Comic Book Considerations

Legal Issues

Copyright - The legal problems you can encounter when making a comic is copyright issues, copyright infringement and theft of ideas or stories. You can register a copyright online to protect your work from have ideas stolen from it, but copyright comes at a cost. The payment for the copyright depends on whether the work is published or unpublished; the date of publication can also be a consideration when coming up with the payment for copyright.

I will make sure my comic will not break any copyright laws by checking for any similar

stories to mine which are copyrighted before I publish my own. I will make sure I search for any other comics for stories related to vampires, I will look at the story structure of the comic book making sure there are no similar storylines to mine which may interrupt the publishing of my comic book Vampires Ruling Britain.

Vampire Comics
Dracula the Graphic Novel: Original Text

This is not similar to my comic due to is being set in the times of Queen Victoria, a dated comic inspired by horror stories of Frankenstein. This comic looks at the monstrous side of vampires, the side where they do not feel for human life and will do anything for the most exciting kill. Even though my comic has blood thirsty vampires, they still care deep inside; the vampires have been outlawed by the humans for so many years they feel it is time to get their revenge on the world.

Planet of Vampires # 1 (Original American COMIC

This comic is not similar to my comic as it is a sci-fi take on vampires and the world population; the main characters in this film are a group of 5 astronauts, they had been returned to Earth from the Aries VII mission to Mars that was launched in 2005 to look for life forms. While they were away a nuclear war broke out, and the survivors have been split between two groups — human savages and high-tech vampires. The comic carries a theme of surprise as the main characters have not seen the build up to this destruction. While my comic, the main human characters have witness the traumatic experienced the destruction and their loved one dying in front of their eyes, for this they have grown stronger as a human race.

Topic of comic

The topic of any stories written has to be analyses thoroughly before any publication; this is because the comic book may cause offence to somebody due to wrong representation or the manor of the writing.

In my comic the topics which could cause concern is the topic of vampires and the talk of blood. The way I will manage these concerning the topics by making sure I put an age certification suitable for the reader, protecting the younger generation from content that may cause them distress.

Marvel Rating System,  June 2005

-          ALL AGES

-          A Appropriate for age 9 and up.

-          T+ SUGGESTED FOR TEEN AND UP

-          PARENTAL ADVISORY

-          MAX: EXPLICIT CONTENT

I would rate my comic as a T+, I have decided this because of the comic including blood content and violence content which is not suitable for children aged 9.

Resources

Publishing – Publishing your comic includes two key companies a distributing company and a printing company. You need to find a company who suits your needs, this may include finding a printing company who will print your comic at a good price per unit and how will also help give you on how to distribute the comic books local stores or online companies, this information will save you time and money.

Publishing Companies

-          Trafford Publishing, http://www.trafford.com/

-          Lu Lu, https://www.lulu.com/

-          Comic Vine Publications, http://www.comicvine.com/london-night-studios/57-591/

-          Warpton, http://www.warpton.co.uk/

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Printing – There are two fundamental types of printing, is Black and White and Four-Colour many low budget comics print in black and white to save the company money and to lower the price of the comic for the buyer, attracting more people to feeling they can afford to buy it a fun read.

Printing Companies

-          Kodak, http://graphics.kodak.com/

-          Atlantis Studios, http://www.atlantisstudios.net/comics_custom_printers.htm

-          Wedo Comics, http://www.wedocomics.com

-          Pulse Printing, http://www.pulseprint.co.uk/products/comic_book_printing/ 

Black and white line art requires only a ‘line-shot’; this is done by a camera burning the plates for the printing presses. Black and white lines art is very cheap in pre-press production, but grayscale artwork requires scanning to prepare it so that the plates can be burnt. Colour artwork is the most expensive in the printing business as it requires scanning and trapping, in addition to separation into CMYK a four color film; finally each page must be separated into its component Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black to complete the printing process.

Cost –  the cost of make a comic book can depended on many different items such as choosing the right company to help you make it, what printing package you choose and the way you distribute the work.

Figures from http://www.mixam.co.uk/products/books

Audience, Target Market The Target audience for my comic includes a range of people such as people who are interested in vampires but want a change in story from the typical romance stories. The comic fits in well the vampire market including Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, but with the additional story line of the state of the world and the situation the two main character

Cartoon Publication

I am going to create my comic book Vampires Ruling Britain in a magazine comic strip format. I have chosen this format to publish my comic in because it makes the comic more accessible for the public as you don’t have to be a comic lover to read it.

Newspaper Comic Research
Garfield

Published 12^th December 2011, by Jim Davis, The Seattle Times

This Garfield comic strip is updated and distributed every day in The Seattle Times, US.  Each comic strip varies in size depending on how much dialogue is included; the strips are printed in colour to make sure the audience develops an instant connection with Garfield as he is widely known for his distinctive colourings. The comic strip mainly focuses on the interactions among Garfield, Jon, and Odie including some recurring minor characters.

Graphic Narrative Book Research

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 1: Power and Responsibility: Power and Responsibility
Published 1^st June 2001, by Bill Jemas (Author), Brian Michael Bendis (Author), Mark Bagley (Illustrator), Brian Michael Bendis (Author) › Visit Amazon's Brian Michael Bendis PageFind all the books, read about the author, and more.See search results for this author name Are you an Author? Learn about Author Central Mavel Comics

Spiderman Graphic Novels are printed in volumes; once another Spiderman novel is completed a new volume is printed in a book format and distributed to book shops and online stores such as Amazon. The comics are printing in pages about 200; the structure of the number of drawings per page can change depending on how important the shot is in the story line. These comics are printed in colour, attracting the buyer to the front cover using stand out colours of red and blue, this lets the audience no instantly that it is a super hero comic as these colours are widely known to be connected with Superman and Spiderman.

Magazine Comic Research

Billy Wizz, Beano

Published 10^th December 2011, by Beno, D.C. Thomson & Co

Billy Wizz is a comic strip published in Beano Magazine realised every month packed full of different jokes and a range of different new comic strips. The comic strips are printed in colour and fill one page of the magazine; the numbers of shots per comic strip can vary depending on how much background detail the artist wants to include which can help the story progress further. The stories progress every magazine to hook the readers to buy the next issue to find out what their favourite comic characters are doing next.

After researching the different publishing options for comic, it has backed up my decision to publish my comic in a Graphic Narrative book. This is because of how pacific my target audience is, publishing my book in a magazine or newspaper my lead my comic astray as this may mean I have to change parts of the story to adjust to their target audience. I feel if I publish my comic in a book this will help the readers understand the story completely, giving them a chance to understand the idea put across in the novel, letting them decide if they would like to read the next novel in the series.

Typography

The font I am going to use in my comic is called Valdemar from urbanfonts.com.

This font suits my comic book very well as they both share a vampire theme, this font is clear and easy to read but is also decorative and a gothic assents. This fount will be included in the heading and in the text which will be included with the pictures.

Character Profile

Tyler

Clothing:

T-shirt – Blue

The blue represents his importance in the story line, it also shows his power as he controls he path in life.

Trousers – Brown

The brown trousers his traditional values to defend his loved one in the face of danger.

Gem Necklace – Yellow

The yellow in his necklace represent the hope of a better world, how he might be the one to restore the safety.

Hair:

Black - Short

Black in his hair helps create more detail to the character, showing their importance in the plot as it creates more personality.

Anna

 

Clothing:

Long dress in velvet – Brown

Her long dress and in the color of brown shows her traditional values, treating people with kindness.

Fabric belt – Purple

The purple shows her magical powers, being strong and fast.

Gem Necklace – Green

The green shows how Anna is a peaceful character; she does not embrace her inner monster of being a Vampire.

Hair:

Blonde –Long

He shade of yellow shows a glimmer of hope in the destruction of the world and she maybe the one to solve the problem, as she is a powerful character.

Vampires Ruling Britain - Storyboard

Questionaire

After Reading the stories and looking at the characters which stories do you like the most?

Vampires Ruling Britain - ///

Demon Holiday -

At Worlds End - //

Why do you like the story?

-          I chose Vampires Ruling Britain because it’s unusual as very few stories have situations where vampires have taken over the country. It sounds exciting and I look forward to the final result.

-          I chose At Worlds End because it is more original and creative idea out of the three stories.

-          I chose At Worlds End because the story is more in depth, it has been thought about the most out of the three stories.

-          I chose Vampires Ruling Britain because it sounds very interesting and would like to read more.

-          I chose Vampires Ruling Britain because it is a new take of the vampire craze which is going around, it shows the lead women being strong and taking control of the situation.

What would you improve about your chosen story?

-          The thing I would change about Vampires Ruling Britain it the grammar of the synopsis.

-          The thing I would change about At Worlds End would be to elaborate on the background, why is the world ‘full of destruction’?

-          The thing I would change about At Worlds End would be instead of him becoming a zombie, maybe he becomes insane instead.

-          The thing I would change about Vampires Ruling Britain would be to create an unexpected twist at the end of the story.

-          The thing I would change about Vampires Ruling Britain would be to extend on the story of vampire vs. human story, haw did the world become like this.

Chosen Story: Vampires Ruling Britain

Why? Because it is a strong storyline and won the majority of the vote in the questionnaire I passed out.

Characters (At Worlds End)

Derrick – Zombie

Alice

Characters (Demon Holiday)

Toby – After attack, as a Demon

Joe

Characters (Vampires Ruling Britain)

Leading Vampire Girl - Anna

The Leading Male – Tyler



Comic Ideas

Idea 1 – Vampires Ruling Britain 

The Leading Male – Tyler

Leading Vampire Girl - Anna

Vampires have taken over Britain and the human population is dying out, in a last attempt to save the population a new town is built with high walls and a cover to protect them from the killers. One night the town’s defences are under attack from blood thirsty vampires, in an attempt to save the town Tyler steps up to go outside the walls to try and kill the vampires. He manages to kill a few vampires but get beaten down by to the majority of the group and gets taken back to their home to be used as a blood bank. While he is taken prisoner Anna get assigned to guard him, as they start to get to know each other Anna stars to feel a need to try and find a way she can get him out and save him. She finally finds a way to get him out save him from the blood sucking creatures, after escaping the vampires, Tyler starts  to feel worried for what the consequences could be for Anna. So in an attempt to save her he goes back to get her so they can run away together.

Idea 2 – Demon Holiday

Five Friends – Toby, Joe, Catlin, Amy, James

In a trip consisting of five friends on a camping trip, they find a new area of the island which they have never set foot in before. They set up a base to settle down for the night. After a rough night’s sleep in the cold, everybody gets round to start planning the day of activities such as swimming and sunbathing at the new beach they found. As they start to enjoy themselves they suddenly get panicked when Toby starts screaming for help as he gets dragged in underwater, in a panic everybody apart from Joe starts fleeing the water to save themselves from the creature. Joe starts to swim as fast as possible to Toby when the creature releases him and in a big splash of blood, swims away. Dragging toby to the shore everybody believes that he is dead until he suddenly wakes up, healing quickly which comes as a suprise to everbody. In the night Toby awakes and starts to murder his friends one by one, as people begin to understand his pattern they run for their lives making the hunt more enjoyable for the possessed Toby.

Idea 3 – At Worlds End

People Finding Shelter – Derrick, Alice

In a world full of destruction from the wars the world has fort the world is fighting back and starting to rain acid, Alice and derrick try and find shelter but struggle due to the numerous items melting before their eyes. As they nearly lose hope of survival they find a tunnel in a nearby hill, climbing down the tunnel they start to hear voices of people, they have found an underground community. As they start to step into the dugout room, people start to turn around and stare, wondering if they would be welcome. Derrick speaks up and asks them if they could stay, as the others look blankly at him one of them shouts out that they can come in as long as they have something to contribute. As Derrick is a doctor they were aloud in without hesitation, as the day continues to grow longer and the food supply starts running dry people begin to starve and as more people are dying Derrick makes the decision to start feeding on the dead as a desperate attempt to stay alive. Little do they know that if you start feeding on the dead you become the undead, can the community survive the zombie attack or will they start to drop?

Manga Presentation

Batman Legends - Changing the Story

Ideas

-          Batman, (Batdog) in now a Doberman dog

-          Robin (Ginger Robin) is a ginger cat,

-          Mr. Pyg (Mr. Rat) is a monster Rat, he is going to be creating little rats to plague the town

-          The Joker is a Baboon                                           

-          Alfred is tawny Owl 

Character Reference

Synopsis

The opening of the story includes a big battle of power between Ginger Robin and The Joker, after a long time shifting between character winning and losing Ginger Robin finally hits the last shot and the joker goes tumbling down to the ground. Meanwhile back at Mr. Rats headquarters Alfred is seen being dragged to a empty the room to be tied up and held hostage, Mr. Rat gathers up his sidekicks to talk about the plan to release the deadly rats into the town. Mr. Rat goes into the lab checking on all the diseased and starts laughing.  Batdog starts getting worried about Alfred were about  so goes to meet Ginger Robin to find out more information, Ginger Robin had received information from The Joker about Mr. Rats plan earlier in the fight so he tell Batdog want he knows. After receiving information about Mr. Rat plan Batdog rushes to the rat headquarters to get his friend back. Mr. Rat sees Batdog coming, in an attempt to fight back he realises some of his rat to bring Batdog down, after a long battle Batdog is knocked down and lock up with Alfred. Batdog wakes up in a haze of dizziness as Alfred tries to tend to his wounds best he can, making sure Batdog is strong enough to go back out and safe the town. Batdog breaks down the lock doors of the room and rushes out to try and stop the attack of the deadly diseased rats, willing to kill Mr. Rat if needs be. But the main question is will he stop the realise of the rats and will he regain the power?

Ending of the Story

The end of my comic Batdog is too late to stop Mr. Rat from releasing his deadly weapon, after getting injured in a previous attempt to stop the attack; he is lying in a corner of a nearby building being nursed back to health by Alfred. After finally waking up Batdog starts to realise he is too late to save the town from the plague, but in a last attempt to stop Mr. Rat he builds up his strength and bolts off to the control room to have a last fight with him. When Batgdog finally reaches the room, he finds out that he has got beaten to it; Ginger Robin had killed Mr. Rat before he could, the fight is on again for the ruler of the town.

Batdog

Batdog is representing the role of Batman in this changed graphic novel; I chose a dog to represent the main role as it shows the powerful control Batdog has in the novel. Dogs0 are well-known for their loyalty and obedience, but also their strength and fighting ability which Batdog needs in the role of Batman.  Batdog has the main control in the storyline; he shows his ability to win battles, the importance of looking after friends and the character he scares such as Mr. Rat. Batdog has a similar costume to Batman, sharing the magical colour of purple and the hopeful colour of yellow, the additional colour I have added is brown to represent the traditional values of protecting people in need of help.

Ginger Robin

Ginger Robin is representing the role of Robin in this changed graphic novel, I choose I cat to represent Robin because cat are well-known for being sneaky and independent.  This represents Robin because his loyalty changes between Batdog and himself many times, this is iconic as I have made the two main characters into animals which are meant to hate each other, showing the strain in their friendship. Ginger Robin finds himself in many uneasy situations, choosing between being a friend to Batdog or retrieving the power and glory for himself, these decisions helps him become a stronger character and keeps him alive in many difficult situations. His costume is similar to the traditional story with slight changes including the stiched on letters with his new name, his costume still include a cape and pants on top.

Mr. Rat

Mr. Rat is representing the role of Mr. Pyg in this changed graphic novel, I choose represent Mr. Pyg as a rat due to the way the story portrays him as being sneaky and always having a superior plan to rule the world. Mr. Rat is a complicated character, not being a high character in the novel the audience does not get a change to understand him. Many of the time he is shown in the Batman novels he has a new plan, new people working for him and new hostages. Mr. Rat costume in this story help represent his ego of wanting to be in charge, a crown to show him wanting power and a cape shown of the colour representing death and blood, what his has to do to get him to power.

Alfred

Alfred is changed into a tawny owl this graphic novel, I did this due to the connection of the values which Alfred share and the reputation of the breed of owl, they both represent loyalty and traditional values.  Alfred is as very trusted character in the novel; he helps Batdog find his good and uses it to help save lives from the evil. He is also a very skilled character, tending to all Batdogs injury’s he gets in battle, saving his life many times in the process. The costume for Alfred is a very basic smart outfit, a suit in the colours of purple, brown and yellow. These colours mean hope, magic and traditional values, all three which Alfred shares in his daily life to look after Batdog.

The Joker

The Joker is changed into a baboon in this graphic novel; I did this due to the similar colouring of the character to the baboon and the well-known attitude of being quite aggressive and dangerous, quite like the Joker in Batman. The Joker is a very twisted character, finding it hard in life to follow the correct path he goes off the rails to get revenge on his torturous childhood, hurting many people in the process. The Joker does not wear any clothing in this changed story, the Baboon is only different due to the unusual colours his coat holds such as the magical purple, natural green, blood red and the powerful blue.



Batman Legends - Comic Book Review

Character Reference

The Joker: The Joker is a very troubled vindictive character in Batman Legends; he changes many times during the story, from suddenly cowering in the corner to standing up embracing the pain which Robin is forcing on him. The Joker hid behind his face paint all throughout he comic, it represents him hiding behind his past, growing up in a troubled family, showing no power until now. In the duration of the comic the joker constantly smiles, when he is being beaten and when he inflict pain onto others. It shows how he loves to confuse his enemy’s by his look, the more the Joker smiles, the more the opposition feels that it is going in the hands of the Joker, putting them off guard. The colours worn by the joker represents the a clown, it shows how his troubled past is catching up with him, the clown features contort him from the violence he puts himself in, he make sure that the paint is constant showing white, red and blue connoting he power of never being off guard.
Robin: Robin has always tried to be a trusty sidekick of Batman, but in the comic he loses his trust in him after he finds out that he lied about some information. Robin has been in the background for much of the past stories, but in this one he tries to make a stand, trying to fight of the Joker and gather more important information which is important for Batman to receive. The clothing worn by Robin included a small black eye mask, yellow cape and green with red on his all in one suit. This connotes his competitive side with Batman; we know this due to parts of his costume copying the iconic style of Batman’s, such as the cape and mask shaping like a bat. It shows how robin has always been 2^nd best, trying to earn respect from the great super heroes, in this comic he tries to break through from this stereotype, but fails as he is beaten by the Joker in the first battle.
Batman: Batman has always been the great super hero to beat, the one with all the gadgets and the power. In his big fight at the end of the comic it shows his power to scare people such as Professor Pyg, but never The Joker.  His costume in the comic shows his experience as a superhero, wearing experimental technology in is iconic bat head mask, black cape and suit all including the powerful symbol of the bat. The way Batman hands himself in battle represents his strong will in the face of death, it shows the respect his has with himself, knowing he can defeat all. He shows this due to him never showing many emotions, always holding a strong face no matter what is through at him, he does this to show his enemy’s that he doesn’t have any weakness showing how he is unbeatable.
Comic Synopsis

Batman and Robin: Batman and Robin Must Die - Part Two is a very short comic aiming at the relationship of Robin and Batman, testing their priority between being fiends and fighting the enemies together or the fight for power between them risking their lives.  In the begging of the comic, after a giving a powerful successful beating to the Joker, Robin feels he has finally go the upper hand on Batman for once. Professor Pyg is trying to release his deadly 'addiction' virus to the world, batman finds out try’s to stop him, but during this he gets beaten many times by Professor Pyg infected creations, once batman starts getting closer to distorting the virus Batman starts running out of time, getting counted down by the creatures fighting him, but he is too late. Day 2 of the fight Batman wakes up in the care of Alfred, tending to his injuries; Batman is worries about Commissioner Gordon after having to leave him in the middle of the battle with the infected creations of Pyg. Batman gets a call from the Joker finding out that he has taken Robin. Batman finds out that he and Robin need to work with the Joker to get Back Glove, they are planning to do this at  the party were Commissioner Gordon is being held by Pyg were his is trying to get him infected by the infectious decease. The Joker and Batman appear at the party to try and defeat Professor Pyg and to finally save Commissioner Gordon from the tortuous experiment which Pyg was trying to complete, but the rescues isn’t as simple as Batman would have hope with enemies fighting him from behind. Meanwhile the Joker visit the place where he is holding Robin, tide up and mouth closed Robin sings upside down while the Joker reveals new information about Black Glove and a new character that could help him.

Critical Review

Writer: DC Comics
Target Audience: Batman and comic enthusiast

Batman and Robin: Batman and Robin Must Die - Part Two, is a really short but information filled comic. It is full with colourful and in-depth sketches of the characters and the scenes behind them, it shows the difference clearly between good and bad using colours and use of outfits but much of the written detail was unclear. After reading the comic a few times, it was really hard as a non-comic book reader to understand the storyline, who that characters were and their names. Most of the time the comic skipped from scene to scene too quickly, it was not being clear on how that scene ended. Even though the written information was con fusing, the drawing made up for it, they were so detailed using different colours to connote different moods, facial expression to covey emotion and different shop to show the amount of power the character hade in that period of time, this change scene to scene.