Top 5 Lessons Learned from Writing about Indie Comics
For those wondering, my daughter wanted to help with the photo and she insisted on holding the party hat—which I didn’t mind as I usually don’t make appearances. Thanks for stopping by!
- Seth Adrian Romo, founder of Pages and Panels
Today marks the anniversary of the Pages and Panels site. After more than 70 single issue reviews, dozens of interviews and small press spotlights, and hundreds of cups of coffee, this past year has brought a lot of lessons.
I could write a ton of mini lessons, but I opted to compress my experience into a handful of points. The idea to write this piece came to me when I found myself chuckling at how happy I was to see the bill to renew the web hosting subscription. It’s not often having to shell out cash is a fun thing, but renewing my subscription meant I was fully committed to renewing my mission of celebrating storytellers and trailblazers in the comic book community.
Pages and Panels started as a reaction, to be completely honest. I found myself wishing there was a place for indie comics where a curated approach would help clear the noise, remove negativity that click bait articles feed off of, and talk about what I love about being human: stories.
I try to limit “me, myself, and I” in reviews, as the foundation of Pages and Panels is about other people. But, today is a day to celebrate, so I will break my rule and provide a little insight into what it’s been like running Pages and Panels.
If You’ve Got an Idea, Just Stumble Into It
Not many people know this—but my Instagram handle used to be “Pages, Panels, and Figures.” I would post toy photos and mini reviews until I started writing for Comic Watch. That experience was wonderful and inspired me to do my own thing. I knew I wanted to write about the human side of comics: the fans, the champions, and the undiscovered. If I was going to do that, I wanted to do things my way. (No shade to the Comic Watch team, they were great!)
I started the Pages and Panels site with little direction, but trusted my gut on how the site could evolve. At first it was just press releases and reviews—nothing unique. But as I started talking to creators, influencers, and the comic book community, I started seeing how the site could grow. I brought in a spotlight for Small Press comics and created a platform for creators to have their bio and contact information hosted for free in the Creators Gallery. To my surprise the site naturally guided me in a direction, and I couldn’t be more happy with how different it looks compared to a year ago. Even if it’s not what I thought it would be like.
Running a Comic Book Site is Literally One of the Greatest Experiences
Every week I get an email from a creator asking me to review their comic. Sometimes it’s a well-connected creator who is working with a major publisher, and other times it is an up-and-coming creator who is trying to get more coverage for their comic.
Regardless, there is nothing more humbling than someone who has put their heart and soul into a creation and asking you to review it. There are so many stories I have yet to highlight (I promise I am trying to get through my backlog, there are honestly a lot of you), but every time I can see the love and care put into a comic. Which leads me to my next lesson…
There is Nothing More Human Than Telling Your Story
While it would be easy to state the obvious that people like to tell stories, I think the consideration of what that means needs to be reflected on. Someone who creates a comic isn’t just telling a story—they are taking an idea from their mind, that their heart has molded, and their soul has obsessed over, and they are making it a reality. The sheer will to just write a sentence on a piece of paper is intimidating enough, but comic book creators are nothing if not some of the most passion-filled people to walk on this earth. It’s inspiring.
Call it Conviction, Call it Stubbornness, If You’re Going to Write about Comics, Commit to It
In my journey of running Pages and Panels, I’ve heard about comic book sites no longer existing, have lost their luster, or are always swaying between if they will remain open or not. This is not an insult to those sites, but to run a comic book site means having to operate in a way that ensures sustainability. I used to write 5 reviews a week, but had to drop that count because life got in the way. But that also meant I needed to keep putting out reviews and content, because once you start posting about comics, people tend to start hoping they can trust that you will be around.
This has meant reworking my strategy, managing the broken social media landscape, and having to sometimes say “No” to opportunities. But now that I have made it a year (and hopefully many more), I have refined my content strategy to align with my time to ensure I can be consistent and do my best to provide quality over quantity.
Switching from Fan to Journalist is Kind of Wild
Years back I went to Comicpalooza in Houston dressed as hobo Spider-Man and was starting to learn about some of the players in the comic book industry. I had never really met a comic book creator, and now I was meeting two who were working on titles that I was reading at the time. Celebrities don’t exactly impress me, but storytellers do.
I was an awkward nervous wreck—but fortunately both of the creators were incredibly kind. Fast forward to present day, and exchanging emails with creators or being connected on social media is normal. I now talk with creators with confidence—inside I am a mess, but now I can mask it better—and I don’t have this sense of uncertainty. I write about comics, I do it well, and while I always plan to improve on my craft, I know that creators respect someone who genuinely wants to celebrate their works. Oh, and one of the creators I met at Comicpalooza—Pages and Panels has a pull quote on the back of one of their trades. (;° ロ°)
I want to give a special thank you everyone who has given their time to be interviewed (be sure to check out their stories). I am especially grateful for my family for supporting this crazy venture and for all of the readers from around the world who stop by my little corner of the internet. Looking back it’s very surreal to check website metrics and see people visiting from dozens and dozens of countries, see my NYCC Press Badge hanging in the corner, or flip through my notebook of scribbles from interviews. It’s certainly been one hell of a year.