From: [i--ru--r] at [cats.ucsc.edu] (Isaac Truder)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.info
Subject: Rob Davis Comics Career Article 8 of 9
Date: 3 Sep 92 11:18:14 GMT

A Mr. Rob Davis, comics aritst, has written a number of articles on the
subject of breaking into the comics business and conducting your business
once you're in.  He has recently personally given me permission to
disseminate his articles to the Internet (they were previously available on
CompuServe).  These articles originally came from a publication called the
Comics Career Newsletter.  This one deals with the subject of going to 
conventions looking for advice or work...



                            CONVENTIONEERING
 
                              By Rob Davis
 
 
    In the upcoming season many of you will be attending comics
conventions lugging your portfolios packed full of stuff you've churned
out.  I've said before that conventions are the best place to get real,
honest appraisal of your work.  I believe this to be true, especially
since you get immediate feedback.
 
    I've been asked many times how, once you've shown your work and
gotten the comments from professionals, to weed the appropriate comments
from the B.S.  Up until now my answer has been "It's a gut feeling".
Well, I must confess there's more to it than that.  Realizing this, I
figured I had better analyze how I did my weeding and go into a little
more detail for you.  After all, the whole point of these articles is to
help you overcome the mystique of "breaking into" comics and an answer
like "gut feeling" isn't too demystifying.
 
    My suggestion to any aspiring pro artist is to get as many pros to
look at your work as possible (the more, the better -- I'll tell you why
shortly).  Listen very carefully to what each one of them as to say.  If
necessary, take a notebook along with you and jot down what the pro
says.  Be sure to take note of which pages and panels they refer to.
Ask questions, especially if you don't understand the comment.  If a
comment is negative, be sure to ask what you might do to corret the
situation.  (This all sounds rather common sense, and it is, but you'd
be amazed how overwhlemed you feel talking to a comics pro for the first
time.)  Be polite!  Persistence is okay, but be nice about it.
Remember, there are people behind you in line.  Don't hog the pro just
because you'r beginning to get some great feedback.  If things are going
well, and the pro seems agreeable, give him your business card (yup,
that's right, have some cards made up!) and ask for one of his if he has
one (but don't insist).  After this, thank him for his comments
(especially if they were tough) and move on to the next pro.
 
    The reason you need to talk to as many pros as possible addresses
the problem of sorting the B.S. from the great stuff.  If you've been
taking notes on the pro's comments, take a look at them.  Are there any
comments that are repeated?  If so, are they really specific, or more
general?  Did you cringe in embarassment because you knew he was going
to say something he ended up saying?  If you're self critical at all,
the answer to this last question will tell you if you are on the right
track (if YES, you are).  If you answered yes to any or all of the above
questions, look over the specific comments that brought these reactions.
Look even more carefully over comments that were very specific to what
you were doing wrong, even if these comments weren't repeated.  Some of
this last group of comments will fall into the B.S. category, but don't
discard them out-of-hand.  Good comments aren't always obvious.  After
you've done this process a number of times you'll get the hang of which
comments to use and which to throw away.  You'll begin to get a feel for
what critique you can incorporate into your "style" and what just won't
fit.  Some comments will sound like rubbish when you first hear them but
fall into place further along in your development.  It is most important
that you keep an open mind.
 
    If you hit it off well with a pro and you got him to take your card,
try to develop a friendly acquaintance with him.  Seek this person out
at each convention that the both of you attend.  Try to keep him up on
how you're developing by showing him your latest work.  Actually this is
probably the easiest and best part of developing into a professional
comics creator.  If you are persistent, open-minded and friendly the
process can be one of the most enjoyable things you've ever done.  And
after all, isn't that the whole idea?
 
 
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
| This article is Copyright (c) 1992 by Rob Davis.  The author is a
| feelance artist whose work has been seen under a number of different
| company logos.  His professional comics career started with SYPHONS
| #7 from NOW Comics, as a letterer.  He also lettered RUST #'s 1 and
| 2 and penciled, lettered and inked DAI KAMIKAZE!.  At Malibu
| Graphics Rob has penciled and inked several projects.  Among those
| were SCIMIDAR and MERLIN.  For Innovation Rob penciled STRAW MEN,
| MAZE AGENCY, and QUANTUM LEAP.  At Rip-Off Press Rob penciled,
| lettered and inked THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN NEMO.  At Marvel Comics
| Rob penciled theee issues of Hanna Barbera's PIRATES OF DARK WATER.
| At DC Comics Rob has penciled STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, and
| STAR TREK (one issue each as fill-in, so far).  All this as of
| September, 1992.




--
-Hades (Brian V. Hughes) 
	    "Egads! These look like a women's fingerprints"
						   -- Durlock Holmes