As per the wise words of my former cartooning professor, the parts of a comic that the reader remembers the most are the first page and the last of the comic. Becuase of this, you want to make sure you start (and end) on a memorable moment.
In the world of comics, "Don't judge a book by its cover" doesn't really apply. It's not just the cover that plays an extremely important role in capturing attention but also the first couple of pages. They need to be able to capture someone's attention in the few seconds a shopper devotes to perusing a comic. This lead me to an important decision about what moment I wanted to start off my story with. I decided to start at the end.
"In media res" is a Latin phrase that I just learned today while researching if there was any literary term used to describe the storytelling technique I'm using for this comic. It roughly translates to "in the middle of things" and describes a story that skips the exposition and begins in the middle of all the action.
By choosing a significant plot point to start with, the reader is immediately drawn into the action. It makes them wonder what exactly happened to lead up to that point and it's a great way to instantaneously create mystery and suspense.
Starting the first page off with a character drowning with figures staring down at her as she sinks to the murky depths is hopefully an interesting enough way to catch the reader's attention.
I'm using a couple of visual cues to show that this next sequence is not happening in chronological order but that the girl in the red dress is the same one sinking. As mentioned in this post the panel borders will be playing a key storytelling role in signifying what order the story is being told. So in pages 2 and 3, one event is surrounded by a gold frame and the other takes place in the black, bubbly water. You'll also see that the girl in red is wearing the same dress as the girl who is sinking.
What events took place/are going to happen to lead up to this character sinking to her death?
Pages 2 & 3 have dialogue but I'm choosing to refrain from sharing the pages with speech balloons for now.
Hopefully you'll stick around to see the rest of the first 8 pages I did for this story in color!
[insert comic name here] is a gothic style story set in the 19th century about an immigrant houseworker who uses the spiritualist movement to rebel against the societal pressures of the time. If you would like to read the previous updates about this story, you can find them in the links below:
Update 1: Progress
Update 2: Perspective is The Worst
Update 3: Art Hacks
Update 4: Establishing Shots
Update 5: Changes
Update 6: Loving/Hating Your Work
Update 7: New Techniques
Update 8: Speed Draw
Update 9: Quick Update
In Recent Updates
I am fully recovered from the flu and back to work! I was pretty much useless last week but I managed to catch up on a lot of much-needed sleep. I also learned ASL and managed to read The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang. The Prince and the Dressmaker is a super god-damn adorable fairytale story about a dressmaker who makes gowns for a prince as they struggle with identity, society, and young love. If you're looking for a non-binary story about young love and being confident with who you are, this is the comic for you. Go read it!
Thanks for Reading!
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Website: https://www.theresachiechi.com/