#42: When Collaborations Go Sour
Comics is a collaborative medium. While there are plenty of examples of talented creators who can "do it all," the vast majority of comics donning the walls of your LCS are the result of a team effort. Very few of us are talented enough in every facet of the comic creating process to produce work on par with the output of the major publisher all by ourselves. So, instead we partner with artists or writers or colorists and work together to bring our comics to life.
Collaborating to make comics can be an incredible experience. While I'll always be proud of my early work on Super Seed , and my recent solo venture into webcomics with OVER , I can objectively say I make better comics and grow more when I collaborate with other talent. When a project comes together, and you and your team hold that finished book in your hands, a book that none of you could have created alone...well, you can't beat it.
Unfortunately, not all collaborations end that way. Over the past couple weeks, I've talked to a number of writers and artists about their experiences with collaborations that have not worked out. In this article, I'll share my thoughts on the subject.
Contract? What Contract?
While having a written contract is no guarantee of a successful collaboration, it is still a great place to start. Many of the creators I talked to who have experienced collaborations go sour never had a contract with their collaborators. Whether it was because they were already friends and a contract felt too formal or because they figured they'd wait until they attracted a publisher's interest before worrying about business stuff, I believe the it's easier for projects without contracts to falter than those with them. At the very least, creating a contract that clearly defines the roles, responsibilities and objectives of the joint venture that is the comic is important for any collaborative project to succeed. There is power in writing things down. I've written before that studies show people who have written goals are far more likely to achieve them. Creating a comic book is a shared goal, and thus writing down the details in the form of a contract necessary to get the team on the same page.
Warning Signs
Very rarely do relationships end without any warning signs. (This is coming from a guy who has devoted an entire online graphic novel to that premise.) Many of the things that suggest an impending dissolution of romantic or platonic relationships also apply to comic collaborations. Promises are made and not kept. Communications breakdown. There's a good line in "The Happening" (an otherwise God-awful movie) where an old lady asks Marky Mark and his wife (who's been thinking of leaving him) which one of them is chasing the other in the relationship. "Ain't no time two people staring at each other, or standing still, loving both with their eyes are equal. Truth is, someone is chasing someone," she says. And most collaborations, truth be told, are like this. Sometimes it's the writer chasing the artist, trying to get him or her fired up about an idea. Sometimes it's an artist partnering with a known writer hoping for a big break. It's nearly impossible for every member of a creative team to have an exactly equal level of commitment, passion, and interest for a particular project at the same point in time. And that's okay, especially at the beginning. But if the less interested party doesn't become more committed to the project over time, that could be a real problem. People often find themselves between a rock and a hard place, wanting to know what's going on with their collaborator- Are they working? When will I see some progress? - and at the same time, not wanting to come across as a nag, fearful that doing so will push their collaborator farther away.
Just like in romantic relationships, I think we usually "know" when our collaborators "just aren't that into" our projects anymore. If your collaborator isn't responsive or communicating regularly. If you're not seeing any progress. If you're not getting enthusiastic responses from him or her every time you share an update about the project from your end...yeah, you're probably in danger of losing your collaborator.
Communication Is Key
As in all relationships, collaborative relationships live or die based on the strength of communication. The internet has been an incredible boon for comic creators, bringing collaborators together from around the globe. (I'm currently working with creators in Massachusetts, Texas, Ohio, Brazil and Indonesia.) Still, if the only way you are communicating with your collaborators is through e-mail, that may be part of the problem.
I'm currently working on a EPIC , collaborating with artist Matt Zolman and colorist Ty Tyner, and our communication has been very strong. Email is actually one of our least frequently used forms of contact. As a team, we use Google Wave frequently for collaborative discussion. Google Wave is a good tool for working together to draft things like contracts, marketing plans, distribution plans, layout critiques, etc. ( See my earlier Creating Comics! article on Google Wave .) We also interact throughout the week using @ replies on Twitter or DMs for short important messages. I know I can usually catch Ty on Facebook chat at certain times during the week to converse that way. And every couple of weeks, Matt and I have a Skype conference call, where we blast through all of the issues on our plate. These calls help keep us progressing and keep us focused, and also give a chance to get to know each other better. While the three of us will be together in person for the first time this August at the Baltimore Comic Con, we hardly feel like strangers. Successful comic collaborations need strong communication. If your collaborations need a jolt in the arm, explore some new ways to keep in touch.
Righting the Ship
Depending on how much you've invested in a collaborative project that appears to be stalling, you may want to try a few things to see if you can get it going again. When an artist that writer Geoffrey D. Wessel was working with on a project repeatedly missed deadlines, he brought in an inker to try to lighten the artist's load. Although in the end, that still wasn't enough to save the project, it was definitely a proactive move that was worth a shot.
I think every stalled project needs a "come to Jesus meeting." If it gets to the point where you're having doubts about your collaborator, you need to confront him about it. Better to end the project than be in a perpetual state of ambiguity. Successful people abandon projects that aren't working all the time. It allows them to focus on the projects that ARE working. When confronting your collaborator, this meeting would ideally take place in person, but if that's not possible, by phone or Skype. (E-mail just won't cut it.) Some things to discuss at this meeting might include nailing down, revising, or revisiting your contract. If you had one in the first place, pull it back at and see how well you've both been living up to it. Are you on schedule? If not, revise the schedule. Maybe even re-sign it. And if you never made one in the first place, it's time to hammer one out. This is an opportunity to talk openly and honestly about the future of the project, and to assess whether or not all parties are committed to seeing it through.
If your collaborator is unwilling to schedule this conversation and deal with the issues, then he's clearly not serious about the project. That'll be a hard pill to swallow, because you've likely put a lot of effort into it, and pinned a few dreams on it being successful. But know this happens all the time. Most creative projects never get off the ground, no matter how excited the team was at the outset. Chalk it up to a learning experience and soldier on.
Ending Collaborations Well
Unfortunately, there's very little you can do to make your collaborator care more about your project. (Paying him more may be an exception. However, I'd be wary of paying someone more money who failed to complete work for a previously agreed upon sum. Generally, the guys you want to work with honor the contracts they make, whether they were for $5 or $500 a page.) One thing you can control though, is how you handle the end the collaboration. " Just because a project didn't work out doesn't mean you can't still be friends," advises Wessel. I agree. You don't want to burn any bridges, the comics world is too small and people do talk. And even if a collaborator turns out to be unprofessional, that doesn't mean you should be, too.
Lessons Learned From Failed Collaborations
Though most of his collaborations with artists have been great experiences, Sam Costello, writer of the Split Lip webcomic , has paid a few artists upfront for work that was never completed. "I now try to work with people with established track records," Sam says. "I look for people with good work histories, rather than just a flashy portfolio and no published/completed work for anyone other than themselves." This is good advice.
Geoffrey Wessel also suggests you "Start small, with short stories. Don't start with a series. And if you do plan a series with someone, only have them on the hook for the requisite 5-7 sample pages until you actually get picked up [by a publisher.]" If you read last week's column , you'll know I'm a huge fan of starting with the comic short, and it's true, having publisher interest does tend to galvanize a creative team.
The biggest thing you'll get from failed collaborations is experience. Experience, as they say, is what you get when you don't get what you want. There are always lessons to be learned in every collaborative endeavor.
So, what about you guys? If any of you have stories to share about collaborations that didn't work out as intended, I'd love to hear about them. I'm particularly interested in hearing:
- What was the project?
- What went wrong?
- What were the early warning signs?
- Did you take any steps to right the ship? (Were they successful?)
- What lessons did you take from the collaboration?
- How have you changed your approach to collaborations since then?
- Silver linings? Make any lemonade out of the lemon that was that failed collab?
No need to name names of collaborators or throw anyone under the bus (we're all professionals here, remember.) Thanks!
***
Tyler James is a comics creator residing in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He writes and draws Over , a romantic comedy online graphic novel updating every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also writes Tears of the Dragon , an epic fantasy webcomic, and EPIC , a new superteen comic debuting at the Baltimore Comic Con. His work has been featured at Zuda Comics, and includes Interrogation Control Element , a political action thriller, and Super Seed , the story of the world's first super powered fertility clinic. When not making comics, Tyler works as a game designer and content producer for a software company.
Contact Tyler directly at tylerjamescomics@gmail.com, keep up with him at his blog , or follow him on Twitter .
Attention Readers: If you enjoy this column, you might be interested in checking out The ComixStreet Recap . It's a new series I've begun where I share and comment on interesting topics, resources, and events relevant to comic creators. The column is bi-weekly, and posts on Thursdays.
Previous Columns
1: Big Goals
2: Resolutions
3: The Great Idea
4: Research Part I
5: Research Part II
6: The Killer Pitch Part I - The High Concept
7: The Killer Pitch Part II - The Synopsis
8: Pay Your Artists
9: Zuda Comics- A Tale of Five Submissions
10: Creating Great Characters Part I (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
11: Creating Great Characters Part II (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
12: Structurally Sound- The Beginning
13: Your Reputation
14: Structurally Sound- The Middle
15: Structurally Sound - The End
16: Your First Con
17: Beat It
18: Memorable Scenes
19: Mailbag
20: Comics Dialogue - Part I
21: Comics Dialogue - Part II
22: Baltimore Comic Con - Part I
23: Baltimore Comic Con - Part II
24: Is It Worth It?
25: The Re-Write Part I
26: The Re-Write Part II
27: The Re-Write Part III
28: Taking Initiative
29: Setting the Table for a New Year of Creating Comics
30: Ready to Script
31: An Artist Ready Script
32: Going All In
33: The Dip and Being the Best in the World
34: Patience Pep Talk
35: Tools You Should Be Using: Viddler
36: Zuda Says No More Competitions
37: Business Mailbag
38: 30 Characters Challenge Post-Script
#39: Google Wave - 5 Uses for Comic Creators
#40: What May Be Holding You Back, and What Definitely Isn't
blog comments powered by Disqus