose from a small group of artists who have demonstrated an outstanding ability to draw the characters and situations to reflect the look and feel of the television show that inspired them. If you look at the credits in several issues of SCOOBY-DOO, CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK, CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY, or any of the other titles, you'll see the same names appear over and over again. On these titles, we've all been working together for so long that we know that our combined efforts will come together in a fun story.

For other comic book projects I've written, the artist is usually assigned at the same time I am, and if I'm familiar with their work, I can write my script to showcase their strengths as an artist. For projects that I generate myself, I work with the editor in choosing an artist who is best suited for that particular project. In this case the editor and I will each come up with a list of artists we think would be good for the project  and then decide on one we both like. If they are available, and like the project, they're hired. If we can't get them, we pick one of the other artists we liked.

One of the best part of writing comics is getting to work with so many different talented people, and seeing how they take my written scripts and translate them into illustrated stories. The finished result is always a surprise, even when you've worked with someone many times.

As to whether an artist and myself work together, or separately, it varies from project to project and from artist to artist. Most often, the artist and I will never meet, or even email each other until long after a project is finished. There are still so many people I've worked with, often for years, whom I've never met or even spoken too. We only know each other through our work together.

For some projects I will send the artist some reference material to help them. These can be photographs of locations featured in the story, or hand drawn maps I've made of how the characters should move through a location, or even sketches of new characters and creatures. All of this is done to make their job easier, and to help them get a better sense of what I imagined in my own mind when I wrote the story.

On a few occasions the artist and I worked very closely. We would talk on the phone several times a week. These conversations were often not about work at all, but simply us getting to know each other. This helped a lot. My scripts for these artists would get shorter over time, because so much of teh detail would get covered in conversation, and because I knew what movies or artists they liked, I could instruct them simply by comparing a scene in the script to a scene in a movie they'd seen, or a book they'd read, and say something like; "the house in this story should look something like the house in that movie," or "when the characters walk through these woods, the art should create the same feel as that part of that book where the characters were lost in a strange neighborhood." The artist will understand what I mean by this and it will help guide them when illustrating a scene in our project.

I've been really lucky. In all the years I've been writing comics, there have only been a couple of stories where I really didn't think the art fit the story well. Out of all the artists I've worked with, there have never been any whose work I haven't liked, and out of all of those that I've met, I'm friends with them all. I'm even friends with some I've only ever met through email.

I'm also happy to say that I've never had any real arguments with any artist I've worked with about how something should be done.

Below you can read a very tongue in cheek example of a comic book artist and writer working together. This was by writer, Stan Lee and artist, Steve Ditko about creating Spider-Man and comes from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1 from 1964.

Making a Comic Book -- Step by Step

If you ever wondered how a comic book story was made from start to finish, now is you chance to find out. Using a page from "The Dragon's Eye - Part 2: Russian into Danger" from SCOOBY-DOO #60 I will take you through the steps from start to finish. You can click on any image below to make it larger.

Step 1:  Everything starts with a story, or at least the idea of a story. Every story begins with what's called a pitch. In the pitch, a story is broken down to its most basic elements in about three or four sentences. In the case of the story here, it was one chapter of a six part story, and was probably pitched as something like this:



The Dragon's Eye - part 2: As the mystery of the Dragon's Eye deepens, the Mystery Inc. gang travels to Russia where they encounter Baba Yaga, a witch from Russian folklore. Baba Yaga is after a jewel encrusted Faberge egg. Can they stop her?



As you can see this is very basic, but gives the editor enough information to decide whether they'd like to develop the story or not. Maybe they've already done a story about Baba Yaga, or one set in Russia and don't want another one. In this case the story was approved and then I got to move on to step 2.

Step 2: Now that the story is approved the writer (in this case me) writes a script for that story. The script tells the artist everything that he will need to draw for the comic book story. The script describes the locations where the action takes place, who the characters are and what they look like, what the characters are doing in each panel, what they are saying, and even how many panels are on a page.  Scripts vary in length depending on the story. I have written scripts for a 22-page comic book story that were over 50 pages long, and scripts for a six page comic book story that were only 2 pages long. Below is a page of the script for "The Dragon's Eye - Part 2: Russian Into Danger"

Step 3: The script now goes back to the editor. The editor will read it and decide if anything needs to be changed by the writer. If everything is okay then the editor sends it on to the artist who is going to draw the story.

Step 4: The person who draws the story is called the penciller. In this case the penciller is the talented Joe Staton. The penciller reads the script and then decides how they are going to draw everything based on the writer's script. The penciller also thinks about the best way to make the action flow smoothly from panel to panel, and to keep the dialogue easy to follow between one character and another. Below are Joe Staton's pencils for this page. Compare his drawings to the descriptions in the script page above.

Step 5:  In the old days, before computers, lettering was done directly on the page of art containing the pencils. After the lettering was done, the art would be passed on to the inker. Now both these steps are done more or less at the same time, but we'll start with the lettering for the sake of tradition. The lettering is the process in which all of the dialogue, including the balloons that contain them, the descriptive narrative captions, and the sound effects are added to the artwork. Oftentimes, to make things clearer for the letterer, the editor or writer will mark a copy of the script and the pencils like this:

and this:

If you look at the copy of the script page just above, you'll notice that numbers have been placed next to each line of dialogue. If you look at the copy of the pencils just above, you'll notice that rough balloons have been drawn over the art with numbers inside them. The numbers in the balloons go to the numbers on the script. This shows the letterer which lines of dialogue should go in which balloons, and where they go on each page so as to not block out important bits of artwork and so that the dialogue is easy to read across the page. It also makes it less likely for mistakes to be made where a character will be speaking the wrong dialogue.

Step 6: Now that the letterer (in this case Tom Orzechowski) has these marked versions of the script and pencils, he can use them as a guide to add the actual lettering to the story. This used to all be done by hand, so a letterer had to have excellent penmanship. Now it's mostly done on computers.

Step 7: It used to be that the inker wouldn't do their job until the letterer had done theirs, but that's no longer the case, since the lettering is no longer done directly onto the pencilled artwork. The inker is the person who goes over all of the pencils in ink so that the artwork reproduces better when it's being printed. Many people think that all an inker does is trace the pencils. This is not true at all. An inker adds areas of black, and varies the thickness of their line to help make certain parts of the artwork stand out, and to make other parts sort of fade into the background. They can add atmosphere and texture to the art as well. Below is the inked artwork by Horacio Ottolini over Joe Staton's pencils. Compare this with Joe's pencils back in Step 4.

Here is the inked page with Tom Orzechowski's lettering.

Step 8: The final step is adding the color. This work used to be done by hand using special dyes on copies of the inked and lettered artwork. Now most coloring is done on computers. The colorist can use their skills to create mood and to bring emphasis to a character or object in a panel. For example, in the page below, colored by Paul Becton, notice how in panel 4 only Scooby-Doo and the egg he's trying to catch are colored in detail. The other characters are all colored in one pale shade of purple. This is because even while the other characters are present, they aren't what's important in this panel, so they are colored to fade into the background while our attention is in Scooby-Doo.

There you have it, the entire process from beginning to end in creating a comic book story. In future posts I will go into even more detail for each of these steps and will even have various editors, writers and artists talk about their parts in bringing a comic book story to life.