This is a debate that's always perplexed me so I thought I'd ask you guys what your opinions are on the matter. Over years of browsing web comics I've found that people usually specialize in either writing or art but not always both. I know I personally tend to get people rather interested in the story lines of my comics and then lose them as soon as they see the art work. So, out of curiosity, if you guys find yourself in that position would you:

Rise up and work extra hard to improve your art work/ writing skills
Try to kidnap some decent artist/ writer to work with you
Or not really bother worrying about it as you're not getting paid for this anyways.

I have tried collaborations before, but I'm a loner type person. I found I get impatient and feel very stressed when depending on an artist (or a colorist). I've been on the art side of a collaboration too, and I don't like that either because it's my own story lines that have my heart, not others' (and it's bizarre and unnatural... I'm not an artist/colorist; I'm a writer).

Admittedly, I'm not great at art, but I enjoy drawing, and I also love to work at improving at it, even though I lack talent/skill (and certainly never approaching the level of those I admire). It is a hobby, after all, which I do to relax and to make myself happy. Working with someone else ruins that relaxation and kinda defeats my personal purpose and joy of improvement. XD

Of course, if my purpose was different, then that changes everything. The good things about collaboration is that you get to meet and discuss things with talented, like-minded people and end up with a good quality product. If you DO want to make money or try to get professional, it makes more sense to collaborate. (Or if you are an artist with a writer spouse/roommate/friend and do the project together for fun.)

Storytelling is probably my only "natural" talent, but (for me at least) it's no fun without creating the art that goes with it! : D

I'm in art school right now and I've improved a ton in the past year and a half, so I guess I already choose the first option.

I find that the artwork is what comes more naturally to me, but since I've started making comics (creating the art and story myself) I've seen an improvement in my writing skills :)

Both and neither.

I've always loved drawing and story telling, I probably suck at both.
Well I feel more comfortable illustrating than writing. Some writers are great word smiths and their prose leaves me in awe, I can't do that. Plotting sure that comes easy it's the finer points and a complete lack of eloquence that fails me. Still i think I'm getting better.

As for art, well like everything I do it's scruffy but there is a lot I do well and lot more I'm improving on.

This is one of the reasons i do a lot of collaborations, there is so much to learn from working with others. Like Used books said it can be hard if your heart isn't in a project but learning the discipline is good and you can always pick projects that inspire you. There can be difficulties but if you are patient and upfront it's usually okay.

Should anyone want to do some short collaboration i'm always looking for writers and artists for Lite bites. Yeah I'm real subtle.

Collabs are hard, even if the person is in the same studio as you there are still compromises to be made.

The upside is that work is taken off of your shoulders...

Like Usedbooks and Genejoke have said-My heart is in my work so I wouldn't want another person on board, even if sometimes I wish I could have an assistant to do some of the things... :(

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As Usedbooks says, collabs are really where it's at for professional work. It'd mean less cash for both, but that's the price you have to pay in order to make work on time!
For free comics collabs are good too, as Genejoke says, to inspire and enrich you with new ideas. If you can get past the issues of working together it can be amazingly rewarding, even if it can be frustrating too.

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When it comes right down to it, writing is a bit easier than doing artwork. All of us can write reasonably passably, but doing passable artwork is a little trickier.
Writing well plotted stories with interesting characters and good dialogue though IS hard, as is writing funny jokes (if your comic is funny).

So any artist can be an OK writer, but if they want to write well they either have to put in the time to learn how or get a collaborator who specialises.

For someone who specialises in writing it's a little different. Art doesn't tend to come as naturally to everyone, so if you're working on your own it's best to pick a style and technique you can handle, or else practise till you can do the one you want. -good starter styles and techniques include sprites, 3D models, stick figures, and simplified drawings.

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That said, even when you can write and draw pretty well, both of those take time if you want to do a good job! Many comicers will still skimp on either one, just because they want to spend more time on one aspect! I know that's my failing. In those cases it still might be good to have a collab partner just so you can focus on what you like doing most (not because you can't do it just as well)

usedbooks
I have tried collaborations before, but I'm a loner type person. I found I get impatient and feel very stressed when depending on an artist (or a colorist). I've been on the art side of a collaboration too, and I don't like that either because it's my own story lines that have my heart, not others' (and it's bizarre and unnatural... I'm not an artist/colorist; I'm a writer).

I've been working with Oneblackpaper for 10 years now. What we've really learnt from this (and other collabs)is it's really like any other close relationship... Very very maddening. There are compromises to be made, and depending on who you're doing it with, they can get very flakey on you (like a one night art stand). If either of us could do both tasks at the highest level we would prefer to be doing it alone.

However, the fact is a lot of us can't. And collaborations have their own advantages. If both people are able to put aside their personal pride, and work only on story/art excellence- It's essentially two brains and four pairs of hands (if the writer is willing to do assistant work) working on one comic. If either person is mildly talented the other's role the comic can become very spectacular this way.

I think the essential element for a successful collaboration is for both parties to be equally committed to the quality and production of the comic rather than their own ideas or pride. It's not for everybody, and for some it might reduce their enjoyment of producing a comic. So think about what you want :)

I have the drawing ability of a concussed cockroach. So if I want to be involved in comics I have to collaborate ...

... or that's what I thought. There was another way. Taking photos of my toy collection.

But I enjoy collaboration with artists. Over the years I've enough things drawn that I'm not precious over what comes out of the process. It's not usually anything like the pictures that were in my head when I wrote it ... but sometimes it's better, and it's ALWAYS fun to see what someone else has done with my germ of an idea.

The only time it gets frustrating is when the art doesn't arrive ...
... the long days, weeks, months, years tick by and you have to give up and start again with someone or something else.

Everyone's brought up some really valid points. Too bad Brock of SuperFogey's isn't on the site anymore as he's got lots of experience in this category. He did make some comments 'bout it which I'll share later.

In general, I would advise against doing a collab that involves any person's existing work. There's too much ego and attachment to a personal creation; one is better getting assistants than co-creators. After all, if all you do is colour or ink, it's not like any of your really creative talents are being used.

Now in my own experience in collabs, one really has to pull back and accept a role. I did some artwork for one, and you really have to respect that the writer is the one with creative control. Sure, you might have ideas and you might even be a writer yourself, but when push comes to shove you need to let the writer control the storytelling. (This is why one should not do a collab with personal work) It works far better in the end.

If you're a writer who can draw, don't worry about your visual talents going to waste because good storyboarding is going to be critical for communicating your vision. Y'know, picture worth a thousand words and all? Lotta truth to the ol' saying! Saying someone is "angry" is different from saying "Bob glares at Smith, teeth clenched, eyes barely more than slits, his body hunched over with feral rage." And when you need to communicate that a character is ticked off to the nth level, you can either attempt to sketch it showing how it should pan from behind Bob and then move to a close-up of his enraged face... or you're going to need to invest some serious storytelling to communicate the same effect.

Now some tips from Brock -- one thing he does is that when he does a collab, he really respects the other person's time. The artists he works with have a schedule but it's gives them enough time to work at a pace they can keep up, while not letting their own projects fall behind. Brock can also draw well enough that he can give an artist a drawing, and then the artist can do their interpretation of the same drawing. I've seen some back-and-forth with how some characters evolved over time before the production went live.

smkinoshita
In general, I would advise against doing a collab that involves any person's existing work. There's too much ego and attachment to a personal creation; one is better getting assistants than co-creators. After all, if all you do is colour or ink, it's not like any of your really creative talents are being used.

lLol- I have a slightly different take. There are times when I love being purely technical in my collabs. When I was editor for a local comic zine, one of the things that was a regular part of my job was going in and inking or otherwise finishing up some of the submissions to get them ready for print. I loved that part- being able to take something that was decent and help push it to the next level. It was fast for me, made for a better product, and most of the contributors were excited to see the results.

Likewise, I love making someone else's story come to fruition. My own writing falls into the same traps repetitively, so it gives me a chance to escape those. It also let's me focus on one aspect of the job, which is satisfying in it's own way. The thing I usually ask as a personal quirk is to be given a script in movie format. Panel by panel breakdowns always seem cumbersome- I usually see the artist as being responsible for translating the story into a visual format, and I tend to think panel breakdowns fit into that category. Though, that said, sometimes the extra constraints of panel by panel scripts can make the challenge more interesting on a technical level. And writers that find the middle ground, where they generally let me have fun but then say "it'd be cool to have a series of panels that do X" are also fun.

As for the original question- varies from project to project. If you try collabs with someone, though, I'd recommend doing some one shots or short projects first to get a feel for the process. If the short projects work out, go for gold.

I tend to view things more in terms of how things work in TV and film, but a lot of it can apply to comics as well. I think it is important to be able to recognize your weaknesses and seek ways to improve on them. In many cases, that means teaming up with individuals who can do what you can't. I never really ran into any problems when I was still working on comics here. I had a dedicated writer because I knew writing comedy was not my strongest area.

I see often in film and sometimes in comics, as well, cases where a particular person decides they don't want to compromise on any aspect of the production. In the end, they create their vision, but it fails to connect with audiences because they refused to listen to criticism or address any of their weaknesses. I know one such person whose online comic has been ongoing for a good decade now and has not improved in any aspect since day one. The artwork is just as bad as ever and the writing still goes over people's heads. The author gets very defensive when presented with any criticism, though, and refuses to admit that their work might not be up to professional standards.

I drew a few print comics several years ago for other writers and I absolutely hated it... so much stress! I'd never do it again, even for Marvel or DC. My college degree was in creative writing, and I have a minor in fine art. No matter how good the writer was, I could always find things I wanted to change.

I can see how having two or three creative people working on a project would help spur ideas, but I'll stick with writing and drawing my own. That way there's no one to blame but myself :-)

I tried to do a few collabs. the first was for a story and she ignored about half my ideas and the other half she twisted around till they weren't mine any more. The next I tried working with her and a friend of hers. I was booted out cause none of my ideas were good enough since it didn't go along with their overcomplicated and moody characters. The third time was a rather large group and they couldn't stick with one time idea so the project never even left the ground. and my last collab. my partner didn't do her work so that was a huge bust.

Proposed to do a collab with an ex-girlfriend. Her drawing skills are at least 2 notches above my art so we agreed that she will be the artist and I will feed her my... story ideas.

Long story short, we broke up long before it got off the ground. lol!

Oh, I'd love to collaborate with another artist. It would imagine that it'd be a gas to have a Lennon/McCartney or Lee/Kirby type of relationship. Of course, you can't plan for that sort of thing. It just winds up happening to you if you're lucky enough.

I do everything by myself because that's the only way I can assure myself that it'll get done. Nobody wants to see my stories drawn and finished more than I do. So, I am the only person who can reliably get it completed.

Of course, if I manage to build relationships with some other artists and it gets to the point where we can join together into something that is greater than the sum of its parts...

I recently talked to someone whom I know somewhat well from previous discussions then and as of late, about possibly me teaming up with her. I do the writing, and broaden that area, while she does the art. I can't confirm when it will happen or if it may ever, given how fresh the friendship is right now... but I will say this:

I've always been the type of person who would prefer to go solo. It's not that I don't trust other people with my ideas, though that can definitely be a factor, or a small fear that someone might wind up turning back on me. It's more along the lines of, I don't think my ideas would connect enough with the person on the other side to help bring them into fruition. There have been moments when I've asked for critique, and never got them, or suggestions, thoughts, opinions, things like that - and nobody has truly given them a moment of thought. It's left me with this "tell no one" kind of policy, and that I think I ought to go alone. Teaming up sounds awfully tempting, but I'm hesistant on the idea of how it'll last and for how long. It'll depend on how me and friendship's bond lasts.

However, lately, I've been rather partial on the idea.

The person I've talked to recently since the contest ended, and one whom I've been talking to even before then, is a quite a talented artist and I feel she can bring the kind of quality to my stories, hence I think I have a lot of faith in her. We're still discussing the idea back and forth, and I don't want to rush into it, but there might be a time in which I might put more into my writing ideas than my art. I've been drawing for awhile, and I still don't feel comfortable with it. Whenever I do things like 'fan art', I'm always accountable for 'fan expectation.' I loathe doing fan art.

So, call this an experimental phase. It also gives me time to rest my head and hands. But I think it'll be a bold and fun move nonetheless.

Coming from the point of an artist, I've done both. Worked with SympleSymon on Retake and am working with another writer on Death Boy. Vanguard is all my own work though. I find having complete control a little daunting at times... liberating at others. I would suggest working with someone or doing a few pages on a community project to 'find your legs' and then start your own comic (if that's what you plan to do?'.

I'm only I writer so of course I'm pro team up.

On the web I do my own. For print I go with a writer.