Since I have no real knowledge of what you personally know about the genre, some of this might be a little too dumbed down, but if you don't know it you might get into trouble. So bear with meHere are the basics that you need to be aware of concerning Christian comics:1. This should primarily be for the glory of God. How can your skills in writing best glorify God? Do you feel called to write blatantly evangelistic tracts? Or are allegories more your style? Or perhaps you want to write simply great fiction but from a Christian worldview? There is a lot of variance within these choices, so find what will glorify God the most in your choice. If you want more choices to consider, just let me know.2. This is a labor of love. In all likelihood you will never make money doing this. You will probably lose friendships over this due to lack of time. It can be frustrating. It can be disheartening seeing the soft white underbelly of the movement (many do it for 'fun', or don't understand evangelism, or take things personally when offered in charity, or might not even realize that they are not yet a Christian!) and dealing with the whims of less dedicated creators (lots of series die after issue #1 due to lack of desire to continue for one or the other of the creators).3. This is one way of opening yourself to attacks from the enemy. Make sure your spiritual life is in order. Are you a born-again Christian? Do you read your Bible every day? Is your prayer life up to biblical standards (do you "Pray without ceasing"?)? Is your outer life consistent with your inner life as a Christian? Are you faithfully worshipping with a body of believers?4. This should be a passion. You will most likely suffer for this, in some way, and sometimes in more ways than one. If you are not ready to accept all the consequences of this choice then get out now. Many have been killed for bringing the Good News to the world. If you are not ready to die for this message then you are not ready.5. This is secondary to your family. They should be your primary mission field, and their care is paramount to your involvement in this movement. You made vows to become the high priest to your family, not to your literary output. Your wife or husband should be privy to everything that you are doing and the people (especially those of the opposite gender) that you are contacting. She or he should be supportive of your choice to work within this movement, but should also serve as the voice of reason if there is some life-changing decision you feel drawn towards (like hand-delivering your anti-Muslim tracts to all of the mosques in Baghdad).6. This is a public declaration of your faith. Now you will be seen as “one of those Christians” by people who didn’t know before. Hold that banner high. Show them what real Christianity is all about – the Law of Love. You will be many people’s first glimpse of what Jesus is like, and to many more you will be what they will think of when they hear the word “Christian”. You need to redefine it for them, sometimes at great cost to yourself.7. This is a movement with a history. Find a mentor and/or tutor for you to act as an apprentice for. This will teach you many things, the first of which is humility. You will need a lot of this. You will learn how to get things done, how to deal with people in the movement, and what things have been done before (no more anthropomorphized angels or superheroes with the word “Christian” in their name!). You will also find a collaborator, companion, and accountability partner. If you need me to point you in the direction of one, just ask.8. This is a humbling process. The humility learned from your mentor/tutor will have a million applications, from dealing with rejection to taking editorial direction to handling critical reviews of your work. And everything in between. The bottom line is it doesn’t matter what other people think of your work as long as you are faithfully glorifying God in your work.9. This is a learning process. Whether you are writing evangelistic stuff for non-Christians, apologetics helps for young Christians, or simply good literature from a Christian worldview, you need to keep learning. There are plenty of great books out there to keep you growing in whatever style you use. There are about 10 times more fair, poor, or just plain bad books out there for each good one. Ask if you don’t know about a book/author/whatever; it will save you time, energy, and money. Above all, stay grounded in the Word. Read meaningful portions of the Bible every day.10. This is a social movement. If you are a writer, find artists to do the other stuff, and vice versa. Don’t try to do it all yourself. You might very well be able to, but your output will most likely be limited by that. Communicate with other like-minded individuals and help out as much as possible. Do you have access to a high-quality printer? Offer to print their products, even if you aren’t part of the creative team. Writers, offer to edit other writer’s scripts.11. This is a polarizing movement. You can make enemies very quickly, just by plainly stating the Truth. Some people don’t want to hear it; others, even those within the movement, might see differently than you on a certain subject. There might be people that you know right now who will never want to talk to you again if they know that you are involved in this. You need to keep being faithful to your mission, and if that means pruning the tree of dead limbs then you need to be strong enough to do that, and to do it in all Christian Love and Charity.
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