Musing: No More School

I've come to a crossroads in my life. I suppose.

I'm going to be graduating from College in a few weeks, and I'm supposed to start my life as a real honest to gosh human being living in a consumer society.

SWEET!

I don't have a job yet. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do.

Except write comic books. You see, that's why I started this here blog thing in the first place.

I've learned a lot from this blog, it's been a great ride. Forcing myself to study my favorite art form has really helped me evolve as a writer. I even got to see a script of mine transformed into actual sequential art.

I think I've become a bit of a comics elitist as well, though I'm trying hard not to be. Graphical smiley.

I don't know how successful this blog has been as far as a device to share ideas on comic books. I've no real idea how to market this bad boy on the interweb, but it's a dream I have. Someday, people will come here to discuss craft.

I truly enjoy writing here. I suppose any excuse to look at Newsarama is a fine one for me, but I've never seen interviews in quite the same light. For that matter, I've never read comic books in quite the same way.

It's a lot of fun, trying to figure out why things work the way that they do.

Who knows what career path I'll eventually wind up taking, but I know one thing for sure:

I'll always have these crazy characters floating in my head, and they need to get out somehow: comics just happens to be my preferred medium.

Sample Script: Buffy Season 8 #3

Really cool. This issue isn't even out yet. Link.

I've never seen something quite like this before. It's a great look at a script in progress with art in progress and how the two things look together.

It's also a look at the new issue of Buffy, so awesome bonus fanboy points on that!

Just a link: Writing for your artist

An interesting little bit of snarky advice from someone who may or may not know what he's talking about. It's all about communicating with your artist, which I swear to gosh I just wrote about.

And if you scroll down to the comments, you get some post by Mark Waid!

A Pro Speaks: Frazer Irving

From an interview with Frazer Irving at CBR.

So they keep me in check. If I had scripts that were always loose, I'd get lazy, but if I had scripts that were always tight, I'd be in a mental hospital.

Very good reminder, since I'm always over thinking my scripts. The last thing I wrote, my submission for Young American Comics, I had it all plotted out so tightly, down to panel by panel breakdowns, that my artist had to condense a good amount of stuff. I think it's super important to give your artist a good amount of room to be an artist. Just makes sense to me.

As far as Mr. Irving goes, I hadn't heard of him, not really, until his recent work on Silent War. I'm loving it. It's very stylized and unique, which is great, I think, because it sets the book apart from other books on the shelves. There is a lot of comic art out there that doesn't grip me, but his really does. Check out that last panel there. I mean the one showing the Inhumans for who they are. There's just something about panels within panels that really gets me.

Review Battle: Annihilation vs. God War

In our very first bout ever, we have two of Marvel Comic's most recent cosmic events going toe to toe with each other!

Mega Cross-Over Annihilation
vs.
Ultimate Fantastic Four's God War

For the sake of my own sanity, I'm not going to discuss the four Annihilation previews, except right here, where I say that I enjoyed them very much.

Thank you for letting me get that out of the way.

Now on to the main bout. Annihilation had 17 issues of build up, took 7 issues itself, with 2 epilogue books and at least 2 spin off titles. Crazy huge story.

God War was a 6 issue story arc that will be having residual effects in the UFF title, though, they haven't been felt as of yet.

One of these stories is clearly larger in scope. For the time being anyway. However, that means nothing when comparing the actual quality of the tales themselves.

I've always been a fan of space stories. Science Fiction is one of my favorite genres, and it's great to see it pulled off well. I liked both of these stories, but I think there is a clear winner in overall quality.

Annihilation was about a giant war in space. It touched on a great many characters, though it was really the story of Richard Rider, the last of the Nova Corps. It was, in many ways, a lot like the original Star Wars trilogy.

God War was about the Fantastic Four journeying to a strange new world and overcoming that world's despotic ruler while searching for a way to get back home.

The crux of the issue lies here. Annihilation is space opera. Or, as a friend of mine was calling it, space fantasy. It holds all the trappings of a good sci-fi epic, but doesn't have much in the way of new ideas. It's just a big story with a lot of big oh-gosh moments.

God War invents new ideas and concepts. God War gives the reader something new to understand, and a new way to look at ordinary ideas. The strength of God War is it's freshness. It's never been seen before. The book will also wow with great action scenes and riveting plot twists, but it also will amaze with it's creativity.

Annihilation is a good book. It's strong in it's characterization, and it has a lot of big wow moments, but it doesn't bring anything new to the table. God War resonates because it makes you think. It has more wonder because it truly cared about executing a concept, and not just merely telling an epic story.

Both books are very good. God War just takes things a step above.

Musing with the Pros: Brad Meltzer's JLA

Here's something I read all the time on various comic book forums:

"It'll read better in trade."

Read a little bit of an interview with Brad Meltzer from Newsarama and see if you can see where I'm going with this. It's pretty transparent.

BM: I think it was a crucible, but I think more, it was an examination of identity. If you look at every character, including the villains in “The Tornado’s Path,” everyone is struggling with identity. From Red Tornado who wants to be the real boy, obviously, to Hal trying to get used to being the older hero on the team, from Vixen trying to figure out how her powers work, from the big three trying to figure out that they’re not he center of the universe that they actually think they are; from all of those down to the villains, whether it’s Grundy or Ivo – everyone is trying to figure out who they are. That was always meant to be the allegory for the League that we were building.

The biggest identity that we were building in those first six issues was the identity of the League itself. I know that there were some people who wanted us to hit fast-forward and just pick things up where we left off, but if you look at the last two years of the League, it was destroyed and left in pieces. I think to just jump in and say, “We’re back!” would be something that wouldn’t take any of the former history seriously. We had to earn coming back. You don’t destroy a whole fire department on Friday, and then expect everyone to come in on Monday and assume everything’s good again. You really have to have the characters look at this and say, “Do we really want to be here?” “Do we really need to be here?” “Should we be here?” and “How are we going to be here in any way that makes sense, given our past history?”

The Tornado’s Path isn’t just a Red Tornado story, and those who read it as such may have missed what we were doing. I really do believe that it was a story about the identity of all of our players.

NRAMA: So what we’re gong to see in issue #7 is this somewhat disparate group pulled together and…given a purpose? A place?

BM: What people will see in issue #7 isn’t just the payoff, but the true end to the story. The end of the story is not “Well, Red Tornado is a robot again,” the end of the story is where does what has happened leave the big three? Where does it leave all their choices? Where does it leave everyone else who was standing there with Amazo in a million pieces in front of them? Where does it leave all of these characters emotionally?

To me, issue #7 is the most vital part of the story, not just because they get a new headquarters.

Now, disregarding whether or not I liked Meltzer's JLA (for the record I loved #6, thought 1-5 were passable), I'm curious as to why DC chose to release The Tornado's Path as a monthly comic book.

Crazy!

I know the industry is monthly. It's serialized. But I don't think that format works for every story. I think The Tornado's Path might be one of those stories.

There are times when I can dig the serialized nature of comic books. Once a month I get to look forward to reading a well constructed story line. However, I think I'd be happier if I got a full story as opposed to reading bits and pieces of it once a month. Think about it.

Using The Tornado's Path as an example, over a period of 7 months, the readers got 22 pages a month of a 154 page story. Comics have been moving further and further away from telling one issue stories, and moving towards writing for the trade paperback.

There's nothing inherently wrong with longer stories, I just question the wisdom in releasing them in trickles.

Just a Link: The Postmodern Superhero

Read this.

It's a link to the Comics Should be Good blog, and specifically a really fantastic essay on the evolution of comic books.

I'm still digesting it, and I plan on re-reading it a few times. So read it.

The works of Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Joe Casey are all discussed. I need to find a way to read all of the works cited. They sound phenomenal.

A Pro Speaks: Boom Studios

Check out this awesome interview with the men behind Boom.

Since its inception, Boom has appealed to comic aficionados with its several-issue miniseries. This year, Boom is focusing on longer plots, offering story arcs that can be serialized, then bound together as graphic novels and sold in major retail chains such as Barnes & Noble.

"Look at this," Richie said, pointing at the spine of a 20-something-page comic book. "This disappears into a shelf." At about half an inch thick, sometimes more, graphic novels demand greater attention.

This is something I've been thinking of myself. See, I've been studying manga's success in America, and it seems that a good portion of that success is due to the fact that manga's digest volumes provide a lot more story at a good price point.

I'm also questioning comic books standard serialized format. Sometimes it works, a full story is told that is a piece of a larger story and compels the reader to wait a month to buy the next issue. Sometimes it doesn't work, only a part of a story is told, and it really feels like it. With Manga, it almost doesn't matter. Manga comes out weekly, so the period of excitement is considerably less.

I think the American comics industry has quite a bit to learn from the Japanese. I might expand on my thoughts later.

Musing: Digest sized comics.

Check out Marvel Comics' June Solicitations here.

Marvel Comics has tried marketing their comic books towards the youth of today. Obviously. One strategy I find interesting is forgoing the a trade paperback, and shrinking the comics into a digest version; similar in every way to the way manga is distributed.

It makes a certain kind of sense. Most of the books that fell under that line were more accessible to teens than the standard superhero fare. Books like Runaways, Sentinel, a few others, but those were the big two, and Runaways is the only one still around.

However, they're tossing in Robert Kirkman's Irredeemable Ant-Man as a digest.

I'm not sure how I feel about the move. Ant-Man is a little bit more, mature is the wrong word, "adult" than the standard Marvel fare. But then again, the title is also a very interesting deviation from superheroes because of it that it might just attract new readers.

I'm curious to see how it does.

Musing: Writing for the Trade

So a a fairly interesting read discussing Brad Meltzer's recently finished JLA arc tipped me off to this topic.

Read that article before reading this.

Or don't. Ya know, you don't have to. I just think you should.

But why take my advice?

Oh, that's what this whole blog is about? What a novel idea!

So you read it? Good! Read on!


Let me share with you my thoughts on Melter's JLA arc. I wasn't a big fan of 1-5. I thought there were some cool ideas, but, I wasn't taken with it enough. Wait though, it's a six issue story arc! What about issue 6?

I thought #6 was really good. There were a few moments I didn't love, but I really dug this issue.

You're following this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 not really worth it to me. 6 very much worth it.

I'm not sure this is entirely Meltzer's fault. I mean, obviously, he was responsible for the writing, and if he couldn't fill the story with enough awesome for six issues than maybe he shouldn't tell it, but! their seems to be a lot of pressure to write for the trade in the industry.

I think multi issue story arcs are a good thing. I think the more story you can tell, the better. However, I don't like the mandate to tell six part stories. I understand it, trades sell in book stores, and book stores probably bring in some decent coin, but that doesn't mean I like it. I think it stifles creativity. Not every story can be told well in a standardized amount of pages. Not to mention the cliff hanger that needs to be written in at the end of every issue to keep the reader interested for a month.

I'm not sure what to do about the situation. It's a format that works pretty well. But, I don't think it works as well as it could from a creative stand point.

Musing: Downloading Comic Books, Legally

Check here for Top Cow's ideas and plans regarding downloading comic books.

I think the subject is interesting. I love reading old comic books, and they're hard to get, so a downloadable format wouldn't be a bad idea. However, there is a certain charm in holding the book. Also, I'm loving Marvel's Essential books, and I can't wait to try out DC's version. I forget what they're called.

My hard drive is crammed enough with my music, I'm not sure I want to clog it up with comic books as well. Though, if I can't get my Golden and Silver age fix otherwise...

We'll see how it all pans out.

Podcast: The New Thunderbolts

I tried playing around with a podcast. However, it's purely my opinion on the current state of the Marvel Universe, and more specifically, the New Thunderbolts.

Check here.

Hope you enjoy!

Musing: SPRING BREAK!

Howdy y'all.

Spring Break was last week. I didn't go anywhere. I worked alot, for money, not specifically on books. Though, I did work a lot on comics and related materials.

I finished reading Scott McCloud's Making Comics. It's brilliant. I wish I could draw like McCloud. I wish I could draw at all. I'm going to be reading this again soon. Though, I'll probably read it after I buy and read McCloud's Understanding Comics. The book has a lot of great content, and while I might try and review it at some point in the future, I think any small posting here would fail to do the book justice. It's awesome, go buy it.

As I was perusing the graphic novel shelves at Borders I spotted a very interesting looking book. Check it out. Chris Ware's The Acme Novelty Library is a work of genius. It's engaging. It's depressing and enjoyable. I think the book has something to do with futility. I can't say for certain though, as I've only read the first 30 or so pages. It's one of the deepest books I've ever read. Comic or otherwise.

I started my own web-comic. Boo! Adventures. I think it's the best thing since the written word. I'm talking about hieroglyphics. Language. Heck, I'll say it's the best thing since The Word. But don't just take my word for it. Read the thing. Start with #1. Though, they can be read out of order. It's an experiment of mine, so I hope it succeeds.

I've started listening to the Golden Age of Comics Podcast. It's available free on iTunes. Check it out. It's some interesting synopsis on some of the best comic books. Or at they very least, comic books from a different time that if you care about the medium you'll want to have an understanding of.

I also played a lot of Heroclix. Wizkidsgames just put out a new expansion set of my favorite game ever, and I now have fun little miniature toys of Hawkman, Sandman, Starman, Captain Marvel, Jakeem Thunder and the Martian Manhunter. So awesome. I love me some comic book character miniatures.

On a writing note, I made some progress on some plots I had been working on. I'm working on short stories. I'm trying to make an anthology title. I think it could be really interesting.

Musing: Marvel's Civil War and world building

Kimota94 inspired me to post my thoughts on this issue. Check here for his thoughts on the matter.

Marvel Comics is currently changing the face of the Marvel Universe. The latest event crossover, Civil War, has given all of the Marvel Universe (or at least the earthbound characters) a new status quo. The government requires all super-powered beings to register with them so they can keep checks on these 'persons of mass destruction' (Thanks Millar!). It seems like the majority of Marvel's heroes are going along with the registration, though, some of them, notably Spider-Man, are going underground in opposition to the legislation.

Allow me some exposition.

Marvel has kept their continuity fairly consistent for the past 50 some odd years. DC chose to reboot their continuity with Crisis on Infinite Earths in the 80's. DC thought it might simplify a few things. Considering that at the time there were multiple Supermen who lived on different Earths in different universes serving on different teams who were for all intents and purposes different characters, I can see what they were thinking. Creating a consistent world for characters is a hard task. Maintaining that world with a minimum of contradictions across multiple titles is just tricky. I won't even look up the number of books Marvel is putting out for their mainstream universe right now, it's more than 20, which seems like a lot to me.

Anyway, Marvel has been putting out a product that has garnered many loyal fans for a long time. Part of the loyalty that comic book fans have is universe specific. Fans who like one company more than the other tend to like that universe because they've been reading it longer. They're more familiar with it. When DC rebooted the universe it theoretically allowed anyone a chance to jump in. It didn't work quite like that, but that was the intention.

What Marvel has done with Civil War is, to me, very similar. Instead of changing around bits of a characters history Marvel changed the way that the universe functioned and it's heroes relationships within that universe. It's not a reboot, but it is a shocking change of status quo.

Personally, I think it's a very ambitious project. I think if pulled off well, it can lead to a lot of interesting stories. I think super hero registration is an interesting enough idea that it can be milked for stories for a few years to come.

Do I think that this is the best move for the market? I'm not sure. As much as I love monthly super hero comic books, I'm just not positive that every character Marvel has on roster can work with this shift. For instance, Ed Brubaker's titles, with the exception of Captain America, have all but ignored Civil War thus far. It'll be interesting to see how he fits Daredevil and the Uncanny X-Men into the new universe. I think Dan Slott's She-Hulk would be better served without this move. Slott is an amazing talent, but Shulk's strength has lied in the fact that it plays loose with continuity, now it's being asked to play in line with it.

I'm interested to see how this will work. I wish Marvel the best.

Indulge me: Boo! Adventures

So, I was drawing, trying to make myself into an artist and experiment with visual storytelling techniques when I started writing something like a story. I've decided to see if I could continue the story forever.

Read and enjoy!

Musing: The 'Death' of Captain America

That's not a spoiler at all if you were awake yesterday.

It's the story that no newspaper, television news station, or internet news failed to cover.

My contention is thus: As much as I enjoy Captain America (I'd be perfectly willing to get into a fanboy argument with nearly anyone about how I think Cap is the most iconic comic book character), I'm under the impression that anything that draws this much media attention to comic books is probably a good thing. Evidently Captain America #25 is flying off retailers shelves, so Marvel's PR people did a good job.

Creator's have been interviewing all over the place. Ed Brubaker, the current writer on Captain America, says he's been planning this for the past two years, and that he has two more years worth of Cap stories plotted out. Joe Quesada, Marvel's Editor in Chief, is loving the limelight, giving interviews to major papers (or at least AP). Even Jeph Loeb is getting some attention, as he's writing a five issue mini series about the Marvel Universe's reaction to the death.

I'm hopeful that this might draw in some new readers. Ed Brubaker is a fantastic talent for Marvel (this is what, third post in a row that deals with him?), though I'd be concerned that his book might not be right for new readers. While Brubaker's Cap is one of the best books coming out of Marvel, it's pretty well mired in continuity. Hopefully though, between Cap and Loeb's mini, the people at Marvel can turn some heads and get some more respect for comic books.

Of course, we all know Steve Rogers will be back in a year, right?

I was reading an interview with Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker about Iron Fist, when I scrolled down and saw a panel from an upcoming issue. Take a look.

Normally, when you read a comic it's read left to right, top to bottom. It's just how the American eye works. But whomever drew this panel chose to buck that trend, and do things a little differently. I can't think this was in Brubaker and Fraction's script. Only because it's too outside the box for a writer. Though, if they did write it, hey, kudos to you guys, it's frickin' cool.

I've been noticing page layouts similar to this one; where one image is used for multiple panels and only the character shifts within. This page takes that style to an extreme, and I think I love it.

The panel flows, quite wonderfully, with Iron Fist moving left to right, right to left, left to right. It's perfectly natural, and the only thing that took me out of it was that I knew it shouldn't be natural.

Fantastic work.

A Pro Speaks: Ed Brubaker on tragedy in Criminal

Ed Brubaker has really busted out in recent years. A while ago I'd never heard of the guy. Now, he's writing Captain America, Daredevil, Uncanny X-Men, Iron Fist, and his very own Criminal.

I read and enjoy four of those books. Pretty good, especially considering one of those books would be a very hard sell for me. If you really want to, you can figure it out, one of those titles is very much unlike the others.

If you've read the title, you might be expecting this, but I'm very interested Brubaker's use of tragedy in Criminal. Not only is tragedy one of the least used storytelling devices, it also resonates with me like a Low B on a bass guitar (for a long time in layman's terms.)

From Brubaker's interview with Newsarama:

Tragic. It's a noir, but it's got the twist of, I want Leo to survive to tell more stories about him. But there are levels of survival in noir, that leave a lot of messed up possibilities open to me. I will say Criminal #5 is probably one of the most brutal things I've ever written.

I love noir. I love tragedy. They go hand in hand (though, wouldn't it be interesting to see a noir that ended on an upbeat note?) and are so underused that I jump on anything that includes those elements.

Which is why I think it's so great that Brubaker is writing a comic book, especially a comic book, that might draw in people who are larger fans of genre than they are format. I'm sure people like that exist.

I just want comic books to be more than super hero comic books. Not because I don't enjoy super hero comic books, I do, but I'm also interested in other genres and I love the comic book format.

Musing? DC's Countdown

DC Comics amazes me. Seriously.

Newsarama link.

So you know 52 right? The weekly comic book that works in real time that DC is publishing 52 issues of? Yea, that one. Well, it seems they think it's a great idea (which it is, but that's a digression).

DC Comics is going to be releasing a book called Countdown. A year long comic book that starts at issue 51 and will be counting down to what I assume will be issue 0.

The book is being written by Paul Dini and others. It seems like Dini might be doing most of the plotting, though, that's speculation on my part. Like 52, Keith Giffen will be providing art breakdowns, not that I know what those are, but I can guess.

I love Dini, and I think it's certainly interesting that the creative teams will be switching on and off, but I have to wonder why DC didn't go with the brain trust type creative team that they did with 52. No matter, 52 has been wonderful and I can't see this being much different in terms of quality.

My immediate reaction: HOLY CRAP!

I'm all for innovation in comics. I want the medium to succeed. I can't decide whether this is genius or just smart business. I'm leaning towards insane genius though.

Not only does a venture like this create enormous buzz within the comic industry, it might have some spillover outside of the industry. It's fantastic and newish conceptually.

52 was one thing DC doing this again, so soon, is just something else entirely.

Musing: Do you need to know your comic book history?

Do you really need to know everything about a character’s history to enjoy one issue of that character’s book?

A lot of people I try to get into comic books complain about this; that they don’t know the back story of say… the X-Men. They have a crazily convoluted history with all kinds of twists and turns and retcons, that, yea, if you were trying to write a history book on Marvel Comics and came to X, you might have a hard time keeping everything straight.

For instance, Scott Summers was in love with Jean Grey who died after being possessed by the Phoenix Force. Scott married a woman named Madelyne Pryor who bore a creepy resemblance to Jean Grey. Scott and Maddy had a child named Nathan. As it turns out, Jean never died as the Phoenix Force only used a facsimile of her body and kept her preserved in a cocoon. Also, Madelyne was a clone of Jean Grey. That’s three Jeans! Then Nathan is sent to the future to cure a virus given to him in the present. In the future Nathan is also cloned. So that’s three Jeans and two Nathans.

More stuff happened, Madelyne became the Goblyn Queen when Scott went back to Jean, but that in no way affected my enjoyment of the latest issue of X-Men. In fact, I wasn’t even thinking of Nathan’s long and confusing lineage (his full name is Nathan Dayspring Askani'Son Summers), when I was reading about him. It wasn’t all that important at the time.

The X-Men books are, I think, at an all time high. Granted, I’ve become a sucker for the work of Mike Carey thanks to his amazing run on Ultimate Fantastic Four.

I don’t think a new reader would need to have any real understanding of the issues, the hundreds of issues, of X-Men written before Carey started his run. All you really need is a basic understanding of the characters powers and motivations, which become pretty clear as you read the comic book.

I think if you pick up a book in the middle of a story arc, then yea, you’re going to be a little bit confused, but that’s really your fault for starting a story in the middle. Due to the monthly nature of comic books it’s an easy mistake to make, but I don’t think it’s so hard to ask your comic book shop guy where the story actually started.

That right there is the end of that little essay, however, I’ll say something about trade paperbacks and how they fit in at some point in the future.

(Do you know notice how I’ve been teasing that? It’s exciting isn’t it? Makes you want to keep coming back to my blog even though I’ve been bad about updating it doesn’t it? You like the questions don’t you?)

For further reading on this subject please go to Bactroid.net and ComicFodder. They inspired this post.

A Pro Speaks: Scott McCloud on the internet

Scott McCloud gave an interview to Statesman.com discussing how the internet has changed comic books.

They certainly have transformed comics on the Web. By conservative estimates, I think we have at least 10,000-20,000 people making comics on the Web, which is a lot. Some of those are pretty bad — probably most of them — but there's a lot of really great work going on on the Web as well. So the degree to which Web distribution has changed comics culture is enormous.

I’ve been thinking about starting up my own web comic for a short while now. It would be almost purely self indulgent, but I think it would at the very least keep me writing, and more specifically, keep me writing in the format I wish to break into.

Web Comics, in my experience, aren’t about super heroes, they’re about more normal people. Which is fine. A large part of me thinks that writing about normal people will appeal to the public more than the traditional super-hero genre. Just look at Heroes.

Yes, I’ll mention Heroes as long as I think it’s amazing, which should be a good while if Tim Kring keeps stuff together. Seriously, the man was at (and still is at?) the helm of Crossing Jordan and I still love that show.

Normal people tend to relate better to normal people. I read somewhere a quote that I’ll paraphrase poorly and apologetically not attribute:

American people don’t want symbols. They want things they know.

Web Comics give people what they know. At the very least, they give people things they could know, which is almost the same thing.

Of course, my idea for a Web Comic is a fantasy story that I started with my best friend when we were in early grade school, but whatever.

Musing: Comics and Manga

This will be short.

Manga is really popular in America. American Comic Books, they don't have a fun name, are a smallish niche market which ironically harbor some of the most iconic figures in America.

Why aren't Comic Books as popular as Manga? Well, there are two very good blog posts discussing the reasons with much more knowledge and insight that I currently have into the situation.

noflyingnotights

So please, comics industry folks? Get it into your heads that manga works more because of the stories than anything else.

And a very long post from Halifax_slasher on Facebook:

The reasons for this change are due for their own essay (tentatively titled "What Went Wrong"), but for now let us note that while there was a time when a single issue of a comic would have Spider-man meet a foe, get defeated by the foe, mope around, become inspired, track down the foe, fight him again, defeat him, and then wrap up a subplot involving Aunt May--in other words, when an issue would contain a complete dramatic arc--nowadays Frank Miller can write entire issues in which Batman never leaves the car.

I'll write a long-winded post about the styles of early comic books vs. modern comic books and writing for the trade vs. writing a done-in-one another time.

Musing: How Comic Books are Treated in the Media

I know a few things about comic books.

I know that comic books are stories with sequential art. I know that comic books tell a wide variety of stories and work in many genres, both in fiction and non-fiction. I know that there are comic books geared towards children, there are some geared towards adults, and some that try and be all ages.

I know that the general consensus is that comic books are for kids or nerds, and I know this isn't true. I know that it will be a hard fight for the industry and it's fans to gain respect. I know when people mis-characterize comic books it irritates me a mite.

I've never read BuddyTV before. I have comic books in my google alerts so I've become aware of them. I'm just curious is to how influential they are. Especially when they write things like this:

I raise this question because the comic book industry is a breeding ground for the “knock-off”. I'm no comic book expert; I dabbled when I was younger, have enjpyed a couple graphic novels, but haven't read or owned an actual comic book in over a decade. Comic books, to the best of my knowledge, have grown stagnant.

Oscar Dahl, the writer of this piece, makes several claims about comic books in his discussion of the hit (and fantastic) TV show Heroes. There's nothing wrong with that, Heroes is very comic booky.

However, to say that the comic book industry breeds knock-offs and has grown stagnant is, if not out right false, very mis-leading as to the reality of the situation. Comic book writers can be, and are, amazingly creative and push through a lot of new ground in exploring the world and the human condition. If I had one available I'd pull up a very well said Grant Morrison or Alan Moore quote to refute this assertion.

The New York Times, again, in reference to Heroes, makes an error in regards to comic books.

“Lost” is at heart a science-fiction thriller, while “Heroes” is more of a comic book, but both genres have a similar appeal: they provide an alternative society for those who don’t fit comfortably into their own.

Aside from the unnecessary slamming of Science Fiction and Comic Books, there is the mistake in language. This is a minor gripe, but it's one that I think leads to a large misunderstanding between comic book fans and everyone else.

Comic books are not a genre. Comic books are a format. Science-Fiction, Horror, Suspense, Romance, even Super-Hero; are all genres. Comic books are more like books, plays, movies, or radio. Comic books are most associated with the Super-hero genre, but I can't imagine that the Times was referring to that in regards to Heroes, which is a drama.

I think if the media were educated as to the material, especially now that's becoming more of a presence in the public realm, certain biases could be eroded.

Let's Get Published! Young American Comics Part 3

Editing was less painful than I thought it would be.

I was fairly amused at how bad my punctuation and grammar can get when I stop paying too much attention to it.

It was super helpful to get a few different pairs of eyes on my script. A few important parts were not as clear as they should have been, and I had a couple good people give some ideas on how to make those parts work. I'm really happy with my script.

Off to the artist.

Now I just need to figure out how to add captions and word balloons. I have a little less than a month for that, and I'm sure I can figure something out in some program or another.

A Pro Speaks: Adam Beechen on co-writing Teen Titans

I've always been interested in how writers share writing duties. A good number of my favorite comic books have been written by two people. David Goyer and Geoff Johns on JSA, Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker on Iron Fist, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (or as I knew them on their Legion of Super Heroes run, DnA) on just about everything they write and Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti on just about everything they write.

Heck, DC's 52 has four writers (Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid and Greg Rucka) and they have Keith Giffen to, as I understand it, handle the panel breakdowns.

Currently DC also has at least two books (Atom and Freedom Fighters) being written off of Grant Morrison's notes for new(ish) characters.

But how does one collaborate with someone else on writing? Adam Beechen gives a clue in an interview with Newsarama(don't you love them?).

Actually, I come in on the second part of the arc. Issue #43 is all Geoff. He had #44 mostly plotted, and then I came in and we finished the plotting together and split up the pages for scripting. He had a pretty good idea of what he wanted for #45, we plotted it together, and then I handled the script. On #46, I’m plotting and scripting from his general story idea. He had the overarching idea for the story arc that was to follow “Titans East,” and I’m going to be writing that as well, but because of other considerations, that’s been pushed back a few issues. So Geoff will continue to be a presence, as far as the book goes, for a while yet. After that, I’ll be on my own for real.

Interesting. But it's a good idea, I think, for a new writer taking over an ongoing book to have some time with the resident writer as it were. It can't hurt to have another writer that you trust (I'm looking at you DnA and Palmiotti & Gray) to build on your excitement and to double check your ideas. Two heads can certainly be better than the one.

A Pro Speaks: Gail Simone on Gen13

I'm sorry I post so much about Gail Simone, but she is really awesome, and Newsarama is putting out this series of interviews with her where she keeps saying insightful things.

Blame her, not me.

So the G13 kids started to seep into my brain, and ideas started coming, and thoughts started to seep in, and I decided to do the book. Funny thing is, I don’t think I ever actually said yes...suddenly I was just plotting issue one with no idea how I got there.

That’s big time comics, friends! One day you have a clue, and then BOOM! You’re finding clever ways to rip clothes off teenagers!

I've had this happen to me more times than I can recall. Inspiration can strike any time, anywhere. Though, I have it happen to me more in certain situations than in others. I think I read somewhere that Stephen King had a lot of his ideas come to him in the shower, happens to me all the time. Riding the train helps too, because I see all these people and my mind wanders and starts telling stories about some of the more interesting people.

Though, there is the other half of writing, where you have to create your own inspiration. This can be difficult and frustrating, but is also totally worth the effort. I find it's best to sit down and meditate on the story told thus far. There are always elements of your own story that you can use to drive the story, I think. I think it's always important to introduce lots of plot elements at the start of a tale, so you can work with them later on, and to draw interest. It's by no means an easy thing to do, but neither is writing a story, and that's what we're talking about here.

Let's Get Published! Young American Comics Part 2

I have to apologize for my recent lack of updates.

You see, I've been busy.

I just finished the rough draft of my script for the Young American Comics anthology last night. That was exhausting work. Let's talk about it though, that's what this blog is here for, right?

The script came to 7 pages. I even got to include a gratuitous full page splash that I had in the outline, but wasn't sure if I could include condensed version of my tale. My pages are going to be pretty packed. Very dense. Stylistically I'd compare it to old Marvel comics issues by Stan and Jack mixed with modern dialogue styles. Let's not compare it though, I don't want to come up short.

Since I had to pack so much into so little, I had to make sure that every bit of dialogue counted, that every panel did what I wanted it to. I found it very helpful to take my outline and then make a goal for each page. With each page serving it's own purpose, I did a panel by panel breakdown and made sure each panel served the larger purpose; both in terms of that page and the larger story.

What has always struck and influenced me was a interview I'd read with Mark Millar about Ultimates v1. Millar was working with an entirely new cast at this point, sure, they were based off of familiar characters, but the differences were certainly there. Everyone is pretty familiar with Captain America's prowess in shield throwing, but no one knew if Ultimate Captain America could do the same thing. So Millar had him do that in a minor fight early on in the book's 13 issue run. Millar stated he did this so when Cap performed a similar feat in a later, more important, fight, it would come as being more believable.

That kind of thinking goes for any good writer, be they in comics, novels, or film. Establishing what a character can and cannot do is critical. I've had teachers discuss the notion of symmetry in writing and I find that it not only leads to good storytelling but also to a satisfying read.

I was careful in setting up some of the things that my characters do. I have at least two things things that characters do that are a little unbelievable, so I established, in slightly minor spots, that they could do these things.

I think good symmetry is accompanied by a very careful breakdown. You really need to understand what it is your characters are doing, what their abilities are, and what their goals are, and make sure that you establish those things early in the story, so the reader can connect.

That's what I can for sure say I've learned from the experience thus far. My script is off to a few friends for editing, stay tuned on for my thoughts on that painful process.

Let's Get Published! Young American Comics Part 1

I was compiling a list of publishing requirements from various companies (Image, Marvel, Dark Horse, DC) when I found this.

Thanks to Comic Foundry Magazine's blog.

Apparently Young American Comics is inviting all creators to submit material for a themed anthology. Excellent!

My goal is to get published, this just makes sense for me. I had an outline drawn up already for a story that fits the theme of the anthology (small town/big city) and, after contacting an artist friend of mine, I'm now working on making the story work 2 - 8 pages.

My first thought is that it's going to be 8 pages. Since my outline is for 22, that's condensing quite a bit, but I think it's entirely possible if I strip out a few things. I'm hoping to have the story fit into less pages, as I think I'd have a better shot at getting accepted, but 8 is my goal.

I'll keep this space updated.

Sample Scripts: Dwayne McDuffie various

Dwayne McDuffie has been writing comics for at least as long as I've been writing them.

This is a link to a section of his web page that contains scripts and pitches.

He's best known for his work on the Milestone comics, an imprint of D.C. which featured a world in which African American superheroes had their day in the sun. I remember Icon fondly, but haven't read any Milestone work in a long time.

Pro Tips: Warren Ellis on writing

Newsarama had an interview with Warren Ellis back in late 2006 I just stumbled on.

Budget time? I work sixteen hours a day. That’s all I can tell you. I write until I can’t.

There's way too much in here that's good and interesting. I'm convinced that anything Ellis writes is gold. The man's mind and method seem to be both impenetrable to me when I'm trying to analyze it. His own words make it that much easier to understand.

Musing: What happens and why it happens

I was writing today. I'm on page twelve of my first comic book script ever, and I finally figured out why my characters were doing what they were doing. The main character, who I lovingly call "The Narrator," has just gone through some changes in his life. Some very major changes, and this story is all about him dealing with those changes.

For twelve pages I've had my characters doing things for reasons that make sense to the character. Makes sense. I just didn't know why they were doing those things. I knew why in the immediate scheme of things, but in the grand design of the cosmos that fiction inhabits there is always a scheme greater than visceral gut reaction. There are metaphors and hidden meanings, symbols and signs, and words that means so much more than their definition.

I'm going to keep those twelve pages, largely unchanged for the time being, because they're organic, and because they're the reason I've come to understand my story. I'm just super glad I have a strict focus for the next series of pages.

Comics Increasing Popularity

MediaPost Publications has an article partially validating Comic Books as a mainstream market. Recognition from reputed sources can't be anything but a good thing, right?

From the big screen to the little screen to the paper screen, this genre of periodicals -- once considered a medium for the weird, the nerdy, the uncool -- has become mainstream. But where are the advertisers?

Cool.

Maybe the mainstream will get down with Comic Books themselves after seeing the next big movie. Ghost Rider, Spider-Man 3 and a new Fantastic Four movie are all coming out soonish. Maybe we'll see a rise then.

A Pro Speaks: Gail Simone on BoP

Gail Simone talks with Newsarama about Birds of Prey. A very interesting read, more interesting probably, because Gail is one of my favorite writers.

It was strongly felt at DC that, mostly due to Birds of Prey I’m told, the Canary had become an interesting and powerful enough character to stand a bit more on her own, to take more of a center stage role.

I'm stoked that Simone is getting this kind of credit from DC. She totally deserves it, and her mind, or at least what she writes on the internet, is amazing to me.

Read her blog. It's got tons of content and advice.

How to Guide: by Barry Lyga

Here's a handy primer on writing comics.

It's written by Barry Lyga, whom I've never heard of before, but seems to know what he's talking about. There's a short bio on the top of the page listing his credentials.

First, we need to clear up a couple of very popular misconceptions about comics. One is that writing comics is easy. After all, a look at a comic book page shows that most of the heavy lifting is done by the art, right? No need to write "John ran across the field" when the artist has drawn John doing precisely that! This misconception goes hand-in-hand with another: namely, that all comic book writers do is write the words that go into the word balloons.

The article is very informative, and even contains a short bit of script. I love scripts. For whatever reason, I like to have the format down for anything I do. Seems to make it easier.

Musing: Heroes

We can thank the Toronto Star for their interview with Heroes creator Tim Kring.

"I kind of saw that this was the type of show the network needed ... This show was always designed to have a big footprint. We had a big presence on the Internet, and we had plans for ancillary material and comic books and merchandising, so we approached it as though we were going to be big."

I'll admit, I'm fascinated with Heroes on almost every level.

I think the writing is amazing. The plotting is engaging. The concepts are refreshing. The acting is great. The characters are real. This is a compelling show. A masterful work of fiction.

With all that taken for granted and left unanalyzed, the one thing that interests me the most about Heroes is it's success. Who could have foreseen the reception this show would have? It's compared constantly to other huge successes such as 24 and Lost; in a good way.
It has all this going for it, and to top it off, it's based on traditional comic book archetypes.

Heroes success has been credited to the characters. They certainly aren't traditional super hero fare at all. No, this book would probably fall to a Major's imprint or it would be an Indies poster child.

Heroes has something I'm calling Spider-Man syndrome. The characters in Heroes are real people, in all walks of life, with powers that happen on them. Spider-Man was a normal kid, maybe a little nerdy, but perfectly normal, who had powers thrust on him. The exception being is that Peter Parker chose to don a costume and actively help people. This makes the thrust of many of his stories external, plot motivated. the Heroes in Heroes are just trying to deal with the newness of their situations and the drama is created by the choices these characters make.

It's my opinion that the future of comic books can be found in the success of Heroes and to a lesser extent 24 and Lost. Aside from the stigma of Comic Books being childish, people want to read stories that will entertain them. I think, once educated, the common person really won't be so fickle as to ignore a great story due to it's medium.

Musing: Star Power

Browsing Newsarama I discovered that Scott Porter of the NBC show Friday Night Lights really likes comic books. Awesome, the more people that like comic books the better.

What makes Scott important is his status. He isn’t any mere mortal; the man is on a TV show. Which, to many Americans, means he’s reached the pinnacle of his career.

This garners him a special platform; he can be a spokesperson for the comic book industry. I’m not sure that’s what he wants to do, I’m sure he’s busy with acting and such, but as Erik Larsen discussed in his CBR column, star power can really help a product.

What I’m concerned with is whether or not Mr. Porter is preaching his love of comic books to non-comic book audiences. His interview with Newsarama isn’t targeting non-comic book readers to read comic books. It’s targeting comic book readers to watch his show.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. He should be getting as many people to watch his show as possible. It’s the source of his income.

Thankfully, it looks like Mr. Porter talks about comic books wherever he goes. Lucky guy even got to interview Masi Oka.

It would be like Dean Cain playing Superman, Shaquille O’Neal having the Superman tattoo or even a wrestler who’s name doesn’t spring to mind having a Green Lantern tattoo and parading around his love of the comic book.

I don’t have any proof, but I think celebrity endorsements work. Otherwise, companies wouldn’t shell out so much money for them.

Booklist: Making Comics by Scott McCloud

Click here for Scott McCloud's page.

Scott McCloud is the author of Understanding Comics, a book I've never read, but have wanted to for quite some time. I'm positive we can all agree that the more we know about the Comic Books the better of we'll be. Well, McCloud has a new book out, Making Comics, which seems to be even more related to our topic of study.

If I'm good, I'll pick these book up. I suggest you do as well.

UPDATE: I was at Borders and I saw McCloud's Understanding Comics. I picked it up and read the first 10 pages. Based off of those 10 pages I have this to say: Scott McCloud is a brilliant writer with a great sense of what makes a comic book work. His ideas are insightful and well thought out, and the way in which he conveys those ideas easy to grasp. This is a must read.

As soon as I get some extra income, I will be buying Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Writing Comics.

A Pro Speaks: Multiple Pros

From Atomic Comics:

State of the Industry, Part One

An interesting Year in Review from some of the Industry's leaders.

Sample Scripts: Joe Edkin - Various Titles

Found HERE are sample scripts posted on Joe Edkin's web page.

Be aware that there is no single industry standard for the formatting of plots and scripts. Every writer and every editor seems to have their own variations on the theme.

You can find samples of eight different titles here.

For my own writing I use a variation of the script you'll find in the "Father's Day" titles. The script format I use is from a course Joe Kubert wrote up for Wizard Magazine some time ago. I don't recall the issue number. I'll post more info if I find it.

A Pro Speaks: Heroes' Jesse Alexander

From Wizard Universe:

Because Tim is not a comic book guy. He’s never read a comic book. He’s not that guy at all, and so he approaches this from an incredibly open, real-world, naturalistic, humanistic way that touches that broad audience. Whereas someone like myself, or some of the other guys on the show, if we had tried to create this show it would’ve been something completely different. It would’ve been a disaster. It would’ve been guys running around in costumes and blasting each other with lasers every day. It would’ve been a completely different animal.

I don't want to agree with this. Because I am such a huge fan of comic books, and because I do have a strong desire to see the medium succeed and prosper. Though I understand his point, to me, costumes and lasers are fun.

Introduction

Welcome.

My goal is to learn how to write Comic Books, well, and to share that information with you, whoever you might be. I’m going to scour the internet for information pertaining to the craft and compile it here; hopefully in an organized and readily accessible manner.

While we’re here, I’ll be talking about the industry as a whole. My focus is writing and publication, but it shouldn’t hurt to have a strong knowledge of current events and trends.

However, I’m going to need your help. I can’t know everything as soon as it happens. E-Mail me, post here, keep information flowing. It should be to the benefit of all.

I sincerely hope this is as helpful to you as it is to me. And by that I mean, I hope it is very helpful to us all.

-Jeff