Guest Post: How Graphic Novels are Made

As promised we have Neil Numberman and Aaron Reynolds with us today for a special guest blog post, talking about their newest book (to come out on the 23rd!!!), the graphic novel, Big Hairy Drama (Joey Fly, Private Eye, Book 2).

Welcome guys! I'm glad you could make it out to my blog today!

Aaron and Neil will be hanging around in the comments to answer any questions you have for them. ALSO...there is a contest!! So, hang around, read the post and make a comment and a random winner will be picked for every TEN comments. There will be several winners depending on the number of commenters, and the winners will receive their very own Bug Caricature by Neil. (Check out the caricatures Neil did of himself and Aaron at the end of this post.) Also, please leave your email address so I can email you if you win. Winners will be announced on Monday, Nov. 22nd.

So, without further ado, here we go on a bug adventure!!!

BUG MAKES IT BIG IN GRAPHIC NOVELS…HERE’S HOW

by Aaron Reynolds and Neil Numberman



(Interior. Aaron Reynolds, a writer of children’s books and graphic novels, is sitting at his writing desk. He’s typing, but suddenly stops when a shadow falls over his screen. It’s a kid, about ten or eleven.)

Aaron: (looking up) Hey.

Kid: Hey. Whatcha doin’?



Aaron: Um…writing. Who are you? What are you doing in my writing room?

Kid: I’m just some random kid.

Aaron: Ah. A random kid in my writing room. Okay.

Kid: Yeah. Act like I’m not here. (pause…Aaron starts to get back to work, but is interrupted) Aren’t you an author?

Aaron: (turning back around) Ignore you, huh? That’s gonna be tricky. Yeah. I write kid’s books and graphic novels.

Kid: Graphic novels? Like comic books?

Aaron: Kinda.



Kid: Whatcha writing now?



Aaron: An article about how a graphic novel gets made, but I wanted to write it LIKE a graphic novel, so that’s what I’m doing.



Kid: But…there’s no pictures. A graphic novel has lots of pictures.



Aaron: Not at first. Not mine anyway.

Kid: What?

Aaron: Seriously. I don’t draw.



Kid: I must have the wrong house then. I thought the dude that lives here makes graphic novels.



Aaron: I do. But I don’t draw them….I write them.



(Kid pauses while he thinks about this, then…)

Kid: That’s messed up.

Aaron: No, it’s not.



Kid: You can’t make a graphic novel without being able to draw.



Aaron: Well, I do. Like my new graphic novel…it’s called Joey Fly, Private Eye…



Kid: Way to work that in there. Nice plug. Smooth.

Aaron: Yeah, thanks. Well, Joey Fly starts out like this. A script, just like this one.

Kid: Just the stuff people say?



Aaron: Mostly. I also write in what I see happening in each scene.



(Kid flops into a big cushy chair and puts his feet on Aaron’s writing desk, makes himself at home. He looks at Aaron like he’s lost his mind.)



Aaron: See? Like that. It’s called “stage directions”.



Kid: Oh cool! Like actions and stuff!

Aaron: Yeah, exactly.



Kid: Do it again.

(Kid gets up, kind of excited now. He’s putting it all together in his head, but then he notices a fresh sandwich on Aaron’s desk. Goes over, lifts the bread…he’s kinda hungry…but decides he doesn’t like tuna. Flops back down in the chair.)

Kid: Hey, that’s awesome how you made me do all that stuff! And I do hate tuna.

Aaron: It’s a script. In the graphic novel, I write the story. I come up with the characters. In Joey Fly, Private Eye, I create what happens, what characters are in it, all that stuff. Then I put it into a story…a script like this.

Kid: But it’s not a graphic novel. No pictures.



Aaron: Not yet. It will be soon. But first, I break it into panels.

Kid: Panels?

Panel

Aaron: Like this. Chunks. How I imagine it will get broken into boxes in the finished graphic novel. This helps me figure out the flow and pacing of the story, helps me cut extra junk that’s not needed, and helps the illustrator figure out how he’s gonna lay out the pictures on the page.

Panel

Kid: Cool. I notice you use lots of words like “gonna” and “whatcha” and stuff. My Language Arts teacher would go nuts on you for that.



Panel

Aaron: Yeah, well… I try to write how people really talk. I think that’s important, especially for a graphic novel. It all depends on the character. Like, Joey Fly says some gonnas, but he also uses lots of detective-y phrases…

Panel

Joey: Life in the bug city. It ain’t easy. Crime sticks to this city like a one-winged fly on a fifty-cent swatter.



Panel

Aaron: Like that. That’s his opening line in the book.

Kid: Okay, that’s pretty funny.

Panel

Aaron: Well, I try.



Panel

Kid: But it’s still not a graphic novel.

Panel

Aaron: Man, for a random kid who shows up in my writing room, you’re seriously pushy.



Panel

Kid: Do you know many eleven-year-olds? We’re all like this.



Aaron: That’s right. Not being one, I forget sometimes.

Panel

Aaron: Well, now that it’s all broken into panels, I give it to my publisher. And once she’s happy with it, she sends it off to the illustrator and he starts drawing.

Panel

Kid: You tell him what to draw?



Aaron: No.


Panel

Kid: You tell him what the characters should look like?



Aaron: No.



Panel

Kid: What do you tell him?



Aaron: Nothing. Most of the time, we never even meet.



Panel

(pause…the kid’s mouth is hanging open.)

Panel

Kid: That is seriously messed up.



Panel

Aaron: That’s how it works. Unless you are the writer and the illustrator (which I’m not…I don’t draw, remember?), that’s how it works.



Panel:

Kid: So what happens then?

Aaron: The illustrator looks at it and begins to sketch out what he thinks the characters look like.



Panel

Aaron: Like, for Joey Fly, Private Eye, the illustrator is a guy named Neil Numberman.



Panel

Neil: Hey kid. What’s up? Hey Aaron.

Panel

Aaron: Hey Neil. So, Neil might decide after reading this script that you look like this:

Panel

Kid: That’s me?



Neil: Yep.



Panel

Kid: You made me a bug!



Neil: Well, we’re talking about Joey Fly, Private Eye, so I’m thinking in bugs. It’s my job to use my imagination, to come up with my ideas of what Aaron’s characters and story look like.



Panel

Kid: Cool.

Panel

Neil: And as I start drawing and figuring out what it all looks like, Aaron’s story moves away from being a script and I start creating real characters…

Neil: …and pretty soon, I take Aaron’s written words and begin to put them into the mouths of the characters I’ve created.

DIDN'T YOU JUST LOVE THAT? WAY COOL! I LOVE SEEING HOW THESE TYPES OF BOOKS ARE MADE. HERE'S A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE CREATORS:

Aaron Reynolds is a human, not a bug, but he often writes about bugs. He is the author of Chicks and Salsa, Superhero School, Snowbots, and, of course, the Joey Fly, Private Eye graphic novels. Visit him at his website at http://www.aaron-reynolds.com/.

Neil Numberman is a termite currently residing in New York City. Joey Fly, Private Eye his first graphic novel series, but he is also the author/illustrator of the picture book Do NOT Build a Frankenstein. Stop by his website at http://www.neilnumberman.com/.

So, there you have it. And just for kicks I'm going to post the book trailer for book 2 for y'all to watch again 'cause it's just so darn cool!!

 

Thanks again to Neil and Aaron for being here today! And to all of you who came out! I will be in the comments off and on throughout the day. Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did and can't wait to see who won the contest! Stay tuned!

Book Review: JOEY FLY, PRIVATE EYE 2

Normally I stick to YA on this blog, but I have decided to take a break from all things teen this month and write about a children's books I read this past week.

As said in an earlier post, I had the pleasure of receiving an ARC of JOEY FLY, PRIVATE EYE 2. I won't give away the whole plot, but I will say that I really liked this book. This is a book that will appeal to kids of many ages. Aaron Reynolds writes a cute plot about a detective who is a fly (now what boy doens't love bugs? Even my 6 year old girl loved it!) who is on a case to find a missing butterfly diva. Fun bug puns have you giggling on each page and there weaves a theme of bug info. that teaches kids about inects in a clever, subtle way. Neil Numberman's illustrations are delightful and bring the story to life, filling the dialogue with extra humor. I must say that one of my favorite parts were the bed bugs. They didn't play a huge role, but their cute little shapes on the page were a lot of fun and made me laugh.

Here is the synopsis:

A cold snap has blown into town like an unwanted house pest. But there’s only one guy in the bug city with the power to put crime permanently on ice: Joey Fly, Private Eye. He’s always on the lookout for trouble, and he runs into it when he meets Harry Spyderson, proprietor of the Scarab Beetle Theatre and director of the much-anticipated Bugliacci.

Greta Divawing, the four-winged, long-legged leading lady, has gone missing. Harry hires Joey Fly and his assistant, Sammy Stingtail to crack the case. Can they find Greta in time to save the show?


This book would be a great gift for kids for Christmas this year. Stick around for a contest on the 20th and guest blogging by the author/illustrator. You will have a change to win a 'bug characature' by Neil.

November Contest

Happy Turkey Month EvErYoNe!

It's November and you know what that means! A CoNtEsT! Don't forget to stop by November 20th for guest bloggers Aaron Reynolds and Neil Numberman. They will telling us what goes into making a graphic novel and will be in the comments to answer any questions you have.

Also, every 10th, 20th, and 30th commenter will receive a bug-characature of themselves! (Or a loved one. Hey, what a great idea for Christmas!) (Please leave your email address at the end of your comment so I know how to contact you.)The winners will be announced on the 21st.

Joey Fly, Private Eye

I have some news!

I am having my very first blog contest! Yep! That's right! On November 20th Aaron Reynolds and Neil Numberman will be guest blogging right here on my very own blog, talking to us about their new book coming out Nov. 23rd BIG HAIRY DRAMA (book 2 of the Joey Fly, Private Eye series). We will learn what goes into making a graphic novel and both men will be in the available in the comments to answer any questions you have for them. I will also be getting an ARC of this book and will give my own review of it. Can't wait!


So, please stop by then. Tell your friends! Let's support this dinamic duo.

More info to come. For now, enjoy this really great Trailer for their book!