What is a blank comic strip template?

A blank comic strip template is a file created in a image editing software such as Photoshop or illustrator that is set up to standard comp strip sizes. These standards are typically set by newspapers since that is where most comic strips have historically lived.

Where can I get a blank comic strip template?

Right here! We have a standard 4 panel template for you to use right here in this post. The dimensions of the whole strip is 3×10 inches. The jpg is 300 dpi which comes to 900×3000 pixels. These can be printed if you prefer to draw them by hand.

Here is a JPEG of a 4 panel blank comic strip.

Here is a PDF of a 4 panel blank comic strip.

Charles M. Schultz was the only author and illustrator of the Peanuts comic strip from its inception 1950 until his death in 2000. Not only is it remarkable that a 77 year old man dying of colon cancer could continue to work prolificly, but how is it possible for someone to sustain the same narrative for nearly 18,000 strips? So, it’s kind of a silly to ask the question Who Wrote the Peanuts Comic Strip? because the answer is so simple.

That being said, on another level, Who Wrote the Peanuts Comic Strip? could have a different, albeit, trite answer: You (or really the American public). What made Peanuts so sustaining was that Charles M. Schultz constantly evolved his characters and the narrative. While at the surface, the escapades of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and friends is really just a story about a kid who never seems to get his way. But, if you look a little deeper, there is a ton of social commentary embedded in the narrative:

• He commented about the Vietnam War by getting Snoopy caught up in a demonstration against the enlistment of dogs and tear-gassed with the rest of the crowd.
• He made Peppermint Patty’s independence and Franklin’s (the one African American character) integration with the rest of the “gang” non-issues
• The fact that we never see an adult’s face (and make them incomprehensible in the TV cartoons) demonstrate how adults just don’t “get” kids

At the end of the day, the answer to Who Wrote the Peanuts Comic Strip really only has one answer Charles M. Schultz. And the world (especially the comic strip world) has been somewhat silent without him.

I remember tearing open the paper to read the latest Far Side, something that was more important to me than the news itself.

In thinking back to those days, I had this very intimate connection with Gary Larson and the Far side: it was as if it was its own community. Gary, like me and many of my friends who loved the strip, was a math/science geek (I cried during the Calculus epic Stand and Deliver - need I say more?). His humor had a special appeal for those of us who found humor in the absurd which, after all, is what being a geek is about. At a time when geekiness was the butt of most jokes, it was vinidcating to have one of own out there in black and white (and color on Sundays) for the world to see.

(I still laugh with my friends when we talk about classic Far Sides like the one where the wife amoeba yells at her husband “Stimulus, Response! Stimulus, Response! Don’t you ever think?”)

I laughed and knew that others laughed with me. Really, The Far Side was a community gathered around the daily newspapers of the world.

But I don’t do that anymore. Why? Partially time (I’m a Dad now and have little time for anything), partially habits (I don’t read newspapers anymore), but also because I just haven’t found my strip. I haven’t found my new Far Side.

Where has it gone?

This isn’t the “rule” for all strips but it’s worth thinking about when laying out a comic. Generally speaking, larger panels denote a longer period of time and smaller ones will portray a more rapid procession of time. The examples below have no content at all so you can see what panel size and count alone can do for the reader experience.

Strip A seems to take longer while C feels like several short segments of time. This is the result of panel count AND panel size. Four panels the size of A would feel different than the four in C. But there isn’t room for four larger panels so the decisions of panel size are crucial to the pacing of your strip.

This does differ from comic books because books have more leeway with layout. Comic strips however, have different space and time challenges. Mixing up panel sizes within a strip can give you great freedom to encourage the pace of your reader’s experience. Now throw some content in there, your characters and dialog, and you’ve got an even more complex system of time progression.

Do you experiment with panel sizes to guide the reader to the lightbulb?

You know how it goes. Your characters have a little dialog and when character A says the punchline of the gag, character B gets all wide-eyed with a puckered mouth (or similar expression) whether an exclamation point or question mark appears above their head or not.

Yeah ok, I get it. Character B was struck by the unexpected irony of the funny line. But here’s the problem. It’s like they don’t know each other as if gag after gag of funny lines, character B is caught off guard every time. Come on now! This creates a disconnect between your characters, and thus your reader.

Remember, you are writing for your reader, not character B.

Think about how a character would actually respond to someone they know (or sometimes not know) when someone says something funny, ironic, unexpected. What is their personality and relationship with the other? This kind of depth is what actually strikes a chord with your readers. That bit of reactionary realism is what gives your reader the freedom to form their own response to the gag.

The surprise calls attention to itself saying “Hey reader, this was an unexpected line. See, this other character thought so.” Of course, the surprise expression might actually be appropriate depending upon the characters and situation. But characters might also be annoyed, roll their eyes, ignore the other, laugh, have a blank expression and so on.

All too often I see surprise inappropriately overused. Are your characters too surprised by each other?

Many cartoonists become cartoonists because they love to draw. The instant appeal of comic strips is the art. As a visual medium, it’s the first thing you notice. But the writing is what makes or breaks a strip. You have to think of yourself as a writer before an illustrator.

Do you tell people you “write” comic strips or “draw” comic strips?

The context is the circumstances of which define your characters, setting, theme, etc. and how it will be related to your readers. When you tell someone you have a comic about an alligator and bird who are documentarians of the human race, that is the context – the core of your idea.

Yeah, so now what? You might be tempted to jump in and start drawing comics! But slow down, pilgrim. You need to develop the idea first. I know you’re a cartoonist and the fun part is drawing characters doing funny things but trust me, the development stage can be really exciting too!

So let’s start with the fun part, designing the characters. Taking into consideration their personalities and situations, you can start sketching. The trick is to keep drawing them over and over doing many different things with different expressions. We will explore in depth character development in this blog but repetitious drawing is the best way to solidify your designs.

As you do this, you will no doubt think of many ideas, jokes and situations for individual comic strips. Jot them down so you can go back later when you’re ready. Keep these ideas in a single place so you can access them easily to add more. My cartoonist likes to keep a separate sketchbook just for comic strip development. Mark a few pages just for ideas and for now, have fun filling up the rest with character sketches!

How much do you like to draw your characters?

One of the biggest mistakes cartoonists make when starting a comic strip is… thinking that their grand idea is based on a single comic ingredient, for example, a character. Let’s say you got this character who is a bird. (Gee, where did I imagine that?) You like drawing birds. You came up with a good one that works at burger joint and is obsessed with motorcycles. Now you’ve got a character design and some ideas about his life. This has promise, right? Well… perhaps, but not really. The mistake is that this is not an idea, rather it’s what should be the result of an idea. The same goes for settings, genres, drawing styles, etc.

Coming up with an idea isn’t easy and it’s arguably the most important step at the beginning. You need to ask yourself questions about what you want to say in your comic strip.

• What in your own life and experiences do you want to share?
• What values are important to you?
• What things do you find humor in?
• What subjects are you passionate about?

Answering these will help you find your unique voice and begin to steer you toward the core idea behind your new comic strip.

What’s on the horizon, you ask? Hank and I have been developing a new strategy for the blog. Zingerding.com has been in development and is making headway. In preparation for the site, my bird partner and I will be bringing more value to you with comic strip instruction.

What do we mean by that? Well, we’re going to give you all sorts of tips, advice and tricks of the trade for developing, writing, drawing and maintaining your very own comic strips. We’ll cover humor writing, drawing techniques, digital tips, character design, comic theory and more!

We know you have some great ideas and we hope to inspire you! Happy new year and we’ll see you soon!

We’re still working on the main site so after you get all zinged up, relax and be patient. Sign up on our email list and we’ll keep you informed of when we’re ready. And if you’re a cartoonist, let us know because we want your comic strips!

We’ll continue to bring you great and not-so-great strips through this blog but we’ll also now be discussing what is to come. Isn’t this the most exciting thing since… well, ever?