Press Release

Legendary comic artist Dave Gibbons and comic book expert Tim Pilcher offer a master class in creating comics.

This "How It's Done" series reveals insider hints, tips, and tricks from a leading expert in the field. The artist behind juggernauts like Watchmen and The Green Lantern, Dave Gibbons, working with prolific author Tim Pilcher, is here to teach you scriptwriting, page layouts, lettering, cover designs, and more. HOW COMICS WORK includes scans of Gibbons’ original artwork and rarely seen workings to illustrate the personal creative processes. 

HOW COMICS WORK (Wellfleet Press / October 2, 2017 / US $24.99) uses Gibbons’ vast catalog of work, spanning four decades, to cover both hand-drawn and digital design techniques in depth. An early adopter of computer design in comic creation, all his lettering is digital, and he even has his own 'hand-lettered' font. This is your chance to gain insight to Gibbons' digital work, from his computer coloring and 3D modeling with Angus McKie on Give Me Liberty, to his work on The Originals using digital greytones. You’ll learn how he layers text for editing, creates effects such as flares and neon glows, and prepares artwork for print and online.

Throughout this insightful course are real-life examples of Gibbons’ art, revealing how he solved actual problems with practical solutions, and yielding unique behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process. Each page includes informative captions from Pilcher, providing additional insights into Gibbons’ process and comic book art and history as a whole. All of the examples included are scanned from Gibbons’ original artwork, sketches, and preparatory designs, many of which have never been published before.

Dave Gibbons is one of the most famous comic creators working today, with over 40 years of experience, having worked for every major publisher in the US and UK. He is most famous for his collaborations with Alan Moore, including Watchmen, and was last year named Britain’s first comics laureate.

Tim Pilcher is a pop culture expert and has worked in the comics industry for over 20 years as a writer and editor. He has written comics for the BBC, DeAgostini, Weldon Owen, and the Young Telegraph, and has worked for numerous book publishers. Pilcher has written over 16 books on comics, and has contributed to several others. He has lectured on comics at Reading University, UCL, The ICA, Dublin Trinity College, The Imperial War Museum, and The British Library, he is also the UK liaison for international graphic novel publisher, Humanoids.  

HOW COMICS WORK
By Dave Gibbons and Tom Pilcher
On-Sale Date: October 2, 2017
$24.99 US · $32.99 CAN · 192 pages · Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9781577151579
Wellfleet Press, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group