In the last post, we touched on the topic of collaborating on a graphic novel. As a writer, I’m excited by the idea of working with an artist. I’ve been learning the art side, and have positioned myself as an author/illustrator, but that doesn’t mean I can’t collaborate on some projects. Sometimes, I just want to write.
That left me with questions, though.
- How do I find an artist?
- How do contracts work?
- What does the collaboration process look like?
The Basics
Kids Comics Unite, which I’ve talked about before, hosted a roundtable with creators experienced at collaborating on graphic novels and comics.
They answered many of my questions including ways to find artists (contact artists who have done work you like), and how contracts are handled (a few different ways). You can watch the roundtable here. (You need to be a member to view it. Don’t worry, it’s free to sign up and the resources are fantastic.) And if there’s interest, I can write up a post with key takeaways.
That left me with the nitty gritty questions of what the process might look like.
Let’s Go Anthology
So, I reached out to Maggie Shang and Johnell DeWitt, co-creators of “The Runaway Train” in the Kids Comics Studio Anthology entitled, Let’s Go! The story is fantastically whimsical, reminiscent of The Polar Express, with a dark twist.
Story Comic hosted an interview with the creators on their podcast, and Johnell wrote up a post with behind-the-scenes gems that really just got me more curious. So, I asked them if they wouldn’t mind going into more detail and they kindly agreed to answer my questions.
Q&A with Johnell and Maggie
Did you sign a partner contract?
Johnell: For the Let’s Go!: A Kids Comics Studio Anthology, we didn’t sign a partner contract. Each contributor signed a contract to be part of the anthology, which covered each of us individually.
I will say though, it’s a good idea to have a partner contract. Janna Morishima just posted a great article on that topic for those interested: https://kidscomicsunite.com/graphic-novel-collaboration-agreement/ Maggie and I have talked about expanding “Runaway Train,” so if we keep going on that path, we’ll probably need to sign a contract.
Maggie: We did not! We’re both a part of the kids comic unite community, and when the opportunity for a community-wide anthology popped up I wanted to collaborate with a writer so I could just focus on the visuals and was lucky to meet Johnell. As Johnell mentioned, if Runaway Train continues to be developed, a contract would probably come into play then.
What did your brainstorming sessions look like?
Johnell: They were so fun! We got lost in all the world-building and potential ways we could take the story. Too much fun in some cases, it made pinning down the story a little harder.
When I first proposed the idea to Maggie, I didn’t have a script. I had an idea based off of a bigger story that I’d been working on for years. So I took one nugget from that story and spun a whole new story off of it to make “Runaway Train.” But it had so many mysterious elements, we really needed to have some world-building and a backstory in place. So we went all out with loads of ideas, which didn’t necessarily make it easier to then turn it into a short comic, but it did make the potential of expanding the story more exciting because we’d discussed so many fun possibilities of what we could do in a bigger format.
Maggie: Brainstorming was SO FUN! We actually talked about it multiple times, but creating comics can be quite isolating. So it was really fun to be able to bounce ideas off of someone and work out our story together. Looking back we probably could’ve stayed on course better but as we went I think we naturally got better at going, “this is what we have the bandwidth for and this is what we need to accomplish.”
Did either of you take the lead?
Johnell: We both took the lead on our individual parts. I zeroed in on the script and making it as tight as possible, which I didn’t always succeed at within the 8-page limit, and Maggie worked on the art.
That process was where all the pie-in-the-sky-brainstorming fun had to hit the road. We had three or four versions we worked through just trying to get things to fit within the page limit and still have a solid arc. I can’t speak for Maggie, but I still mourn the first-ish version we had that really needed a few more panels to do it justice.
We did get together once Maggie had her ideas fleshed out to talk about what worked and what didn’t, what text needed to change or what pacing needed a revamp, and that was a very collaborative effort. Maggie really helped me see just how tight the text had to be to fit within the page limit and panel constraints. With such a tight deadline to turn the story around, we had to move fast, so an all-hands-on-deck approach made that easier for the both of us.
Maggie: Hmmm I don’t think either of us really did. It felt like a true partnership in that I knew Johnell heard me and I heard her. If at any point (not that it happened) Johnell was like, “I don’t like this direction.” OR “This isn’t how I imagined it.” I would’ve absolutely paused so we could both be happy with what we were creating. I do really appreciate that Johnell was always up for letting me change her dialogue to make room for the art. Cause sometimes it sounded perfect, and then when it was time to fit it in a bubble or to actually illustrate it, it just didn’t translate as we hoped.
Did you storyboard together? Separately?
Johnell: We worked separately until the draft was at a stage where we both needed to be involved.
Maggie: We worked pretty closely in the beginning, and toward the end, it was just me trying to desperately get the art ready for final submission lol XD
Did you feel comfortable offering writing/illustrating feedback?
Johnell: I did feel comfortable offering illustration feedback when I had an idea that needed more visual “writing” than textual.
And Maggie will answer this I’m sure, but she often shortened the text when she needed the space for the art or even made suggestions on a different way of saying things. We were respectful of each other’s spaces, but also willing to listen to each other when those spaces crossed over.
Maggie: Sorry, kinda touched on this in my last answer, but I would shorten the text if I needed to, and felt so relieved that Johnell didn’t take it as an insult. Otherwise, I really would only speak up regarding the plot. I totally trusted and loved Johnell’s writing style, and is one of the original reasons I chose to work with her. I knew she was a good writer, so I had nothing to worry about there.
What were some challenges you had with the collaboration process?
Johnell: I’m curious to see what Maggie says on this. I would say the collaborative process was pretty smooth, except maybe too much fun brainstorming, but the challenge for me was the page limit. I would have loved to have had just two more pages to develop the story and the world a bit more, but we busted it out and made it work.
Maggie: I think the hardest part was underestimating just how little space we had to tell our story. In the beginning, it was all brainstorming and ideas, but when we actually had to make it fit the 8 pages, we had to slash so much of what we wanted to do.
What software did you use for collaborating?
Johnell: Since this project was so short, we didn’t need anything too extensive. We emailed the scripts and dummies back and forth, then hopped on Zoom when we needed to hash things out in person.
Maggie: Mainly emailing and Zoom. We also have each other’s numbers so texting as well, although usually reserved for I NEED A DECISION NOW communication.
Which parts of the process did you enjoy the most?
Johnell: The brainstorming :). It really was fun bouncing world-building ideas off another person. I also really loved seeing how Maggie translated the text into art. It was like seeing your story get born—this idea in my head coming to life on paper. And Maggie’s art is just so whimsical, it took my breath away seeing it on the page.
Maggie: Hands down, the collaboration on world-building! Every time I thought I had a good idea, Johnell would have a suggestion that made it better, I’d leave feeling so excited.
What would you change next time?
Johnell: More pages! And having the script completely pinned down before Maggie had to start on the dummy.
We had to do a few rewrites once we got some editorial feedback that necessitated chopping some parts and adding others. Maggie had to do a lot more drawing than she should have if we’d have had time to narrow down the script before having to move to producing it.
Neither of us were really planning this story. It just sort of happened, so we weren’t as far along as we could have been if we’d been planning this comic months before like we’d done with our other stories in the anthology.
Maggie: I think to keep the story simple. Especially if we were doing 8 pages again. Also, if we could’ve nailed down the plot quicker, I probably would have made the art look tighter. But hindsight 20-20, and I still feel very proud of what we created.
Do you have more graphic novel projects in the works?
Johnell: Maybe. Probably not a graphic novel, but, as I mentioned, we’ve talked about expanding “Runaway Train,” possibly turning it into a comics-style picture book.
Maggie is supremely busy though, so we’ll see when/if we can pull it off, but we’ve both invested a lot into the world we’ve created, so I’d love to see where we could take it.
As for just me, I’ve got other graphic novel drafts sitting on my computer waiting to find a home, but that’s notoriously hard to do for a writer-only, so my focus right now is working on my prose ideas to get that foot in the door. I hope Maggie is working on something. It would be so fun to see her art in a whole book.
Maggie: Omg always!! Currently working on a Chinese fantasy pitch packet and a personal zine that I’ve been really trying to explore the story and art for.
If you’re curious about writing a graphic novel and wonder if it might be something you’d be interested in, I recommend you read my first post: 5 Exciting Reasons You Should Write Graphic Novels For Kids.
Wow. Thanks so much to Maggie and Johnell for taking the time to answer my questions. I’ve seen some of Maggie’s Chinese fantasy and it’s awesome. I can’t wait to read more from both of these creators.
Excited to collaborate? Me too. Make sure you subscribe here or on my Substack to get future posts in your inbox.
I’m sure you have more questions about writing, publishing, and collaborating. Write them up in the comments below or in my Substack community space and I’ll answer them.
Thanks so much to Johnell and Maggie for taking the time to answer my questions. You can find more about Johnell DeWitt and Maggie Shang on their websites, which I have linked here to their names. Be sure to check them out.
Want to read more original work? Check out my Medium account for flash fiction, personal essays, and articles. OR click here to buy my published books.
Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter: WITH LOVE, FROM THE FUTURE for more personal letters and updates.
You can find my book recommendations in my Bookshop.org page: Amerixicana Books.
And if you are looking for classic literature for school, or for your home collection, check out my publishing imprint, Simply Classic Books.
D. Higbee 
Leave a comment