Any one with suggestions for this comic book project?

[gatorsmom]

One of the charities I work with has decided to create a comic book about a saint (we are Roman Catholic). We are hoping this comic book will bring awareness to the good works that this saint did (he fought child poverty and trafficking). I have never worked in publishing or communications of any kind. They just named me as a project manager to help with content and distribution. What do I need to know? Do you have any suggestions or ideas about this? One of the things I was going to suggest is that a couple of the pages be left black and white so the kids could color them in.

For distribution I was going to suggest churches, particularly nurseries and rooms where toddlers can play quietly during services. I was going to suggest the books go home with kids in parochial schools. I'm not sure our diocese has day-cares but it would be nice for them to go there too. Probably also summer bible camps, maybe even with a tie-in project although I can't think of one.

Any other thoughts or suggestions are VERY welcome!

[KpbS]

I would start at the public library and check out several juvenile comic books (graphic novels) and see what you like in their style and presentation and what you don’t care for. That will help you better tailor yours to your audience. There are some Boxcar Children ones that are more realistic in style and many others to choose from.

One choice to make is whether it would be for ages 6+, those who are reading independently or younger, requiring an adult to read the story to a child.

[lizzywednesday]

One of the charities I work with has decided to create a comic book about a saint (we are Roman Catholic). We are hoping this comic book will bring awareness to the good works that this saint did (he fought child poverty and trafficking). I have never worked in publishing or communications of any kind. They just named me as a project manager to help with content and distribution. What do I need to know? Do you have any suggestions or ideas about this? One of the things I was going to suggest is that a couple of the pages be left black and white so the kids could color them in. ...

There were comic books like this in the past! I had one each about Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa that my aunt Fran gave to me when I was in middle school.

They were published by Marvel, pre-Disney acquisition, but with the state of the comics industry (lots of the formerly independent publishers have either gone under or been acquired by DC and Marvel, which are subsidiaries of Warner Bros and Disney, respectively) it's hard to point you to a good place.

Have they already got a publisher? Scriptwriter? Artist?

I think your first step is investigating religious publishers or subsidiaries of the same; they may have a graphic novels division accepting pitches and/or submissions.

If you're going self-publishing, I can't help much since I don't know how that works, but I can point you to "how to" series among various comic alliances.

If you're not self-pubbing, I would do a little more research into comic artists' professional associations - they often have a "how to break into comics" type article or three, as well as suggestions for agents/publishers to pitch.

[gatorsmom]

There were comic books like this in the past! I had one each about Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa that my aunt Fran gave to me when I was in middle school.

They were published by Marvel, pre-Disney acquisition, but with the state of the comics industry (lots of the formerly independent publishers have either gone under or been acquired by DC and Marvel, which are subsidiaries of Warner Bros and Disney, respectively) it's hard to point you to a good place.

Have they already got a publisher? Scriptwriter? Artist?

I think your first step is investigating religious publishers or subsidiaries of the same; they may have a graphic novels division accepting pitches and/or submissions.

If you're going self-publishing, I can't help much since I don't know how that works, but I can point you to "how to" series among various comic alliances.

If you're not self-pubbing, I would do a little more research into comic artists' professional associations - they often have a "how to break into comics" type article or three, as well as suggestions for agents/publishers to pitch.

Wow, thank you for telling me about these comics. This was really helpful! I’m sure my team would love to see these! Also, I’m friends with a priest who organizes regular mission trips to Japan. I’ll copying him on this too. I’m going to see if I can find copies of those comic books to use for guidance and ideas.

We do plan to self-publish. And not long ago I met a professional Catholic artist who has done some comics. He agreed to do the artwork. We also have someone to write the story. He works with a publishing company he likes so those details are all set. I just need to help with content and distribution. Thank you, lizzywednesday and Kpbs for these suggestions. They are wonderful!