Labels

I want to talk about labels.  I’m not talking about shipping labels, although I could probably discuss how much Avery 8126 labels have changed how I ship comics.  I want to talk about labels that people put on us and we put on ourselves.  I want to talk about labels, titles or job descriptions.  Comic book job titles are usually fairly straight forward.  Comic book writers write the comic script.  Comic book pencilers draw the initial pencil drawings of the comic.  Comic book inkers take the pencil drawings and add detail and depth to them using ink.  When someone pencils and inks their own work, the more generic term comic book artist is often used.  Comic book letterers take the scripted dialog and exposition ink it on the pages using font choices to bring out emotion.  Comic book colorists use color to create depth and dimension to the inked drawings.

Labels can bring out emotions in people.  Although fictionalized for the big screen, Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy has an example of how labels can get out of hand.  In a scene at the beginning of the film, Banky, the inker of the fictional Bluntman and Chronic comic book, is confronted by a hostile fan who doesn’t understand the role that an inker plays in comic book production.  Here’s an part of that scene:
Chasing Amy Tracer scene

Comic Fan:  What does that mean you INK IT?
Banky:  Well, it means that Holden draws the pictures in pencil.  Then, he gives it to me to go over in ink.  NEXT.
Comic Fan:  So basically you just trace.
Banky:  It’s..a…not tracing alright.  I add depth and shading to it to give the image more definition.  Only then does the drawing truly take shape.
Comic Fan:  No..No..No.  You go over what he draws in pen.  That’s tracing.

At the end of the scene, the Comic Fan calls Banky a “Tracer” and the two break out in a fist fight over the use of the word.  Rich Johnston, comic industry gossip columnist (www.bleedingcool.com), might be able to cite some real life altercations over labels, but I’ve never seen anything so heated.  Comic books are like no other medium.  Pablo Picasso never had a team helping him with his paintings.  Other than a editor, there aren’t people helping J.K. Rowlings write her Harry Potter books.  So it’s easy to see how the general public might not understand what some of the labels we use to describe the people work in the comic book industry mean.

Every year we host Free Comic Book Day (www.freecomicbookday.com).  We invite comic book professionals from all over Arizona to participate.  There is nothing like meeting the people who make comics and getting one free at the same time.  I try to get as much attention as I can for the store and the participating comic creators, so I send out press releases.  A lot of times I write the bios for the creators for the press releases.  When I write the bios, I get the creator’s approval before sending them out.  On one of the bios a few years ago, I had one comic professional requested that I use the more generic term illustrator instead of the more specific comic book title.  It got me thinking that I might be inadvertently offending some of the professionals by using what I thought was an appropriate term.  What is the proper way to address someone in the comic book profession?  Should I use a title like colorist, inker or penciler?  Do I use a more generic term like artist or illustrator?  What happens when someone writes, inks, letters and colors the whole book?  Do I use something even more generic like professional or creator?  Do I follow Apple Computer’s example and turn the adjective creative into a noun to describe people who work on comic books?  I want to hear what you think.  Make your comments below.  We’ll see you next week.

Shawn Demumbrum
SpazDog Comics
www.spazdogcomics.com

Email: shawn@spazdogcomics.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SpazDog
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