An aspiring comics or manga creator who doesn’t know where to start?

A professional comics creator who wants to increase your chances of getting published locally and overseas?

A novelist or book illustrator who wants to transition to graphic novels?

A screenwriter who wants to turn your story into a graphic novel as a prelude to getting it to film?

A storyboard artist or animator who wants to become a power-player in the comics world but doesn’t know how to write a story?

An academic specialising in pop culture, literature or cultural studies who wants further insight into graphic narrative?

A teacher or librarian who is exploring graphic novels in the classroom?

A publisher who wants to build a graphic novels list or finesse their visual narrative editing skills?

A person who just LOVES comics and graphic novels?

OR

All of the above?

No matter what your starting point, there’s no escaping the fact that comics (which includes manga) and graphic novels have exploded onto the world publishing stage and are rapidly gaining unprecedented acceptance in mainstream literary culture. The good news is that they’re here to stay!

In response, the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has invited world-renowned comics creator Colleen Doran to Australia to run a weekend Comics Masterclass in November 2011, designed to jump-start the careers of aspiring comics creators and to accelerate the careers of Australian comics professionals. It’s also an ideal opportunity for multi-platform creators, educators and book editors to learn more about the medium and to become proficient in deconstructing comics and graphic novels.

What is different about this weekend is that it fuses the CRAFT of comics with the BUSINESS of comics. What is valuable about this weekend is that it BRIDGES both traditional comics publishing and traditional book publishing.

So who is Colleen Doran?

US born Colleen is a brand name illustrator with over 30 years of experience in the comics industry. She started her career when she was a teenager and is now one of the foremost international writer / artists, creator rights advocates and comics industry commentators in the business who also just happens to have an ENORMOUS world-wide fan following. She has worked on superheroes and literary heroes. She has worked alongside the “big boys” of comic book publishing, while at the same time paving the way for women in comics. She has overcome many obstacles but acquired lots of wisdom and know-how along her journey. She now brings her professional knowledge to Australia in November 2011 to share with you …

Here are some examples of Colleen’s published artwork, which range from independent creator-owned properties to work-for-hire properties for the big studios:

CLICK HERE TO BOOK INTO THE ASA COMICS MASTERCLASS

Here are some other big (and little) known facts about Colleen Doran…

• Colleen is an illustrator with hundreds of credits for clients including Lucasfilm, The Walt Disney Company, Marvel Entertainment, Image Comics, DC Comics, HarperCollins, Reader’s Digest, Scholastic, and many more.
• She has illustrated the work of Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Anne Rice (The Master of Rampling Gate), J Michael Straczynski (The Book of Lost Souls), Tori Amos (Comic Book Tattoo), Warren Ellis (Orbiter) and Clive Barker (Nightbreed and Hellraiser) amongst many others.
• Her other credits include Wonder Woman, Amazing Spider-Man, X-Factor, Captain America, Teen Titans, and officially licensed illustrations for Indiana Jones, Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings.
• Her space opera graphic novel series A Distant Soil, published by Image Comics, was listed among the “101 Best Graphic Novels of All Time”, and has sold over 300,000 print copies and has tens of thousands of readers in its web comic format.
• She currently has two original graphic novels for DC/Vertigo in production —one by author Warren Ellis called Stealth Tribes, and another by Eisner nominee Derek McCulloch entitled Gone to Amerikay.
• Mangaman, another original graphic novel created with best selling novelist Barry Lyga for publisher Houghton Mifflin, will be released in October 2011. It has been listed as one of the Top 5 graphic novels for teens on the American Book Expo’s Hot Fall Graphic Novels for Libraries List.
• She is a manga expert and has two best-selling books on manga on the market – Girl to Grrl Manga: How to Draw the Hottest Shoujo Manga and Manga Pro Superstar Workshop: How to Create and Sell Comics and Graphic Novels.
• She is also currently adapting a Neil Gaiman short story into graphic novel form for Dark Horse, which will be released in 2012.
• She was artist in residence at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC where she lectured on Hokusai and ukiyo-e prints and their relation to pop culture and manga.
• She has also lectured on graphic novels in arenas as diverse as the Singapore Writers Festival and the American Library Association.
• She is an Eisner Award, Chesley Award and Spectrum Award nominee.
• In 2007, she was inducted into the Lulu Awards Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame in the USA.
• She is one of a handful of US comics creators to have had a biography published on her in The Library of Graphic Novelists series.
• She has testified before the US Congress on the issue of comics and piracy.
• Her blog on creator rights is one of the most widely read blogs in the comics and graphic novels stratosphere.

The time is right to either get started OR to add new comics skills to your repertoire. You now have the opportunity to learn the secrets of the craft and the trade from an international expert and a brand name in the traditional comics publishing industry who is light years ahead of many of us, and who is both excited and looking forward to generously sharing her knowledge with us.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK INTO THE ASA COMICS MASTERCLASS

This is what you’ll learn on this intensive Comics Masterclass weekend on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November 2011:

DAY 1:

• Introduction
• Storytelling Techniques – Marvel method; Plot with dialogue; Full script; Shitagaki; the Emotional wave; Adaptation and more.
• Visual Storytelling Styles – East (uncompressed) and West (compressed) narrative styles (ie. Manga vs US comics); Linear and mood.
  
• Professional Polish – 180 Degree Rule; World building; Don’t fall in “romantic love” with your characters; Composition and pacing; Lettering secrets; Style and substance; How to give your work that sharp edge!
  

DAY 2:

• Deconstructing the Process – Are you the right person for the job?; Collaborating; Breaking down the job; Comics in the context of time; The nuts and bolts of creation; It’s not about the gadgets: it’s about what you have to say.
• The Professional Life – Understanding the submission process; How to get into the US market; How to identify “Very Bad Publishers!” (and find the good ones!); How to make money from comics and graphic novels; Understanding the new world of digital comics; Engaging with fandom.
  
• Creator Rights – Understanding the importance of your Intellectual Property (IP); Creator-owned work vs work-for-hire (commissioned work) properties; Legal and ethical issues.
  
• Hollywood Insider’s Secrets – How to get your work from graphic novel to silver screen; How to find an agent and more.
• Chalk Talk – Q & A with Colleen with some on-the-spot comic art magic!

Here is what some of Colleen’s colleagues have to say about her:

Every so often, you hear someone referred to as The Real Deal. Most times, they’re not. But Colleen Doran is The Real Deal. Not only has she mastered her craft as an artist, she has the rare ability to understand the business in ways that usually frighten other artists to within an inch of their lives. She understands the intersection between government, art and copyright to a degree that even I can’t fathom, and is able to communicate that information and the artistic side of the work to others in ways that can launch careers and safeguard their futures in a landscape populated with predators. She is as dedicated to serving others as she is to her art and her craft, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is The Real Deal.

J Michael Straczynski (Writer, The Amazing Spider-Man; Creator / Producer / Writer, Babylon 5 ; Screenwriter, Changeling)

Colleen Doran is one of the finest artists in the comic book field. Her mastery of style and numerous techniques are as self-evident as her enormous range and versatility. As a business person/educator she ranks second to none. Her keen, analytical mind, her attention to detail and tireless research into the laws that govern and resources available to artists is an invaluable resource for those of us who toil in this field.

Jim Valentino (President, Shadowline LLC; Vice-President, Image Comics Inc)

Colleen Doran is a hero of mine.
She represents everything I love about the comics industry, not the least of which being that fools, cads and brigands tangle with her at their own peril. I would even say that my problem in trying to write a testimonial about Colleen Doran is that my personal admiration for her fierce dedication to the truth, and her relentless fight for the rights of other artists, threatens
to almost overshadow my appreciation of her gifts as a creator.

Almost.

Speaking strictly of her creative endeavors, she’s been even more remarkable. At an age when most teens are thinking only of trivialities, she was already at work creating her enduring masterpiece, A DISTANT SOIL, despite an industry that was not yet capable of understanding her value. While many other female creators in particular dashed themselves to pieces on the rocks trying to get to the industry’s fertile ground, Colleen found a sure-fire formula to achieve respect—the answer for her was to simply be inarguably better than everyone else…a better writer and damn sure a better artist. No one has inspired me to reach as high, and as true, as Colleen Doran.

If you are fortunate enough to hear her lecture on topics ranging from art technique to copyright law, you have my congratulations (and a healthy dose of envy).

Enjoy.

Gail Simone (Writer, Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey, Bart Simpson Comics, Teen Titans, Secret Six)

CLICK HERE TO BOOK INTO THE ASA COMICS MASTERCLASS

So what are the Comics Masterclass details?

DATES: Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November 2011

TIME: 9am to 5pm (Registration starts at 8am)

VENUE: Aerial UTS Function Centre, Level 7, 235 Jones St, Broadway, Sydney NSW Australia

ADMISSION: $135 (ASA members); $165 (Students and members of the ACA, AWG, Japan Foundation and various State Writers’ Centres); $195 (Non-members).

So what else do you need to know?

• This is the FIRST INTENSIVE WEEKEND comics masterclass of its kind in Australia!
• This is Colleen Doran’s FIRST visit to our shores and the FIRST time she’ll be sharing over 12 hours (within the 16 hour program) of pure unadulterated, uncensored and uninterrupted comics knowledge with anybody!
• This Comics Masterclass is different to other workshops because it focuses on both the CRAFT as well as the BUSINESS of comics and graphic novels.
• This Comics Masterclass covers MANGA!
• This Comics Masterclass looks at HOW and WHY Hollywood is optioning more comics and graphic novels to be made into films than screenplays.
  
• This Comics Masterclass is valuable because it BRIDGES both comics publishing and book publishing, which have entirely different publishing, distribution and marketing models.
• This Comics Masterclass is remarkably AFFORDABLE—you’ll be paying just $11.25 (ASA members’ rate) up to $16.25 (Non-members’ rate) per hour for gold-gilded comics craft and industry information!
  
• You can also take advantage of the PAYMENT PLAN so you can pay off the admission price in three easy installments with no interest charged!
  
• Enrolling in this Comics Masterclass will help INCREASE your chances of getting published locally and help you BREAK INTO the US market.
• One lucky audience member will WIN a private one-hour portfolio or project review with Colleen worth $1000 based on her consultation fees.
• You’ll also be in the running to WIN lots of other prizes and giveaways!

Seating is limited.

Colleen’s space opera epic A Distant Soil was listed as one of the “101 Best Graphic Novels of All Time”.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK INTO THE ASA COMICS MASTERCLASS

Finally, please take out word for it. We’ve heard Colleen speak at the San Diego ComicCon, as well as the New York ComicCon and the memory we have of her is a vibrant, articulate, generous and passionate speaker who also had rolling around the floor with laughter! In a nutshell: “What Robert McKee is to screenwriting; Colleen Doran is to comics and graphic novels!”

Julie Ditrich & Jozef Szekeres
ASA Comics / Graphic Novels Portfolio Holders

P.S. REMEMBER … seating is limited and we can’t guarantee that there will be tickets available at the door.

Australian Society of Authors
PO Box 1566, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Australia
Suite C1.06, 22-36 Mountain St, Ultimo NSW 2007 Australia
Phone: + 61 2 9211 1004; Fax: +61 2 9211 0125
Email: info@comicsmasterclass.com or asa@asauthors.org
Website: www.asauthors.org

CLICK HERE to visit the ASA Comics / Graphic Novels Portfolio website page.

ART CREDITS (Left to right in descending order)
Girl to Grrl Manga, © Colleen Doran; Robotech, © Colleen Doran; Amazing Spider-Man, © and ™, Marvel Comics; Aragorn from “Lord of the Rings, © and ™, JRR Tolkien Estate Limited, Art ©, Colleen Doran; MangaMan, © Barry Lyga and Colleen Doran; Wonder Woman, © and ™, DC Comics; Sandman, © and ™, DC Comics; Orbiter, © and ™, Warren Ellis, Art © Colleen Doran; A Distant Soil: Coda, © and ™, Colleen Doran; The Book of Lost Souls, © and ™, J Michael Straczynski; MangaMan, © Barry Lyga and Colleen Doran . All art by Colleen Doran.