A Day in the Life of A Professional Comic Writer
Ever wondered what it was like to be a professional comic book creator? Kat & Phil take you through a typical day!
Hello Lifeline Comics Readers,
For today’s topic, we thought it would be fun to take you behind-the-scenes to take a look at a day in our lives as comic writers/creators/publishers. We wear a lot of different hats throughout the day, so we’re looking forward to taking you through our process!
We’ll also talk about our Free Comic Book Day experience, George Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck Broadway play, Sinners, The Wedding Banquet, Another Simple Favor, and more!
Let’s dive in!
A Day in the Life
How do we fill up our days? Let’s dive in below!
How Much Do We Actually Write?
Kat: We’re professional comic book writers…which means we write all day, RIGHT? I mean yes and no. Phil and I own a comic book publishing company - there’s a lot of other things on our plate to continue making the boat keep floating, which we’ll explore in the upcoming sections.
I say on average we write 2-3 days out of our seven-day work week (yeah, we pretty much work every day). We’ll take a day to plot together and look at the bigger picture, and then the rest of the time we write our scenes separately. We usually split a book down the middle. So I write half and Phil writes half. You truly get both our voices!
Organization & Communication
Phil: The vast majority of any given day is spent on organization and communication.
We’ve talked in past newsletters about our “Master To Do List” — an ongoing list we use to keep ourselves organized. But it truly can’t be overstated just how important the To Do List is to our organization. Any task that enters our brains (that we’re not performing exactly in that moment) goes onto the Master To Do List to ensure that we don’t lose track of it.
Is there a newsletter due this week? Are we reviewing submissions from an anthology? Do we need to get back to an artist on WIP pages? Do we have a writing deadline?
When you’re balancing as many projects as we are, keeping a strict list of important tasks and routinely organizing it is instrumental to staying on top of things. So we try to start and/or end each week by organizing our To Do List tasks for the week so that we ensure that we stay on-target for all of our production goals.
Outside of “To Do List” tasks, the second biggest factor of any given day is communication. This includes communication between Kat and myself, but also communicating with backers, peers, and collaborators.
Kat and I have a 30-60 minute catch-up/organizational meeting pretty much every day to keep updated on our tasks, brainstorm new ideas, and make sure that we’re not missing anything essential to the maintenance and growth of Lifeline Comics. We have some of our biggest and most off-the-wall ideas on these calls, and they’re often directly responsible for our breaking out of the rut and innovating.
And outside of communicating with one another, the next biggest task on any given day is maintaining communication with others. Kat and I will often lead our conversation with how many unread emails we need to sift through — everything from backer support to event planning to connecting with fellow creators to WIPs from collaborators.
At any given time, we’re usually working on about eight or more Kickstarter projects in some capacity or another — whether it’s a live campaign or one we’re prepping in its early stages. So it’s essential that we keep organized and that we’re in communication with all of the people we need to be to keep our projects moving and our backers happy.
Working on the Next Kickstarters
Phil: We have at least one Kickstarter live at pretty much all times. So naturally, Kickstarter prep and management is a constant in our line of work.
For campaigns that are live or about to launch, we’re always in the process of building a page, developing a promotional strategy, and/or figuring out what we can do differently on this campaign compared to previous ones.
For campaigns that are much earlier in their development, we’re always in a state of finding and working with collaborators. Do we have enough Variant Covers for this upcoming campaign? Do we have a thumbnail prepared? Is the script locked down? Is a collaborator waiting for approval on WIP pages?
For example, right now a big part of our day is reviewing the over 500 submissions we received to our upcoming Witching Hour anthology. The campaign may not be launching for half a year, but the prep work starts early for a lot of these campaigns.
Kat and I have to shift gears a lot during the day, working on all different types of books depending on what comes into our inbox and what is coming up in our release schedule.
Fulfillment
Kat: We have a larger team for Fulfillment, with Phil’s and my family pitching in. On average, we pack 2-3 days a week. Phil does a lot of pre-prep to make sure everything is organized for our team (it’s a lot of Excel sheets).
We have a running joke that we’ll never be done packing…and, I mean, it’s kind of true. We launch two campaigns a month, so we’re constantly in fulfillment mode - a great consequence of success. So if you were wondering how you get your packages, it isn’t a third-party company. It’s the creators signing each book individually, packing each Gemini Mailer, and their families being great sports. But it’s also a great excuse to listen to music and do a friend catch-up for the week!
Conventions/Events
Phil: Conventions are an incredibly fun and rewarding opportunity to make direct sales and connect with fans. But they’re also a massive wrench that gets thrown into the organization of any given week.
If we have a Convention or other event — even a small one — at least some portion of a given week needs to be set aside for planning. Logistics of the event, promotion of our appearance, actual gathering of our inventory, loading up of the car, the event itself, etc.
When we know that we have an event in any given week, we make sure to build in a lot of wiggle room in our tasks, knowing full-well how much time an in-person event takes up.
Friendship/Fun Time/Me Time
Kat: This one took us a little longer to find a balance, but a few years into our company, Phil and I have found as perfect of a balance as you can find for friendship, fun time, and me time. As you may have noticed, we have been seeing a lot more movies this year because we wanted to make an effort to put something weekly on the calendar that took us away from our computers.
I’ll be honest, I think we both wish we had a little more decompression time. But we do our best to make sure there’s one night on the calendar where we can just veg out.
It’s helped our mental health tremendously to make sure we keep all these spinning plates balanced! Our business is very important to us, but it only works if our friendship and our own mental sanity is intact.
Want your comic in one of our Indie Bundles?
Kat: Are you a comic book creator and want to be part of our indie comic book bundles? Hit me up either through Substack messages or email me at comicunoheroes@yahoo.com with a PDF of your book and your social media links and we’ll get your book in front of our audience.
Current Campaigns
Let’s take a moment to plug our current round of Kickstarter campaigns!
Like Father, Like Daughter: The Five Stages of Grief #1-2 (ENDS TONIGHT)
“WHO IS THE IMPOSTER INVULNERABLE? Teen Superhero, Casey, must find the man who is impersonating her dead father. PART TWO: ANGER!”
The Witches of Oz #1 - “Holding Space” Pride Month Lenticular (ENDS NEXT THURSDAY)
“Celebrating Cynthia Erivo's appearance at Washington DC World Pride, Lifeline Comics debuts the "Holding Space" Variant by Enerjax.”
Aces & Aros: An Asexual & Aromantic Anthology (Launches 5/27)
“A 100-page graphic novel anthology about Asexual and Aromantic experiences across a wide range of genres.”
What have we been up to?
Let’s talk about how we’ve kept busy these last few weeks!
FCBD Signing at JHU Comic Books Staten Island
Kat: JHU is my local comic book shop. I’m a Wednesday Warrior and hit the shop every week. It was really fun to be on the other side of the table for Free Comic Book Day as we did a signing at the store.
But, of course, signing books didn’t stop us from being fans during the best holiday of the year! Julius bought a piece from local artist, Shawn McArthur, and I grabbed my Free Comic Book Day books to read that very night.
New York Pride Office Event
Phil: The team behind New York Pride recently hosted an in-office event for their staff for which they brought in a handful of vendors who attend New York Pride. And we were fortunate enough to be among the vendor list for the event!
It was nice doing a smaller event for a group of amazing people who put on one of the biggest Pride Festivals in the world.
There was music, food, and tons of creativity. You could really feel the positive vibe of the organization and how much the New York Pride employees care about the work that they do.
“Good Night and Good Luck” George Clooney Broadway Play
Kat: As a former journalist, I first came across Good Night and Good Luck movie TWICE in school both in my undergrad and masters. When it was announced that George Clooney was going to make his Broadway debut with an adaptation of the same movie he directed, we had to snag the tickets for my Dad’s birthday.
Good Night and Good Luck is a beautiful depiction of the importance of TV journalism and the pride and tribulations reporters like Edward R. Murrow had to go through to tell the truth. The play depicts a time from our past with a finale that perfectly ties the story to our present - not a pin drop was heard with the powerful images displayed on the stage and screen.
There were plenty of outstanding performances, but I also want to take a moment to put a spotlight on the set design. The crew made Winter Garden stage look like an actual television blending the two mediums seamlessly as they weaved archived footage with live performances.
It’s a shame the tickets were priced up so high because it made the play far from accessible.
Irishtown (Off-Broadway)
Phil: Kat and I have been watching Derry Girls on-and-off for about two years. It was the show we would pop on when we had downtime after a convention and weren’t too tired to watch something (spoiler alert: we were always tired). But when we finally finished the Irish comedy series a few months ago, we were hungry for more content.
That’s when we happened upon Irishtown — an Off-Broadway starting Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Erin in Derry Girls) that was in the middle of its run at the Irish Repertory Theater. So we grabbed our friend T. and went out to see the play on a whim.
Irishtown is a comedy about a group of writers and actors trying to put on an “Irish play” and debating ways to make it “more” or “less” Irish. Each member of the five-person cast soars in their role, delivering both witty comedy and even a few moments of genuine pathos. There are a ton of lovingly self-deprecating jokes about Ireland and Irish culture/art, and a heaping helping of dark comedy that had our entire theater rolling.
If you’re a fan of Irish comedy in the New York area, I definitely recommend making your way to Irishtown. It was a truly unique experience and my favorite kind of “only we can tell this story” one-act play.
New Dorp Comic Con (without Kat)
Phil: While Kat was on vacation in Montreal, I picked up the slack for New Dorp Comic Con on Staten Island.
We love this small local show — located at New Dorp High School — because it attracts a younger audience with a willingness to get into comics. It helps that the school is so close to the biggest comic book store on Staten Island — which also has a big presence at the event.
A big thanks to my fiancé, Julius, and my friend, Thalya, for helping me to man the table! We had a blast doing 30 Rock Trivia between sales!
(If there are any 30 Rock fans, QUIZ TIME: What was the name of the movie for which Tracy won his Oscar? And what book was it based on?)
Kat’s Trip To Montreal
Kat: I escaped the country to celebrate Mother’s Day weekend in Montreal, Canada. We’re taking a trip to Europe this summer. So this was a nice taste of France before we head over there!
We did a lot of sight-seeing, which included one of my favorite activities to really take in a culture - FOOD!
As a New Yorker, I was pleasantly surprised by Montreal’s pizza. We stopped at Neapolitan Pizzeria NO.900, which was voted the best Neapolitan slice in THE WORLD! And I can see why. The dough was perfection, and the toppings were some of the best.
We also stopped by their local casino, and besides the currency, there were some fun differences between Canada’s casino and the ones in the states. They had a LIVE Black Jack dealer where guests were able to vs. them all with the same hand. So when you won, so did your neighbor. It felt more like a joint effort!
Media
Let’s discuss some non-comics media!
Sinners
Kat: I’m not a frequent fan of Westerns. I’m not not a fan. It’s just a genre that doesn’t normally pull me in. But it does play a very important part in Hollywood history, and Sinners FINALLY tells that story from the black community with an allegorical vampiric twist.
It’s a magical experience to watch a film that you know is going to be so much bigger than just a movie I saw that one time. Sinners is that film! From the storytelling to the representation - we’re watching a powerful franchise unfold right in front of our eyes. And that’s truly the power of blockbuster storytelling!
Phil: There’s really not much I can say about Ryan Coogler’s Sinners that you haven’t already heard. It’s a fantastic film — expertly mixing genres and delivering such a strong character piece in the middle of a Blockbuster-level film.
Michael B. Jordan outdoes himself in the double role of twin brothers Smoke and Stack, carrying each character so differently that you forget almost instantly that they’re played by the same actor.
The monstrous antagonists of the film are terrifying and infuriating in all of the right ways. And the supporting cast — with particular shout outs to Miles Caton (Sammie), Wunmi Mosaku (Annie), and Hailee Steinfeld (Mary).
My only criticism of the movie (and I use that word very lightly) is that I think the first act moves a little slowly. It does some phenomenal character work that pays off in spades later on. But I could’ve used a bit more horror/action in the first act — even if it was divorced from the set-up and character introductions.
If you haven’t already seen Sinners, you should get on that immediately. I have no doubt it will be in everybody’s “Top 10 Films” lists at the end of the year.
The Wedding Banquet (2025)
*Light Spoilers*
Phil: The Wedding Banquet (2025) is a movie that we were really excited for. The trailer presented us with a fun queer comedy with a likeable cast of AAPI actors. And while there are things to like about the movie, the end result was unfortunately not as fun of a movie as I expected to see — and not smart or poignant enough to make up for the lack of fun.
I actually watched the original Wedding Banquet from 1993 the night before seeing this reimagining. And for a queer movie received in the early ‘90s, I was shocked just how solid the first half of that movie was. It made for a great dramedy with very believable stakes and a likable group of characters. Unfortunately (BIG unfortunately), The Wedding Banquet (1993) really shoots itself in the foot with a tactless coercion rape scene in the middle of the movie. It never really recovers from this scene, even trying to spin it as an “alls-well-that-ends-well” situation resulting in a welcomed pregnancy.
So I came into the 2025 reimagining excited for a movie that would have all the things I liked about the 1993 version, but with a more current queer perspective/cast and no problematic rape scene…
…and somehow, The Wedding Banquet (2025) falls into a very similar trap to its predecessor. To its credit, the remake doesn’t use rape (thankfully). But instead, we get two of our leads (who are meant to be likable) cheating on their partners and never facing any sort of major consequence or backlash for it.
I’m not opposed to complicated characters who make bad/”wrong” decisions. But The Wedding Banquet, much like its predecessor, presents the wrong actions as if they’re a blessing in disguise in a way that really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And much like the original film, the remake never recovered from this decision, in my eyes.
I’d honestly recommend The Wedding Banquet (1993) over the remake if you were only to watch one of the two films. I think that film goes on a lot longer before hitting it’s “derailing” scene. And it at least has an interesting historical context taking place in the ‘90s and feeling like the sort of queer time capsule you really don’t see a lot of pre-early 2000’s.
*Spoilers Ahead*
Kat: This was one of my most anticipated films of the year. A fun rom-com that showcases multiple queer relationships - I mean, SIGN ME UP!
Well, at least that’s the movie I thought we were getting as the trailer showed the two couples hiding the gay away as one of the lead’s Korean grandmother came to visit. But instead, The Wedding Banquet is a dramady???? One that leans far more into the drama than comedy. The lesbian couple struggles with their family’s future, while the gay couple have issues with Min’s green card and Chris’ commitment problems. Many of the conflicts don’t always track and feel very out of place in their 2025 setting.
But those are all things I could have looked over if not for the movie’s twist where Chris and Angela drunkenly sleep with each other and have a baby. It comes out of left field and feels problematic to its otherwise positive queer message.
I wanted to like Wedding Banquet a lot more than I did, and as Phil states - the biggest pitfall the movie falls into is that it’s a remake of a movie from the 90’s that already has its own set of problems.
You can listen to the Legendary Ladies podcast for a deep dive into the movie.
Another Simple Favor
*Spoilers Ahead*
Kat: I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t have huge expectations for the straight-to-streaming sequel of A Simple Favor. I like the original movie just fine, but I never had an itch to return to the franchise.
And I’m very happy I went into the movie with that mindset because I had a blast turning off my brain and just going along for the ride of this Pretty Little Liars-esque soap opera frenzy.
The sequel has it all with evil twins, Emily & Stephanie’s wild “friendship”, and even some kitschy Godfather tones mixed in. I had a fun time with this one as it leaned more into the absurd as it knew EXACTLY what movie it was trying to be.
Phil: Another Simple Favor really had me for the first 40-50 minutes of its runtime. I honestly was ready to give it five stars. It was a movie that knew exactly what it was — bringing back the frenemies tension of the first A Simple Favor at breakneck speed. It was sharp, funny, and sexy all at the same time.
Unfortunately, very similar to both versions of The Wedding Banquet, Another Simple Favor made a decision just before the half-way point that really derailed the movie for me. I wasn’t a fan of the direction that the “murder mystery” went in this installment and think that there were actually a number of careless decisions made that took me out of the movie rather than engrossing me in the mystery.
Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively both shine again in their roles, delivering tons of chemistry in both their friendly, adversarial, and (few-and-far-between) romantic moments. Unfortunately, their strong performances weren’t enough to make up for some major missteps with the plot.
If you were a fan of the first A Simple Favor, this movie is definitely worth checking out. If you’re like me, you’ll probably LOVE the first act (and some change). Just maybe prepare yourself for some questionable twists that may leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Comics
Let's discuss some comics we've enjoyed recently!
As always, we’ll spotlight an Indie Book, a DC/Marvel book, a Live Kickstarter book, and a Webcomic!
Indie Comic: Jumpscare (Dark Horse)
Kat: Following their work on Regression, Cullen Bunn and Danny Luckert team up again on their newest venture into horror as they embrace the history of both horror and comics with its superhero bend. Jumpscare is a vigilante who uses your favorite Z-list horror weapons to fight off evil. The brilliance of this title is it’s Gilmore Girls twist as Jumpscare has to return to her posh roots to save her helpless sister from evil.
Jumpscare mashes two beloved niche genres (slashers & superheroes) to create a cohesive story about the shadows of your past.
DC Comic: Absolute Green Lantern
Kat: Absolute Green Lantern is a wonderful twist on everything you know about the franchise. Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay play with the familiar themes of the cast with not just Hal’s side of the Green Lantern universe, but all the Corp members to create a modern twist on the origin story.
Abin Sur is not a helpless alien who wants to do good for the world, but instead an unknown entity who may want to destroy it. Ewing plays with the decades of Green Lantern lore to create an ensemble cast that puts many of the human lanterns on equal footing as they share the starring role. Absolute Green Lantern is just one more reason why the Absolute universe has been one of the best comic initiatives in decades!
Webcomic: Into the Smoke
“A rebellious gay medium binds himself to the sinister spirit of a murdered hitman in order to contain him. Trapped among the living, Alastor risks corruption by the smoke. But as Blaze races to solve his murder, he learns Alastor isn’t the only one craving a new victim.”
Phil: Despite warnings from his mentor, Alastor is an excitable medium who gets a thrill out of communing with the dead…which leads to some complicated results for him.
Into the Smoke is a comic that manages a balanced tone — delivering on both serious and comedic moments in a way that a lot of Webtoon Canvas series fail to strike a balance.
Creator Bob Appavu has a very unique and compelling art style that attracted me to the series. And I quite like the quick and efficient way that the series establishes its lore without feeling expository.
Kickstarter: Shaken and Stirred Graphic Novel
“The world’s top spy has gone rogue, and he's about to learn what it means to get burned.”
Phil: What if 007 went rogue and had to be hunted down by other secret agents? You don’t get much cooler of a premise than that!
Shaken and Stirred is a 136-page graphic novel filled with intrigue, action, and spy thrills. The campaign page sports a whopping 22-page preview that is sure to give you a sense of everything the comic has to offer.
The book is also written by our friend and all-around amazing guy, Steve Bryant. In addition to being a creator, he’s a professor who teaches comics at Illinois State University, and an incredibly supportive and positive voice in the Kickstarter community.
Support “Shaken and Stirred” here!
In Closing…
Thanks for reading this week’s post! We hope you enjoyed a peek behind the curtain at our day-to-day lives.
If you haven’t already, be sure to: check out Like Father, Like Daughter before the campaign ends tonight, grab our “Holding Space” Pride Lenticular Cover on Kickstarter up until next Thursday, and follow the Pre-Launch Page for our upcoming Aces & Aros anthology.
Subscribe above for biweekly updates on our future projects!
Buy Lifeline Comics on our Website!
Current Kickstarters:
Like Father, Like Daughter: The Five Stages of Grief #1-2 (Ends TONIGHT)
Witches of Oz #1 - “Holding Space” Pride Month Lenticular (Ends 5/22)
Aces & Aros - An Asexual & Aromantic Comic Anthology (Launches 5/27)
Next Cons/Events:
Asbury Park Pride Festival (Asbury Park, NJ) (Sunday, 6/01)
Philadelphia Pride Festival (Philadelphia, PA) (Sunday, 6/01)
Thanks for this look behind the scenes at Lifeline! I was already impressed by your output and knew you were incredibly hard working, but this added a lot of perspective.
Also, Tracy Jordan won an Oscar for Hard to Watch based on a book that was a parody of Push by Sapphire but whose title escapes me. Dammit! Lol
Love the behind-the-scenes look! It's incredible how much the two of you are able to accomplish.