Meet Josh White, illustrator on Area 51 Studios. Two years ago he went to his first San Diego Comic-Con and met his future collaborator, Ernie Altbacker, at Comic Creator Connection. Today they have a graphic novel coming out - and you can hear them speak at the Comic Creator Connection All Stars panel.
Josh shares his opinion of CCC and his advice for finding a collaborator.
So Josh, I know this happened at your first SDCC in 2023. Why did you go to Comic Creator Connection? How did you know about it?
I'd always wanted to go to San Diego. I was looking to network and a few of you recommended it. So I put it on my list of stuff to check out.
What happens at Comic Creator Connection? I think it's like speed dating, is that correct?
Kind of. As the artist, you're the hot date. There's 10 times the number of writers as artists there. Yeah, I think there were 10 artists and about 30 writers.
As an artist, you're stationary and everyone else is moving.
Sounds like it should be a reality show. What was your impression of the people there, the level of creative talent? Be honest.
Definitely a mixed bag, but mostly not great.
I've heard that from other people.
But you never know who you're going to meet there. Most people didn't have very good ideas to begin with. One person had a story where their plot was a purple dildo with swords coming out of it. I thought, this is going nowhere with any publisher. It was strange. Some people seemed to be looking for a way to get someone to listen them. A lot of it was too weird to even be marketable.
There were few artists you could do projects with. There were fine artists who did painting, sculptors… Of the 10 artists, 2 or 3 could put together a graphic novel.
They probably need to do some vetting. But they've had a number who've come through and create legitimate published projects. Several have done graphic novels. Like anything else, it's a numbers game.
But despite all that, I would still do it again if I was looking to do a project. You never know unless you try. It’s worth checking out.
People talk about it like they're hoping to be discovered - like it's Schwab's drugstore and they're Lana Turner.
Yeah. I'll say that when it comes to anyone successful, you don't see the journey there - the doors slamming in their face before they get famous. That part gets ignored. You're still going to put in the work and do crappy networking events.
So what happened with Ernie?
Ernie was one of the few writers there that had cohesive ideas, and a way to articulate them. I was the first artist he saw whose portfolio showed work that could be put in a book. I think the mutual connection was pretty quick.
Did he show you a treatment? How did it work?
There was no time for that. Writers only had about 5 minutes total to talk about what they’ve written and their ideas. I'd seen 10 people at the point. Ernie showed up and told me he'd written some things for DC. Then he saw my stuff and said, This is where I want to go. That's how the conversation progressed.
Then I reached out and we went back and forth and he pitched 4 or 5 different ideas. I thought Area 51 was a great idea, and it was a self-contained story we could do in a one-shot with a clear story.
You left out the part where we were in Ballroom 20 watching Justice League: Warworld and he came out on stage.
When the CCC ended, there was only one event left for the day, which was the DC Justice League: Warworld premier. They brought the producers and writers out for a panel before the premier, and Ernie was the first one called. I turned to the people I was with saying, that's the guy! while showing them the card he gave me at the event.
What's your advice for people who want to try their hand at Comic Creator Connection?
Make sure you've got something that can be marketed. If you're a fine artist or doing watercolor portrait work, even if it was compatible with a writer trying to do a graphic novel, it could take more than a year to just produce the artwork to get it published.
Go into this having thought it through: What can I bring to market that makes sense? Is it a story that can be adapted, does it have a beginning and end? If you're an artist: can I reasonably produce this thing, could I draw through it in a couple of months and get something made?
It's Comic Creator Connection. If I have a stylized painterly style, having process down to produce it quickly is the only way I’m going to get it done. If you don’t work digitally, I’d need a proven workflow to achieve that success. Look at your stuff and make sure whatever you're presenting communicates that you can create a comic or graphic novel.
Tell us about your comic, Area 51 Studios.
Area 51 is not a secret government facility. It's a soundstage where aliens make TV shows, including human dramas like the Black Plague or the Crusades. The comic is the story of a producer is trying to get his mojo back. He's won awards for producing the Crusades and this is his attempt to do a comeback story.
They do different shows for other planets all over the galaxy – humans don’t know the only reason they haven’t been wiped out already is because it’s more trouble than it’s worth to find a new budget TV studio.
Sounds amazing.
You can see Josh and other CCC All Stars at 10:00 am on Saturday, July 26 in room 29AB. Want to hear more about his comic? Visit Area51comic.com.
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