Collaboration and Story-Telling
Many alternative comics are created by a single artist: the same person writes the story, draws the illustrations, and puts in the text (captions and dialogue). When you have complete creative control over all stages of your work, it can be a little easier to ensure that the final product is exactly what you envisioned. Chris Ware and Daniel Clowes are just two examples of this kind of one-man-show comic artist.
Most comics, however—especially mainstream comics—are much more collaborative in nature. Putting together these books is more akin to making a move. Instead of writers, directors, and actors having to share a vision and work together to make a cohesive whole you have writers, pencilers, inkers, and letterers. It all starts with the writer’s script but then each of these artists (pencilers, inkers, and letterers) must interpret that script—the penciler draws the characters and the landscapes, the inkers add the shadows and contrasts, and the letterer choose the fonts and lays out the dialogue and captions. If the writer imagines his story to be a light-hearted romp then he better hope his penciler gets that and doesn’t draw the characters to all look like Bela Lugosi after an especially hard break-up. And it will be hard to pick up on the story’s comical tone if the inker uses heavy lines and dark, dramatic shadows. And, really, that is an oversimplification of all the issues that must be considered and the ways the various artists must come together and share a vision. It really is like putting together a film—only doing it one still frame at a time.
Fortunately, while there are times when styles and ideas clash, most comic artists are professional, masters of their craft who put out polished products in record time.
Here is a link to a panel from HeroesCon where several such professionals talk about the highs and lows of collaboration.