Creating Comics!

34

A

manda Conner has lived in Los Angeles, California;

Jacksonville, Florida; Connecticut; and Brooklyn,

New York. She started out doing short comic stories

and ad storyboards. Although advertising paid better, comics

were more fun, so she opted for the latter.

Conner was drawing Marvel’s Barbie and Claypool’s

Soulsearchers and Company, as well as Disney’s Gargoyles

books, when she met Jimmy Palmiotti, who would become

her favorite inker, favorite writer, and all-around favorite

guy. They have teamed up on many projects, including

Vampirella, Painkiller Jane, and JSA Classified: Power Girl.

They have also teamed up with Mark Waid to cocreate

Gatecrasher, and with Garth Ennis to create The Pro, an

Eisner award–nominated book about a superhero prostitute.

Conner illustrates for Revolver, MAD, and TV and film proj-

ects such as promotions for Who Wants to Be a Superhero?

and art for the Underdog film. She is currently working on

Terra, a six-issue mini-series, with Palmiotti and Justin Gray.

She lives in Brooklyn with Palmiotti.

Amanda Conner

Title: The Pro, The Pro Meets the Ho

Client: Image Comics

Media: Pen and pencil on paper, Photoshop

Creative Process

Most comic books start out with a script, similar to a

movie script, which I get from the editor, or in this case

Garth Ennis, the writer. I read each page and do a tiny

thumbnail sketch (with stick figures) for that page, to

figure out how I want it laid out.

I then go to a tight sketch (though still pretty small).

My favorite things to draw are facial expressions and

body language. I blow the result up on the copier to

comic page art size (roughly 10” x 15” [25.4 x 38.1 cm],

but I work a little smaller). Then I use very tight pencils

to light-box it onto Bristol. Many artists go from thumb-

nails straight to finished pencils.

At this point, I usually give it over to Jimmy to be

inked. When I ink a piece of art myself, I do the pencils

much lighter and looser, because I know what I want

to put down. It’s really important to find an inker who

is compatible with your work. Everyone is different, and

some teams work better together than others.

When I’m working on one of my own projects, such

as The Pro, I prefer to letter the art myself. I like the

handmade, organic look and feel. I do lettering before

the piece is inked. Most books today are computer-let-

tered, and if it’s done that way, it happens after inking,

dropped in before or after coloring.

As with inkers, it’s important to find a compatible

colorist. I’ve found that in Paul Mounts. My work is very

open, and when artwork is open and without a lot of

shading, it can end up colored like garish 1970s anima-

tion. Paul gives my work the right amount of bounciness

or moodiness, depending on what’s needed.

The reason most comic books have so many people

working on them is that they usually come out on a

monthly schedule, and when you have a whole team

working simultaneously, it’s easier to get twenty-two

pages of writing and art finished in a timely manner.

That’s where having a great editor comes in. He or she

has to be a good wrangler, know storytelling, and have

an eye for art and color.

On these pieces, we edited ourselves

because it was our baby. That’s the

beauty of doing your own thing. You

don’t have big companies worrying

about their properties and breathing

down your neck. But at the same time

you have to be very self-disciplined.

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Amanda Conner

Vampirella, Painkiller Jane, and JSA Classified: Power Girl.

They have also teamed up with Mark Waid to cocreate

Gatecrasher, and with Garth Ennis to create The Pro, an

Eisner award–nominated book about a superhero prostitute.

Conner illustrates for Revolver, MAD, and TV and film proj-

ects such as promotions for Who Wants to Be a Superhero?

and art for the Underdog film. She is currently working on

Terra, a six-issue mini-series, with Palmiotti and Justin Gray.

She lives in Brooklyn with Palmiotti.

Amanda Conner