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Funny Book Splatter Interview

I spoke to Funny Book Splatter about Glitterbomb: The Fame Game and Wayward, as well as the nature of character-driven horror and working in comics. Give it a listen!

Zub at Gen Con 50 in Indianapolis!

It’s time again for North America’s largest tabletop, card, and board game show, GEN CON in Indianapolis, Indiana! This year is extra special because it’s the 50th anniversary of the show, so it’s looking to be bigger and better than ever.

Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance, Ravenloft), Howard Tayler (Shlock Mercenary, Writing Excuses) and I will be set-up together at BOOTH 1549 in the main exhibit hall, ready to sign and sketch for readers.

If you’re headed to Gen Con, it would be great to see you there! It’s one of my favorite shows each year. Getting the chance to promote my comic work and also dig into the latest and greatest the gaming industry has to offer is a wonderful opportunity.

Getting Covered: Effective Comic Cover Imagery

Let’s talk about comic covers.

A strong and evocative cover with a well-designed logo grabs attention and builds anticipation for the story inside. It’s your eye-catcher, sales pitch, and branding all wrapped up in one illustration. When it comes to creating your comic, the cover image may be your only chance to entice a retailer or reader to invest in you. It’s a crucial part of the whole package.

Sounds great, but with so many other comics on the shelves and colorful artwork vying for customer attention, how can you stand out in such a crowded field?

I’ve seen a lot of great looking artwork gracing the front cover of independent books, but many of them aren’t effective as cover imagery. Too many lack focus, clarity, or a visual hook and they don’t compel a new reader to pick it up and start browsing.

When you start putting together ideas for a cover, pull back and think carefully about the first impression you want to make.

• What is the genre?
• What is the mood?
• Who/what is most important?

In short, what do you want to communicate right off the bat about this story and what’s the clearest way of showing that?

No matter how complex or in-depth the story inside is or how many characters are in the cast, you need to simplify. The cover for a brand-new project you’re trying to sell is not the place to have a crazy montage of characters or a jumble of imagery all at once. A postage stamp collection of visuals isn’t direct and doesn’t stand out from a distance, which is what you need when people aren’t already aware of the creators, the characters, or the story.

Let me give you some examples from my creator-owned series:

Glitterbomb is a Hollywood horror story, but I wanted to emphasize the “horror” aspect for our first cover.

What did we want to communicate?
Otherworldly, possession/transformation, foreboding

That’s exactly what Djibril Morisette-Phan, my wonderful collaborator on the series, delivered.

Here’s another crucial element – the cover is an iconic composition that can be identified from 6-10 feet away.

When designing a cover and trade dress, print it out the same size it will be as a book, go to your local comic shop and put it on a shelf full of other comics, then take 5-6 steps back…

• Is it visible?
• Does it stand out?
• If someone was looking for it, would they find it?
• Could it grab the attention of a new customer?

Glitterbomb #1 communicates the mood of our series and grabs attention. Farrah, our main character, stares right at the reader, compelling you to stare back. It’s arresting and full of atmosphere, eye-catching and memorable.

Almost every cover for Glitterbomb communicates similar ideas. Some lean on the Hollywood elements but all of them have a sense of horror/foreboding. They prepare readers for the journey:


Artwork by Marguerite Sauvage, Vivian Ng, Djibril Morisette-Phan, and Trevor Jameus.

Also note that even with these thumbnails before you make them full size, you can easily identify the subject and the logo stands out. The core shapes that make up the design and the colors aren’t muddy or indistinct. Clarity is crucial.

The third cover for The Fame Game our second Glitterbomb mini-series (shown here publicly for the first time) is one of my favorites so far:

The California sunlight should be warm and inviting, but it contrasts with the creepy supernatural eyes and expression to turn that sunlight into something harsh. It’s a great mix of our horror & Hollywood themes.

Compare those Glitterbomb covers to some of the best ones from Skullkickers, my action-fantasy sword & sorcery series, also published by Image:


Artwork by Chris Stevens, Edwin Huang and Espen Grundetjern, and Chris Stevens with Saejin Oh.

What do they communicate?
Violent but whimsical, fantasy, comradery, adventure.

What you see on that cover is what you get within the pages. Our best covers exemplified those core ideas while teasing events happening inside. Simple and direct, but also telling the reader if this book might be for them.

A great cover for a new property is more than a montage of characters we don’t yet know or care about. It’s more than a character looking cool without any context.

I think the most effective cover on a creator-owned book I’ve worked on has been Wayward #1, by Steven Cummings with colors by Ross A. Campbell:

Supernatural. Teen. Ready to kick ass.

That powerful image coupled with our elevator pitch that Wayward is like “Buffy in Japan” did wonders for our series launch. It branded us and brought in readers in a big way. I can’t even count the number of people who have stopped to browse and buy Wayward Vol. 1 thanks to that killer cover.

“Oh wow, what is that?”
“Who is she?”
“Kitties!”

It’s been powerful mojo for us. It breaks the ice and invites inspection.

Our best covers have created a similar feeling of teenage supernatural adventure taking place in Japan:

Artwork by Alina Urusov, Takeshi Miyazawa, Phillip Tan, and Jorge Molina

Here are some other creator-owned comic covers that showcase clarity and concept. Each one brands the series and prepares the reader with subject and mood. Each one is inviting and visible from across a room:

Artwork by Skottie Young and Jean-Francois Beaulieu, Gabriel Rodriguez, Stjepan Stejic, and Fiona Staples

I don’t think there’s only one way to do covers. You can have storytelling-centric covers, design-based covers, abstract high concept covers, or anything else you want, but in each case you need to grab attention and deliver a sense of what readers can expect inside.

The cover is an airlock that separates our real world from the world within those pages. It communicates a feeling and prepares the audience. Do it well and you can bring in complete strangers who might otherwise have passed you by.

If you found this post interesting, feel free to let me know here (or on Twitter), share the post with your friends and consider buying some of my comics, donating to my Patreon, or buying comics from me in person if you see me at a convention.

Arriving in September- GLITTERBOMB: THE FAME GAME #1

GLITTERBOMB: THE FAME GAME #1

STORY: JIM ZUB
ART: DJIBRIL MORISSETTE-PHAN & K. MICHAEL RUSSELL
COVER A: DJIBRIL MORISSETTE-PHAN
COVER B: REBECA PUEBLA

SEPTEMBER 20 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99

Kaydon Klay wants to be famous. She wants it more than anything else she’s ever known. The dream is hers for the taking, all she has to do is embrace the national tragedy that’s put her in the spotlight…

Fan favorite writer Jim Zub (WAYWARD, Uncanny Avengers) and artist Djibril Morissette-Phan (All-New Wolverine, Ultimates) continue their twisted exploration of fame and failure.

The entertainment industry feeds on our insecurities, desires, and fears. You can’t toy with those kinds of primal emotions without them biting back.

Zub at AwesomeCon 2017!

This weekend, June 16-18, is AwesomeCon in Washington DC! I haven’t been to the show in three years, so I’m excited to be back to meet readers. I’ll be set up at TABLE O-2 in Artist Alley. Come on by and get your books signed!

In addition, I have a special Samurai Jack panel on Sunday:

Sunday June 18
2:30-3:15pm – Samurai Jack Live Read – ROOM 150
Join Samurai Jack comic writer, Jim Zub, and Samurai Jack voice actor, Phil LaMarr, in a live read of one of the Samurai Jack comics!

Just To Clarify – I’m Not Rich

Yesterday’s announcement about Wayward being optioned for TV development by Manga Entertainment was an absolute whirlwind. I received dozens of messages from friends, family, colleagues, retailers, long-time readers, and complete strangers congratulating myself and the rest of the team. It’s a big milestone and one I’m certainly not taking for granted. However, I do want to clarify some important things because I’m already noticing people making assumptions about what this means or where we’re at:

A media option does not mean a dump truck of money showed up at my place.

I’m not rich.

Creator-owned comics are still an uphill climb.

Let me clarify what an ‘option’ is and how it works in broad non-contract specific terms:

An ‘option’ means a company is reserving the opportunity to purchase media rights to a particular property in the future. They do this so they can confidently seek out possible production partners and financing without wondering if it will be worth the trouble or what it will cost later. The contract we’ve signed includes terms that specify what rights they would be able to secure, what it would cost, our particular involvement if that purchase is executed, and how long they have to do all of that before the option lapses and we’re free to negotiate with other parties. In short, they’ve paid to secure our interest for a set period of time. It’s a crucial first step in media development.

Most entertainment companies don’t option properties unless they feel they’re something worth investing in. There are stories of properties being optioned just to keep it out of other people’s hands or to bury it so it can’t compete with similar productions already in development but, thankfully, that’s not the case here. The gang at Manga are aggressively pursuing Japanese production partners and are using the extensive network of contacts they’ve built up over the past 26 years to make that happen. Once they’re able to get those details nailed down, ideally, they execute the option purchase and we go fully into production.

What’s immediately beneficial to us right now is the visibility boost that comes from this announcement. In a very crowded comic market, we’re able to stand out a bit more than before. That will hopefully lead to increased interest and sales so we can keep the book rolling and deliver the best story possible. Making Wayward the comic is our top priority.

Can this media thing fall through?
Yes, but so far all signs are moving in a positive direction. We wouldn’t have signed this deal if we didn’t think it would move forward and neither would Manga.

Have you been paid?
We’ve received a small amount of money for the option. The majority of that has been put into our ‘war chest’ to pay for future comic production.

So you’re not quitting your day job?
Correct. Still working away. Lots to do.

They didn’t bring a dump truck of money to your house?
Also correct. No dump truck.

Can you turn my idea into an anime?
No. I don’t even know how to do that. This is all new for me too.

Please?
No.

I can’t go into the specifics of our particular contract, but I will give some broad tips:

Every media development deal is different. If you’re fortunate enough to be approached about an option, don’t let anyone tell you there’s one boilerplate ‘media deal’ and you have to sign it as-is. Everything is negotiable. Seriously. There are elements I didn’t think would be possible that we put right in the deal in black and white.

Common sense and good intentions are not a contract. Everyone can get along well and want the same things at the start, but these kinds of deals are signed with companies, not people. Companies change. People leave. The only obligations a company has is what’s outlined in the deal you signed. Don’t make assumptions. Make sure the terms and obligations are clear for all parties involved.

Don’t sign anything without getting legal advice. Even if a contract looks straight forward, they can be surprisingly complex and have ramifications you never imagined at the time. The more I learn about this aspect of the business, the more thankful I am that I have good people helping me navigate these waters.

Be willing to walk away. If you can’t make the above work, you have to be willing to let a deal go rather than sign a bad one. Patience, persistence, and a level head are crucial when going into this kind of stuff. This particular conversation about Wayward media rights started in August of 2015 and didn’t really start coming together legally until about 6-7 months ago. It can take a while and you need to stay focused on what’s important.

I feel incredibly fortunate that we’ve made this step forward and I’m hopeful about where it’s all headed. As soon as I can reveal more about the future of Wayward the TV Show, I definitely will. Until then, please keep telling people about the series and if you’re not caught up on the story, consider snagging our collected volumes or catching up digitally on comiXology.

Otherwise, thank you for all the kind words and encouragement! None of this could have happened without support from readers and retailers like you!

Zub at TCAF 2017!

It’s time for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, a wonderful FREE event celebrating comics taking place at the Toronto Reference Library and select satellite locations on May 13th and 14th. I’m part of the big Image Comics 25th Anniversary Celebration crew who will be set up at the Masonic Temple (888 Yonge Street), a 2 minute walk up the road from the Reference Library:

I’ll be set-up at TABLE MT10 alongside Djibril Morissette-Phan, my collaborator on GLITTERBOMB. We’ll be there with plenty of great books…

…and I’ll be on several panels as well:

SATURDAY MAY 13th
12:15pm – The D&D Panel – Dungeons & Dragons!
The infamous tabletop RPG was controversial in the 80s and shunned by the mainstream, but now it’s back and more popular than ever! Join Jim Zub, Koren Shadmi, Ben Marra, Hannah Fisher, Megan Carter, and Tory Woollcott as they discuss what drew them to the gaming table and how D&D has inspired their comic storytelling.
LOCATION: Forest Hill Ballroom, Marriott Bloor-Yorkville

4:00pm – Image 25th: Glitterbomb vs. Monstress—Terrifically Terrifying Comics
Few things are as horrific as real horror! Few things are as felt as true feelings! So how do you convey both of those things in comics? Join the teams behind the terrific and terrifying MONSTRESS (Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda) and GLITTERBOMB (Jim Zub and Djibril Morrissette-Phan) on how they go about imbuing their stories and characters with real emotion, while also scaring your pants off.
LOCATION: Masonic Temple, 888 Yonge St

SUNDAY MAY 14th
12:00pm – Image 25th: Finding a Balance
Day jobs. Everybody’s got one. But how do you go about paying the bills while creating hit creator-owned comics? How do you make sure you have enough creative energy for both? Marjorie Liu, Jim Zub, Ivan Brandon, and Jason Latour are no strangers to balancing projects they do for others and projects the do for themselves. Come and hear how they try to make it work.
LOCATION: Masonic Temple, 888 Yonge St

If you live in the greater Toronto area, you really need to come to TCAF! It’s one of my favorite shows each year, jam-packed with incredible guests from all over the world, tons of stunning art, engaging programming, and so much more.

Zub at Calgary Expo 2017!

Another year, another wonderful Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo and I’ll be there! It’s the 12th anniversary of the show and I haven’t missed one yet.

I’ll be set up at TABLE X-10 with a slew of great books, new and old. I’ll be sketching and signing throughout the weekend.

I also have a new pin-up in the annual artbook, Fairy Tales and Monsters. This year I did my take on Puss In Boots.

If you’re in the Calgary area and can make it out to the show, I hope to see you there!

Word Balloon: Thunderbolts, Glitterbomb, and More!

John Siuntres and I get caught up on the Word Balloon Podcast after almost two years since our previous conversation. We cover Thunderbolts, Secret Empire, Wayward, Glitterbomb, fan pairings, working with continuity, events, and the state of creator-owned comics. Lots of great material here. Give it a listen!

0:00:00 John’s Introduction
0:05:56 Jim Interview Start: Thunderbolts
0:09:09 Marvel special projects division
0:11:40 How Thunderbolts came about and its ties to Secret Empire
0:19:21 Taking over Uncanny Avengers
0:21:23 Thunderbolts #11 revelations
0:29:34 Superior Spider-Man and shocking stories
0:33:40 Character “shipping” and fandom
0:42:51 Secret Empire: United and tie-ins
0:49:24 Continuity and the Thunderbolts Anniversary
0:56:14 The state of Wayward
1:01:57 Glitterbomb and modern entertainment
1:15:09 Glitterbomb back matter essays
1:26:15 The state of Skullkickers
1:29:22 Creator-owned at Image
1:30:40 Upcoming conventions and travel
1:39:43 Tutorials and my Patreon site

Savage Land Podcast Interview

I spoke to Jason, Matt, and Rachel from the Savage Land Podcast all about breaking into comics, working on corporate characters, the importance of creator-owned comics, and a whole lot more. Give it a listen!