Answers! To Questions!

Plus, an APP!!! Wha?!!

All right! As promised, I’m answering QUESTIONS from thoughtful readers (you)! Let’s get INTO IT!!!!

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What are some common mistakes that inexperienced (or just bad!) comic book writers make? -Evan

Deciding to write comics is always the biggest mistake. Besides that, the big one is just not drawing. I know I’ve said it before in interviews but I think comic writers should at the very minimum be able to sketch out a page layout, so they know that what they’re asking of an artist is possible!

I remember one writer showing me a script, and it had a panel description of looking down at a vehicle on a road. There were four people in the vehicle and all of them were talking in the panel. So, the reader can’t see the characters, so they have no idea who’s saying what. Even if the artist changed the perspective so you COULD see everyone in the vehicle, where are you going to put the lettering in a four-person exchange? So I said to Donny, “fix this. And also go write a legendary Venom run.” And he did. You’re welcome, Donny.

So, there’s stuff like that, which are the technical parts to comic writing. Almost all problems I see with writers and artists can be solved with a simple idea: to just THINK. To really think about what they’re doing. Does this work? Will it work for the next stage? What are the problems here that I haven’t solved? A lot of creatives think they can just sit down and their (ugh) “natural talent” will do the work. But that’s rarely the case. You’ve got to really think and envision yourself as the reader.

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If you could only recommend one non-Chip trade paperback to someone, what would it be? -alexone305

Depends on the person and their interests! I think SAGA is a stellar book to hand to almost any reader. It’s fun, smart, beautiful and funny. And a great introduction to what you can do with comics as an art form. Plus I really like guiding readers to the struggling indie comic. I wish nothing but success for Mr. K. Vaughan and Ms. Staples! You can do it!

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How do you mentally shift gears among all the very different titles you are working on? Do you work on large chunks of a single title at a time. or do you like to mix and match? Bats and DD seem pretty adjacent, but I’d imagine going from Kaptara to Stillwater needs some compartmentalization. -Scott Kane

I like the switching! I mean, it’s not too different from consuming media, y’know? After watching an intense show, I usually like to move over to something lighter, and the same goes for writing. Scripting out a brutal death scene in Stillwater usually makes me want to go have some fun writing a Kaptara scene!

But the actual answer is that I gotta put the fire out that burns brightest, so switching projects when there are deadlines involved is super easy. If I don’t do it … I’M FIRED!!!!

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Whats your favorite simpsons episode -jaksart

It’s been a looong time since I’ve seen The Simpsons, but I remember just dying from laughter at the Hank Scorpio episode. There have probably been a dozen Hank Scorpio episodes since then and a Scorpio spin-off series and I’d have no idea!!

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I loved that art process section you did a while back and I would like to ask if you could do more in the future? I actually subscribed to ask you this question lol. Ciao! -MatteoC

Yeah! Absolutely! Though my process is usually just me drawing a bad thing and then redrawing it until it’s less of a bad thing. But! Since you’re here, and since I’m the new BATMAN writer, here are the character sheets I made for the Detective Comics 1027 short story I did with THE Matt Fraction! I may have shown these here before? My brain no good

We were bouncing around in time so I needed to work out what each period should look like. It was super fun to do and I’m pretty proud of “future 1”! Maybe I’ll bring it into the monthly book! I HAVE THE POWER NOW

Joker was easier, and I’m still extremely grateful that Matt wanted BATDANCE for year five. I forget if it was me or him that wanted the fork bat ears for “future 2.” If you like it, it was me. If not, it was Matt.

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If you could include Doop in any of your books (thanks to his marginal, quasi-dimensional nature), which one would you choose and why? -Dan

You really have to ask?

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I only have one dumb and uncomfortable question; against all sense, Daredevil and Batman each invite you to a fancy party, all their cool friends will be there, but they are at the same time in different places! Which party do you go to? Howard the Duck can join you as your plus 1 at either if that makes it more interesting. -Casey

hm I think I’m going to the billionaire playboy’s party instead of the lawyer who would like you to turn down the music please

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How would Newburn deal with notorious organized crime disliker The Batman? -Dan

He’d be, like “Batman? You mean billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne? I love his parties.”

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Can i buy a sketch? Where can I find some chip related merch? -Vincent

I’ve got nothing right now because I moved into the woods! When I’m back in the big city with their fancy art supplies I’m going to start doing head sketches again!

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I've made a lot of sketchy purchases so I was wondering if you and Kagan ever signed a variant of Kaptara #1 with your signatures in the greatest character ever The Motivational Orb? Did you? Huh? -Greg

Kagan and I have been known to sign that beautiful orb body from time to time

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Question: Which comic book websites do you read (if you read any of them) and why is aiptcomics.com your favorite? -David Brooke

I greatly enjoy the X-Men Mondays segment on AIPT! Other than that I tend to stay away from comic book sites so I don’t have my feelings hurt or lose my mind with rage at the clickbait articles (which, yeah, I know, they pull in readers and keep the sites going).

I started reading Bleeding Cool at the beginning of the pandemic because I was starved for info on whether or not I’d have a job going forward with all of the distribution issues, and, I’ll give this to BC: they were on top of it. I’ve stayed reading Bleeding Cool because I love articles spoiling my stories and also articles pointing me to an auction for the first appearance of Jimmy Pluto in Star Spangled Adventures #22 (current bid: $12) on Heritage Auctions.

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Are you reading anything interesting right now? What was the last good book? -Adam

For some reason, over the pandemic I’ve been leaning toward comedic novels (WEIRD, I KNOW). If you want just non-stop jokes and a loose plot to hold it all together, I highly recommend The Stench of Honolulu: A Tropical Adventure by Jack Handey. Yes, that Jack Handey, if you’re an SNL viewer of a certain age. It’s basically Deep Thoughts, one after another, page after page, and I just loved it.

In a similar vein are the novels of John Swartzwelder. Some of you may have read the New Yorker interview with him from last year. I did and then immediately read his first two Frank Burly novels, The Time Machine Did It and How I Conquered Your Planet. Much like the Handey novel this is just joke after joke, unadaptable into any other medium. Very, very funny.

Currently I’m halfway through The Overstory by Richard Powers, recommended by all the writers I know and my wife. It won a Pulitzer! It’s very, very good! And not funny at all! If you like devastatingly beautiful writing and maybe too many descriptions of trees, this is the book for you.

As far as comics go, boy oh boy I read Immortal X-Men #1 and it’s great. Gillen writing Sinister again is a dream. And Lucas Werneck makes it very pretty.

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One of the reasons you said you didn't want to write ASM was for the public pressure. Well, Tom King (a personal fav of mine) became most-hated author during his Batman run, death threats that made DC hire a bodyguard for him included.

wait what

What made you choose Batman as your next series? (Besides money being the obvious answer) -Xavi

Amazing Spider-Man and Batman are both titles that have passionate readers, for sure. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t an easy decision to make! But when I was offered Batman I just had a visceral reaction of “FUCK YEAH” and a million ideas. Some of it comes down to the fact that I haven’t written an ongoing series for DC yet, and I was excited to see what that’s like, having really enjoyed doing the minis with them. I know Marvel, I know the talented people who work there, and I basically know how a run on Amazing would play out and I think at this point in my career I wouldn’t be very good at it for a variety of reasons.

I know that may seem like a strange answer, but it’s the truth! Right now Batman makes me really excited as a comics writer. I got to write modern Batman briefly in Urban Legends and it just felt right.

Also, move over Tom King! There’s a new most-hated author in town!!

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All right! MAILBAG IS CLOSED. But keep popping questions in the comments! I’ll keep answering them!

Also, guess what?! You can now read this Substack on …. an APP?! It’s true!!

You probably already know this because yesterday every other creator posted about it. So I’m just going to copy and paste Scott Snyder’s post, the same way I’m copying and pasting his Batman run! Enjoy!

Hey guys, it’s Scott Chip.

If you’re like me and have subscriptions subscription to my friends friend over here on Substack, you’ve probably been seeing emails like this all day, but in case you haven’t, I’m thrilled to announce that all Substack newsletters (like the amazing one you’re reading right now) are available on the iOS app as of today! Check out the snazzy preview of what Our Best Jackett Chip Zdarsky’s Nice Time News is going to look like: 

And for Android users like myself, don’t worry - the Android version of the app is fast approaching go buy an iPhone lol There’s even a waitlist page that you can use to get alerted as soon as the Android app is ready. For more info on all of this stuff, click on the preview image or watch the great comprehensive video that Substack uploaded! Or don’t! I get it, you’re busy! Making MONEY to spend on COMICS!!! Bye!!! I love you!!!!!!!

So, yeah! New app! It’s pretty great! Go get it!

Love,
Chip!

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Chip’s Funtime Substack couldn’t exist without you! I mean, it could, but it would absolutely suck and be incredibly lonely. Your subscription enables me to make fun stuff, hire fun creators, and give you comics with the Zdarsky Touch™. So, thanks!