Hello and thank you for exerting the immense effort and clicking on this post.
I want to collaborate. On a comics. With you, possibly. Bet you didn’t see that coming.
I am what’s called a “writer,” very rare breed around these parts as I understand it. I did comics before, they didn’t do so well, but that is only because they were illustrated by the shaky hands of yours truly and...I think I’m just a hair better than Jim Lee...when he was 2 years old. Yes, they didn’t do well for the sole reason of the art being crappy, writing had nothing to do with it - that’s what I tell myself every night before going to sleep at least... My failure has nothing to do with the characters having no personality, the storyline being nonsensical or constant infodumping. There is just no way.
But I’ll let the “works” themselves do the introductions, here they are:
The first one ran for 5 months, give or take, with weekly releases of 10-15 panels. I’ve never missed a week, if that helps.
The second story is a submission for a currently running contest, but (spoiler) it’s not going win anything. It is considerably shorter, around 150 panels total.
So, now comes the part where I make my pitch. I have a story...actually 5 of them, so everyone can pick something for themselves. Below are listed VERY condensed summaries and if you click the links, those contain first 3 chapters synopsis for each story. And I definitely have the scripts and storyboards for those 3 chapters ready - you can be sure of that, 100%.
Last Odyssey
Genres: Battle, shonen, superpowers, post-apocalyptic.
A comet passes earth, with strange radiation emitting from it. Some people get superpowers but 80% of the population gets cancer. Society mostly breaks down, but the superpowered individuals called “Neus” hold it together, just barely. David doesn’t get cancer or superpowers, but his girlfriend, Juliet, does get sick, so he must venture east, where various warlords rule now, to find a “Neu” who could heal Juliet and, hopefully, the rest of the world as well. More below.
Lords of the Isles
Genres: Medieval fantasy, drama.
Lords, the ruling class of the Isles, have been relegated to the lowest class of citizens, allowed no rights or possessions, governing and taking all the responsibility for nothing but disdain in return. But a hero has been born, who is bound to bring great change to the nation. Alder, a noble’s son, ventures to find this hero and ensure that this “change” favors the Lords, while Alder’s brother Yore takes his place in the complicated world of former high society. More below.
Plunge
Genres: Sci-fi, mystery, mind games, dystopian
All attempts at colonising other planets have failed and the Earth is overpopulated, with the surface metropolis covering the whole planet and reaching far into the atmosphere. The richest class supposedly lives in the lowest of the 10 circles which the world is composed of, but that place is only a legend to Mercer. That changes when he finds a woman who came from the 1st circle to his 7th, seeking freedom which she couldn’t find at home. However, she gets taken away by government agents after a short while, so Mercer has to venture into the lower circles to rescue her. More below.
Plotwaler Oba
Genres: Comedy, battle, shonen, meta.
Oba realises that he finds himself in a stereotypical battle manga story, that he exists only as long as the story goes on. Through his knowledge of tropes, he goes through the rounds of a typical protagonist with ease, commenting on things like plot armor or throwaway enemies along the way. More below.
Legacy of Alabaster
Genres: Sci-fi, adventure, mystery.
7 people from different eras of humanity’s history find themselves onboard a spaceship heading towards an unknown goal. They have to discover the secrets to their journey if they want to return home. But can they even trust one another? People from different times are like different species. Maybe they share the same ancestors, but their worldview, motivations and abilities are completely divergent. More below.
You can choose whichever you like, I’m down for whatever.
Now comes the time for questions from the audience. Here we go.
Wait, you can’t post your ideas here! What if someone steals them?
If you really think any of these ideas are worth stealing...do what you gotta do...
So you want to collaborate. Surely you’re going to pay me much cash money for it?
No. If you’ve read this far looking to put some food on the table, then sorry for baiting you.
WHAT? Then why should I collab with you?
You probably shouldn’t. If you are a career artist who needs to make sure money to feed himself or his family, that is very respectable and I hope you find an actual work opportunity soon. But maybe you’re new into the game. Maybe you want to do this impossibly tedious work just for fun, like a passion project or something. Maybe you liked one of the stories listed here. Maybe you’ve just read too much Bakuman. I don’t know.
Okay, no money. Riiight. So what DO I get?
Ehm...nothing, most likely. Unless the series explodes. What is the probability of that? It’s about the same as the chance a one handed man has of beating Sword-saint Isshin on his first try. It’s roughly equivalent to the possibility of finding Bill Gates’ credit card in the streets of Johannesburg. It can happen, like Berserk ever getting a good anime adaptation. It COULD happen, but it's not going to.
What do you get? Let me grasp on some straws here. You get...a good feeling whenever someone leaves a positive comment? You get a work you can show off when looking for an actual job? Maybe if you wanted to apply to DC or Marvel...You get something to do instead of playing video games and actually enjoying yourself? You get experience? A small bit of “exposure,” maybe? None of the above actually compares or leads to making money, though. That much should be clear.
Yeah yeah, but if I want to do this for fun, why don’t I just make my own story?
Why don’t you? Though, there are certain advantages in working with somebody. If you tend to give up on things half way, that is much harder to do with someone else breathing down your neck, if you’re a sensible person at least. The workload on you is...halved? 60 percented? Whatever the case, it is quite a bit lighter. You’ll still hate your life, but you’ll have somebody to hate your life with you.
There is also a particular psychology at play when working in collaboration. When you’ve thought the story up by yourself, naturally, you know key plot points before sitting at the table to draw. That can have a real impact on your motivation, since you feel like the story “has already been told.” But, if you get a script or a storyboard every week written by somebody else, you can keep your excitement high for the whole running of the series. Just throwing this out there, it’s not a major reason for doing this, just a small, insignificant plus on my side - if you concede it, that is.
Okay, so let’s say I want to do this. I don’t, but let’s assume I do. What are you actually looking for in an artist?
Simple enough. Look at the “comics” I’ve listed on the very top as an example of my “great work.” If you can do better than me artwise, congratulations, you qualify. Bonus points for actually taking this seriously and not ghosting me after a week. In terms of style, it can be manga, comics, colored, black and white etc., as long as it looks somewhat decent. I’m a beggar here. Can’t exactly be a chooser at the same time. Considering that the biggest platforms for publication are Tapas and Webtoons, it would probably help if you were comfortable with the top down scrolling format, but that’s a small thing, really.
And the workload? I like to pretend to actually have a life, you know.
I would say weekly releases with 10-15 panels + having the first 3 chapters be longer, about 35-50 panels. This for about 6 months, at which point you can decide that you are too good for this and leave with no regrets. Not that I could stop you if you ditch me after 2 days instead.
What comes out from this process, we publish wherever we can. Right here, on WTs...you name it.
Okay, I’m ready to throw the next 6 months straight into the bin. Where do I sign up?
You can...DM me here I think? Or comment below? Additionally, you can write to this email: wanted2diemanytimes@gmail.com (yes, my actual e-mail) Cookie if you include an actual drawing you did with your response, as well as if you would prefer to work with a script or a storyboard. I can manage storyboards of about the quality that my comics from the beginning have. Please leave me at least 3 days to respond. I know, that’s a lot to ask in the Internet age, but I have to consider all my options, including, you know...offing myself right now.
Right. I’m done trying to be self-aware now. If you’ve read this far, you probably have some sort of disease. May I have my SSR artist now, please?
TL,DR: Another entitled “writer” looking to kidnap a talented but overworked artist for unpaid labour. Nothing new, really.