Caught In The Nexus: The Small Gods' Team

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As you may or may not have noticed, Image Comics is putting out this little comic called Small Gods. You also may or may not have noticed that the staff here at The Nexus is quite fond of this particular title, what with all the glowing reviews, interviews, and even our very first contest (co-sponsored by the Small Gods team) featuring the title. So at this point, it should come as no surprise that we’ve teamed up with the Small Gods team yet again to promote the forthcoming release of the title’s first trade, Small Gods: Killing Grin.

This time around, instead of doing the typical Q&A thing, we’re going to host a little workshop featuring the entire Small Gods staff, wherein they will take us step by step through their process of getting the title picked up at Image, and how they produce the book each month.

So without further ado, The Nexus proudly presents:


Small Gods: Birth of the Gods

The Nexus: To get us started, explain how you pitched Small Gods to the Powers That Be over at Image Central.

Jason: Well, the first thing was to warm up my psychic abilities and convince them they wanted to publish the book…

But when that failed, I figured I should go about it in a more conventional fashion. Basically, pitching a story to a company is all about following the rules. Image and any other company that accepts unsolicited submissions have very detailed guidelines for you to follow. So I found myself an artist and an editor (who filled in as our letterer for the submission) and put together a proposal package. In Image’s case, that consisted of five pages and a cover and a one-page synopsis. You’ll see that original cover in print for the first time in the upcoming trade, actually.

The proposal pages we did were the pages 2 to 6 of the script – which ended up seeing print as pages 1 to 5 of Small Gods #1. The original script was 28 pages long and you have no idea what an ordeal it was cutting and squeezing it down into 22 pages. I’m sure the memory still gives Kris nightmares, though. And we did our bit to freak Juan out, too, when four pencilled pages in, I decided to retool the script – which meant redrawing everything. It did the trick, though – I honestly believe we wouldn’t be here if we’d submitted the original version of the story. That’s the big thing about any pitch – I don’t care how much you have to work and rework and revise and redraw it – you have got to put together the very best package you can if you want to be successful. As beginners, you cannot just be “good enough”. Fortunately, as you get more practice you’ll find that you need to revise and rework less and less.
Juan: When I remember the days of those first 5 pages, I can’t believe we actually made it to the trade! It took us ages to do them, now I realize that everyone was anxious and nervous about everything. So Jason, Kris and I were picky about every panel, we had quite long e-mail discussions about a single panel sometimes, so I thought the comic wasn’t going to last very long if that kept going on! But it seems it was the pressure of having our first book accepted, and after that everything became a whole lot easier and we started having fun.

Kris: The biggest thing to remember is that submitting a proposal is a JOB INTERVIEW. The trick is to cut out everything that is unnecessary and include only information that is pertinent and interesting. The whole cover letter can be shortened to one page, your synopsis being just a paragraph. We gave ALL the details. Here’s an excerpt:

Small Gods is an ongoing title, but one that is divided into discrete arcs, each centered on a different group of characters. There will be some recurring characters that will appear in multiple arcs, but there will be just as many one-off stories. The arcs will be between 1 and 5 issues each, averaging 3 or 4 issues. This will enable readers to pick up the comic at virtually any point without feeling lost. The title will also encompass a variety of genres: crime, drama, spy, political thriller, psychological thriller, action-adventure, slice of life, or a blend of these and more. The first 4 issue arc tells the story of a prescient/telepathic cop who finds himself in serious trouble when a criminal uncovers a secret he’s been keeping for years, and he has to decide just how far he’s prepared to go to protect himself. It’s a crime/drama story, with a major focus on the characters.

Then we gave short bullet points for the next 4 arcs. The whole cover letter was professional, neat and to the point, printed on professional paper. The art was submitted on glossy paper, lettered by me (we pointed out in the cover letter that I would NOT be the regular letterer), and done in black and white. So really, that’s all there is to it. Follow directions, make everything as precise and well-written as possible, and be professional.

The Nexus: Wow, that sounds crazy. I’m trying to picture Juan’s face when he found out that he’d have to completely start over. That had to be one happy day in the Ferreyra household. So what happened next? How long did it take for you to hear back from Image, and what was the next step in the process?

Jason: Fortunately we live in different countries – otherwise I think I may have been missing a digit or two after that one.

Juan: Yeah, my face was very long at the moment mostly because I liked those 4 pages, but Jason was paying me good money for them so I couldn’t be that angry, and if the script changed for the better it was ok, I wanted the book to be accepted! But I still think we could’ve been accepted with the original pages, I liked that script.

Jason: All right, once we were done Kris sent off the proposal and we waited. At that time, Jim Valentino was still the Publisher and they’d long settled into a routine regarding proposals over there. You rarely had to wait more than a month to hear back (and usually then only during convention season, when the Image guys were on the road a lot). I don’t remember exactly, but I think it only took a couple of weeks before they got in touch. They were mostly happy, but wanted us to fix a few things. We did it, they said yes and we were in!

Juan: I think we waited for more than a month, can’t recall exactly, but when I saw that e-mail sent by Jim, I never felt so happy on my entire comic life, it was the greatest feeling I’ve experienced, I’ve finally had to opportunity to work on a mainstream book!

Jason: After that it was time to start working for real – and pick ourselves up a letterer…

Kep!: That would be me. I remember getting a letter out of nowhere from Jason asking if I’d be interested in a gig. He was referred to me by Kris, who I had worked with on another project altogether (Scott Wherle’s really groovy AVIATOR); however we had also bumped into each other on the Image forum every now and again. He sent me the script, showed me the art, and I had no doubt this book was going to be a hit… I signed up at once.

One of the first things he had me do was come up with a logo. I believe they had gone through several already, and one of them struck me as being in the ballpark, so I used that as a starting place. I’m not sure how many I made before we got to the final version –over two dozen, I think — but as soon as I finished it I knew it was the one. The team agreed and we had a logo.

The process of selecting a primary dialogue font (as well as a complimenting caption and narration font) was also very involved. I letter the book on computer, and had a wide range of choices… but I tend to lean towards Blambot fonts (love them!) and I sent the team a list of my suggestions. We finally decided to go with Blambot’s BOTTLE ROCKET for KILLING GRIN. First, it’s a font with a very unique look while still being legible. Second, I think it has a bit of a hard-boiled crime edginess. So, after a lot of emails we finally had a look and feel for the lettering.

Kris: I do believe it was only a couple weeks before we got the acceptance. After the team was assembled, Kep went to work on the logo and Juan started doing cover layouts. The covers were hard because we all had different opinions on what the covers should look like. Finally, we picked out a whole slew and sent them over to Eric Stephenson and Jim Valentino and let THEM decide for us. The one they picked actually turned out to be the only one all of us had been relatively okay with!

The Nexus: Okay, so you’ve been accepted, your team’s assembled, you’ve got your cover picked out, and your logo’s good to go. From this point, how long did it take before the first issue was ready for solicitation, and past the art what other steps were needed to get you to this point?

Jason: There’s more? Dammit, I thought Image took care of everything else!

…alas, that isn’t the case. One of the things you quickly discover at Image, if you didn’t already know going in, is that there’s a lot more work to be done than the mere creating. Of course, anyone who knows anything about comics knows that’s the case – but the difference between say, Image and Marvel, is that we creative types are responsible for a lot of it. I know I was surprised by how much was involved.

The main issues you have to be concerned with are the solicitations and the book itself, because those are what the public sees. At first we were simply dealing with the book. It took what seemed to me (and Juan, I think) a surprisingly long time to get #1 ready. We really were learning the ropes, and learning to work together. Kris and I hammered out a 22-page version of the script, then Juan started doing his thing. And then there were all the corrections – and there were a lot of those. We’re pretty much a well-oiled machine now – Juan nails just about everything right out of the gate and all I have to do (well, as far as the artwork is concerned) is sit around approving it. The first issue took months to perfect, on the other hand.

One thing that definitely had an impact on our schedule was the greyscales. Originally, the book was going to be plain B&W, but about halfway through the issue, Juan sent us a page of greyscales and asked us what we thought. Well, we were pretty much floored and we wanted the entire book done like that – and as many people have said, it’s one of the best things about the book, so I’d say it was a good call – but Juan had already spent a lot of time inking things that would now be done in greys. I believe it was also the first time he’d done greys on a book, so it took him a while to get into the swing of things.

Then there was the cover. As Kris mentioned, and as you’ll see in the trade, we went through a lot of different versions before finding one that everyone agreed on and that took up a lot of time. And it went on – Kep had to find a font that suited the story and the art, I had to work on the story and Kris had to pull me up whenever I got out of hand and so on and so forth. We had to get everything ready for Image, we had to deal with business concerns on our side of things as well as between us and Image, we had to…well, there’s a lot to it. Solicitations, coming up with copy that’ll sell the book and more covers and everything – it takes a lot of effort. Unless you’ve done it before, even with people telling you about it, it’s hard to comprehend just how big a job making a comic is.

One thing I want to mention specifically is our back cover design. I come up with most of the concepts there, but it was originally Juan’s idea and Kep’s helped to shape the copy on more than one occasion – one of the forthcoming ones is all him, in fact; art, copy and all – not to mention coming up with fantastic fonts to complement Juan’s art. I think these little fake ads of ours really help to paint a picture of the Small Gods universe – and more than that, they’re great fun to create – and they even inspire me. One of the ads from the first arc is going to be referenced in the third, and one of the second arc ads is actually going to get its own arc later on.

Juan: One of the good things and bad things we experienced was that when our book was approved the publishing schedule was very full, so our release date was about 6 months later than we’d hoped for. So we had like 4 months to do issue #1! And I really don’t know if that’s such a good, because with so much time on your hands you tend to get lazy. But it gave me time to try some things out, like the greys. It took me a while to get the look I wanted with them, I’d say maybe by issue 5 I got to the point where I thought they were ok. But with each new issue I try a new thing and it’s very satisfying to do them, especially after doing the inks, as they take a lot of work and are a very detailed process. I managed to complete issue 2 in 2 months and then issue 3 in a month and a week, so I started to get faster, but then I wanted to add more stuff. So it’s tricky, you have to learn when to stop adding details and new stuff because if you don’t, you’ll deliver a book late.

But I really think it’s better to have a quality book than a fast book, especially if it’s collected into trades. Like in issue 5 the script was 22 pages, but I felt I could add 2 more pages to make a scene better, or in issue #7, I more than doubled the scripted panel count on 6 pages, to have more action in them. And Jason thinks this too, of course – for example he expanded the second arc by an extra issue once he started writing it, and added 1 more page to issue 8 (and then I added another one!).

Also one of the other things that we should mention is that where other comics have pin-ups or fan letters, we mostly use them to keep telling Small Gods-related stories – backups with different artists. Finding and working with those artists is a whole new thing for Jason.

Jason: Yeah, that’s right. I’ve had to race around to get artists for those on more than one occasion and some good friends have helped me out when I’ve had some trouble sorting things. Juan included, as you’ll see when #7 hits the stands. I have to say, I really appreciate what these guys have done for us – so far we’ve seen work by Mahmud A. Asrar, Jean-Paul Mavinga and Aadi Salman and there are more to come.

The Nexus: Okay let’s cut to today. Juan said that in the beginning it was taking a couple months to get each issue done. Now that you’re more than a year into the creation process, how long does it take to produce each issue from script to gray tones?

Jason: Well, it can vary. The thing of it is, from my side, I just do the scripts whenever – whenever I have the time, whenever I’m inspired, whenever I don’t have anything else that needs to be done urgently. I always try to keep somewhere between 2 to 4 issues ahead of Juan.

Once Juan starts on the art, though…well, he can answer that better than I can. I don’t always pay attention to exactly how long it takes. I’m more interested in just getting (and drooling over) the art.

Kris: I can turn around a script in a day or so. But overall edits that Jason and I discuss and go over take about 4 days. What happens is that when I see Juan is getting near the end pages with his grayscales, I go through the next issue. I don’t like to get too far ahead, because it helps to have the last issue fresh in my head when I’m looking over Juan’s art. So after I go through the next issue, I send the edits to Jason. He’ll go over them, and if he has questions or disagreements, we’ll discuss them and fine-tune the script together. Then Jason adjusts the script Juan was just working from, to include any extra pages he put in, or dialogue tweaks, and off it goes to Kep for lettering!

Juan: Well, with perfect weather, it would take me 1 week to do pencils (roughly), 2 weeks to do inks, and 1 week for greys. (I think I was able to pull that off just once or twice) But usually it takes me a month and a week, which is why we take a break of one month after each arc. Remember that I have to do all that, plus the cover, the back cover and sometimes something happens…like on issue 5, I added 2 pages. On issue 7, I had to do the back-up story (4 pages). On issue 8, Jason added a page and because I like to suffer, I added another one!
I also had to do extra stuff for the trade and sometimes I get the chance to do covers or short stories for other comics and that makes my time shorter!
And the worst thing is that I get faster and faster, but instead of just doing the same things, I try to improve and draw better and add more stuff, so I always end up finishing the issues at the same rate but with better quality! At least, I like to think it’s better quality.

The Nexus: Finally, what advice (if any) do you have for anyone trying to break into the industry in general, and at Image specifically?

Jason: Hmmm…at Image the big one is, put your best foot forward. You’d think that’d be obvious, but apparently it isn’t. Writers should go with something special, unique even, but also something that’ll be commercially viable. Sometimes the Image guys have had to pass on ideas they’ve liked, but which they’ve known just wouldn’t sell enough to cover costs. Once they have their idea, writers have got to write the perfect script – or as near to it as they can come. And don’t forget the pitch/synopsis – that’s gotta pop as well. There’s a sticky thread on the main Image forum talking all about pitches. It’d be well worth any aspiring writer’s time to check that out. Artists have to do the same, but in their own fields. Concentrate on storytelling, concentrate on execution, concentrate on…well, everything, really. Pretty art with bad storytelling isn’t going to do the trick, and vice versa. It’s not easy to get in at Image, so you simply have to do the best you can, put together a professional package, and then…pray.

Elsewhere, the same rules apply, really, but in different ways. The key is always, “best foot forward”. Different companies ask for different things when you’re submitting to them, and you need to meet those requirements, but if you want to have any chance of getting in, you also need to provide the best work you can.

Juan: Well, don’t submit a book if you have never finished an issue before. Find a script and draw a complete issue, just for practice, you’ll learn a lot. Ask for criticism everywhere, even if you don’t like what you hear. I remember that I used to think my stuff was great and when I heard some critics I thought, “What do you know?” and the truth is that it is very hard to find errors in stuff that you’ve just done, but you’ll find them years later!

So listen to what people tell you.

When you have your stuff ready to send to Image, ask people around what they think, you can even ask us what we think, you’ll save yourself a lot of money on postal service.

Kep!: Pay attention, don’t quit, ask questions, listen to answers, don’t get defensive, bathe and change your clothes every day, wear deodorant(I’m not kidding folks). It sounds flippant, but the truth is that publishers/editors/money-people like people with talent whom they like personally. Be the guy they want to know… and at least you’ll be told nicely that your book stinks on ice as opposed to the usual form letter.. The other thing is to learn more than just your job… if you write, learn how to letter… if you color, learn how to ink… and when you get at least rudimentary skills at one, pick up another still. If you are serious about creating comics, you will greatly improve your chances of success if you know what the other members of your team are doing and are able to appreciate the work (even if they are much better than you). Teamwork makes it all possible.

Kris: I’ve seen too many people put their heart and soul into a story and then not have the appropriate team to back it up. Your book needs to click on ALL levels. Don’t rush the process, and don’t settle for less than what you want. Look at the books that are on the stands, being put out by Image. Does your art compare? Are you on that same level? Is it marketable? Is your story something that not only inspires YOU, but will inspire other people to read it? Look at and read what is selling as a professional, not as a fan. Can you describe your story in a couple sentences, or do you need to give background information and history about the world that you have created before anyone can understand what’s going on? Hone your craft. And above all, don’t give up.

The Nexus: Thanks guys for the wonderful interview and insight into the creation/submission process.

For those of you who want to find out what this Small Gods is all about, make sure to pick up the series’ first trade, Small Gods: Killing Grin in stores now.