Zwol.org

Hey everyone!

My name is Deniz Camp, and I am many things, but most relevant for my purpose today is writer. I'm a writer with a wide range of interests, and I love the medium of comics, and I'd very much like to continue making some.

So, to that end, I'm posting in hopes of finding a few artists who might like to collaborate on some short, 5-10 page comics. Having just recently come out of grad school, I can't pay, but what I can do is promise this: I will pay to have the comics lettered and colored by professionals. We'll have a high quality product to show around as part of our portfolios. I know this isn't an ideal arrangement, and I hate having to ask people to work for 'exposure' or 'experience', but that's the situation I'm in.

Having said that, I do have quite a few connections in the comics industry. I have direct emails for senior editors at Vertigo and Dark Horse and an open invite to send my work to them for review and comment. I am 'internet friends' (via twitter, occasional skype call, etc) with editors and creators at DC, Marvel, Vertigo, Monkeybrain, and Boom. What I'm saying is, I know for sure that I could get the work in front of the right eyes for exposure, if we can get the work done.


Some examples of my work, to get an idea of my range:

MURDER ONE, a 10 pg Horror Comic (art by Federico De Luca, letters by ET Dollman): http://imgur.com/a/KaK4m

COLD TRUTHS, 6 pages of a 20 pg first issue (art by Ralf Singh, letters by Micah Myers): http://imgur.com/a/EejMB

BILLY & TAWNY, a weekly strip featuring Billy Batson and his Anthropomorphic Tiger friend, Tawny: http://billyandtawny.tumblr.com/


If interested, I have more to show, both in script and in comic form. You can reach me at teslanikolai1@gmail.com

Let's go make something together. Let's bring something beautiful into the world.

Thanks for your time!

I like the way you're going with this but, knowing that pro coloring often goes for about 30$ a page and lettering for 10$ that's almost as much as paying for an actual artist who who will often go for 50$ a page for pencils and inks. It just seems to me that if you're going to pay someone it'll be the artist right?

Sincerely,
Ruyei

Ruyei wrote:I like the way you're going with this but, knowing that pro coloring often goes for about 30$ a page and lettering for 10$ that's almost as much as paying for an actual artist who who will often go for 50$ a page for pencils and inks. It just seems to me that if you're going to pay someone it'll be the artist right?

Sincerely,
Ruyei

Ruyei!

Ideally I'd be paying EVERYONE what they're worth, but I just don't have the funds for that. I'm hoping to come out the other end with completed comics that we can then show as proof of our talent, and perhaps sell on the back of that. If you want to show editors your comics, they have to be polished.

Any money that might come from the comic itself would go 100% to the artist. They, of course, also own 50% of the comic, whatever that might mean for future rights/exploitations, etc.

I'm hoping that actually owning that comic, and the promise of making 100% of anything we might get if we 'sell it' (say, to Heavy Metal or Dark Horse Presents or any other company that publishes short stories of that type) will be meaningful, along with the fact that I think I can get the work out in front of some fairly serious eyes.

I realize that this isn't true for everyone, and I don't meant to offend anyone's sensibilities. I get that it's crappy to ask people to work for free, with only the vague promise of potential payment in the future. But it has nothing to do with how much I value the work of artists, and everything to do with what I'm financially capable of.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that you're even able to pay for a colorist and letterer. It just seemed strange to me as all since I usually find that the penciler-inker is much more important, but that's just me.

Best of luck to you on your project, you honestly are at least a step above most of the other writers since you're offering to pay for some degree of assistance.
Sometimes though it's best to wait for all the money to be available, but this comes from a guy who does a lot of what you're doing right now only worse (I often am not in a position to pay myself).

Good will hunting.
Sincerely,
Rueyi