Focus

Something interesting to ponder when considering a career in comics is: what the Hell are you thinking?! Did you flunk out of zeppelin pilot school and need to find a new, more hopeless, anachronistic gig?!

No, no... let's not belabor the death of the industry again... we can do that next time. This time I wanna discuss Focus... as in, focusing on what aspect of comics creation is right for you.

If you plan to work for the Big Three, focusing on a singular aspect of the creation of comics is definitely the thing to do. It's rare to see writer/artists working for the big boys - even Image, the initial home of artist/writers, has pretty much moved to the "team" system with individual writers, pencilers, inkers, letterers and colorists. Sure, some big name cats do two or three of these things, but you usually have to make a name for yourself before the big leagues will risk letting you do more than one job. Time is of the essence in the majors, so meeting deadlines is paramount - and editors don't like trusting one person to get all that work done in a few weeks... well, for the most part... we've all seen the year late books from Marvel, DC and especially Image, but generally speaking, editors will only reluctantly give up so many reigns to one cat.

So my suggestion, if you want to work on Superman or Spider-Man or Spawn, is to really bear down on one specific discipline. If you want to be a penciler, then just do penciled pages - don't worry about inking... and the same is true for everything else. A well-rounded artist will be able to do most tasks, so once you make it big in your chosen discipline, you can try to cajole an editor into giving you more creative duties, but you'll find it much easier to break down the closed editorial doors if you hone in on one skill.
This is an aspect of working for the big companies that makes indy comics so appealing for some folks... folks known as control freaks. I freely admit I could never work for Marvel, DC or Image as a penciler - I just ain't got the chops for it. However, I don't want someone else drawing my stories, cuz they're MY stories. Sure, Art Adams or Greg Capullo can draw circles around me in their sleep with both arms tied behind their backs, but I'd rather draw my tales than let some ultra talented dude do it... for no other reason than I'm a control freak. Well... I also wanna get better as a penciler, but the main reason is ego. And that's what makes self-publishing so appealing... the total freedom to do everything your own way. Now this leads to some God awful comics, to be sure... but once the indy creator has gotten the bad stuff out of the way, the good stuff starts to flow (if they've got the stubborn persistence that's required).

The major bonus to being an egomaniacal indy creator control freak is, if you manage to get into the public's eye, the Big Three may come calling and offer you (should you chose to abandon your muse and work for the Great Satan) writer/artist gigs on their stable of characters. In fact, it seems just as easy to become a writer/artist for the big boys by making a name in the indies as it does to move up the ranks from within the Machine - "just as easy" in this case meaning "damned near impossible either way," but the odds seem pretty close for either to happen.

So if you insist on doing it all yourself, you're better off working in the minors and trying to get noticed than knocking on an editor's door with a fully finished Spider-Man comic. If you're dead set on doing Spider-Man, then your best odds are to work hard in one field, getting so damned good at it that you can't be ignored. The choice is yours. Good luck... and if it doesn't work out, you can always go back to zeppelin pilot school.