Haven

Author notes

Haven - Issue 1 - Page 7

makingcomicsstudios

on Oct. 4, 2007

PART 2: Creating a Comic Book

I'm a late bloomer to this "venue" as I didn't start getting into writing for comic books until I was 32 years old. I collected comics as a kid all the way up until I was about 25. Because DC and Marvel were pissing me off at the time due to their gimmicks and the fact I just got married and bought a house was behind the decision to sell my collection. They paid for new windows for the house. Then I turned 30. Perhaps I had a mid-mid life crisis as I was itching to take all the ideas I've been crafting to date and get them "out there" in one shape or form. So I hit this fairly new tool called the internet typing in "writers wanted" at this strange search engine called Google and one of my choices that popped up was a website called Digital Webbing (www.digitalwebbing.com).

So I answered an ad that was looking for editors for this "new, up and coming, comic book imprint, blah blah, blah." YEAH! I was new! The imprint was called Affinity Press until they changed their name to Dynamo Comics until they changed in to Storrm (yes - double "rr"). It was a blundering mess of egos and assholes mixed with some really talented people. Some of them I still talk with and work with today. Errr - not the egos and assholes! So it was through this imprint I got the ball rolling on Haven also using the Digital Webbing website to find my team for the idea. I found an outstanding group of talented people who I could work with on a peer to peer level. I don't talk down to people and I don't expect to be talked down to so this made the whole creative process, as far as Haven was concerned, a great experience. Dealing with some of the idiots at Affinity/Dynamos/Storrm did not! After a couple years Affinity/Dynamos/Storrm disbanded after a colossal amount of wasted time and headaches. The saving grace was the Haven team almost had an issue complete. So we decided to continue on our own through my own website I started called Making Comics Studios (www.makingcomicsstudios.com).

So it was now 2005 and we have completed the first issue and working on the second issue of this three part mini-series. If I can give advice to an inspiring comic creator - if you're just starting out do so with a 6 or 8 page story - not three 22 page issues. There was my first mistake. Once the comic was completed I submitted to everyone and their mother. In retrospect I will never submit an idea via snail mail ever again. I can't tell you how many self addressed envelopes with full cost of shipping on them I sent out in order to get a response. The only one that ever responded who indicated to do so was Mr. Eric Larson from Image Comics. My hat is off to the man for showing such class! To do it again it would be an electronic submission or nothing. There is no excuse in this day and age why this isn't the case, but that is a whole other soap box topic. Platinum Studios was a company I submitted to as well and they also showed class in corresponding with me. They also took electronic submissions. KUDOS for them!!!

So we didn't find a publisher for Haven. Then the next logical step is to self publish. I thought as long as we had a fully colored comic book we could get into Diamond (the company that pretty much has the monopoly on comic book solicitations) no problem. I mean I read some of the crap that Diamond carried at the time. UM! I was wrong. At the same time I did an entire run of 5,000 copies of Haven #1 (Anyone want a free copy? PM me your address!) with 4,500 still sitting in my basement. Then in 2006 I went to the San Diego Comic Con which opened my eyes up big time to the industry as there were hundreds of people doing the same thing I was trying to do. All this seemed to cascade at once on me and it was a learning experience I would gladly go through again because now I have a clue how the industry works.

So we did self publish, we did sell some of the books, we did print issue #2, and the third issue is currently being finished up. When I learned of Drunk Duck I thought it was a great outlet to get the Haven idea read by more people.

NEXT WEEK: I'll introduce the many talents behind HaVeN and their other works. THEY ROCK!!!

PEACE OUT!

Christopher Moshier