Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel: Everything You Need to Know to Create Great Work and Get It Published Paperback – April 1, 2011

This book contains more information that I needed.I don't plan to illustrate my own graphic novel, but I wanted to know the technical terms and artist/illustrator would expect in a script. This answered my questions and then some. The author provides excellent examples of published graphic novel pages so you can see the application of his instructions.Great info on frame composition, arranging panels on the page, drawing techniques both by and and digital, coloring, lettering...This book covers it all. He also talks about character development and briefly touches on crafting your story. The "Breaking In" section may (or may not) be dated since this is copyright 2011.The one minor (and not unexpected) drawback is the author's representation of genders. The females are mostly sexified, of course. And under "Body Language" he even felt the need to expressly tell us that attraction should be shown between two people of "different sexes." But it's not his job to be creative for us, so I couldn't justify taking a whole star off.All in all, this book is worth the money. A great resource.

If you want to write a graphic novel this is a good book to get you started. It brings nice advices for the beginner author and on each chapter you will find a list of recommended books on each subject in case you want to know more about it. It also comes with great tips for someone who's trying to breaking in. However, don't get fooled thinking you'll buy this book and instantly become the new Eisner after reading it. A lot of transpiration is required As I said it brings great advices, but if you already read Eisner's and Mcloud's books, and already have decent drawing skills it's not necessary to buy this book. But if not it's good start. It will give a general vision of the process of creating a graphic novel and you can get further information on each subject in the books he points.

I'll start out by saying that there is no way you'll make a graphic novel with this book. It's more of a "greatest hits of drawing" than an actual how to book, by this i mean the author will give you a concept such as "storytelling" and then attempt to explain how to do it in 5 pages or less. here's the book in a nutshell.part one: create a character, make sure they're good or evil and make a two paragraph psychological profilepart two: write a script, make sure it has beginning, conflict and ending that you can make into an arcpart three: how to draw, make backgrounds and draw in perspective in 20 pages LOLpart four: how to layout a comic bookpart five: how to ink and color. This was total crap and takes up the bulk of the book with big picturespart six: how to get published. answer sell your creation and all rights to big corporation like DC and stay poor or try to self publish digitally on the internet and stay poor.this book wasn't all bad though, the author does give good advice like how many words to have in a panel, creating depth to your character and how to make a basic script, but for $25 i feel that both my time and money were wasted.if your looking for a really good book check out Framed Ink for drawing composition and Save the Cat for Storytelling/scripting.

As someone who has probably read all of the books on creating comic books going all the way back to "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," I cannot give a high enough recommendation for this book. More than just a professional comic book artist, Cooney is an educator and the way in which he progresses the information is smart. As an art teacher, I have been looking for a book like this for my classroom as a guide for those who are interested in this field and I have finally found one that gives a good overview of the process, as well as breaking down the information in a way that advances the information in a logical way.If you're looking for a book for someone who is looking to draw superhero pin-ups, this book is not for you. However, those who are looking for a serious, detailed breakdown of the comic creation process will finish the book with confidence that the questions have all been answered.

My suggestion is to keep a notebook to refer to tips you find important for later on. This book is full of details that would get lost in the mix of all it delivers. There are "suggested reads" which are a must to understand each section. To clarify, this book is separated into segments of 1) a little history of comic/graphic novels, 2) technical tools, 3) art books to help refine your skills (which I suggest using a sketchbook with) and then 4) computer use with tablets and more. This book has helped me greatly to see comics/graphic novels are way more than the stereotypical ideology most have about them. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is just starting out or who wants a new perspective.

I'm going to keep this simple, the book is awesome. Buy it.If your looking at this book, your probably into graphic novels and want to know about the inner workings and what exactly it takes to jump in and get realized. This book is the bible on how to do so; starting with drawing skills and character design/ archetypes then goes into how to create a story. How to pace a story and construct your panels. Also, it has MANY tips and recommended reads from top pros in the profession. Extremely helpful, Go buy it.

This book is *perfect*. Honestly, perfect.Although it doesn't go in great detail about anatomy and the like (the anatomy subject really needs a book on its own) it covers *everything* about comic books, from scenario and storytelling to fonts, to balloons, to colors and how to correctly structure your panels and strips...Ever since I bought this book I've read it countless times and each time I find something new to help me in making my own comics. An amazing book, greatly recommended for comic artists. :)

This is a great book, but there is very little real guidance on the writing part. It probably should be called "Illustrating the Graphic Novel with Writing Tips" or something. But the content that is there is definitely worth while and the illustrations are great.

One of the better how-to books on creating graphic novels to have come out in recent years. This seems geared to slightly more advanced novices, focusing on storytelling more than basic art techniques, but with brief sections on anatomy and perspective. There's a lot of good tips here I didn't see in other similar books, and it's well-illustrated with a lot of really impressive work (though not by a large variety of different artists). Only real complaint: the stereotyped nature of characters and scenes, seemingly taken from action B-movies (tough chicks with guns, thugs, drug dealers, etc. etc., though thankfully few superheroes) ... but this doesn't really detract from the technical lessons being imparted. A good addition to the library of anyone interested in doing more advanced comic strips.

This book should be on every aspiring comic book creator's shelf. It covers every step from initial brainstorming of the premise, script, and character design, through the actual process of creating the physical pages, and finally sending it to a publisher or self publishing. It is an excellent book filled with essential tips and tricks of the trade. It is easy to read, pleasant to look at, and organized logically. The illustrations and diagrams are rendered to communicate the lessons and tips clearly. Cooney is an excellent artist and an excellent teacher. I would highly recommend this book to novice and advanced artists aspiring to take their sequential storytelling to a whole new level.

Just started, but it is packed full of detailed information containing everything an aspire graphic wrist of writer may need!