How to Comic with Yocum and Pham - News 003
Chapter 3
The Newsletter
Greetings and welcome to the How to Comic with Yocum and Pham Newsletter!
My name is Khoi Pham, Marvel and DC artist, and I’ve teamed up with my friend Matt Yocum, a writer with Marvel cred of his own, to create a podcast (the How to Comic with Yocum and Pham Podcast) where we can share and discuss with you all what it’s like to be a part of the comic book world and all that it entails, not just as creators, but also as industry professionals, readers, and fans.
Today’s Newsletter offers:
a link to our latest How to Comic Podcast (episode 2)
cool stuff report
the latest announcements
a link to our Substack Chat Page
another installment in our free webcomic The Breach
Hope you like How to Comic, and please hit Subscribe and leave us a comment!
— Khoi
The Podcast
We recently released episode 2 of the How to Comic Podcast, where we talk about building trust with comic book creative teams! We’d love to hear from you! Just click on the image below to listen to the latest episode:
(Click the above to be redirected to podcast episode 2.)
Cool Stuff
Matt and Khoi had an absolute blast at MegaCon in Orlando! Khoi spent some time with industry legend Todd McFarlane talking about the state of comics. And Matt and Khoi had a blast interacting with fans from now the third-largest comic convention in America, with over 170,000 people. Thanks to Kevin Boyd and the FanExpo team for a great convention!
They also had a fantastic turnout at their How to Comic with Yocum and Pham: Overcoming Obstacles panel on Sunday, February 9th 2025. More to follow on a readout of the great Q&A session.
Announcements
Matt’s Kickstarter campaign for his graphic novel, ClosetWorld, is almost complete! He’s close to hitting 200% of his goal, with the hardcover graphic novel coming soon. Learn more at: www.ClosetWorldComic.com
Matt talks about ClosetWorld and how the death of his brother compelled him to make this graphic novel. Listen more at: ClosetWorld interview
Khoi’s current upcoming 2025 convention guest appearances (more shows possibly added later):
3/1-3/2 Happy Valley Comic Con
4/12 Lehigh Valley Comic Con
5/1 Phillipsburg Comic Con
6/18-6/20 FanX Atlanta
8/8-8/10 Terrificon
10/17-10/19 Baltimore Comic Con
Matt and Khoi are currently handling clients in their How to Comic: Overcoming Obstacles Mentorship program. If you’re interested in receiving Mentoring or joining a Mastermind Group, then message us here or at YocumandPham@HowtoComic.com!
The Breach
Matt: Building tension is crucial for any story, and this includes at the beginning of The Breach. Using images, text, or sound effects can all add to the sense that something bad is about to happen. That’s what we played with here, and Khoi and I had some good discussions about pacing and tension. Hope you enjoy!
Khoi: Here’s episode 3 of The Breach, added on to last week’s to make a complete comic book page. The top half I penciled traditionally and then digitally toned the scan in Clip Studio. For the bottom half, I went all digital — It was fun to draw using Clip Studio’s chalk tool. Can you tell the difference between the two approaches? We would love to get your feedback and thoughts. Hope you like it!
More of The Breach coming soon! Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss out (and be able to access older episodes)!
Chat
The Chat page is set up! This is where you can go to chat with us and other members of the How To Comic community. This is also where you can share your work with all of us for honest and constructive feedback. Let’s talk and support one another as we all figure out how to comic.
Join Yocum and Pham’s subscriber chat
Available in the Substack app and on web
About
Matt is the President of Hangar 19 Studios. He’s a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who served around the U.S. and the world. He’s written for Marvel Comics on Avengers, Wolverine, and more, as well as other independent comic book publishers. He also consults on defense and international affairs matters, and he’s organized conferences in multiple countries, including in the Middle East and Asia. Matt graduated with a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from the U.S. Air Force Academy and an M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Matt also coaches basketball and football for his twin boys in local rec leagues.
Khoi is an internationally renowned artist and art coach. His numerous published works include DC's Teen Titans, Marvel's Mighty Avengers, X-Men Legacy, Scarlet Spider, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Star Wars, Alien, Predator, Chaos War, Incredible Hercules, Gambit, Mighty Thor, X-Factor, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Topcow's Cyberforce. Khoi works with his therapist wife Heather Wilson Pham and Marvel writer Matt Yocum to provide coaching for other professional artists, focusing on helping artists identify and communicate more effectively with their ideal clients. Khoi and Matt also host the podcast How to Comic with Yocum and Pham. Khoi is a criminal defense attorney with a JD from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Saint Joseph’s University.