To read a comic is to immerse yourself in a whole new world. No matter the publisher or genre, you need to keep your readers invested. A publisher that excels at this is Dark Horse Comics – look no further than the Hellboy universe. A group of Dark Horse creatives gathered together at Emerald City Comic Con this Friday night to discuss the do’s and don’ts of worldbuilding.
The panelists were Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, Powers) Becky Cloonan (Somna), Malachi Ward (Black Hammer: The End), Lukas Ketner (Count Crowley), and Caitlin Yarsky (Wonder Woman). When discussing how he shaped the world of Count Crowley, Ketner said, “It has to be charming, but also depressing.” Cloonan stressed that her recent narratives, particularly Somna, were grounded in reality; she wanted to get the historical details right while crafting the fantasy elements. “It’s like you’re pulling from history but you’re twisting it into something that makes fantasy.”
“For something like Black Hammer, the worldbuilding is different because I’m stepping into a world that’s already established,” Ward said. “A lot of the worldbuilding comes from building an interesting look for a character so that you want to know what their story is but you don’t necessarily need to know what their story is.”
“This is a new experience, writing and drawing for me at the same time,” Yarsky confessed while revealing that her story was an urban fantasy with hints of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Men in Black. “I’m trying to figure out how to build a world that’s new but inspired by where I was living at the time (Rochester, New York.) It can be a little depressing but a little romantic at the same time.”
“Are you creators learning for tips on worldbuilding?” Bendis asked. When hands went up, he elaborated: “You see a lot of really good ideas, you think “that’s great” then you read it and you’re like eehhhh…Sometimes when you get an idea for a worldbuild…it gets exciting but you have to think how people think.” He likened the creative art to a party, continuing “If there’s not someone cool, not someone you want to hang around all you have is a bunch of cool drawings. The character is the worldbuild.”
Bendis also had uplifting words for anyone who might feel stuck when thinking of creating a comic. “The entirety of world culture is available to us, 24/7, and people are looking for new stuff.” He brought up books from his Jinxworld imprint as an example: Murder Inc. was born out of a conversation between him and Michael Oeming, who suggested an alternate history where five crime families took over the earth. Over and over, Bendis hammered home the point that collaboration between writer and artist is key.
Every artist has a different creative process; Ward pointed out that Black Hammer writer/co-creator Jeff Lemire “writes very fast” but tailors his script to his artists’ strength. “He kind of really wants to let you do whatever you want.” “Some of them have things strictly laid out – panels, angles, wide shots,” Yarsky added. Ketner brought up his work with Count Crawley co-creator David Dastmalchian, saying that Dastmalchian’s experience as an actor/director translated fairly well to the comics world. “He’s such a hype builder,” Ketner added with a laugh.
Nest, the creators about the signature touches they put in their work. Ward put in Art Deco-esque settings throughout his Black Hammer work; Bendis had a running gag where a character is dragged in handcuffs shouting about recent comic events. Yarsky uses her friends as photo references for characters. Bendis summed up the perfect approach to worldbuilding by once again highlighting good character work. “Their journey builds the world.” He once again brought up Hellboy.
Finally, the creators talked about comics that are great examples of worldbuilding. Bendis brought up Once Upon A Time At The End of the World, Pretty Deadly and Minor Threats; Ward cited the work of Simon Roy, while Yarsky & Ketner drew more inspiration from animated films. This panel served as a great look into the minds of comic book creators while doling out advice that future creators would want to take to heart.
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