How long should our comic be?

Do we go for a single-panel cartoon like The New Yorker? Or a full-blown comic book?

Single panels are HARD. Requires clever writing and composition to pull off. Doable but making it harder on yourself.

Full comic books, meanwhile, are too resource-intensive and exceed most social media limitations.

The goldilocks zone is short-form comics of 8-10 panels. They're perfect for social media carousels, easily digestible by readers, and ideal for explaining concepts without overwhelming your creation process.

And today we’re going to start printing!

Let's get started:

Let’s cover the basic workflow - we’ll take it step by step. Don’t worry: once you’ve done this once or twice it’s not complex!

Step 1: Create Your Comic Outline

The first step is to establish a clear narrative structure for your comic. This gives you a roadmap to follow as you create individual panels.

Let's look at this structure in action with a prompt that helps you plan your comic's narrative flow:

Help me structure an explanation comic about [your topic]. I want to create an 8-panel sequence that educates my audience while telling a compelling story.

My topic: [Describe what you want to explain]
Target audience: [Who will be reading this comic]
Main character(s): [From your comic identity]
The concept to explain: [Specific aspect you're focusing on]

Please outline an 8-panel narrative structure that includes:

1. A hook panel that presents a relatable problem or question
2. A setup panel that introduces the characters and concept
3. 1-2 panels that identify the specific challenge or confusion
4. 2-3 panels that walk through the solution/explanation step by step
5. A payoff panel showing the benefit of understanding this concept
6. A call to action panel guiding readers on next steps

For each panel, provide:
- Brief description of the visual scene (what's happening, who's present)
- Suggested dialogue or caption text (keep text minimal - around 15-25 words max)
- Key visual elements to include
- Panel composition (close-up, medium shot, etc.) for visual variety

This prompt will generate a comprehensive outline for your comic sequence, but it's crucial that you review and refine it before proceeding. This is your chance to:

• Adjust any panel descriptions that don't align with your vision

• Refine dialogue to match your brand voice

• Add specific visual elements you want to include

• Ensure the narrative flow makes sense for your concept

Do this before we rush into generation. The effort will pay off as you’ll spend less time fussing with the images. Make any edits or adjustments to the outline before moving on. You can ask the AI to revise specific panels or aspects of the outline until you're satisfied.

Oh and you might be wondering why 8-10 panels? Basically: social media.

Instagram carousels are 10 images. So if we come in at <10 we get the most bang for our buck by being able to deploy on multiple platforms.

Only when you're completely happy with your outline should you move to Step 2: creating the individual panels.

Step 2: Generate Your Panels Sequentially

Once you have a refined outline, it's time to create each panel based on that outline. Rather than filling in details manually for each panel, we'll use a prompt that automatically pulls from your outline.

Remain in the same chat and use this prompt:

Now that I have my comic outline, please create Panel [number] based on my outline details.

Format the panel as a square (1:1 ratio) optimised for social media viewing, with text large and clear enough to read on mobile.

Use my master prompt elements for visual consistency:
[Include key elements from your master prompt: characters, style, etc.]

For this specific panel, use these details from my outline:
Scene description, Dialogue/Caption, Visual elements, Panel composition

Ensure consistency with any previously generated panels in terms of character appearance, style, and background elements where applicable.

The beauty of this approach is that after your first panel is created, you can simply respond with "Next panel" or "Create panel 2" and the AI will automatically progress through your outline, creating each panel in sequence.

After each panel is generated, take a moment to review it:

• Does it match your outline's vision?

• Does it maintain consistency with previous panels?

• Is the text readable and properly positioned?

If any panel needs adjustments, you can provide specific feedback before moving to the next one: "This looks good, but please make the character slightly larger and adjust the text placement so it doesn't cover the visual elements."

We’ll cover detailed feedback in Part 4.

Continue this process, generating each panel in order, until you've completed your whole sequence.

Adding a cover image

Your cover image is the gateway to your comic. On social media, it determines whether someone will swipe to see more. It’s like a video or tweet hook. If people don’t get past this then the rest is pretty much irrelevant!

You might wonder why we're not starting with the cover image. There's a method to this apparent madness:

1. The cover should represent the actual content: By creating your panels first, you ensure your cover accurately reflects what's inside your comic.

2. You'll discover the most compelling visual: Often the most powerful visual metaphor or character moment emerges during the panel creation process—something you wouldn't have thought of initially.

3. You'll know your comic's true focus: The message or concept that actually became central to your comic might shift slightly during creation.

4. You can repurpose successful elements: You can incorporate the most visually striking elements from your panels into your cover image.

Here's a prompt for creating engaging cover images. Use this below all your previous work so it can pull in the details.

Create a comic book style cover image for my explanation comic.

Refer to the style guidelines and instructions above.

Key elements:
- Title: "[Your Comic Title]" in large, bold text
- Featuring: [Your main character(s)]
- Style: [Match your established style]
- Main visual: [Central concept or scene that represents your comic]
- Format: Square (1:1 ratio) optimised for social media

The cover should:
- Clearly communicate the topic
- Feature my established character(s) in an engaging pose
- Include visual elements that hint at the content
- Have a clean, bold title treatment
- Include a visible arrow and "Swipe to continue" text
- Include "A Comic by [Your Name/Brand]" at the bottom


IMPORTANT CONSISTENCY REQUIREMENTS:
- Character appearance must match the panels I've already created
- Visual style must maintain perfect consistency with my comic panels
- Colour palette should remain consistent

Because this is arguably the most important image feel free to generate a bunch of variations and choose between them.

For my LLM explainer comic cover, I positioned my three main characters (brain, robot, and input/output figure) centrally with the title "UNDERSTANDING LLMs" in bold text. I included small corner panels showing snippets from the comic itself, which created visual interest and hinted at the content inside.

Importantly make sure you cover has an arrow element to tell people to move to the next panel. Super important on social media in particular where only your first image is shown. We need to instruct our viewers to move to the next panel by swiping.

What's Next?

In Part 4, we'll dive deeper into perfecting individual panels. We'll explore advanced techniques for creating more dynamic, visually interesting comic panels, addressing common limitations in AI-generated comics, and elevating the overall quality of your comics.

This stuff is honestly more optional. But good to know if you want to go further.

We'll also look at how to troubleshoot specific issues, including:

• Regenerating problematic panels

• Editing specific elements within panels

• Creating more dynamic compositions

• Improving text placement and readability

Remember, your first comic doesn't need to be perfect—it needs to exist. Each comic you create will be better than the last as you refine your process and master your style. So just build and publish - we’ll refine as we go!