It was The Flintstones that got Michael Ward started as a comic book artist.
"I got a learn-to-draw book for Hanna-Barbera characters and I used to draw Fred Flintstone on everything," says the St. Albert artist. It was a pivotal moment in his life, he adds, as it was the first thing he learned to do that his twin brother could not.
"I still have that book somewhere."
Ward says he grew up with comic strips such as Fox Trot and Calvin and Hobbes, and would cover his room floor to ceiling with strips of his own creation. (He put up drawing paper first.)
Now 29, Ward is still drawing comics and has gone semi-pro. He's finished several successful online strips and has just launched his newest venture, Fuzzy Outlaws.
"It's about a rabbit and a robot in space and they fly around in a carrot," he explains. "Well, it's a rocket ship shaped like a carrot."
Ward, an animated, excitable young man who talks with his hands and doodles constantly, is one of the many St. Albert artists (including Gigi Lau and Ashley Harder) who plan to take part in next week's Edmonton Comic & Entertainment Expo.
The expo has cosplay, comics, collectibles, big stars such as rocker Alice Cooper and more, says event co-founder Shane Turgeon. They've also lined up about 30 big figures in the comic and animation world, including Marvel Comics illustrator Ron Wilson, and Batman: the Animated Series artist Bruce Timm.
"It's pretty much your pop culture heaven."
Artists at work
One local headliner at the expo is Kyle Charles, the laid-back, up-and-coming Edmonton artist behind '68: Homefront – a horrifying tale of a zombie outbreak that starts in 1968 America and spreads to Alberta.
Charles was chatting up fans and inking custom covers earlier this month at Edmonton's Happy Harbor Comics – one of the region's most popular hangouts for comic book fans and creators.
"I never wanted to be anything else but a comic book artist," says the 28-year-old, having been inspired by the sight of his brother drawing Spider-Man. He grew up marvelling at the works of comic greats such as Jim Lee (Uncanny X-Men) and Greg Capullo (Batman) and sketching Ninja Turtles, Spider-Man and Batman.
"The work they did was so captivating … I wanted to be one of the greats."
Meeting comic artist Nat Jones at a Free Comic Book Day event, Charles enrolled in the digital illustration and sequential arts program at Edmonton's Guru Digital Arts College. After training with Jones for a year, Jones asked Charles to come on as an illustrator for his book, '68.
Charles is one of the roughly 100 or so Edmonton-area artists who write or illustrate comics, about a dozen or so of whom do so professionally, says Jay Bardyla, co-owner of Happy Harbor and prominent supporter of the local independent comic scene.
The comic industry today is the strongest it's been in decades, Bardyla says.
"Before the turn of the millennium, the industry was pretty much dead," Bardyla says, having oversaturated the market with superhero books.
Publishers bounced back by branching out into new genres, art styles and mediums. Western, horror, romance, crime and other tales filled the shelves, Smallville graced the small screen, and sites such as Newsarama started plugging comics on the Internet. Comics became more open to more people, making it easier for people to get into them.
Comics today offer readers a unique fusion of awesome art and great stories for an affordable price, Bardyla says.
"A lot of people like to have that little regular dose of escapism and entertainment, and comics can totally do that."
From pen to page
Ward pulls up a draft of his latest strip on his Wacom tablet.
"This page actually goes live on the Internet Thursday," he notes.
Ward says he spends about 20 hours a week working on comics. It takes him and his wife, Becky, about an hour to write the script for each strip and 30 minutes to illustrate it. While he used to sketch and scan everything, nowadays he jumps straight to Photoshop.
Charles prefers to initially sketch out each page in pencil on thick paper. (His friends used to tease him about his sketch-marks, which are so light that they are practically invisible.)
On a major book such as '68, Charles works as a team with other artists scattered across the world.
"We're all brought together by Twitter," he says.
After getting the script from the writer, it's up to him to determine the layout and details of each page. Once he's inked and scanned his work, he sends it to the colourist for more work.
Charles estimates that he does about a page a day, with each page taking seven to 12 hours.
Breaking in
In the old days, it was almost impossible to get into the comics industry unless you were backed by one of the big syndicates, Ward says – and the odds of that were maybe one in 30,000.
The Internet has changed this completely, he continues. By using social media sites such as Twitter, he was able to get about 3,000 readers a day and a bit of advertising cash for his strip Stick Dinosaurs at virtually no cost.
"If you're interesting and you're good, that's all it takes."
But the Internet also means there are scores of comics out there, which makes it tough for any one of them to be successful, Bardyla says. Most comic shops are also reluctant to carry books not backed by the big publishers, which means artists need to be aggressive marketers if they want to get anywhere.
"And for a lot of people that's really tough," he notes.
"It's emotionally draining. It takes away from your time being creative … it's not going to be for everyone."
If you want a publisher to pick up your book, you'll need more than just talent, Bardyla suggests.
Many artists will approach publishers or artists at comic conventions and ask them to review their portfolios, Bardyla says – the San Diego Comic-Con has an entire area dedicated to such reviews. But if you do that, you'll be up against the literally thousands of other people who have the same idea.
The smarter route is to connect with somebody established in the industry and having him or her help you break in, he continues. Chat up artists at local book signings, as you'll get a lot more one-on-one time at such events.
Patience and humility are vital, Charles says. Getting your name on the cover is cool, but you should always be focused on making a really cool story first.
"I treat this thing like being a samurai. You have to put your sword down in front of a master and say, 'Please teach me.'"
You also need good timing, Bardyla continues.
"Your stuff can be great and polished and amazing, but if the company's not looking for that look, you're not going to find the job."
Turning the page
Charles says there have been many times when he was sure that he'd quit drawing comics, but he finds he can't get them out of his head.
"When I love comic books the most is when I'm doing something else."
Successful comic artists are the ones prepared to put in many hours and sacrifices to make it work as a career, Bardyla says.
"If you're passionate about it and want to do it, you can make it work."
Ward says he'd like to become a concept artist, "but for whatever reason I keep adding speech bubbles to the characters and turn them into comics!"
Even though he can't afford to do comics full time right now, Ward hopes to eventually sell a book of his strips.
Ward and Charles both had the same advice for aspiring comic book artists: draw every single day.
"A lot of artists hit roadblocks and they can't overcome them so they kind of stop drawing," Charles says.
"You have to be extremely resilient."
