Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login
The John Byrne Forum
Byrne Robotics > The John Byrne Forum
Topic: Q for JB and other Pros: Production times (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
Author
Message
Tom Donaldson
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 29 April 2013
Posts: 24
Posted: 30 March 2015 at 5:38am | IP Logged | 1  

JB et al,
In the ST: New Visions thread, JB mentioned a lag time of 6 months between production of a book and publication. Is this from completion of pencils or from inception of the issues (story meeting, plot, or wherever the issue began the production process)? In this era of "growing roses" we all know that issues can take a loooong time to b produced, but what was the shortest turnaround from inception of an original story (as opposed to pulling an existing story from files to cover deadlines) to release that you have heard of? Any specific examples?
Back to Top profile | search
 
Steven Legge
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 28 July 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 866
Posted: 30 March 2015 at 6:44am | IP Logged | 2  

The shortest turnaround I've read about was Human Torch #5 (the second #5, not the first, there was a typo on the cover numbering.) where Human Torch and Namor battle for "60 thrilling pages"! It took about a dozen guys, but they managed to crank the entire comic out over a single weekend and it went directly to the printers.


Back to Top profile | search | www e-mail
 
Erin Anna Leach
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 21 February 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 746
Posted: 30 March 2015 at 8:52am | IP Logged | 3  

Tom, this is gonna be a little different from one artist to another. Right now I am working on a humorous book of my own creation, I write, pencil, ink, and color this book myself. It takes me between 20 and 25 days to complete one issue, some days are faster than others. That is working on a humorous book and me doing everything on it. When I have worked on adventure/ super hero books, I pencil and ink a page a day. I agree with Steve Legge, that Human Torch issue is the fastest turn around time on a book I have heard of that was in the production schedule. Every year there is a contest held where many people create a comic book in 24 hours, but many of these books don't see print.   
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132134
Posted: 30 March 2015 at 9:15am | IP Logged | 4  

When I got into the Biz, the basic (and therefore variable) formula, was that the writer, penciler and inker each got one month, while the letterer and colorist each got a week. So that's about three and a half months, with some office/production time factored in bringing it up to four or five months. Ideally, the further completion day is from the day the finished book has to go to the printer, the better.

When I was at Marvel, ideally I would turn in my pencils about 5 months before the book hit the stands.*

_________________

* This simple fact seems to elude many fans. I have lost track of the number of times someone has written to complain about something in, say, issue 142 and then, when 143 comes out and the "problem" has been "corrected" write again to take credit for it. "Glad you took my advice!" What's missed here, of course, is that when those letters came in about 142, I was already at work on 147.

Back to Top profile | search
 
J W Campbell
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 28 June 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 353
Posted: 30 March 2015 at 9:17am | IP Logged | 5  

I lettered the 'Superior Charity Special' in 2011, which (from Mark Millar typing the first words of the script to me saving down a press-ready PDF of the completed book) was 20 story pages plus cover in 11 hours, 19 minutes and 38 seconds, but that was a deliberate attempt at a record and not an attempt to meet a deadline crunch.
Back to Top profile | search | www
 
Andrew W. Farago
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 19 July 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 4067
Posted: 30 March 2015 at 11:23am | IP Logged | 6  

Turnaround's incredibly fast in the digital era, especially for the publishers that deal with a really high volume of content.  It seems rare for an artist to be a full month ahead anymore.

Modern editors can be in constant contact with their artists and can receive scanned artwork as soon as the ink's dry, which speeds things up, but editors have just about no lead time anymore, the bigger companies have more people up the chain of command examining and micromanaging content, and editors seem to be handling more books than ever.  There's a lot of burnout in that job.
Back to Top profile | search | www e-mail
 

Sorry, you can NOT post a reply.
This topic is closed.

  Post ReplyPost New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login