Almost a year ago, I dipped my toes into comics with this two page story. I love the concept, I LOVE the art (thank you Wally), but I wish I could go back in time to tell myself that I should think about what my intention is with this piece beyond just putting art to my words and then adjust accordingly.
Frankly, this two-page story isn’t a story. It’s a brief introduction to a concept, a single scene in a much larger story happening outside of it. Therefore, it’s really not a good portfolio piece. If someone asks for my work with the intention of parsing out if I can be trusted to execute a satisfying beginning, middle, and end (i.e. a story) then this piece does not communicate that. And with how much money it costs for art, it’s even more important to figure out a way to marry the ideas that you have with the intention of the piece before you start putting everything into action, as exciting as it is.
It’s the same thing for submitting short stories to literary magazines. As a slush reader, I come across this A LOT. Around 70% of the submissions I vote ‘no’ on get rejected simply because they are not stories, no matter how beautifully written.
To be fair to my past self, I definitely knew that it wasn’t a story. I just didn’t have my overall intention with it as clear in my head as I could have. A one-page or two-page complete story would’ve served me better in the long run with creating a solid portfolio in mind.
I considered keeping this reflection to myself, but I think it’s good to put up here in case anyone looking to get into comics comes across my website, since “All Who Enter” is posted publicly and I’m definitely not planning on taking it down anytime soon. I still love it. I framed the pages and placed them on my bookshelf. That’s my first comic, in all its glory! That’s a lot to be proud of. As the old adage says, we all have to start somewhere.