Arsheya Seraji (IDEA Grad 2024) took the lead on this anthology comic which began as an assignment. It collects 3-page stories from each artist in the IDEA Grad 2024 cohort and covers a broad range of genres including comedy, adventure, horror, auto-bio, and slice-of-life. It is dedicated to retired illustration instructor, Jeff Burgess.

Check out some of the spreads in this comic and see some samples from Arsheya Seraji’s self-published comic series, FOURTH DIMENSIONAL!

About the book

BAD IDEA is an anthology comic that collects 3-page stories from each artist in the IDEA 24 class. The stories cover a broad range of genres: including comedy, adventure, horror, auto-bio, and slice-of-life. The only limit for the stories was what each of us could tell in three pages (an into page, followed by a two-page spread). The book also features thirty-two pages of supplemental material that fit between each story. This extra material includes gags and illustrations relevant to our class, such as the ‘Prof Pin-ups,’ which depict all our instructors in the vein of the classic Marvel Comics bonus pin-ups. I handled the creation of all the supplemental material, the front and back covers, the contents page, and the book design.

Why "Bad IDEA"?

The title for the book was one of the first things I decided on, after taking on the lead role for the book’s creation. I knew I wanted the title to be relevant to our class and our program. Including IDEA in the title seemed like an obvious way to do that. From there, I was inspired by the classic Marvel Comics of the 60’s, which, to make their comics stand out, used adjectives to enhance their titles. Instead of “Spider-Man”, the book would be titled “The Amazing Spider-Man” which makes you stand out against plain ol’ “Superman.” I began thinking of different adjectives that were both provoking and would be appropriate when paired with ‘IDEA.’ Out of the list I made, “BAD IDEA” stood out the most to me and the rest of the class. I feel it’s a provoking title for a comic that would make someone think, “well, what’s the bad idea?”

What inspired you to create the book?

I am a cartoonist. Creating comics is my passion and what I am working to do on a professional level. This began as an assignment for us to create three-page comics. Afterward, the comics would be collected and printed for the class. In previous years, one person would volunteer to assemble the files, and would create a cover and contents page for it. As soon as I heard that we would be making a proper, perfect-bound comic, I had to be the one to take that role. However, I didn’t want to simply throw it all together and call it a day. I wanted to create the best-looking book possible, that people in the class would be thrilled to own. A huge issue with the books printed in the previous years, was the way the three-page stories were handled. Essentially, every other person’s comic was broken up, so their two-page spread wouldn’t be seen as a spread. To rectify this, I came up with the idea to include an extra page before each person’s comic, so their two-page spreads could be preserved. That would allow me to fill those extra pages with fun material to enhance the book even further.

What was the process like?

The only problem with creating thirty-two pages of extra material for something that wasn’t an assignment was doing exactly that. Once I decided to make the task much more difficult than what was asked, I had to think of ideas for those extra pages. Eventually, I had enough ideas I thought were good enough to be featured. I began drawing them between our assignments, which made good time management essential. I also sent out requests for reference photos to all my classmates and our instructors and slowly accumulated those. Once I had all the pages inked and scanned, I began colouring them and prepping them for print.

What was the most challenging part?

I’d say just getting it all done in time so that we’d receive the printed copies before the end of the semester. The final week before my deadline was very hectic, and I pulled several all-nighters so I could have everything completed. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of Lucy Benson, who helped me with colour flats and supported me along the way. It was also during those final few days that I found out that the book would have four extra pages at the end for printing reasons, and that having a back cover was possible after I had read that it wasn’t. So, I had to add doing the entire back cover to my list, plus finding material I could use for the four pages. Luckily, I had friends in the class with art I was able to use for a “Bonus Gallery” at the end.

Do you have any other comic projects?

I do! At the start of last summer, I finished the first issue of my self-published comic series, FOURTH DIMENSIONAL. The issue is called FOURTH DIMENSIONAL: Summer of Fun #1. The comic is an Urban Sci-Fi infused with Persian Mythology. It collects 8 complete stories following the different misadventures of the protagonists. I spent the break promoting and selling the comic online, at conventions, and at local comic shops in and around Vancouver. When you’re an independent, small-press creator, you handle both the creative and the business sides of your work. So, I’ve been continuing to work on the next issue of the series while continuing to sell the first issue at conventions and delivering it to stores. Like I said at the top, I am going to be a professional cartoonist, and putting this comic out there has been a solid step forward.

Where can people buy your comic?

People can buy it most readily from my online store or their local comic shop! The link to my online store is seraji.bigcartel.com. If there are any questions about the comic, or if you’d like to see some of my process for it, you can go to my Instagram: @serajiart.

For more on Arsheya Seraji

serajiart.com