Create a Comic Character

Every comic needs a character. Characters help ground your story and make it interesting. A dynamic and entertaining protagonist is what will ultimately help your story sell. To start, do some light brainstorming and sketching. Get a general sense of the character you're trying to create, and the world he or she inhabits. From there, work on the physical side of your character. Draw a few designs until you find a design that works for you. Lastly, create your character's personality. What are your character's most notable qualities? What are his or her needs and wants? When you're finished, you should have a dynamic character readers will enjoy.

Steps

Sample Character Descriptions

Doc:Young Superhero Profile,Male Superhero Profile,Female Superhero Profile

Brainstorming and Sketching

1. Seek out inspiration. If you want to make a comic, you should look at what already exists. Get some inspiration from your favorite comic books and web comics. Read through some of your favorite strips and ask yourself what makes the characters compelling and interesting.
   • Read comics in your local newspaper. Look at the world of web comics online. Pay attention to the characters and how they're develop. How does the writer create a unique personality and voice for each character? Why are the characters interesting? How is their storyline developed over the course of the comic.
   • Pay attention to drawing. In more serious comics, drawings may be quite realistic. In more lighthearted comics, characters may be unrealistic in appearance. Their bodies may be disproportionate and their expressions may lack detail.
2. Consider the type of comic you're creating. Comics are a diverse field. There are some gag-a-day comics, such as comics published in local newspapers, but there are also comics that tend to be more serious. Many web comics have complicated and long running story lines with somewhat more complex characters.
   • If you're looking for a simple format, you may want to go the talking animal route and emulate comics like Garfield. Usually, these comics only have a few panels and end with a joke.
   • However, you may also want to do something more serious. A web comic, like Questionable Content, may better serve you inspiration-wise. While humor is incorporated into this comic, the story lines can also be serious on occasion and not every strip contains a punchline. You can also try looking into graphic novels. While different than comics, there is some overlap.
3. Do some light sketches of what your character may resemble. Once you have a general idea of the type of comic you want to create, do some light sketching. You do not have to draw a final version of your character. Just grab a pencil and paper and begin drawing a few versions of the character you're aiming to create. Light sketching can help you figure out your drawing style and get a sense of how your character may appear.
   • If you're creating your main character, keep in mind he or she should be visually appealing as your audience will look at this character a lot. Draw a few light sketches of the character's head, as well as his or her body. Try to find a design that looks nice.
   • However, keep in mind you'll have to be drawing this character a lot. If you are new to drawing especially, stick to a design that is somewhat simple. Strive to see the basic shapes behind a character. For example, your character's head is shaped like an oval. His torso is a chubby cylinder.
   • Drawing can help you get a sense of a character's personality as well. What kind clothes your character wears, for example, can reflect personality.
   • Do not worry about creating the perfect design yet. You are just in the preliminary planning stages. You can get your character into final form later.
4. Jot down a list of loose personality traits. From here, start brainstorming about your character's personality. Who is this character? What is he or she like? Spend some time brainstorming before you move on to drawing a more final version of your character.
   • Think about your genre. If you're doing a gag-a-day comic, you may not need a character with a ton of personality traits. Look at a character like Garfield. He's lazy and sarcastic, and does not have too many traits beyond this.
   • If you're working with a more complex genre, consider your character more deeply. Write down a list of positive characteristics, as well as a list of flaws. Jot down some of your character's hopes and dreams.
   • If you're writing a genre-based comic, like a fantasy comic, archetypes can help you establish a character. Archetypes are stock characters and ideas that tend to appear again and again in fiction. For example, maybe your character is the archetypal mentor. Therefore, you can assume he's wise, patient, and calm.

Working on the Physical Aspects of Your Character

1. Decide on the tools you'll be using to draw. Every artist uses different tools. Before you begin to draw your comic, make sure you know how you'll be drawing it. You should pick tools you can work with efficiently. Tools that are unfamiliar to you may be tedious, making it harder for you to commit to your character.
   • If you're tech-savvy, consider using electronic tools. Tools like adobe photoshop, for example, can really help streamline the process if you're comfortable drawing on a screen.
   • If you'd prefer to do it the old fashion way, think about the type of paper you'll use, as well as the type of pen and pencil. You may want to swing by a local art shop and peruse the supplies. Try holding a type of pencil in your dominant hand to see if it feels right.
2. Draw a basic body and face. Once you've discovered your tools, start with the basics. Draw a basic outline of your character's body. You want to get a sense of his or her basic proportions before fleshing out the character. You should also draw a somewhat closer up picture of just your character's face. As the face is where your character will portray emotion, you want to make sure you've got the character's facial structure locked down.
   • Remember basic shapes. This can help ground you as you sketch out the character's bare form. Do not worry too much about filling in or shading. You're just trying to get a basic shape down here. Once you have the basic shape, fill it in a bit. Add muscle to your character's arms, for example, or a scar on your character's chest.
   • Spend some time drawing the character's face. Focus on the main features. What is the basic shape of your character's face? Is it heart-shaped, oval-shaped, rounder? Does the character have any distinguishing physical characteristics, like big eyes or a cleft chin?
3. Play around with physical traits as you do several drawings. Redraw the character's face and body again and again. Most cartoonists draw many, many versions of their character before settling on a final design. Reshape and redesign the character several times until you get a version you like.
   • Use your eraser here. If you dislike how the character's legs look, erase and redraw them.
   • You can add or subtract elements of your character as well. For example, you may have originally intended your character to be bald, but that doesn't feel right. Try adding some hair.
   • Draw as many versions as you need until you find something you like. This can take awhile, so have patience. You should not settle on a design that you dislike. Keep ease of drawing in mind as you go. Even if you really like a particular element of your character, you should not keep anything it would be difficult to draw over and over again.
4. Practice drawing your character with several expressions. Your character will have to make a lot of expressions throughout your comic. You should practice drawing just your character's face expressing a wide variety of emotions.
   • Figure out how many expressions you want to create. If you're doing a more simple comic, you may not need as many expressions. You may be able to get by with just things like happy, sad, angry, etc. However, if you're doing a more complicated comic, you need more expressions. In addition to the basics, include things like irritated, hollow, confused, pouty, and so on.
   • When you're done, draw your character expressing each of your chosen emotions. Adjust each drawing as you go. Use your eraser to alter elements of your character that you dislike. Maybe you want his brows to be more furrowed as he expresses confusion, for example.
5. Settle on a final design. After a lot of experimentation, try to draw one solid design of your character. You can use this design later on when you begin actually writing your comic. Mixing and matching all the elements you liked from the preliminary drawing phases, draw a final version of your character.
   • Draw slowly here and provide slightly more detail than you did in earlier steps. You want this drawing to be something you come back to as you draw your comic. Remember to keep ease of drawing in mind. If you find some element of your character is difficult to draw, you may want to cut this element out in your final draft.
   • Have a friend look at the final drawing and give you honest feedback. If you have a friend with experience in illustration, this would be a good person to ask. If the friend has any constructive feedback, you can retool your character accordingly.

Creating a Personality Profile

1. Name your character. To start, you want to give your character a name. This should be something that appeals to readers. You may also want to consider a name that speaks to your character's personality.
   • If you're writing a comic with an animal character, names are somewhat easier. You can pick a name that sounds like a silly pet name. However, when using people as characters, names can be complicated, especially if you are doing a serious comic.
   • Keep the implication of names in mind, especially if you're using names packed with meaning. The name "Christian," for example, carries religious context, so avoid using it unless you want that in your comic.
   • There are no hard or fast rules for names. You can pick a name that's meaningful or merely a name that you feel is memorable. It can help to know the time period in which your comic takes place. For example, if you're doing a comic that takes place in the 1940's, modern names like Harper and Jayden may seem out of place.
2. Make a list of your character's most notable qualities. Once you've established a solid name, you'll want to give your character a personality. Think about what kind of person your character is and make a comprehensive list of your character's traits.
   • For a simpler comic, you may not need as complex of a personality. Your character may be defined by a few quirks and traits. For a more complicated comic, however, you'll have to get more in-depth.
   • Write down general personality characteristics, focusing first on the most notable traits about your character. If a friend of your character were to describe him or her, what would that friend say? From there, get more specific. How does your character react to others? Is he kind and generous, or does he tend to be withholding in his emotions. How does your character respond to conflict? Is he sage and calm in the face of adversity, or does he tend to shy away from challenges?
3. Decide on your character's past. Your character should have a backstory, especially if you're doing a more complex comic. Spend some time fleshing out where your character was before the events of the story began.
   • Even in complex stories, you do not have to form an overly complex backstory if you do not want to. You can simply lay out the basics. Where was your character born? What was his childhood like? What are the major events in his life that shaped him as a person?
   • Try to focus on how the character's past affects his current personality and choices. Backstory is important because your character will be inevitably affected by his past as he moves forward in your story. As you write backstory, try to consider how your character's unique experiences will affect his life.
4. Think about your character's wants and needs. Interesting characters have a set of wants and needs that drive most of their actions. Spend some time consider what your character wants.
   • In a simple comic, your character may want simple things. Garfield, for example, wants to sleep and eat. In a more complicated comic, character wants may be more abstract. For example, your character may want to find a sense of purpose.
   • You should also focus on needs. There are many universal needs that every character will experience, like the need for food, shelter, and basic love and compassion. Your character may have unique needs depending on his situation. A character that was abandoned in childhood, for example, may have a heightened need for security as an adult.

Tips

• Don't worry if your character isn't perfect at your first attempt to create him or her. Your character will build over time as you begin writing your strip.

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Enjoy Comic Books
• Avoid Making a Mary Sue
• Make a Comic Strip
• Create and Develop an Original Character
• Create Good Personalities for Your Characters
• Make Your Own Anime or Manga Character
• Make a Comic
• Create a Super Hero
• Make a Political Cartoon
• Create Characters

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• Write a Funny Comic Strip