The writer plots out the entire issue and breaks it up into one or two page increments. The penciler takes this plot and lays out the page in pencil sometimes hewing closely to what the writer indicated, sometimes re-arranging dramatically. After the pencil artwork is approved, the writer scripts the page and it is sent to the letterer. The letterer puts in the word balloons and letters in the script. The page is then sent to the inker who finishes the page over the pencils.
Many companies now have lettering done on computer, so the inker is sent the art immediately .
In this case, the finished artwork will not have word balloons. Some inkers stick carefully to exactly what the penciller has put down and others embellish a great deal. It would be highly unlikely that two different inkers would ink a pencilled page the same way. This is generally the last process that physically involves the original art page. From this stage the art is either scanned into a computer or copied at a smaller size and colored.