Snake #0

[nimprod]

Hello everyone.

I'm writing a comic book script for a series that i hope to develop and would like your expirienced input on this.

This is not the script but the story it self and i would like to hear what you think of it.

Soon i will start to look for a illustrator on this.

I was going to do it on 3D (or cgi) but soon encountered some problems with that road so now i0ll do it in 2D instead.

This is the story:



Wild West,
A kid plays at the door of the town’s Saloon and he notices that the ground is shaking meaning that someone’s approaching by horse. The kid looks to the side and gets frightened by whose coming.
He runs inside screaming:
Kid: Snake’s coming! Snake’s coming!
he gets near his father’s table that is playing cards:
Father: What?
Kid: Father, Snake’s here.
Everyone inside the saloon gets scared and triggers their guns looking to the entrance door.
Snake arrives and goes directly to the bar followed by everyone’s eyes with their hand on the gun ready to shoot if needed.
As Snake approaches the bar, the bartender immediately serves a shot of whisky trembling and hoping to not get in trouble.
Snake takes a sip and takes some coins from the pocket and puts near the glass taking another sip finishing the drink. She moves towards the exit and people start getting more nervous. She leaves the saloon and hope on her horse continuing her trip.
Man on saloon #1: We’re still alive?
Man on Sallon#2: hum-um.
Man on Sallon#1: Are you sure? Cause I heard that when we die we don’t even notice it.
Man on Saloon #2: We’re still alive.
Man on Saloon #1: fiuuu” thank god.

“My name is Jane but I’m best known as Snake. Why? Mostly because of my outfit. Why do I use this outfit? Well, basically to scare people. When I was younger my father abused me mentally and physically, one day I ran away from home and joined some outlaws, soon I was the leader of the group and we started to go town to town terrorizing everyone and robbing them, that’s why I picked this outfit. One day I realized that I was doing to everyone what my father did to me, bullying for no reason. So now I want to amend things, get on the right path. People don’t know that so as soon as they see me, they get terrorized but now I don’t care, I just want to do what’s right. Where am I going? To kill my father.”




and this is a image that i did last month as a test, ill put here just for you to have a glimpse of what she will look like.

Snake look

[nimprod]

Im going to produce this and i was wondering what is the standard rate for each comic page?

I mean, i know there are some artists that take more money then others but just to give a hint so i can check my account for this.

$10 per page?

[Bishop]

You get what you pay for.

[nimprod]

Originally Posted by Bishop

You get what you pay for.

true i realize that.

but for a decent artist like....... maybe i should ask the artist it self how much he would charge per page.

Probably that is the best way

[Steven Forbes]

Comixtribe.com.

Read the Bolts & Nuts column.

Start from week 1, and keep going until you can't go any further.

Also, read The Proving Grounds.

It will only help.

-Steven

[Magnus]

You want good pencils? $50 ++


:M:
www.magnus-aspli.com

[nimprod]

Originally Posted by Steven Forbes

Comixtribe.com.

Read the Bolts & Nuts column.

Start from week 1, and keep going until you can't go any further.

Also, read The Proving Grounds.

It will only help.

-Steven

Loved it. bookmarked so will read it all.


Thank you very much for being so helpful

[nimprod]

Originally Posted by Magnus

You want good pencils? $50 ++


:M:
www.magnus-aspli.com

you have some interesting work there.

Thanks will put you on a short list

[Magnus]

My rate for pencils is $5, then again, I'm no artist, I'm a writer so that would be pencils without much quality. But do put me on the short list, if you like.



:M:
www.magnus-aspli.com

[chris2.0]

Originally Posted by Steven Forbes

Comixtribe.com.

Cool, thanks for the linkages - going to start plowing into B&N / TPG...

And of course, it is true - you do get what you pay for...

[Comics Commando]

Being a comics pro--but not a pro artist [per se]....I want to let you know that $10 is just plain insulting.

The comment that said you get what you paid for is correct--you won't get much for $10 a page.

I've been in the comics freelance biz for just about every publisher--major and minor--for almost 30 years...even when I started, an art page rate wasn't as low as $10.

Before I continue, I have to rant about artists a bit here...think this through as I explain it....an artist who has a monthly comic to draw [I'm talkin' pencils only, here]--has roughly 30 days to draw an average of 24 pages. If he can't draw 24 pages in 30 days, he's not drawing a monthly book. Period.

If they draw one finished page per day weekday, they can take weekends off--if they don't--they gotta work weekends, too...just to keep pace with the schedule.

I've actually seen artists take 6 weeks to draw their first monthly book--and then wonder why they had 2 weeks to draw the next issue. It's simple math. 30 days [one month] to draw a monthly book. 60 days for 2 books, 90 days for 3, etc...

Next thing you should know, is that even if they keep that schedule, it means they're taking about 8-12 hours to draw each page. If they take longer, the page time goes up [or they're just lazy]. And they DON'T spend that much time on a page, it's not worth printing--or paying for.

Can you imagine working for 8 hours for $10--? No sane person would do that.

The going rate these days for pencils at the pro level is about $160 a page---maybe low end $120--high end $180.

Cut that in half for a talented newbie and you're not even close to $10.

Plus, when you factor in the other page rates...inking...letters...colors...writing....the actual per page cost is way over $400 per page---before printing. I don't have the figures in front of me, but I do freelance editing and press design [plus lettering and writing]--but I once calculated the overall cost of a comic book before printing at around $15,000. And this was years ago.

I get that you're not flush with that kinda cash--even I'm not. This is why it's so hard to get these grass roots projects off the ground.

Even if you get someone talented to work for you at--let's say $60 a page....pretty soon they run outta steam 'cause they've never worked on a full 24 page comic before...and they have a girlfriend who demands their time...or a job that they have to present for 8 hours a day. BUT--maybe they have done a 24 page comic before..but the low rate and long hours will wear on them. It's an old story--they sound great at the beginning, but then reality hits and they flake out.

Another old story is someone is available so good, and cheap, it's crazy-- you hire them...2 weeks in--Marvel hires them at $170 a page. You can't expect them to finish your book--this is his dream for 10 years!

If your story is worth bringing to market, you'll get more real about the marketplace---or come up with another story that has more bang potential.

I'm not saying give up--I'm saying understand the business more so you can navigate the waters with a real shot at success on the other side.

Kurt Hathaway
khathawayart@gmail.com
Cartoon Balloons Studios

[Comics Commando]

FYI---

Anyone who wants to make their script stronger---download this guide.

Guaranteed to make you think about scripting in a better way.

http://rapidshare.com/files/37633504...ipt_Format.pdf


Kurt Hathaway
khathawayart@gmail.com