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Welcome to ComicLab: The podcast about making comics, and making a living from comics! If you loved Webcomics Weekly, you're gonna love this show: It's half shop-talk, half how-to, and half friendship. WE SQUEEZED IN THREE HALVES. It's tips and tricks and all the joys of cartooning as a pro. So pull up your drawing chair, put on some headphones, and join us while you draw! And if you like what you hear, kick in a dollar to help make more 'n better shows — patreon.com/comiclab
Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Brad and Dave welcome "Crabgrass" creator Tauhid Bondia. Plus — how do you know if you're good? Questions asked and topics covered... How do you know if you're …
Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. As Twitter launches a subscriber service, we discuss how every platform is introducing subscriptions. Also, after a decade of social-media dominance of the Internet, what …
Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Dave and Brad talk about a hot topic in art — NFTs. We'll discuss what it is and whether it's the future of valuing digital art. Questions asked and topics cove…
Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Dave and Brad talk about how bad their early comics were. Plus — the comics your readers love best can sometimes be the ones you put the least work into. Questi…
Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Dave and Brad discuss the difference between Mirror Research and Market Research. Questions asked and topics covered... Dave discovers the "meet cute" Mirror Re…
Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. Dave and Brad share their favorite books about comics history, including: The Ten-Cent Plague Marvel Comics — The Untold Story Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-Year Battle Be…
We're thrilled to welcome our new sponsor, Bonjoro — an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. Dave and Brad discuss the difference between the Goal of an artist — and that artist's Job. The two aren't always the same, and resolving that conflict leads to…
Dave and Brad discuss the importance of "luck" in your creative career — and how you can increase the chances of that happening. Questions asked and topics covered... Dave Kellett gives advice on getting lucky When it's OK if your work changes over time When it's not OK when your work changes over time Eisner submissions are due! The dangers of mix…
Dave and Brad ask, "What's your motivation to create?" Are you doing this for the "right" reasons? Questions asked and topics covered... Creative motivation Line width Releasing a book exclusively on Amazon? You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 — Early access to episodes $5 — Submit a question for possible use on…
Dave and Brad talk about the best advice they never wanted — those "truth hurts" moments that changed their careers. Questions asked and topics covered... Have you ever gotten advice you didn't want to hear? How do you change specific aspects of your drawing style? Amazon Advantage Which syndicated cartoonist would have made a good webcartoonist Sh…
This week, Dave and Brad take several questions about self-publishing. From the best way to build an audience to handling overseas shipping — it's all about getting your work into print! Questions asked and topics covered... What's the best way to build an audience for a book release? Is there a way to circumvent the rising prices of international …
This week, Dave and Brad talk about making plans in 2021. Will there be a return to conventions? Will Kickstarter remain reliable? How will global finances affect independent creators? Questions asked and topics covered... Assessing 2021 and planning for success What didn't we accomplish in 2020? Is "webcomic" an outdated word? How to change a Patr…
This week, a listener asks about origins the "paying it forward" nature of Brad and Dave. So they spend the first part of the show talking about their mentorship philosophies. Questions asked and topics covered... Paying it forward If you were to name a living cartoonist for the MacArthur Genius Grant, who would you name? Quality vs. speed What to …
This week, Brad and Dave discuss "slice of life" comics — and why using that term might not be the best promotional strategy. Questions asked and topics covered... Slice of Life comics Creative page layout — and why to avoid it NSFW comics advice How to get into the mood for comics You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patre…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! To help ring in 2021, let's take one more look back at some of the moments that made us happy to be creating comics during a particularly challenging year. You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 — Early access to episodes $5 — Submit a qu…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Brad and Dave have some thoughts about finding success in the new year. Questions asked and topics covered... How to be successful in 2021 Making conscious improvements on art How soon is too soon for print? Posting on the weekend? You get great rewards when yo…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Brad and Dave talk about crafting names for the characters, places and objects in your comic. Questions asked and topics covered... Naming things "Do you ever get the urge to draw something else?" Squarespace adds an exclusive-content tier The difficulties in w…
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Beginner's Guide: How to Start Your Own Webcomic
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Brad and Dave devote the entire show to one topic — Getting started. They have ten suggestions for anyone who wants to start publishing their own comic on the Web. Getting Started... Starting with the Right Attitude Don't Wait for the Right Time Update schedule…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Brad inaugurates a new segment called "And That's Why I Self-Publish!" Next: A site that scraped exclusive Patreon content bites the dust, and we learn from the experience. Questions asked and topics covered... And That's Why I Self-Publish Patreon content-scra…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, the guys talk about blessings in disguise — moments when they didn't achieve a goal they greatly desired... and later found out that succeeding would have made their lives worse. Questions asked and topics covered... What thing did you really really want for yo…
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Writing Comedy: Do You Choose the Dark Side or the Light Side?
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, a ComicLab listener asks if it's better to write from anger or from love. Also: Is January a bad time to launch a new webcomic? Questions asked and topics covered... Which do you find more effective as a writer — comedy born from anger at something or comedy bo…
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What does it mean to be a "cartoonist" in today's world?
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, a ComicLab listener writes in to inform Dave and Brad that neither of them "actually have a cartoonist's job." To put it lightly, the guys disagree. But first, Brad creates a socially distant candy chute for Halloween -- Questions asked and topics covered... Da…
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How to build an audience on social media
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, a ComicLab listener who is just starting out in comics asks how they can build an audience on social media. Also: how do you cover the second print run after you sell out of the copies from the first run? Questions asked and topics covered... How can a beginner…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, a ComicLab listener asks for the story behind Brad and Dave's friendship. Then the guys discuss whether it's OK to use photo reference. Questions asked and topics covered... What is the history of Brad and Dave's friendship? Is photo reference cheating? How do …
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, a ComicLab listener asks Brad and Dave about their philosophies on mentoring and coaching other cartoonists. And another listener asks if Brad's advice makes it harder to succeed. Questions asked and topics covered... How to be a good mentor and coach Does Brad…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, we're thrilled to welcome our friend Keith Knight to the 'Lab. Keith's new TV series, based on his comics, is premiering on Hulu right now. We talk about "Woke," Keith's journey in comics, and the creative process of adapting comics for television. You get grea…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! A ComicLab listener is trying to decide on a domain name for their comic, and Brad and Dave have some advice. Then, Brad has an easy way to tell if your promotional outreach is actually spam. Questions asked and topics covered... Choosing a domain name "Am I a spammer?" D…
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Nobody wants to hear "Support Me on Patreon"
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! If your outreach is "Support me on Patreon," you're delivering a tone-deaf message. We're going to talk about getting more backer by adjusting your pitch. Plus, we have our first ComicLab nuptials! Questions asked and topics covered... Wedding bells! Don't say "Support me…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Dave and Brad talk about the hurdles they've experienced as artists. And then, when a prominent arts educator advocates for the use of "Poor Man's Copyright," Brad's head nearly explodes. Questions asked and topics covered... Artisting hurdles Poor Man's Copyri…
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Special Guest Erika Moen discusses mental health
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, our friend Erika Moen joins us to talk about one of the most important topics we've ever covered on ComicLab — Mental health. Coming soon from Erika Moen... Drawn to Sex Vol. 2: Our Bodies and Health. Have you ever wanted to learn exactly how pregnancy works? H…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! As a follow-up to our conversation about writing a strong beginning to your story, we've discussed the benefits of beginning a story in media res. But action, action and more action isn't going to do the trick alone. So today we're talking about another aspect of a a stro…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, we're talking about using a joke that you didn't write. That topic leads into a discussion of the controversy that exploded after Alphonso Dunn posted a video accusing Jake Parker of plagiarism. Questions asked and topics covered... Using other people's writing…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! Patreon has unveiled Annual Membership — should you promote it to your backers? Questions asked and topics covered... Catching up with Snares, a/k/a "Singapore Bob" USPS announces temporary price increases* Patreon Annual Membership Using sound effects well Avoiding polit…
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Is a black-and-white comic still viable?
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! Brad and Dave talk about black-and-white comics — are they still viable in today's publishing landscape? Questions asked and topics covered... You are exactly where you need to be for the next step Do the recent AT&T layoffs indicate the end of DC Comics? Using the Sunday…
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Finding other cartoonists in your region
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! Brad and Dave talk about ways to find other cartoonists and comics creators in your local area. Questions asked and topics covered... Internal narration 'Return to Oz' cartoonists Finding one's local community What is the Message you're sending to your readers through you…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! Brad and Dave talk about their experience running their first virtual comic convention! PLUS — Dave talks about his third Eisner Award nomination and his second self-administered haircut... both of which ended up in disappointment. Questions asked and topics covered... Da…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! Brad and Dave talk about writing characters from outside your own personal experience. Empathy as a writing tool! Then, a listener says they're losing interest in their comic — can Dave and Brad help? Questions asked and topics covered... How do you write characters diffe…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Brad and Dave recall a guideline for reader retention from the early days of webcomics that's a relevant today as it was then — the 8-Pages Rule. Questions asked and topics covered... The return (?) of Gary Larson The 8-Pages Rule How many panels should an aver…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, a Patreon backer asks how they can build their own Writers' Room. Questions asked and topics covered... Building you own Writers' Room Falling asleep at the drawing desk The importance of writing Calling it quits after ten years Paypal micropayments You get gre…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Dave and Brad welcome the incredible Terry Blas to the show! Questions asked . . . Do you two old guys EVER meet anyone NEW? What is the best size for a webcomic? You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 — Early access to episode…
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What's in a name? Cartoonist, creator, comics artist...?
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Dave and Brad discuss what we should call ourselves — cartoonist, creator, comics artist, or what? Questions asked and topics covered... What do you call yourself? How to write humor How much transparency do you owe your readers? How do you define success? You …
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Special Guest Gloria Calderón Kellett
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, we're joined by writer/actor Gloria Calderón Kellett, co-showrunner of the critically-acclaimed "One Day at a Time." As the coronavirus crisis looms over TV and movie production, Brad thinks this is a great time to pitch your comic as an animated project. Glori…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! At the beginning of the year, Dave and Brad shared their goals for the year. But that was before the world was turned upside-down by the coronavirus pandemic. The guys discuss what has changed over six months. Special Offer Join us at the $5 tier by July 4! When you do, y…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Dave and Brad welcome Scott Kurtz for a mini-reunion of Webcomics Weekly! Scott discusses his decision to reboot his comic PvP for the third time! Special Offer Join us at the $5 tier by July 4! When you do, you (along with all of the other $5 backers) will get…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Dave and Brad welcome the delightful Karla Pacheco, writer of Spider-Woman, Bettie Page and, of course, Inspector Pancakes. Special Offer Join us at the $5 tier by July 4! When you do, you (along with all of the other $5 backers) will get an exclusive invite to…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Dave and Brad ask — as art schools move towards virtual learning — is it worth the money? Special Offer Join us at the $5 tier by July 4! When you do, you (along with all of the other $5 backers) will get an exclusive invite to the Cocktails with ComicLab Zoom …
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Dave and Brad welcome the marvelous Cat Farris, illustrator of My Boyfriend is a Bear and the forthcoming Ghoul Next Door. Questions asked and topics covered... The Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Communit…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Dave and Brad talk about their most important creative partners — their wives. Questions asked and topics covered... Let's talk about life partners Logo design Staying creative when life is tough You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Pat…
Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! Recently Webtoons spoiled a reveal in "Lore Olympus" that the creator, Rachel Smythe, had been building towards for years. Dave and Brad return to the topic they broached at the beginning of the year— "Should you build your audience on Webtoons?" Questions asked and topic…
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The Best Software for Publishing Webcomics
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Today's show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the incredible Wacom One! This week, Dave and Brad talk about the best Content Management System (CMS) for publishing webcomics. Toocheke is brand new, and Brad's a big fan. Questions asked and topics covered... Toocheke is a new CMS Brad endorses for publishing webcomics How to deal with an e-mai…
