In 2023, My short story The Beekeeper’s Due was nominated for an Eisner — the comic book industry’s highest award. It was published in the inaugural issue of the anthology Tales From the Cloakroom, which was produced by a few students in Scott Snyder’s Substack writing course. The Beekeeper’s Due has since been translated into Portuguese and republished by Tábula Editora, and to Polish, as a feature in the legendary comics magazine Relax .
It was also my first comic.
Ever.
I’ve been a comic reader my whole life. I learned to read from comics. But I never tried to make a comic. And, after making this one, I wasn’t entirely sure when—or if—I would make another. So, after some incredibly positive feedback from Scott and the anthology team, I decided to submit my story for an Eisner. I don’t know what possessed me to think I could compete with established professionals, but it just felt like maybe this thing was good—like REALLY good. And I wanted to know if maybe, somehow, others felt the same.
The Beekeeper’s Due does everything I want a comic to do. Because it’s only four pages, I was able to really explore the medium. I learned about making comics while making comics. I tried to make every panel dense with storytelling information.
Now I want to share some of the thinking that went into those panels.
Part of the reason I’m writing this series is to help other new creators who, like me, maybe have been a little daunted at the task of telling a full story in just a few pages. Part of the reason is to help myself as I work on my first full-length comic. I’m learning that a full-length comic is a very different beast than a short story. So I wanted to remind myself of some of the ideas and techniques that I think really worked in this story.
Before we get into it, I invite you to read the Beekeeper’s Due below or click here to jump right into the discussion.
Thanks for reading!
Page 1
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Page 4
Ready to dig in? Click below to head straight for Panel 1.1