How to Create Comic Book Characters

The art of writing interesting heroes and villains

The characters of The Bolt

Bolt. Anomaly. Paragon. Trashman. Chimera. Kinetica. Oddball. 

I’ve written dozens of characters for my comics, with more just waiting to be featured. And these characters are so fleshed out, so real to me, that I can drop them into any scenario and I’ll know how they’ll react. 

Like let’s say I made them give a public speech for some reason. Bolt would fumble his words. He doesn’t like staying still that long with eyes on him. Anomaly would give an impassioned inspiring speech. Oddball would ramble on and on about himself, talking down to the audience the whole time. (Oh no, am I Oddball?)

Maybe you have an idea for a character. Maybe you already have a character but you want to flesh them out more. How do we do that? Well I’ve broken down the categories that go into creating a great character. I’ve used this method with all of my characters and it’s worked for me. So here we go, in no particular order:

APPEARANCE:

Simply put: what does your character look like? Are they human? Man/woman/other? 

Assuming they’re a superhero or supervillain, what does their costume look like? Do they wear a costume or are they a monstrous character like the Thing Ben Grimm, who is stuck irrevocably in his rocky form. 

Some things here are obvious, like race/gender/age. When it comes to costume design, it gets to be a bit more fun. You get to play around with color theory and what you can convey to your reader. For example, Spider-man is red and blue. Both primary colors, both bright. Now I’ve never seen a red and blue spider, but those colors provide a sense of familiarity. When we see Spidey, we don’t instantly feel afraid. Instead we feel good that he’s around. Those primary colors are giving us that “friendly” vibe. 

On the flip side, the Green Goblin is green and purple. Frequently you’ll see this combo used for evil or strange characters the reader shouldn’t trust right off the bat. Aside from Green Goblin, you’ve got Mysterio, Hulk, the Lizard, and even the Joker. 

Of course, you also have to factor in practicality. Batman wears blue/grey/black because he’s not bulletproof and he needs to blend in with the shadows. When I first created the Bolt’s initial look, I wanted it to be homemade and I wanted to use blue/grey because he’s also a street-level vigilante. 

The original look of the Bolt, which lasted 8 issues.

POWERS/ABILITIES:

Ok, so what powers does your character actually have? Flight? Concussive eye blasts? Super strength? It’s ok to have a list of what your character can do but let’s talk more in-depth about said powers. 

For instance, are these powers innate or granted by a suit or object? Superman is Superman at all times but Tony Stark can only fly and shoot repulsor blasts when he’s in the armor. Same goes for Green Lantern. Without their rings, GLs cannot fly or create things. Moreover, a GL power ring must be charged so their power does have a limitation placed on it. Sometimes placing these limits on your character can make for better stories. If your guy is all-powerful and unbeatable, it’s gonna make for boring storylines. The first few issues of The Bolt, Sean can only make bolts with his right hand, which Oddball exploits in issues 7-8. I’ve also limited him in that he can really only make lightning bolts that he has to throw. He cannot shoot lightning from his fingertips.

Another thing to consider is how your character feels about having these powers. When Peter Parker first discovers he’s got the proportionate strength of a spider, he’s pretty thrilled. No bullies are gonna hassle him ever again! Now think about our loveable Ben Grimm again. When he was transformed into living rock, he lost his fiancée and any semblance of a real life. He hoped that Reed could find a way to change his condition. Same goes for Victor Stone, when he wakes up as Cyborg. His father saved his life from an explosion but at what cost? It wouldn’t be until he joined the Teen Titans and accepted his state that he began to appreciate his powers. 

Obviously, your character does not need to have any superpowers at all. Batman is my favorite and as we all know, he’s just a man. That’s why I also include “abilities” here. Maybe they’re a highly skilled martial artist, a genius-level engineer, or just really good with computers. 

ORIGIN:

We all love a good origin story. “Rocketed to Earth from a doomed planet…” I believe that origins have 2-parts: how did they get their powers and what inciting event sets them on their course? Pete gets bit by a radioactive spider, yes, but he doesn’t use his powers responsibly until Uncle Ben is murdered (spoilers y’all). Spidey catches the murderer only to realize it was the thief he could’ve stopped earlier that same night. The spider-bite alone wasn’t his origin, just an explanation of powers. 

If you read The Bolt #9, you’ll know that Sean got his powers after absorbing a mysterious chemical and then being hit by lightning (yowch). Being a young teen, he felt like he didn’t have to do anything with those powers. It wouldn’t be until he was attacked by the supervillain Paragon that he realized he did have a responsibility to use them against evil.

MOTIVATION:

I cannot stress this one enough. You can create the coolest-looking supervillain with the darkest origin possible but if the reader doesn’t know what their ultimate aim is, they’re gonna get bored rather quickly. One example of poor motivation is MCU Thanos. That’s right. MCU Thanos is catching strays. I don’t care. 

In the “Infinity Gauntlet” comic series, Thanos is obsessed with the personification of Death. He’ll do anything to win her heart. In fact, he gathers the Infinity stones and snaps half the universe out of existence before the heroes even know what’s happening. Thanos is the Mad Titan. He’s obsessed with winning the heart of Death. Now that’s a motivation. 

MCU Thanos decides one day there’s not enough resources in the universe so he puts it upon himself to snap half the universe out of existence. What? 

Now, depending on your character’s motivation, you can end up with a hero, anti-hero, or villain. When it comes to these designations, it's not only what their motivation is, it's how the choose to achieve these goals. Let’s assume they want to end all crime on the planet. A lofty goal to be sure, but let’s see how that would play out for each alignment:

Hero: fights to end crime by arresting criminals

Anti-hero: fights to end crime by murdering criminals

Villain: fights to end crime by creating a police state where they hold ultimate power; also murders criminals

It’s important that you know where your character stands when you’re writing them so in the course of the story, they can make decisions based on their motivation. And believe me, your characters will “talk” to you. My character Anomaly is a superhero robot inspired by the likes of Superman. He strives to embody the ideal of goodness. In Anomaly #5, my robotic hero charges in to rescue Holloway from the monstrous Gryffin. However, after discovering he was indeed created to be a weapon and in fact, the villain, he stops fighting immediately. He must reconcile the intention of his creation with his identity as a superhero. Ultimately, he decides to choose his own path, opting to define his purpose for himself rather than have one assigned to him.

Resolved to be good guys, Holloway and Anomaly walk into a brand new day.

FLAW:

No one is perfect. That’s the beauty of humanity. We’re all just trying our best. So when you think about this character you created, it doesn’t hurt to give them a flaw or a character trait to make them seem a bit more like us. 

In 1960s, Marvel had cracked the code. Weaknesses didn’t have to be some external force like Kryptonite or the color yellow. No, the weaknesses could be built into the hero. Bruce Banner has severe anger issues. Tony Stark struggled with an addiction to alcohol. Peter Parker would have serious doubts about being a superhero and quit a few times. We’ve all seen the cover of Pete turning his back on the suit in the trash can. 

These flaws are actually adding an element of Everyman-- we can all see something in our heroes to which we can relate. I’ve been so angry I’ve wanted to punch a wall. I’ve been so overwhelmed that I’ve wanted to turn my back and walk away. That’s what makes us love these heroes so much and have kept them around for so long.

Conclusion:

Well, that’s it. That’s my method. I’d like to add that you can use this for any character, they do not have to be a superhero or villain. You can use it to write non-powered civilian characters as well. 

Also, a word of caution: when you are creating something new, your mind try to make connections between your creation and what already exists. And if you don't, others will. "Oh, so he's like Iron Man?" or "He looks kinda like Batman". This is bound to happen and if you let it, it will stop you. Do your best to fight it. Because yes, sometimes characters can look like other characters, but I believe if you let a story run its course, your character will be able to stand apart from those comparisons. Give them a chance.

Good luck and happy writing!

-Ryan

 *I’d also like to add that if you are a huge MCU Thanos fan and are now upset with me, just chalk it up to my character flaw: I'm a comic book geek.