How I Entered The Comic Industry

To my dear reader; it is me, Phillip Allen, writer and founder of Unknown Comics. I sat in front of my computer attempting to commune directly with you. My intention has been to share with you the story of how I entered the comic industry, my experiences, and the results that I have compiled in the 4-5 months since I started this website. I would consider this the first ever opinion piece that I have published.

My aim is to share, or more appropriately, enlighten my readers of the reality of the comic industry. I share the knowledge I am able to compose from my research in the structures of comics, the tools available for their production, the practices followed, and industry trends.

This is because it’s not my intention to only write articles about comics; I have plans to become a comic book creator. I have decided to take the opportunity to share what I learn before, during, and after I start my journey as a writer, and most likely as an independent publisher.

Here’s a little something about myself. I have always had a love for comics. My fanaticism for them began when my father bought me an extremely large trade paperback of the Ultimate Spider-Man comic containing the first 6 story arcs (39 issues). I probably read that bad boy cover to cover at least two dozen times. If my memory serves me right, I was 12 years old at the time and my imagination exploded from then on. I also had an interest in writing, I spent some time during middle school trying to write my first novel. Alas, childlike impatience and attention span made it impossible for me to persist with my novel any longer than a few dozen pages. My imagination, however, never faltered. My dreams never stopped developing, characters kept being born within my mind and playing out their tales.

It was not until 2014 that I decided to write a comic book. It was during a walk with my fiancee, during which I shared with her my thoughts on comics. She, not partaking in my love for the sequential arts, parried my comments with an opinion of her own. She brought to my attention the lack of gender equality, multi-racial representation, and the over-sexualization of females. I immediately scoured my mind for every title I had ever read trying to do a mental count, desperately trying to see if she could possibly be right. Regrettably, she was. This did not stop my interest, instead, it intensified it.

Two years went by, during which I would live my life; I would go to school, work part time and make time for a personal life. I would spend any and every moment that I could search the internet, my school’s research facilities, and research journals. All that I found equated to scraps compared to the figurative mountains that I had trudged through. There was only a little of published research in the industry. There were blogs of course, but many were outdated and unreliable. The databases in my school offered no light in the industry. I found a few links here and there, a few books (Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud was a first and one of my favorites) that shared much, but never enough.

This both irritated as well as offered inspiration and opportunity. For what scraps I had found were priceless on their own. I had full intentions of sharing what I had found, to become a resource for the industry, and to continue my research in order to encourage comic creation for myself and others.

So far, my experience has shown me that there is much to be uncovered. Since I started Unknown Comics in February I have been fortunate enough to have come across a number of people who were willing to be interviewed and share their experiences, knowledge, and opinions on the topics I cover in my articles.

Every time I have spoken to these individuals they have been extremely encouraging, and at times, brutally honest. I feel that it is necessary for revealing the answers that I seek. They have offered me wisdom and direction, for which I will forever be grateful.

I will continue my work with Unknown Comics by researching, writing articles and sharing what I learn. I will start working on my own comic, for which I am proud to say I have started the first three pages last week. I’m also working on preparing a schedule to accommodate my soon to be changing weekly routine. I plan on having at least half of the first issue written out, if not more, by the end of the summer.

Remember this if nothing else: It is possible to enter the comic industry. It simply requires an investment of time and determination.