One of the most influential comics in this field is ‘Watchmen’ by the writer; Alan Moore, an artist; Dave Gibbons and colourist; John Higgens. ‘Comic writer Alam Moore wrote a story of such philosophical and political depth never before seen in the comic book genre’ Nathaniel Lee (2019). It was Moore’s complex and ambitious approach to writing the story that made it so revolutionary for the genre. He depicted his main characters as flawed, rather than the typical indestructible, perfect heroes.

With comics and graphic novels, the illustrator will likely be working with a team of people, so communication is very important. Being able to communicate artistic choices and ideas allows the illustrator to work closely with members of the team such as developers, project managers and also customers. This also allows the illustrator to gather feedback to iterate and improve the art. In an interview, Trung Le Nguyen said ‘I rely on the feedback of my editors very strongly’ Since colour wasn't his strong suit, and he made that apparent so together they came up with the idea of using a minimal colour palette.

Graphic novels and comics can be self-published with help from publishers or if they have a decent social media presence and a dedicated fan base it is possible to be entirely self-published. However, those who are approached to illustrate someone else's story are given a brief. Project briefs are a document that contains the essential requirements of a project, including goals, scope and constraints. Looking at some examples of briefs they typically outline the illustration style

wanted sometimes including sample pictures, plans for the project, desired outcomes, target audience for the project and key dates and deadlines. They are used to find and inform illustrators of the requirements, expectations and ideas for the given project.