Questionable Comics is a series where Dan Hill surveys professionals from every corner of the comics industry about their methods and experience. Today we begin with Andy Schmidt, who runs the comics education resource Comics Experience and has edited comics at Marvel and IDW. Andy is also a veteran comics and video games writer.
What current projects are you working on?
I’m currently editing Rose at Image Comics. Last year, I co-wrote Guardians Team-Up #5 with Andy Lanning and I wrote Transformers: Devastation the video game for Activision and Hasbro as well as several Star Wars and Marvel stories for prose collections. I am also currently working on a non-fiction book about writing comics.
Use one word to describe how you work.
Methodically.
What’s your workspace like?
I work from home where I have a fairly large desk made out of teak wook and granite. It’s probably the nicest piece of furniture I own, but I spend upwards of eight hours per day at it.
I have two computers on my desk for a lot of the teaching I have to do and several projects almost require two monitors. My office was originally a small living room, but it makes for a large office space, which is nice.
I have a full sized window right next to me looking out on my front yard, which is great because I see my son walk home from school every day when he gets off the bus. And it lets in a lot of natural light, which I really enjoy.
I’ve got a comfortable chair with a lot of back support. I’ve had upper back problems a couple of times, so I’m very conscious of my posture now.
My office has a black two-seater couch in it, a few small book cases, a Dr. Doom statue (because he’s the evilest dude around) and the walls are covered with framed artwork. A few original pieces of art from comics artists that were gifts when I was editing or writing comics. And several posters from some of the project I worked on that I feel really connected with. This is wear all my geek stuff goes.
But it’s important to me that my office be clean and straight. Though it rarely is because I tend to work on multiple projects all the time, the framed art is nice, the book cases are neat. It helps me stay organized if, well, I stay organized. So my work space is important to get my head space right.
What do you listen to when you work?
Usually film scores. Lyrics tend to trip me up.
I listen to a few podcasts if I’m doing work that’s not brain intensive. I keep up with the world through NPR and certain podcasts, and I’m a science buff, so I listen to several science podcasts as well as podcasts for and by creators.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
To focus on what I’m doing instead of those around me in the industry. I just need to make sure that I love what I’m doing and that I’m earning enough and getting enough recognition for myself and my family. This advice really impacted me in almost every aspect of my life and I am a much more satisfied and happier person because of it. I like the work I do very much, and I earn a comfortable living and I’m very thankful for that. If I stay focused on that, how could I be anything but happy?
How do you get into writing mode?
I tend to work on projects with either long deadlines that tend to be large projects or shorter projects with tight deadlines. I wake up every day wanting to write, so getting in the mode isn’t that tough.
What’s tough, is finding the time and making the time. I run my own business called Comics Experience which is the world’s largest online comic book school. It’s a full-time gig, but I simply can’t give up writing because I love it. So for me, it’s carving out the time to get an hour or more writing time in my work day.
I keep a very tight schedule and track my time in Excel. It helps keep me very focused and sometimes limits the time I’ll spend on certain tasks (or time sucks like Facebook and Twitter).
The other big motivation is that I set daily goals and deadlines. And I don’t stop working until they’re done. So, I do my best to be done as early as possible (while still maintaining quality, of course) so that I can spend as much time with my wife and sons as possible. That’s a real motivating factor for me. I don’t want to miss out on that time with them.

A page from Guardians Team-Up #5, co-written by Andy Schmidt and Andy Lanning with art by Gustavo Duarte
Full script or Marvel Method?
I tend to write full script.
That said, I am always experimenting with my different methods to see what kind of effect changing my process has on my writing. Lately, for example, I’ve been working with two different co-writers to see what that does to the work. And I’ve worked all kinds of different ways just to see if it changes my work or if it can help strengthen my skills.
I’m currently working on one project that is essentially Marvel method, and ti’s just because the artist and I want to do that way because it’s fun to work differently.
What’s the one thing you wish you could improve about your work?
I used to say my dialogue. I hated my dialogue for years, and while it’s still not what I’m best at, I can look it in the eye now, but that is definitely my go-to answer.
I think the thing now would be dynamics. One of the hardest things as a writer is to get the power that the writer feels about the story across to the reader. A big moment for my main character is huge to me, but can fall flat if it’s not set up properly and executed flawlessly. And that’s really hard to do, especially when space is limited— and space is always limited. So that’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently.
When’s the best time to work?
Early in the morning is when my head is most clear. That said, I’m not a morning person, so that translates to about 8:30 AM until around 11:30 AM. That’s when I’m at my sharpest. It’s also when my house is quietest.
Who do you consider to be inspirational creators in your field (classic and modern)?
Oh, boy. Well, Jack Kirby obviously. For me, I’ve had several creators that I’ve gotten to know who have meant something to me both because of their work but then also because of who they are. For me, Klaus Janson has been a true mentor and friend. Walter Simonson, Phil Jimenez, David Finch, Chris Sotomayor, Robert Atkins, Chris Bachalo, Peter David, Humberto Ramos, Josh Williamson, Andy Lanning and Josh Fialkov. There are too many to count and too many to name. These aren’t just creators to me, they’re mentors and friends. These are the people I can count on no matter what.
John Lees is a prolific Comixtribe writer and has also written for IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics.
What current projects are you working on?
I have a few upcoming projects with artists like Ryan Lee, Jules Rivera and Alex Diotto. And I’m currently working on Sink, a new crime series with artist Alex Cormack, who I worked on with Oxymoron: The Loveliest Nightmare. It’s a series of oneshots connected by the shared location of Sinkhill, a hellish district in a warped funhouse mirror image of Glasgow, Scotland— it’s got gangsters, vigilantes, and crazy murderous clowns! We’re doing something unusual and experimental in the distribution of the series, sending out each new issue as it becomes available to subscribers of our newsletter. To get in the van, head to sink.comixtribe.com.
I also recently released Quilte, a new horror oneshot with Iain Laurie, Megan Wilson and Colin Bell, the creative team of And Then Emily Was Gone. That’s about a low-level psychic who uses her gifts to work as a psychologist, traveling into people’s dreams to unpack their recurring nightmares.
And I wrote Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #6 “Wyrm: The Rot in the Shell,” a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story with artist Nick Pitarra and colorist Mike Garland, which introduces cult villain Wyrm into IDW’s TMNT canon.
Use one word to describe how you work.
Freaky!
What’s your workspace like?
I have a desk with a laptop sat in my study, where I do most of my work. Sat next to my laptop is a piece of paper with a to-do list written out. I find it’s better for motivation to have your list of tasks physically written down for you to actually cross each task out with a pen once you’re done. I also have a pile of comics sat on the desk, too, on top of my printer. It’s normally a range of stuff I’ve been reading recently, but the one constant for the past year or so has been DC’s Multiversity Guidebook, a book packed with such creativity that flipping through it is a constant source of inspiration.
What do you listen to when you work?
I don’t always have music playing when I work, as it can be distracting, but when I do have music, it tends to be stuff that compliments what I’m working on. When I was writing And Then Emily Was Gone I’d enjoy playing the Twin Peaks theme, the soundtrack for The Shining, some Nick Cave tracks. And for Oxymoron: The Loveliest of Nightmare I was all about Goblin, playing the themes of Deep Red and Suspiria on loop. For Sink now, I’ve been listening to the Fargo soundtrack quite a bit.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
It wasn’t advice I directly received, but there is one bit of writing advice I heard that has really stuck with me. It came from Vince Gilligan, while talking about the creation of Breaking Bad. He said, “Perfect is the enemy of good.” And that really resonated with me. What he meant is that, as writers, we can obsess with trying to make something the best thing ever, and it paralyses us. Just try to be competent at first, get your story down on the page. Refining and improving and making it brilliant can come in the redraft!
How do you get into writing mode?
One exercise I started last year that I’ve found to be pretty helpful came from an idea proposed by writer Ryan K. Lindsay. He calls it #366Stories, basically a “story idea a day” challenge. Every day, I write out a new story concept— it doesn’t need to be anything detailed, just a general blurb. But doing that gets me thinking creatively, and ready to start working on my bigger projects.
Full script or Marvel Method?
Full script. I’m too much of a control freak to leave a Marvel Method level of plotting up to the artist! A big part of the fun in writing a comic for me is visualizing the scenes and beats in my head, then seeing how the artist will interpret them.
What’s the one thing you wish you could improve about your work?
I’d like to be able to come up with dialogue easier and more naturally. Often when I’m writing scripts, dialogue will be the last stuff I get down. I’ll end up writing everything else in the script, then having “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH” placeholders for the dialogue to fill in later.
When’s the best time to work?
I wish I could say at a healthy, regular time during the day. Instead, apparently the best time to write is about 1-2am, where after a day of slowly plodding through a scene you’ll suddenly be like, “BOOM! Inspiration!” I’m trying to curtail that habit, though, and discipline myself to get more of my writing done earlier in the day to allow me downtime later in the evening.
Who do you consider to be inspirational creators in your field (classic and modern)?
Grant Morrison continues to be my number one inspiration in comics, and not just because he’s a fellow Scotsman! He is someone who continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in the comics medium and pack his stories with inventive concepts, but all done with a fascination and enthusiasm for the universes both he and I grew up loving in our respective generations. Jason Aaron and Scott Snyder are another couple of comic writers whose work I greatly admire.
Leave a Reply