Best comic book paper

[mehzmerize]

What is the best paper to write your comics on? Preferably something not too spendy and easy to find

[Phalanx]

Write comics on? Draw, you mean?

Depends on your art style, if you ink digitally, cheap printing paper will do for the sketches.

If you ink, a lot of people like Bristol board but that is expensive and frankly unnecessary unless you go pro.

A normal drawing art pad is often good enough. Anything from 100 to 150 gsm paper.

I've seen rubbish drawn on expensive Bristol Board and jaw dropping art done with a cheap ball pen and printing paper, but for most amateurs, it honestly doesn't make much difference.

[Spaceprincess]

When it comes to paper there are a lot of goo choices and a lot more bad choices. It really depends on your own style, you have to match the right paper to how you draw. Most professional comic artists use 2 or 3 ply bristol board. There are a couple of companies that make some that is precut and prelined for comics. This stuff is really nice to draw and ink on. I've tried it a few times and really liked it. However its rather expensive, any where from $1.5 to $3 a page, and not easy to find, you have to order via the web/mail order. There is similar stuff you can find at the hobby store or comic shop. It's precut and lined but is not as good in the quality department. It's cheaper, around $1 a page, but I didn't like it. The one I bought the blue lines were crooked and messed up all my work. Plus if you have a good T square you can do your own lines. I use strathmore smooth 100lb bristol board. I buy 14" X 17" 20 sheet pad for around $13, though I wait till hobby lobby has a 30% off sale. I get two comic strips from one sheet so it comes out to be about 25¢ a comic. So it's not that bad price wise. Bristol board is great for drawing and inking, and the heavier stuff can take watercolors. The cheaper paper is good for sketching but I find that it does work so well for finished inked drawing. Good paper won't make you a better artist but It can give the best opportunity to make better art.
One other thing to consider is the paper surface. Really smooth paper is good for fine sharp pencils and fine pen work, like hatch modeling. Rougher surfaces are good for brush work and tonal drawing. Plus the different surfaces scan different, Like water color paper, Its great to work with but doesn't scan worth a damn.

[Koad]

A lot of that I think has to do with what tools you're going to use and what effects you want to achieve. I use brushes exclusively (no pens of any kind). I used to use bristol boards, but did not like the way they absorbed the ink, so I switched to watercolor paper. I'm much happier with watercolor paper, and personally I'm happy with how it scans.

[Wendybird]

So I used to be cheap about materials, and I used printer paper for my first few pages. I like the smooth texture, but my problem was after I inked, I'd have to be very careful when erasing the pencil so as not to scrunch up the paper. I decided to try card stock. I found you need to be careful not to use runny inks on cheap card stock, since they bleed and distort the line. The chinese inkstick I ended up using works fine, though, so I did that for a while. Now I'm all digital.

I guess my advice is just to try out different things. See what works for you.

[Metruis]

Really depends on what you do. When I inked my comic--which was for a few pages at the beginning before I got sick of it and then I revamped those pages anyway... ahem... I used printer paper. I continued to use printer paper when I sketched it. And now I just Photoshop. Printer paper's fine if you're going to be heavily photoshopping and the inkwork isn't as crutial. Inking on bristol board is better if the inking's going to be standing out a lot more. If you're digitally inking, why waste money, just use printer paper or a drawing pad. If you're painting the ink more like Koad there does, you might prefer watercolor paper. And if you're heavily Photoshopping, like me, it's a waste to use expensive paper. If the inks matter a lot, brisol board is probably the way to go.

As Wendybird mentioned, inking on printer paper, you have to be careful to not crinkle it. If you're not going to be inking and just using pencils as a base to color (like I am now), printer paper is definately fine, and if you'll be coloring by hand, you want paper that'll handle the markers or watercolor or pencils.

To WRITE on? I suggest typing, but if you have to write by hand, that lined paper you have for school's probably fine.

[Tainted-Pink]

Like the other artists have said, it depends a lot on what you use, as far as if you're digital or traditional, and then it depends on the other materials. Personally, I use the Mead Sketch Diary mostly, though it's getting hard to find them, so I've had to resort to other brands. Biggie! has been pretty good (if my brother's girlfriend would stop drawing in it!) if you note that it does bleed if you use permanent markers (which I do), and then I need to keep a page under it. For inking, the sketch diary is best, it's thick without bleeding too much, so you don't have to worry all the time. For just pencil, for going cheap, I suggest the Biggie!. I've used cardstock before, but with my lifestyle (and budget), I cannot afford it, unless I were to get a patron. Which ain't happening . Starving artist isn't just an exaggeration, you know.

[Jbrown]

Ask yourself this question.

Am I inking on the paper or digitally?

If digitally: Doesn't matter. Cheap printer paper will work. As long as your pencils scan well it doesn't matter.

If on the paper: Depends on the tools you're using.

Brush and Ink: Go with smooth paper; recommended 90lbs (paper is rated in pounds based on the weight of 144 pages stacked). Choose smooth paper to keep your ink from feathering (the effect where ink soaks into the paper and spreads out). Vellum paper is ideal if you use dry brush technique.

Pen and Ink: For nib pens, use a heavy card stock; there are also papers specifically designed for nibs that don't feather. 140lbs or more at the very least because you're literally scratching into the paper.

Markers/Microns: Smooth 90lbs paper is good. Markers don't tend to bleed. Unless you're seriously on a budget, never use sharpies because sharpie ink will literally eat through even the heaviest paper.

Ball point pen: Eh, don't use these because they fade over time. If you really have no other options then simple printer paper will work. Gel pens will bleed so if you use one you'll have to get a heavier paper.