The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

224

Transcript of The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Page 1: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics
Page 2: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics
Page 3: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

WATSON-GUPTILLPUBLICATIONS/NEWYORK

Page 4: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Thematerialinthisbookwasfirstpublishedinprintin2001.IthasbeenreissuedineBookformat,

withnoeditorialchanges,in2013.

Copyright©2001byDCComics(printedtion)

Copyright©2013byDCComics(eBookedition)

Allrelatedcharactersandelementsaretrademarksofand©DCComics.

WBSHIELD:TM&©WarnerBros.EntertainmentInc.

(s13)

ForWatsonGuptillPublications:

SeniorAcquisitionsEditor:CandaceRaney

Editor:JacquelineChing

ProductionManager:HectorCampbell

CoverandInteriorDesign:KapoNg

CoverIllustration:NealAdamsandDickGiordano

ForDCComics:

SeniorEditor:SteveKorté

ManagingEditor:TrentDuffy

AssociateEditor:JayeGardner

Firstpublishedin2001byWatsonGuptillPublications,

CrownPublishingGroup

adivisionofRandomHouse,Inc.,NewYork

www.crownpublishing.com

www.watsonguptill.com

LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataAvailable

eISBN:978-0-77043455-7

Allrightsreserved.

Page 5: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

v3.1

Page 6: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’ve learned from dozens of people, perhaps hundreds. I wish I couldrememberandacknowledgeeveryoneofthem.ButIcan’t.Below,afewwhoIcanrememberandwhosehelphasbeenparticularlyvaluableinpreparingthisbook.

In no particular order: Scott Peterson, Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Devin K.Grayson, Stan Lee, Julius Schwartz, Greg Rucka, Darren Vincenzo, AlanGrant, Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, Lawrence O’Neil, Joe Illidge, KelleyPuckett,Will Eisner, Larry Hama, Jack C. Harris, Mark Gruenwald, DickGiordano,PaulLevitz,ArchieGoodwinand,asalways,Mari.

Althoughyoumaynotbeawareofit,youhelpedmewritethesepagesandI’mgratefultoyouall.

Page 7: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

CONTENTS

CoverTitlePageCopyrightAcknowledgments

IntroductionbyStanLee

PARTONE

•WhatareComics?

•Full-ScriptVersusPlot-First

•StoryStructure

•CreatingDrama

•Subplots

•Characterization

•ScriptPreparation

Page 8: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

PARTTWO

•Miniseries

•GraphicNovels

•Maxiseries

•OngoingSeries

•StoryArcs

•TheLevitzParadigm

•Megaseries

•Adaptations

•Continuity

•Denouement

APPENDIX

•WritingHumorComicsbyMarkEvanier

•TheComicBookWriter’sLibrary

Page 9: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

AbouttheAuthor

•Index

Page 10: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

INTRODUCTION

I knowof no onemore qualified towrite a book aboutwriting for comicsthanDennyO’Neil—andhey,Iknowalotofpeople.OneofthemostimpressivethingsaboutDenny(nobodycallshimDennis

except thosewhodon’t likehim, and theydon’t exist) is the fact that he’sdone it all. In addition tohis comicbookwritingandediting,he’spennedshort stories and articles for such a wide variety of publications asGentlemen’s Quarterly, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, New York, TheVillageVoiceandPublishersWeekly,amongcountlessothers.Now you’d think that would be enough for any writer, right? Wrong!

Dynamic Denny has also had five teleplays produced, done comic bookversionsofthefourBatmanmovies,andistheauthorofseveralnovelsandnonfiction books. His book, Knightfall, published by Bantam, whichconverted 1,162 pages of comic book continuity in a hardcover novel,became a national bestseller—duringwhich timeDenny also assisted BBCRadiowithanadaptationofthebook’sstoryline.Icouldgoonandon,andsinceI’msuchabigfanofhis,Iwill.Proving he knows whereof he writes (not that any additional proof can

possibly be needed), he has taughtwriting at the School of Visual Arts inManhattanandlecturedatdozensofcollegesanduniversities.Infact,bythetimeyoureadtheseimperishablewords,he’llprobablyhavestartedteachinghiscourseincomicsatSarahLawrenceCollege.So,whenDynamicDennytellsyouhowitis,youcantakethattothebank,

Bunky—that’showitis!ButeverythingIhavetosayaboutDennyisn’tgood.Here’sthebadpart…In the 1960s he worked at Marvel Comics as my editorial assistant. He

wrote and edited a lot of great stuff for us, but then, I guess because hefiguredDCComicsneededhimmore thanwedid,he leftourbullpenandendedupatthebastionofBatman,theshrineofSuperman,andthegateofthe Green Lantern. To clobber you with an old cliché, our loss wasmostdefinitelyDC’sgain.ButthethingsI’veenumeratedsofararejustfactsandstatistics.I’dliketo

Page 11: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

giveyouaninsightintotherealDennyO’Neil,tohelpyourealizewhyhe’ssoeminentlyqualifiedtowriteabooklikethis.Oneprimeexamplecomestomind.In1970Dennywroteoneofhismany

exciting Green Lantern scripts. It was issue #76, and it was destined tobecomeatrueclassic.IllustratedbythegiftedNealAdams,thestoryplothadtheGreenLanterntalkingtoablackmanintheghettoofalargecity.Itwasthere that Denny penned a passagewhich has been quoted and requoted,printedandreprintedcountlesstimesincountlesslanguages;apassagethatso clearly proves why Denny O’Neil is one of the finest writers in comicbooks—orindeed,inanytypeofbooks.Nottokeepyouinsuspenseanylonger,Dennyhastheblackmansaying

to theGreen Lantern, “I been readin’ about you… how youwork for theblue skins … and how on a planet someplace you helped out the orangeskins…andyoudoneconsiderablefor thepurpleskins!Onlythere’sskinsyouneverbotheredwith–!…theBlackskins!Iwanttoknow…howcome?!Answermethat,Mr.GreenLantern!!”TheGreenLanterncanonlyreply,“I…can’t…”In a few short sentences, Dennymanaged to say volumes.With quotes

such as those and the many, many other thought-provoking tales he haswritten,Dennyhelped to lift comicsoutof thecategoryof“littlekidstuff”and endow themwith substance and intelligence, thus bringing them intotherealmoftrueliterature.Well,ifIkeeplaudinghimsomuchyoumightthinkI’mtryingtosellyou

something.Although,cometothinkofit,IguessIam.I’mtryingtosellyouonthefactthatDennyO’Neilisoneofthefinestpractitionersofhisart.He’sa writer’s writer, a professional’s professional, and for those of you whogenuinelywant to learnhowcomicsarewritten,youcouldn’t findabetterguide.Infact,I’mgonnaendthisexoticlittleessayrightnowbecauseIcan’twait

tojoinyouinreadingthepagesthatfollow.So let’s both get to the good stuff, secure in the knowledge that with

DennyO’Neilatthehelm,we’reinverygoodhands.Excelsior!

StanLee

Page 12: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

PARTONE

Page 13: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Here’swhatI’dlikeyoutodoforme:Makemelaugh.Makemecry.Tellmemyplaceintheworld.Liftmeout

ofmyskinandplacemeinanother.ShowmeplacesIhavenevervisitedandcarrymetotheendsoftimeandspace.Givemydemonsnamesandhelpmetoconfrontthem.DemonstrateformepossibilitiesI’veneverthoughtofandpresentmewithheroeswhowillgivemecourageandhope.Easemysorrowsand increase my joy. Teach me compassion. Entertain and enchant andenlightenme.Tellmeastory.That’s what this book is about—the telling of stories in an odd and

wonderful form called “comics.” In the pages that follow, I’ll discuss thewritingofcomicbooks.I’llexplain,aswellasIcan,everythingI’velearnedinoverthirtyyearsofdoingthiswork,bothasawriterandaneditor,withthe hope that when you finally reach the end you’ll have everything youneedtobeginproducingsuccessfulscripts.Andthenyou’llbeacomicbookwriter?Well, no. I can’t teach you to be a writer—of comics or anything else.

WhatIcantrytodoisgiveyoutricksandtechniquesthatwouldhavebeenuseful tome when I was struggling withmy first assignments. After that,you’ll be at the beginning.Then, bywriting andwriting andwriting somemore,you’llgraduallybegintoteachyourself,andthereallearningprocesswillstart.Ifyou’relucky,itwillneverend.Andifyoudiscoverthat“writingandwritingandwritingsomemore”isunbearablytedious,youmaydecidethisisnotaneffortyoushouldbemaking.Thatkindofinformationcanbeatreasure.Beforewedelveintothosetricksandtechniques,itmightbeusefultoask

abasicquestion.Ourgoal,remember,istotellstories.So,justexactlywhatisastory?Hereisthebestone-sentencedefinitionI’veeverfound:

Astoryisstructurednarrativedesignedtoachieveanemotionaleffect,demonstrateaproposition,orrevealcharacter.

Keepthat inmind;we’llreturnto itoften.Butnow, let’saskanotherbasicquestion.

Page 14: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

WHATARECOMICS?

They are not a collection of words and images printed on the same page.(That’s what illustrated books are.) To be a comic book, those words andimages must work together as parts of speech work together in a normalEnglishsentence.Thinkofcomicsasalanguagecomprisedoftwoseparateandvastlydifferentelementsusedintandemtoconveyinformation.Tobeagood comics writer, you must be, or become, as fluent in this hybridlanguageasyouareinyourmothertongue.Writing comics is a bit like writing poetry; you’ve got to adapt your

thoughtstoafairlyrigidformanduseitsofluentlythatreadersareunawareofitsartificiality.Beforewediscussthewordspartofthewords-and-picturesalliance,let’s

lookat thebasic “vocabulary”ofour language—termswhichapplyonly tocomics.

Page 15: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ComicBookTerminology

Storypageorpage:Onecomicbookpage,whichmaybemoreor less thanonemanuscriptpage.

Manuscriptpage:Pageinyourscript.

Splashpage:Usually the first page,with one or two images, incorporatingtitle, logo (if any), credits, other such information.Placing the splashpagelaterinthestory,onpagetwo,three,orevenfour,isbecomingcommon.Itis aquestionablepracticebecause, in themindsof some readers, the storydoesntreallystartuntil they’vereadpastthecreditsandtitle.Once,alongtimeago,Iusedalotofpagetwosplashes.InowwishIhadn’t.Ididitforthesakeofnovelty,andthat’snotasufficientlygoodreason.Ifatechniquehasnodirect,discerniblenarrativebenefit,questionit,hard;usingitmightnotbedoingyouraudienceanyfavors.If therewillbemore thanonestory in the issue, it’saverygood idea to

treatthesplashpageasasecondcover,featuringthecharacter’sname/logo,titleandcreditstosignalthereaderthatheorsheisintoanewstory.(Infact,that’salmostcertainlywhythesplash-pageconventionbegan.Onceuponatime,believeitornot,allcomicshadmorethanonestory.)Theterm“splashpage”isoftenmisusedwhenawriterreallymeansafull-

pageshot.

Full-pageshot:Onepage,onepicture.

Page 16: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Withthisold-fashionedsplashpage,abitcopy-heavy,theintentionwastosetamoodratherthandrawthereaderdirectlyintotheaction.Thisapproachmakesthesplash,ineffect,asecondcoverandisespeciallyusefulwhenthecomiccontainsmorethanonestory.FromDetectiveComics#457.

Panel: One box (which is what some older writers called it). Usually, onepicture,alsoknownasashot.

Shot:Onepicture,butwithconnotationofthecontentofpicture,thewayitis composed, etc. More an aesthetic/storytelling term. Terms used to

Page 17: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

describea shot includecloseup, long shot,mediumshot, extremecloseup,etc.

While we’re on the subject of panels and shots: One of themost obviousbeginners’mistakesisalsooneofthemostcommon,thatofaskingtheartisttodrawtwoormoreactionsinasinglepanel.Sincethat’simpossible,it’snotagoodideatoaskyourpencillertodoit.Usingspeedlinesandmulti-imageshots(discussedbelow)youcansuggestmovementandmultipleactionsbutthesedevicesaresomewhatawkward,perhapsbestusedsparingly.

Page 18: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

MarkWaid’sscriptforKingdomCome#2providesclear,conciseshotdescriptionsandstill,asinpanelthree,givestheartistsomelatitudeininterpretation.ArtbyAlexRoss.(1)

Page 19: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 20: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Speech balloon,word balloon or balloon: The thing containingwords thatletsthereaderknowwhatthecharacterissaying.

Page 21: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Pointer or tail: The thing that sticks out from the balloon and points towhichevercharacteristalking.

Page 22: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Thoughtballoon:Ascallopedballoonthatindicatesthecharacteristhinking,rather than speaking aloud. (Early comics did this by putting some of thewords in theballoon inparentheses.) Insteadofpointers, thoughtballoonshave little bubbles trailing from the balloon to the general vicinity of thecharacter’shead.

Page 23: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Burst: A balloon with jagged edges to indicate volume/stress orbroadcast/telephonetransmission.Alsocalledelectricorelectricballoon.

Page 24: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Whisperballoon:Aballoonwhoseoutline isbroken intosmalldashes; thisindicatesthatthecharacteriswhispering.Anotherwaytoindicateawhisper,oralowvoice,istodiminishthesizeofthelettering.

Page 25: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Caption:Asentenceorsentencefragmentthatappearsinthepanel,butnotin a balloon. Usually, captions are enclosed in a rectangle or box and,although they are usually at the top of the panel, they can be insertedanywhereintheshot.Theyareusedtoindicateashiftintimeand/orplace,asavehiclefortheauthor’somniscientcommentsorasfootnotes.Recently,thought balloons have lost their popularity andwriters are using, instead,captions which indicate the character’s inner voice, often with the wordsitalicized.Captionsgenerallyseemtoworkbestwhenthey’rewritteninthepresenttense.I’mnotsurewhy:maybebecausethepictures—theotherhalfof the comics “language”—give a sense of immediacy to the narrative thatwouldclashwithpast-tenseprose.

Page 26: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Herethewriterusescaptionsinsteadofthoughtballoonstoindicatethecharacter’sthoughts.FromAzrael#36.ScriptbyDennisO’Neil.ArtbyRogerRobinsonandJamesPascoe.

Page 27: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

FromShowcase#4.WrittenbyRobertKanigheranddrawnbyCarmineInfantino.

Page 28: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Story:Oneissue’sworthofnarrativethatfitsthestorydefinition.

Story arc: A story that takes several issues to tell.We borrowed this termfromourtelevisionbrethren.

Graphic novel: A long story, usually in special format—bigger pages, hardcovers, better printing. Graphic novels, if they’re done well, have greatercomplexityandscopethanone-issuestories.

Miniseries: Another video-spawned term, this refers to a title that has apredeterminednumberofissues.Similarly:Maxiseries.

Flashback:Thedramatizationofaneventthatoccurredearlierthanthemainactionofthestory.Inotherwords,showingsomethingthathappenedinthestory’s“past.”Flashbacksareoverusedand,Ithink,generallytobeavoided.Twocaveatsaboutthem:First:Gointoflashbacksonlywhenthelogicofthestorydemandsthem—whenacharacterneedstorecallsomethingthathasadirectbearingonwhat’shappeningtohim,forexample.(TheoldKungFutelevisionseriesmadeflashbacksaregularfeatureandusedthemsuperbly,toshowthehero’searly lifeasaBuddhistmonkand, inevitably,howwhathe learned at the monastery bore on whatever problem he was facing.)Never,neverstickaflashbackintoastoryarbitrarily.Second:Becertainthatthe reader understands that you’re doing a flashback. Err on the side ofbeingridiculouslyclear.Usepasttensecaptions.Callforspecialcoloringandscallopedpanelborders.Iftheflashbackisbeingnarrated,youcanevenaskfor small head shots of the narrator to appear in the captions—a cornydevice,maybe,butonethatinsuresabsoluteclarity.

Story spine: Screenwriter William Goldman, who introduced me to thisterm, says it is, simply,what the story is about.Put another, slightlymorecomplicated way, it is the sequence of events leading to the inevitableconclusion.Anyeventthathasnothingtodowithreachingthatconclusioncanbesaidtobe“offthespine.”

There’sanotherdevicepeculiartocomicsthatI’dliketomentionhere,butIdon’tknowwhattocallit—itdoesn’thaveanacceptedlabel.Thisistheuseof symbols-as-words, a kind of visual shorthand. Thought balloons are a

Page 29: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

pretty good example—the scalloped edges tell the reader, withoutexplanation from the writer, that the character is not voicing the words.Someotherfamiliarexamples:

Speedlines:Theseindicatemotion.

Radiation lines: These show that an object is hot or radioactive or that acharacterisexperiencingemotionalagitation.

FromTheFlash#162.ArtabovebyPaulPelletierandDougHazelwood.

Light bulb:When a light bulb appears over a character’s head it indicatesthatheorshehasjusthadanidea—abrightidea,ofcourse,whichiswhythecharacterisalmostalwaysgrinning.Theinspirationallightbulbwasonceastaple ofhumor comics, but it hasn’t beenusedmuch, if at all, in the lastcoupleofdecades.

Multi-image: Thismeans exactly what it says—several images of the samecharacterwithinonepanel to trace thepath thecharacterhas taken in theshotand,often,toindicatethatthecharacterisperformingseveralkindsofactionsinashorttime.Usually,onlythelastimageintheseriesappearsinfull color; the others are rendered in lighter colors, indicating that thoseimagesshowhowthecharacterappearedasecondortwoago.

Page 30: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

MultipleimagesoftheScarletSpeedsterfromTheFlash#179.WrittenbyCaryBatesandillustratedbyRossAndruandMikeEsposito.

Typography:Byvaryingthestyle,size,anddensityof lettering, it’spossibletosuggestdifferentkindsofspeech.Tomymind’sear,THISISASHOUT,THIS IS A WHISPER, this is a line spoken tensely, this word is spoken withemphasis,abitlouderthannormal.Once,itwasstandardpracticeforeditorstomakeseveralwordsineachballoonbold,sometimeswithoutregardtothecontentofthedialogue.Theideawastoprovidethereaderwitheyecandy—tovarythepresumedmonotonyofordinarylettering.Theremayhavebeena bit of validity in that theory but only, I think, a bit; and when illogicalwordswereemphasizedthepracticemayhaveslightlydamagedtheliteraryandnarrativequalityofthework.

Page 31: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Thelargertypeintheballoonatrightistheequivalentofshouting.FromJLA#44.ScriptbyMarkWaidandartbyHowardPorterandDrewGeraci.

Before wemove on to actual scripting, allowme a few lines of digressionwhichmaybeusefulifyouwanttoconvinceyourmorelearnedfriendsthatcomicsareprettydarnintellectual,bygolly.Tellthemthatcomicsaren’tjustfrivolous entertainment—no sir, comics are a semiotic entity. Semiotics,accordingtothebestprimeronthesubjectIknowof,is“simplytheanalysisof signs or the study of the functioning of sign systems.” So we can nowrefineourpreviousdefinition.Towit:Comicsareanarrative formusingasystem of signs and images combinedwith conventionalwritten language.That’llimpress’em.

We’renotquitedonewithdefinitions.(Actually,therearealottocome,butI promise that they’ll be painless.) Those of you who are new to comics

Page 32: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

should know what we call the various creative people involved in theproductionofacomicbook.So:

Writer:Ah,you’reaheadofme.Thewriter,ofcourse,iswhatyouwanttobeifyou’rereadingthis,thepersonwhoplotsthestoryandproducedthescriptwhichtellsthatstory.Sometimes—quiteoften,infact—thewriterisalsothepenciller.Heorshecanbetheinker, theletterer,orthecolorist,butthesecross-disciplinesarerelativelyrare.

Penciller:Thefirstpartoftheartteam.Thepersonwhodrawsthepicturesinpencil. Pencillers share with writers the primary storytelling chores. Thefinishedpencilsaresenttothewriteroreditorforplacementofthedialogueballoons.

Inker:TheartistwhoaddsIndia ink to thepenciledpictures tomakethemeasytoprint.Theinkerdoesalotmorethangooverpencillineswithapenorbrush.Inkersaddtexture,shading,shadows.Ifapanelhastheillusionofdepth,orconvincesyouthatthesceneishappeningatnight,orthefiguresinitareconvincinglythree-dimensional,thanktheinker.

Letterer:Thepersonwholettersthecopyanddrawstheballoons,captions,andoutlinesthepanelsinIndiaink.

Colorist:Whenpenciller,inker,andlettererhavedonetheirwork,theentirejob is photographically reduced to comic book-page size—6 1/2 by 10 1/4inches—andgiventothelastofthecreativepersonnel,acoloristwhousesaform of watercolor to bring the story to multi-hued life. In recent years,many colorists do their work on computers, which eliminates the need toreduce thepagephotographically—theart issimplyscanned, thengiven tothecoloristasadigitalfile.Thisultra-modernmethodiseasieranditgivesthecoloristamuchlargernumberofoptions.

Page 33: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ThestagesofcreatingapagefromSuperman:ManofTomorrow#10.PencilsbyPaulRyan.ScriptbyStern.InksbyBrettBreeding.(1)

Page 34: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 35: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(3)

Page 36: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(4)

Page 37: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(5)

Page 38: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

FULL-SCRIPTVERSUSPLOT-FIRST

Thewriting of comic books does not contradict the rule which states thatthere is seldom one absolute, inarguable, unimpeachably right way to doanything.Iknowofnotwogoodwriterswhosescriptslookthesame.So there isnorightway?No.Theway thatworks is the rightway.Your

pages may be vastly different from mine, but if they do the job, they’reperfectlysplendid.Andwhat job is that?Just this: tellingyourstoryasclearlyaspossible. I

emphasize clearly because one of the recurring and embarrassingly validcriticisms of modern comic books, particularly the adventure and fantasytitles,isthatthey’reextremelydifficulttounderstandonthemostbasiclevel.Sometimes,itmightbeeasiertobreezethroughyourlittlesister’sdog-earedcopyofFinnegan’sWakethantounderstandwhytheguyinthepurplecapeis bashing the guy in the orangemask.Andwhat is the guy in the purplecape’sname?Who’sbehindtheorangemask?Whereon(oroff) theEarthare they?What year is this?What century? If the writer and artists havedonetheirjobs,thereaderwillbefedtheanswerstothesequestionswithouteverrealizingit.Thetechnicaltermforgivingreadersinformationnecessaryto understand the story is exposition andwe’ll return to it shortly. At themoment,we’reconcernedwith themechanicsofpresenting thewordsandpictures. Fail at these andnothing, including the niftiest exposition in thehistoryofnarrative,willhaveanymeaningfortheaudience.Therearetwokindsofformats(withdozensofvariations)forgettingyour

story to your artistic collaborators and, eventually, to the reader. At DCComics,whereIwork,wecallthem“plot-first”and“full-script.”

Page 39: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Plot-First

This method was devised in the early sixties by Marvel Comics’ founder,guru,guiding light, andeternal inspiration,StanLee,who taughtallofuswhohavecomeafterhimalot,includinghiswayofputtingastorydownonpaper. When Stan was creating Marvel, he was writing the entire line ofmagazinesvirtuallyalone—aboutfourteensuperherotitles,somewesterns,somehumorbooks,andoccasionaloddprojectsthatdon’tcategorizeeasily.He was also editing all of the above, writing ad copy, supervising a staff,doingradiointerviews,assemblingletterspages,conferringwithartists,andattendingpublishingmeetings.(Idon’tknowifhewassleeping.Maybenot.)Hesimplydidn’thavetimetowritefullscripts.So,instead,hegavehispencillersaplot—afewparagraphsoutliningthe

basicsofthestory.Theartisttookthisoutlinetohisdrawingboardanddrewthe125orsopanelsthattoldthestoryvisually.Thosepencildrawingswerereturned to Stan,who thenwrote the captions and dialogue and drew theballoons, captions, and sound effects onto the artwork in a blue line thatdoesn’tphotograph.Theartworkwasnextsenttoaletterer,andthentotheinker,and, finally, to thecolorist.Working like this,StancoulddoseveraldifferentissuesofdifferenttitlesvirtuallysimultaneouslyandthusmaintainhisHerculeanschedule.In Marvel’s early years, plots were pretty sketchy affairs, seldom more

than a page or two of typing, and sometimes less. Stan was working withbrilliant artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, superb visual storytellerswithdecadesofexperiencewhoneitherrequirednorwantedalotofdetail.(Eventually, I’ve heard, Stan dispensed with plots altogether whencollaboratingwithMessrs.KirbyandDitko;abriefconversationwasallthateitherofthemneeded.)Today,manywriterspresenttheirartistswithplotsthat aremanypages long,with every important detail literally spelled out.Often, awriterwill break the plot down to pages, and even to panels; theexcellentand industriousDougMoenchhasbeenknowntodoplotswhicharelongerthanthefinal,printedcomicbook.That’sthe“plot-first”method,anditisstillpreferredbymanywriters,for

Page 40: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

reasonsthatwe’lldiscusslater.

Page 41: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

DougMoench’splotforGreenLantern:DragonLordgivestheartistalotoffairlydetailedinformationandevenincorporatessomedialogue.PencilsbyPaulGulacyandinksbyJoeRubenstein.(1)

Page 42: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 43: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(3)

Page 44: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(4)

Page 45: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics
Page 46: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

FromAzrael#1.ScriptbyDennisO’NeilandartbyJoeQuesadaandJimmyPalmiotti.

Page 47: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Full-Script

Writers who choose the full-script method produce manuscripts thatresemblemovieandtelevisionscripts.Although,asImentionedpreviously,almosteverywriterIknowusesadifferentformat,thebasicsarealwaysthesame: Each page contains descriptions of the visual content of the panels,followed by captions, labeled—big surprise here—“caption,” and then bywhat the character is saying or, in the case of thought balloons, thinking;thesearelabeledwiththecharacter’sname.Itisessentialthatthewriteralsoindicate each comic book page; this is usually done by typing thatinformationbeforethefirstpanelofthepage.Noteanimportantdifference:Comic book pages contain all the visual and verbal information that willappearonagivenpageinthefinalprintedmagazine.Manuscriptpagesarethepiecesofpaperonwhichthisinformationappears.(It’sniceifthesearegiven numbers, too, in case the manuscript gets dropped or scrambledduringaninjaattackorblowsoutawindoworgetsmixedupforsomeotherreason.)Sowhichisbetter,plot-firstorfull-script?Remembertherulementioned

earlier: there is seldomoneabsolute, inarguable,unimpeachably rightwaytodoanything.“Right”iswhatevergetsthejobwelldone.But each method does have its strengths and weaknesses. Let’s briefly

examinethem.

Page 48: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

AdvantagesofWritingFullScripts

Let’stakethembythenumbers:

Thewriterhasfullcontrolofthestory.Hedeterminesthepacing,whichis something that might concern the writer more than the artist. The

writer can be certain that all the plot elements are represented in theartwork. (Occasionally—just occasionally—a penciller will become soinvolvedinmakingwonderfulpictures,ordrawingwhathelikes,thathe’llforgetaboutpartsthatmaybequiet,buthavetobepresentifthestoryistomake sense. When you see a story loaded with captions that explain themotivesof the charactersordescribeevents that aren’t in the story, this isprobablywhathappened.)

Thewritercanimproveonhisoriginalidea.Sometimes,inthemiddleofwritinga script, awriter thinksof away toenhance theplothebegan

with. If he’s working plot-first, he’s stuck with something he thought ofdays,weeks,orevenmonthsearlier.Writing full script,hecan lethisnewinspirationaddlustertohisreaders’lives.

This one is a bit sticky, but I shouldmention it anyway.Writing fullscripts,thewriterisnotrelyingonanyoneelsetogethisjobdone.Ifthe

penciller is, for some reason, late, the writer is not forced to wait for thepages to arrive. His deadlines are his own, to meet or ignore (if he’s anirresponsibleno-goodnik),andnothiscollaborator’s.

A final suggestion: Some writers—I was once among their number—sketchasuggestedpagelayoutinthemarginsoftheirmanuscripttopromptartists into being aware that not all panels should be of equal size.We’lldiscusswhylater.

Page 49: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ScriptbyChuckDixonandartbyPeteWoodsandJesseDellperdangforRobin#83.(1)

Page 50: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 51: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ThisscriptbyScottMcCloudforSupermanAdventures#2givesusagoodexampleofawriterprovidingtheartistwithasuggestedlayout.ArtbyRickBurchettandTerryAustin.(1)

Page 52: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 53: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

AdvantagestoPlot-First

Again,bythenumbers:

The writer can cover omissions in copy. Even working full-script,pencillerssometimesforgettoputthingsin.Ifthathappenswhentheart

exists before the script, the writer can do the necessary exposition indialogueor those talkycaptions Imentionedearlier. If ithappensworkingfull-script,thestoryisusuallycompromised—dumbeddownabit.

Thewriter canbe inspiredby something in the art.This is the reasonmany good writers chose to work plot-first. An expression on a

character’sface,abitofbodylanguage,somethinginthebackground—anyof these can suggest clever lines, characterization, even plot twists thatimprovethefinalproduct.

Lazywriterscanletpencillersdotheirworkforthem.Areallyfineartistwill handle somewriting chores—pacing is the obvious one—and add

interestingtouchesoftheirownwhilehonoringtheplot,allowingthewritertotakecreditforbrilliancehemightnotreallypossess.Or,atleast,quitworkearly.

I won’t presume to suggest which method you should use. If you’reworking in commercial comics, you may not have a choice, especially ifyou’re a beginner; the editor—the tyrant—will tell youwhat your favoritemethodis,andyou’llagreewithhimifyouwantanotherassignment.Andifhedoesn’t?You’llhavetolearnforyourselfhowyoudoyourbeststuff.Remember:Thewaythatworksisthebestway.Beforewe leave this topic, Iwant tomake you aware of a variation that

combinestheplot-firstmethodwithfull-scriptmethod,onesometimesusedbythoseluckyindividualswhocanbothwriteanddraw.Ifirstsawitintheworkofthelate,tremendouslytalented,andmuchmissedArchieGoodwin.During theearlyyearsofArchie’scareer,hewouldbeginbysketchingoutanentirestoryontypingpaperandthenwritehisscriptonotherpiecesof

Page 54: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

paper. This allowedhim to control both the visual and verbal pacing, andproducesomesuperbcomicbooks.Ifyou’reanartist-writer,youmaywanttoexperimentwithArchie’smethod.Iwas exposed to yet another variationwhen Iworked in the late sixties

with Sergio Aragones and Nick Cardy on a western titled Bat Lash. Thestories were “written” by Sergio in a kind of visual shorthand. He wouldrendertheplot inhis inimitablecartoonstyleontypingpaper.NickCardy,working fromSergio’s cartoons, thendrew the job on artboardwhichwasgiventometogothelastlittledistancebywritingdialogueandcaptions.

Page 55: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Inthelate1960s,artistsSergioAragonesandNickCardycombinedtheirgraphictalentsonBatLash.

Page 56: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

STORYSTRUCTURE

Onceupona time, in thenot-too-distantpast,“structure”wasawordyoudidn’theararoundcomicbookoffices,atleastnotinconnectionwithwritingscripts.NordoIremembereverhearingitmentionedinmycollegecreativewriting courses.Yet filmwriters consider it—pardon thepun—paramount.(WilliamGoldman,ofButchCassidyandtheSundanceKidfame,saysthatstructureisthewriter’smostimportantcontributionandsometimeshisonlycontribution; his words will probably be changed by other writers, or thedirector, or the actors, but the framework on which the story is builtgenerallysurvivesuntilthemovieisonascreensomewhere.)Below, I’ve done a quick-and-dirty listing of the most basic kinds of

structuresusedincomics.First,though,acoupleofcaveatsthatapplytoallstructures and every kind of story construction. Consider these notcommandments,butsuggestions:verystronglywordedsuggestions.Knowtheendofthestorybeforeyouwritethebeginning.Youmaygeta

betterideahalfwaythroughthework,andrethinkyourplot,but,unlessyouareveryexperienced indeed,orenjoymassive rewriting,you shouldbeginby knowingwhat you’reworking toward.You should alsohave an idea ofhowmanypagesyou’llneedandcommunicatethisinformationtotheeditorifthepage-countisnotpartoftheassignment.When possible, start with the status quo. Show your protagonist in a

“normal” state, even if he’s Captain Wonderful and “normal” for him isliving ina lavapitonJupiterandbeing themightiestman in theuniverse.Stories are, one way or another, about change, an alteration in someordinary state of existence; it is, therefore, logical that they must show achangefromsomethingtowhateversituationprovidesthestory’sconflicts.If, forreasonsofspaceorotherrestrictions,youcan’tdramatize thestatusquo,atleasttrytosuggestit.

Page 57: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

AclassiccliffhangerfromJLA#44.ScriptbyMarkWaidandartbyHowardPorterandDrewGeraci.(1)

Page 58: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 59: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

One-Damn-Thing-After-AnotherStructure

Youwon’tfindthisterminanytextbookorlexicon;Imadeituptolabelthestructureoften found in early comics, andone thatwriters sometimes stilluse, not always to the benefit of theirwork. Itmayhave been inspired bythose Saturday-afternoonmovie serials that a lot of future comics writersattended when they were kids. If you’re younger than fifty, you’ve neverseena serial ina theater,butyoumayhaveseenone,orpartofone,onaclassicmovieTVchannelorrentedonefromavideostore.Whathappensis,the good guy(s) and the bad guy(s) have a series of encounters, usuallyviolent, that end indecisively until the forces of righteousness prevail andsomebody who sneers a lot is either trundled off to the hoosegow orperishes. Sometimes what they’re fighting over changes, but the essentialconflictdoesn’t;twopowerfulantagonistsbasheachotherandthenoblerofthemeventuallywins.Thisisnotsophisticatedstuff.Butitcanbeentertaining,atleasttheoretically,providedeachencounter

isinitselfcleverandthewholeprojectmovesalongverybriskly.Butitcanalso be boring, possibly because it does not engage much of the reader’smind.It’sabitlikewatchingadancingbear:cuteashell—forfiveminutes.Ifjustasingleoneofthoseencountersisnotwittyand/orclever,yourreaderswilleitherfindsomethingelsetodoorwilldutifullyplowthroughyourstoryratherthanbeingamusedbyit.IguesswhatI’msayingis,Don’ttrythisathome,kids.I’dliketoofferyouinsteadasimplestructure,oneI’veusedhundredsof

times,that’sasfoolproofasanythinginthewritingbusinesseveris.Icallit(pleaseimagineadrumrollhere):

Page 60: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

O’Neil’sHeavy-Duty,Industrial-StrengthStructureforaSingle-IssueComicBookStory

Thoseofyouwhoarefamiliarwithscreenwritingorplaywritingtechniqueswillnotethatwhatfollowsissimplyaversionofthethree-actstructurethatisstandardprocedureinthoseforms.Ievolvedityearsago,beforeI’deverheardofthenoblethree-actstructure,becausemyearlyeditorswantedalotofactionandusually insistedthat thestorybecomplete inasingle issue.Iacceptnoapplauseforthis:Thethree-actstructureisthemostwidelyusedbecause it is themost logical.Most stories fall into threepartswhetherwewantthemtoornot.Ijustdidwhatcamenaturally.I’ll begin by giving you the structure in outline form and then try to

explainwhatitmeans.

Page 61: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ActI ActII ActIII

Thehook. Developandcomplicatesituation.

Eventsleadingto:

Incitingincident. (Majorvisualaction.) Theclimax.Establishsituationandconflict. Majorvisual

action.(Majorvisualaction.) Denouement.

Page 62: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Inthissplashpage,Batman’sshockedreactiontoAlfred’ssuddencollapsehookstheaudience.

Page 63: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

InthisthirdpageofJLA#43,thecharacter’sreactiontosomethingoff-panelcreatesacompellingquestiontohookthereader.ScriptbyMarkWaid.ArtbyHowardPorterandDrewGeraci.

Page 64: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ActI

TheHook

Twodefinitionsforthis.ThesubmissionguidethatDCComicsusedtosendtowritersdefinesthehookas“theessenceofwhatmakesyourstoryuniqueandnifty.”Icallthatpremise.Inthestructurewe’rediscussing,thehookissomething on the first page—often the splash page—that a) gets the storymovingandb)motivatestheguywho’skillingtimeinacomicshop,casuallypagingthroughabookthatcaughthisattention,tobuyit.Thisisanalogoustothepre-creditsequenceinaJamesBondflick:Theprotagonistisinvolvedinaventurethatisexcitingandinteresting.Butthecomicbookscripter’sjobis trickierthanthatofBond’swriters; theyhavefiveminutestoget the jobdone;comicswritershaveapageor,atbest,two.Sohowdoyouhook ’em?Letmequoteoneof themantrasoftenheard

aroundtheoffice inwhichIcurrentlywork:“Openonaction.”Prettyself-explanatory, huh? Characters doing something, preferably something biganddramatic,willprobablycaptureapotentialreader’sattention.Ifthey’redoing something big and dramatic that poses a question, even better, asyou’lllearninthenextparagraph.Thesecondkindofhook:aquestion.Acharacterisreactinginhorrorto

something the reader can’t see:What is it? A character is opening a box:What’sinside?Hooknumberthree:danger.Inthefifties,JoeKubertdiddozensofcovers

for DC’s so-called war comics in which American soldiers—usually the“battle-happy Joes of Easy Company”—were about to walk into peril thattheycouldn’tseebecausetheenemywaslurkinginaculvertorwasmassedaroundacornerorwasotherwisehiddenfromthebattle-happyJoes.That’sclassic danger hook stuff. A simpler, cruder version might be someoneshooting at a hero, or about to shoot, or an innocent person falling out awindoworfromaplane,oraninnocentmaidenenjoyingabonbonunawarethatDracula’snastyolderbrotheriscominginthewindowbehindher…yougettheidea.

Page 65: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Hooknumberfour:Animagesostrikingthatthereaderhastocontinue.Obviously,youneedanextraordinaryartist toachieve this; it’s reallymorehisjobthanyours.WillEisnermadeithissignatureopeningandmanageditbrilliantlydozensoftimes.But,alas,fewofusareEisners…Ifyourstory is such thatyoucan’topenonaction,oraskaquestion,or

put somebody in jeopardy, or smack the reader in the face with anunforgettablepicture,youcaneithera) rethinkyouropeningorb)at leasthaveacharacterabouttoopenadoor—thereadermaywanttoseewhat’sontheotherside.What you never, never want to do is open on an inanimate object—a

building, for example—unless it is so unusual that, in itself, it excitescuriosity.Peopleareinterestedinpeople,notthings.Youwanttograbtheirattention and, not incidentally, get your story going. Still-lifes, whilesplendidonthewallsofmuseums,arenotthewaytodothat.There’s principle of dramaturgy in general, and screenwriting in

particular,that’sgermanehere:Alwaysstartasceneaslateaspossible.We’llelaborateonthatinabit.

Page 66: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

TheG.I.isinbigtrouble…hedoesn’tknowit,butthereaderdoes.It’sagoodexampleofa“dangerhook.”

Page 67: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

OneofWillEisner’singenioussplashpages.Theartsetsamood,incorporatesthelogo,andisgenerallysoimpressivethatwewanttoreadthestoryitintroduces.

Page 68: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Incit ing incident

This is theevent that causes thehero to react, thatprovides thedangerorpuzzle or task that galvanizes the hero into action. According to RobertMcKee,itiswhat“radicallyupsetsbalanceofforcesinthehero’slife.”Thisis a definition that applies to a lot of Alfred Hitchcock’smovies, those inwhich Jimmy Stewart or Hank Fonda is a more-or-less ordinary guysuddenly faced with a perilous situation. In crime fiction, it is often—surprise!—acrime,usuallyamurder.InthefirstTerminatorflick,itwastheArnold the Android’s appearance in our era. In super hero stories, it isusually, but not always, a threat to the common good—like a geeky madscientistplanningtodeath-rayMetropolisintocinders.Ifthewritercanincorporatetheincitingincidentintothehook,excellent.

Ifnot, ithas toappearearly in thestory,or, if itoccurredbefore thestoryopened,itmustbereferredtoandexplainedassoonaspossible.Thinkofitasthestartinggun.

Page 69: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Nowastedspacehere.AlthoughGrantMorrison’sJLA#34scriptsplashisquiet,itimmediatelypullsthereaderintothestory.ArtbyHowardPorterandJohnDell.

Page 70: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Situationandconfl ict

Answersomequestionsforthereader:Wherearewe?Who’sthegoodguy?What,orwho, ishecombatting?What’satstake?Until theseelementsareestablished, your story is at the starting line. (One of my former bossesinsistedthattheconflicthadtobeestablishednolaterthanpagetwo.That’sa bit extreme because—all together now—there is seldom one absolute,inarguable,unimpeachablyrightwaytodoanything.Butyouriskboringor,worse,losingreadersifyouwaittoolongtolettheminontheconflict.)You should also introduce theMcGuffin as early as possible. Since the

McGuffinisalwaysessentialtotheconflict,you’lldothisnaturallyasyougetyourstorygoing.Sowhat’saMcGuffin?

Page 71: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

JasonTodd,thesecondofBatman’sthreeRobins,won’tlivetoseeanotherbirthday.Thissceneestablishedtheimpulsivenessthateventuallygetshimkilled.ScriptbyJimStarlinandartbyJimAparoandMikeDeCarlo.

Page 72: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

McGuff in

Time for another pesky definition: According to Alfred Hitchcock, whocoinedtheterm,aMcGuffiniswhattheheroandvillainarefightingover—the code, the hidden will, the treasure map, the computer disk whichcontainstheinformationthatwillsavethecity.SaidMr.H.:“Theonlythingthatmatters is that the plans, documents, secretsmust seem to be of vitalimportance to the characters … to the narrator, they’re of no importancewhatever.”If you think, therefore, that you should not expend much brain power

devisingtheMcGuffin,you’rewrong.Althoughitis,tothenarrator,“ofnoimportancewhatever,”itmustbecredible.Iftheconflictisoversomethinginconsequentialorsilly,yourheroisdiminished—whatkindofaherofussesabout trivialities?—and that can seriously dumb down your story. (Theexceptiontothisoccurswhenyouwanttobedumb,orhumorous,orboth.For example, inWoodyAllen’s early and still-hilariousmovieWhat’sUp,Tiger Lily?, the good guys and bad guys vie for the world’s best chickensaladrecipe.)IftheMcGuffinisclever,asitusuallywasinHitchcock’sfilms,you’vegiventhereadersomeaddedenjoyment.Okay. We have our hero, our villain, our conflict/McGuffin. We know

wherewearegeographicallyandhistorically.Wearenowattheendofwhatscreenwriterswouldcall“actone.”

Page 73: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

TheringistheMcGuffininthesepanelsfromSuperman:Lex2000#1.WrittenbyGregRuckaandillustratedbyDwayneTurnerandDannyMiki.

ActII

We should now take the story in a new direction. Something unexpectedhappens, maybe something that involves hero in combat with villain. Ifyou’re writing a super hero story, that something will probably involveaction and a demonstration of what powers and abilitiesmake your superhero super. If you’re not doing super hero stuff, you should still try tosurprise thereaderbycomplicatingyourprotagonist’s lifeor introducinganewproblem/obstacleforhim.Gethimintrouble.Youwanttoconvincethereader that he cannot possibly win. As an old short story writer’s adageadvises:Putyourherooutontheendofalimbandstartsawing.And when you’ve developed the new situation(s) and complication(s)

you’veintroduced,you’reattheendofacttwo.

Page 74: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Thiswouldbea fineplace towrite another action sceneor anotherplotdevelopmentandpreferablyboth.

ActIII

Then,you race for the finish.Call this act three. Inyour remaining space,your hero solves his biggest problems, if not all his problems, vanquishesthreatsandevils,andrestorespeaceandtranquility.It’sniceifallthatleadsto a final confrontation/action scene because then you’ve adhered to theprincipleofrisingactionwhichIhaven’ttoldyouaboutyet,butwill.It’salsonice—somepuristswouldinsistthatitisnecessary—toanswerallquestions:Neverleavethereaderwonderingexactlyhoworwhysomethinghappened.

Denouement

You’reattheendofactthree,andofyourstory.Butdon’ttype“TheEnd”andhit thecomputer’soff switch justyet.Youmightwant to finishwithadenouement.Thisisakindofpostscript,abriefscenethatfollowstheclimaxand eases the reader out of your world. You may use it to answer thatbothersome final question you were forced to leave unanswered in theclimax,orshowhowyourcharactershavebeenchangedbytheiradventures,orindicatewhatwillhappentothemnext.Keepitbrief;itshouldoccupynomorethanapageina22-pagestory.Ifyoufindyourselfwritinga lengthydenouement, rethink your structure. The story’s finished, dammit. Yourreadermay enjoy a bit of additional information, or a final visitwith yourcharacters,butifyou’vedoneyourworkwell,there’sreallyverylittlelefttointerestthem.Yourstoryhasdonesomethingalldramaticformshaveincommon:given

the audience a sense of completion. This is true whether you’ve done acomplete-in-this-issue story or written a part of a continuing saga. Thecharactersmayhave further adventures ad infinitum, but fornow, they’redone.Allquestionsareanswered,all conflicts resolved.Theend.AsTracyUllmansays,“Gohome.”Nowyoucanhitthatoffswitch.Thisis,ofnecessity,oversimplified.Forexample,youneednotintroduce

Page 75: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

complications and action scenes only at the end of acts one and two. Theinternal logic of your story might demand they be put elsewhere, oradditional complications/action scenes be inserted throughout the entirepiece.Ifso,do it.Don’t twistyourplotoutofshape just toconformto theoutline.Butoften,you’llfindthatcomplications/actionscenesfallnaturallyatactendsorbeginnings.There’sanotherwaytothinkaboutconstructingastorythatbearsatleast

afewparagraphs’worthofmention,sinceitwasfavoredbyoneofcomics’greatest storytellers, Carl Barks, who wrote and illustrated hundreds ofexcellentDonaldDuckstoriesfortheDisneyorganizationand,incidentally,createdDonald’smiserlyuncle,ScroogeMcDuck,surelyoneofthecentury’smostmemorable characters.Mr.Barks’snarrative strategy, as explained tointerviewerDonaldAult, remindsme of something the great crime fictionwriterDashiellHammet said somewhere, that thebest plot is theplot thatallowsforthemostgoodscenes.Here’swhatMr.BarkstoldMr.Ault:“…Wealwaystriedtogetagood,interesting,climacticsituationandthen

findareasonfor thatsituation…Itwasagoodwayofmakingstories…tofindagood,bigclimacticgag—avery interestingsituation—andthenbuildeverythinguptothat…”In other words, work backwards and let the story structure emerge

organicallyfromtheincidentsneededtoarriveatyourbigfinish.Withthismethod,thewriterissurethat,atleast,hisstoryisgoingsomewhere.Itdoesnotabsolvethewriterfromconstructinganarrativethatkeepsmoving,hasrising action, concerns interesting characters who behave logically, andfeatures some entertaining incidents before and in addition to the grandclimax.Rather,it’sadifferentprocessforarrivingatthoseelements.

Page 76: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Thedangerispast,butthere’sstillonequestiontobeanswered,andDennisO’NeilanswersitinthisdenouementfromLegendsoftheDarkKnight#100.ArtbyDaveTaylor.

Page 77: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

CREATINGDRAMA

StartingScenes

Youraudiencereallydoesn’twanttoseetheheroparkhiscar,getoutofit,goupsomesteps,checkhismail,openadoor,walkdownahallway,hanguphiscoat,getadrinkofwater,blowhisnose,yawn,sneeze,write“getnosedrops”on the to-do listmagneted tohisrefrigeratorandthensaunter intotheparlorwherewaitsthekillerrobot.TheywanttheconfrontationwithMr.Clanky;that’swhatthestoryisabout.Unlessanyofthatotherstuffwillbeimportantlater,omitit.Theessenceofdrama,andespeciallymelodrama,iscompression. Show only what’s important. So start the scene as late aspossibleandoncethedramaticpointismade,endit.

RisingAction

Whatthismeansisthateachincidentintheplotismoreintense,eachactionbigger,eachdangermoremenacing,eachcomplicationmoredifficult,thanwhatwentbefore.The idea is tobring the readers to anacmeof suspenseandemotionalinvolvementandthenprovidethemwithacatharsis—arelief,usually pretty sudden, from the tension you’ve created. Keep your actionrisingandyouwon’tborereadersandthey’llgettheemotionalsatisfactionawell-toldtaledelivers.Youwon’tborethereader.That’simportant.Ifthere’sonegreat,clammy,

dry-throat,sweaty-palmdreadawritershouldhave—shouldcultivate—itisthat,forthetimeneededtoreadevenasinglesentence,thereaderbebored.Risingactionisoneinsuranceagainstthishappening.

Page 78: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

FromDetectiveComics#472.ScriptbySteveEnglehart.ArtbyMarshallRogersandTerryAustin.CuttingimmediatelyfromDickGraysonemergingfromhisvantoRobinquickensthepaceofthestory.

Page 79: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Inthissequence,theactionrisesasSuperman’sfightwithDoomsdaytakesaturnfortheworse.FromSuperman#75.ScriptbyDanJurgens.ArtbyDanJurgensandBrettBreeding.(1)

Page 80: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 81: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

SuspenseVersusSurprise

Suspense,asmentioned,isanotherwaytoinsureagainstlosingthereader.Adefinitionwouldseemtobeunavoidablehere.Idon’tknowexactlywhereIgot thisone from,but it servedmewellduring theyears Iwas teachingatManhattan’s School of Visual Arts: Suspense is the state or condition ofmental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting decision or outcome,usuallyaccompaniedbyadegreeofapprehensionoranxiety.Suspenseisalmosttheoppositeofsurprise.Areaderinastateofsuspense

knowscrucial facts that thecharacter in thestorydoesn’tandhegenerallyknows them for quite awhile.Hitchcock explained thiswith an imaginarysituation:We’rewatchingtwopeoplechatting,andthereisabombbeneaththetablethey’resittingat.Suddenly,thereisanexplosion.We’resurprisedandstartledandthat’sprettymuchthat.Butifweknowwherethebombis,and the chatters don’t, we fret, wondering if they’ll leave the room or getblowntobits.AsHitchcockexplainedittoFrançoisTruffaut:“Thepublicisawarethatthebombisgoingtoexplodeatoneo’clockandthereisaclockinthedecor.Thepubliccanseethatitisaquartertoone.Intheseconditions,thissameinnocuousconversationbecomesfascinatingbecausethepublicisparticipatinginthescene.Theaudienceislongingtowarnthecharactersonthe screen: “You shouldn’t be talking about such trivialmatters.There’s abombbeneathyouandit’sabouttoexplode.”Surprise has limited entertainment value. Suspense can keep readers

enthralled.Properlyexecuted, itbuildsemotionuntilyou’rereadytograntyourpantingaudiencereleasefromit.Workingwith series characters, as in comics, youcan’t reallyexpect the

audience to worry about whether the hero will survive that damn bomb.They know there will be another issue of the comic book. (An exceptionmightoccuriftheserieswereending,andeveryoneknewit,butdon’tplanonbuildingacareerfromtheinstanceswhenthathappens.)Buttheydon’tknow whether a likable but minor character will live through the deadlyperil.Anotherwaytocreateaformofsuspenseistocausethereaderstowonder

Page 82: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

how the hero will accomplish something. Sure, Captain Wonderful willescapefromthedeathtrap—heisCaptainWonderful,afterall,andhisnameisonthecover.Buthow?He’schainedtoaten-tonobeliskthat’ssunkinaswimming pool full of man-eating guppies and he has a killer case ofindigestionbesides.Howisthecleverwritergoingtogethimoutofthisone?Addanotherelementandyoujustmighthavegenuinesuspense:Cap’nW.isinthatswimmingpooland,ofcourse,he’llfreehimselfbeforehebecomesaguppy entree—but…his saintly grandmother is slowly sliding into a giantcarrotslicerat theGiantHomeAppliancesExhibition.Howonearth is theCap’ngoingtogetoutofthepool,dryhimselfoff,changeclothes,pickupthedry cleaning, and saveGrannywho is sliding intoa carrot slicer at theGHAEwhich,Iforgottomention,isinAustralia.Readerswillbecertain,insome remote part of their psyches, that Cap will succeed, but they’ll bedesperatetolearnhow.Youranswertothatwillconstituteentertainment.A final exampleof suspense:Wedon’t doubt that theherowill best the

villain, but the villain has been so darn cagey, we have no idea how thatlaudable endwill be accomplished.One of television’s great and enduringseries, Columbo, asks the “how” question in virtually every episodeproduced. The structure is always the same: We see some snotty personcommit a perfect murder. The louse seems to have anticipated everycontingency.Thecrimeisfoolproof.Thereappearstobeabsolutelynowaytheshambling,rumpledLieutenantColumbocanuncoverthetruth.Buthedoes,andwesitenthralledaswewatchhimdoit.Thesekindsofscriptsarehardtowrite:Theaudiencemustbeconvincedthatthevillainhasmadenomistake,and thehero’s solutionmustbebothbelievableandclever.But ifthe writer succeeds, as the Columbo writers almost always do, theentertainmentvalueisenormous.

Page 83: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Inthisstory,thereaderisawareofsomethingthatthepassersbyaren’t—thatGreenArrowhasbeenshotinthechest.Thisknowledgecreatessuspense.FromGreenLantern#85.ScriptbyDennisO’Neil.ArtbyNealAdams.(1)

Page 84: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 85: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

TheunveilingofHugoStrangeasBatmancreatessurprise,grabbingthereader’sinterestforthemoment.

Ifyou’repreparedforthelonghaul—thatis,ifyou’reworkingonaseriesandyouhavereasontobelievethatyou’llbeworkingonitforawhile—it’sagoodideatoletyourherofailoccasionally.Heroicfailureisthestuffofgreatdrama,oftheworld’sgreattragedies,andisworthyofyourconsiderationinandof itself. Itallowsyoutoplantdoubt inregularreaders’minds:Maybethistime,Grannywillgetfricasseed.

Page 86: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Theherofails.Badforhim,butgoodforentertainingreaders,whoshouldn’talwaysbeabletopredictastory’sending.FromLegendsoftheDarkKnight#16.ScriptbyDennisO’Neil.ArtbyTrevorVonEeden,RussellBraunandJoséGarcia-Lopez.(1)

Page 87: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 88: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Keepthestorymoving

Thisisthelastmethodofensuringthatreaderswon’tbebored,andthemostobvious: Never write a scene, or a single panel, that does not contributedirectlytoyourplot.Don’tlookinonyourcharacters,likeanosyneighbor.Go to them only when they’re doing or saying something important. ThegreatRussianshort-storywriterandplaywrightAntonChekhovsaidthatifyouhaveagunabovethemantelpieceinActOne,besuretoshootitbeforethefinalcurtain falls.Otherwise, itwillonlyserve todistract theaudience.EdgarAllanPoe,whosepoemsandstoriesyoureadinhighschoolliteraturetexts,saidthateverywordshouldcontributetotheemotionyou’retryingtoengender in thereader.Webowto themasters,whoknewwhat theyweretalking about. Remember, you’d rather eat ground glass than bore thereader,andpointlessscenes—orpanels,orlinesofdialogue—willdoexactlythat.I’mwillingtograntthepossibilityofanexceptiontothisprinciple:ascene

thatisjustsodarnamusingthat,althoughithasnothingtodowiththeplot,itwill paralyze the readerwith delight. The danger here is,what you findegregiouslyentertainingmight leave thereaderyawning.Betternot to takethechance.The outline states (parenthetically) that the end of each act should

incorporate amajor visual action. This appliesmostly to super hero stuff.Why? Because anyone who buys a book with a cover picture of anoverdeveloped mesomorph wearing a cape and mask doing somethingspectacular expects a certain kind of fiction. If they’re anticipating acostumeddemigodvanquishingahordeofvampiredinosaursandyougivethem a shy schoolgirl dreading the possibility of not getting an A on hersociology test, regardless of how brilliantly you portray the poor dear’stravail,theywillbedisappointedifthey’resaintlysoulsandseriouslyfuriousifthey’reliketherestofus.You’vecheatedthem;you’vestolentheirmoney.Theywill not buy your work again and theymaywrite you a really nastyletter.

Page 89: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

SUBPLOTS

Youdefinition-hatersmustindulgemeyetagainwhileIobeyanirresistibleurge to define the heading above. But be of good cheer—it’s a shortdefinition.Heregoes:

Asubplotisasubordinateplotinfictionordrama.

There.Thatwasn’tsobad,wasit?Now,toelaborate—atlength,I’mafraid.In traditional fiction, subplots have diverse functions. Here, we’ll only

consider the ones most commonly used in comics. As your own workprogresses,youmayfindyourselfaddingtothelist.(Apossiblecorollarytothe dictum that there is seldom one absolute, unarguable, unimpeachablyrightwaytodoanything:Anycatalogofnarrativestrategieswillprobablynotbecompleteinanysinglelifetime.)Meanwhile, incomics, subplotshavemostlybeenused toshowdifferent

facetsofthehero’s life:Spider-ManisPeterParkerwhenhe’snotslingingwebs and Pete’s problems are different from Spidey’s; those problemsappearassubplots.Toalesserextent,subplotshavebeenusedtoexpandthe“world of the story” by showing aspects of the fictional universe notpreciselygermanetothemainaction.Andthey’vebeenusedtoshoweventsin the lives of minor but interesting characters, as when Superman’s palJimmyOlsen losthis job.Here, again, subplotsallowyou to showmoreofyourimaginaryworldandcreatetheillusionthatitexists.Sometimes,ifreaderinterestinaminorcharacterisenthusiasticenough,

that character is given his own series. In comics, that’s happened with,amongotherheroes,Batman’sassistantRobin,theX-Men’sWolverine,andGuyGardner,therogueGreenLantern.Intelevision,it’sgenerateddozensof shows:Maude,Rhoda,Diagnosis:Murder,GomerPyle,The Jeffersons,Knott’sLanding,LouGrant,AnotherWorld,Angel—youcanprobablyaddfavoritesofyourowntothelist.Thepracticeofintroducingpotentialseriesstars inongoingshowsissocommoninTVlandthatthere’sanamefor it:

Page 90: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

backdoorpilot.No less a wordsmith that William Shakespeare was probably the first

writer to employ a backdoorpilot, though I verymuchdoubthe called itthat.According to legend,Sir JohnFalstaff,originallyaminorcharacter inHenry IV Parts I and II, was so popular with Queen Elizabeth thatShakespearedashedoffaplaywhich featured the jollySir John, titledTheMerryWivesofWindsor.

Page 91: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Asuperherobecomesanaddict.Thesubplotinvolvingadrug-riddenSpeedy,GreenArrow’sward,reflectedanddeepenedthemainplotinanaward-winningGreenLantern-GreenArrowstory.ScriptbyDennisO’NeilandartbyNealAdams.

The unique use of subplots in comics, unlike their employment in anyothermedium,hasbeentosetuporintroducethemainplot.Whenwegettothe chapter labeled Ongoing Series, several dozen pages from now, I’llacquaint you with what I call the Levitz Paradigm, a structure in whichsubplots“graduate”tomain-plotstatus.

Page 92: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ThesubplotinSandman:SeasonofMistsinvolvedaninfantnamedDanielwithspecialabilities.ScriptbyNeilGaiman.ArtbyKelleyJonesandMalcolmJonesIII.(1)

Page 93: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Youcanwriteperfectly satisfactory stories thatare freeof subplots.But,forthereasonsmentionedpreviously,theycanbebothenrichingandusefulandsoyoushouldatleastconsiderthem.However,thereareafewdangersyoushouldbeawareofifyoudecidetoincorporatethemintoyourwork.Aboveallelse,rememberthis:Subplotsareplots.Theymustadvancetowardaresolution,oratleastthe

illusionofaresolution.Whattheyshouldnotdoismerelyfilluppages.In

Page 94: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

timespast,Isuspect,somecomicswritersusedsubplotstopadissueseitherbecausetheydidn’thaveenoughmainplotor,inthecaseofmultiple-issuestories, theyhadn’t figuredouthow thedamn thingwasgoing to end andtheireditorsweredemandingscriptorplottosendtotheartist.Thiscausedthemainplot tomeanderovermore issues than itdeservedandmayhavegiven some readers the notion that nothingwas really happening.Or so Isuspect.

Page 95: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Batmanlooksoverpartofhisextendedfamily:Azrael,Robin,CatwomanandtheHuntress,allofwhom,excepttheHuntress,becamestarsoftheirowntitlesafterappearingwiththeDarkKnight.Nightwing,whoapparentlycouldn’tbepresentforthispicture,wasalsoawardedhisownbook.ArtbyMikeWieringoandRayMcCarthy.

Toensurethatnocynicsuspectsyouofsuchmalfeasance,rememberwhatI suggested you do in the previous section: Keep the story moving. Thatappliestosubplotsaswellastothemainaction.Don’t justlookinonyourcharacters. If they’re not doing something interesting, ignore ’em.Or give

Page 96: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

themsomethinginterestingtodo.(You’rethewriter;you’resupposedtobeabletodochoreslikethat.)Neverwriteascenethatdoesnotadvancesomepartofyourstory.Ifyou’rewritinganarcoraminiseries—we’llgettotheseinawhile—be

certaintoresolvesubplotsbythelastpage,justasyouresolvethemainplot,lest you deny the reader the pleasing sense of closure that good fictionalmost always provides. If you’re doing an ongoing title, you can extendsubplotsalongway.Inasense,Superman’sromancewithLoisLanewasasubplot and thatwent on for about fifty years before the supercaddid theright thing.But justbecausea subplot isopen-ended isnoexcuse fordullscenes, which is why subplots must advance toward the illusion of aresolution.You’vegottoconthereaderintobeingwillingtobelievethatthesubplot is heading toward an ending. And you should work to make theincidentsinthesubplotasentertainingaspossible.Here,you’realittlelikeamagician: The audiencemay know it’s being fooled, but if the trickery isamusing,itwon’tmind.Youshouldbeawareoftwodangersinherentinsubplotting,twosinsyou

would bewise not to commit. The first is devoting toomuch space to thesubplot(s), slowing themain action anddistracting the reader from it.Thesecond is the failure to reintroduce the elements of the subplot.Not everyreaderwillhaveseenpreviousissuesandthosewhohavemightbeforgetfultypes. A rule of thumbmight be: when you’re writing an ongoing series,alwaysreintroducesubplotelementsiftheyhaven’tappearedfortwoissues.(Ideally,you’dreintroduce themevery timeout.Every issue issomebody’sfirst.) Don’t assume readers are as familiar with your fictional universe asyouare.We’ve discussed plot and structure as though they’re elements separate

from character and theme.They’re not. They can’t be.Does anyone thinkthat’snotasegueintothenextchapter?

Page 97: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

CHARACTERIZATION

Thefamousdictumis:Character isplot,plot ischaracter.Amen.Youcan’thaveonewithouttheotherandthereasonissimple:Plotistheactionofthestoryandtheactioniswhatthecharactersdo.Whattheherodoestoresolveconflicts determines the course of the tale you’re telling. And who is thehero?That seems like a reasonable segue to a new section,whichwewillcleverlycall…

TheHero

First,atruism:Aheromustbetheagentofthestory’sresolution.Thatmeansthata)he

mustact,ratherthanbeactedon,andb)hemustbedirectlyinvolvedinthemainplot.He can be what modernist literati call the “anti-hero”—that is, he can

behavebadly—butifheisthecharacterwhoseactionsdeterminethecourseoftheplot,heservesthenarrativefunctionofthe“hero.”Mostheroesalsodo somethingelse:They representvalues theaudience

will findadmirable.TheancientGreeks,whogaveus thebasicsofmostofour heroic fiction, defined “hero” as one who “protects and serves.”Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer’s Journey, says that inmythologicalterms,theherois“someonewillingtosacrificehisownneedsonbehalfofothers.”Sosuperheroesarepowerfulfigureswhorepresentaculture’snotionofwhatisbest initandwhoaredevotedtoprotectingandservingthosevalues.Foryears,comicbookcharacterizationdidn’tgomuchdeeperthanthat,andinsometelevisionversionsofthesuperheroicitstilldoesn’t.Butcomicswritershavegottensophisticatedand learnedthat theyhave amuchmore interesting character if their superdoerdoesmore thanput on the fancy threads and dash out to smite anyone whomenaces thecommongood.

Page 98: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

In the eighties, some comic book writers “deconstructed” heroism byshowing the good guys to be unpleasant, greedy, lascivious—traits manyreadersfoundtitillating,especiallywhentheyweregraftedontoheroesfromearliereras.Thosestorieshadsomeimmediateshockvalue—theycertainlygot the audience’s attention—but, over time, deconstruction is a verylimitingnarrativestrategy.Wheredoyougo,onceyou’veshownyourherotobeacreep?You’vegivenreadersnoonetoadmire,torootfor,noonetoidentify with (unless they’re the kind of readers you don’t want tomeet);eventually,they’lltireofsomeonewho,inreallife,they’dcrossthestreettoavoid.None of this means your hero should not be flawed. On the contrary,

paragonsofunrelievedvirtueareoften,alas,moreadmiredthanliked.Butacharacter doesn’t need to be perfect to not be a jerk. Part of Stan Lee’sgenius,whenhewascreatingtheMarvelUniverseintheearlysixties,layinhis realizing that a cookie-cutter nobility could be pretty boring. So heinvested his heroes with a lot of foibles. They were cantankerous,quarrelsome, demanding, insecure, and sometimes petty. But they got thejobdone,regardlessofpersonalcost,andthejobwasalwaysworthdoing.Here’s the question to ask yourself when determining what negative

qualities to impart to your hero: Do his flaws add to or distract from thestory?Nothingshouldeverdistractfromthestory.

Page 99: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Azrael,whohastemporarilyassumedBatman’sidentity,maybebehavingbadly,butbecausehedrivestheaction,heisthestory’s“hero.”FromBatman:Knightfall.ScriptbyChuckDixonandartbyGrahamNolanandDickGiordano.

Page 100: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Superman’sidealsaresummedupinSuperman:PeaceonEarth.ScriptbyPaulDiniandillustratedbyAlexRoss.

Page 101: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

GuyGardnermisbehavesinJusticeLeague:ANewBeginning.WrittenbyKeithGiffenandJ.M.DeMatteis.ArtbyKevinMaguireandAlGordon.

Page 102: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

OtherCharacters

Eitherbeforeyoubegin,orintheprocessofwritingyourstory,you’llhavetolearnsomethingsaboutallyourfictionalpeople,heroicandnon-heroicalike.Thebasicquestiontobeansweredincreatingcharacteris,Whydoesmy fictional person act this way? To answer that, it might be helpful toanswertheseotherquestions:

Whatdoesmypersonalwayswant?Superman wants to uphold the values he inherited from his foster

parents, the saintly Mr. and Mrs. Kent, and to integrate himself into thecultureofhisadoptedhome.Batmanwantstoavengehisparents’murders.JamesBondwants to livea lifeofhighadventure seasonedwithhedonismand, incidentally, to serve Her Majesty. Odysseus wants to go home.SylvesterwantstohaveTweetyBirdfordinner.

Whoorwhatdoeshelove?Hiscountry,hisfamily,himself,thecuteblondewhositsnexttohimin

geometryclass—what?Theanswertothisneednotbedeeporcomplicated;Superman’s“truth,justice,andtheAmericanway”isperfectlysatisfactory.

Whatisheafraidof?ThisisthequestionthatscreenwriteranddirectorRobertTowneinsists

must be asked. In his superb screenplay forChinatown, Towne’s hero isJake Gittes, a cynical private eye who seems to be fearless. But he isn’t.TownesaysthatGittesisafraidoflookingfoolish.Probablynotonepersonin10,000willbeconsciousthatthisiswhatGittesdreads,butifyoulookatChinatowncarefully,you’llseethat itmotivatesmuchofhisaction.(Don’ttakemywordforit;gorentthemovie,andenjoy.)

Whydoesheinvolvehimselfinextremesituations?Ifyou’rewritingasinglestory,notpartofaseries,thisquestionwillbe

answeredwhenyouestablish theconflict.But if you’reworking ina serialform,youmustgiveyourheroalogicalreasontocontinuallyputhimselfin

Page 103: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

peril.Televisionfolkcallthisthehero’s“franchise.”Itexplainswhythetubeis rifewithcops,privateeyes,doctors, lawyers; their franchise isbuilt intowhotheyare.Theymustdealwithlife-and-deathsituations;it’stheirjob.

Page 104: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

What’sasuperheroineafraidof?ThisWonderWomansequencefromWonderWomanSecretFiles#1givesustheanswer.ScriptbyJoannaSandsmarkandartbyDickGiordanoandSalBuscema.

Manysuperheroeshidetheirheroismbehindfalseidentitiesandalotofthe rest of us do, too. Many, if not most, of us show different faces atdifferenttimes.(Doesyourgrandmotherknowtheyouthatyourraunchiestfrienddoes?)RobertMcKee tellsus thatour truenature is revealedby thechoiceswemakeunderpressure.Whenyou’rewritingsuperheroes,themechanicsofthisrevelationoftrue

Page 105: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

characteraresymbolicandblatant:SupermanwhipsoffClarkKent’sboringblueserge,shakesthewrinklesfromhiscape,andfliesofftokicksomeLexLuthor butt. Non-super characters show their true selves in slower,moresubtle ways, generally when confronted with the pressures McKeementioned;alotofdramaisthegradualrevelationof“truecharacter,”asarealotofhumanrelationships.So what about those lesser folk? If you’re working in a serial form—

comics,television—yourgoodguywillhaveacoterieoffriendsandfoeswhorecur frequently. They’re almost as important as your protagonist andshould be created with the same care. But every story will also havecharacters who, while vital to the plot development, are themselvesinconsequential—thecop,thecabdriver,thekidwhorushesintotheDailyPlanet office to tell ClarkKent that a herd of giant robots are fricasseeingdowntownMetropolis. If you just indicate “cop” or “kid,” your artist willunderstandanddowhat’snecessary,butyoumightwanttospendacoupleofminutesthinkingofsomewaytoindividualizeyourbreathlesskid:Makehim fat or skinnyor tall or short orwearing a tie-dye shirt—something toimpart an identity to him, however fleeting. You’ll enrich your fictionalworldjustabitandsoincreaseitsentertainmentvalue.

Page 106: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ThisclassicoriginstoryappearedsixmonthsafterBatmanmadehisdebut.WrittenbyBillFingeranddrawnbyBobKane.

Page 107: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Dialogue

I’ve been ignoring dialogue and that’s a pretty serious omission, no? Theuninitiated think thatdialogue ishowwriters revealcharacter.That’swhatwriters do, isn’t it? Create dialogue? Well, no. Not entirely. Character isrevealedbyaction,not talk. In fictionas in life,wordscanbeused tohidethetruth,fromthespeakeraswellasthespoken-to.Awell-toldcomicbookstory can be understood evenwhenwritten in Swahili. (I’m assuming thereaderdoesn’thappentobeaBantu.)But…Dialogue is important. It lends color, depth, wit, and meaning to the

narrative. It explains. It clarifies. Ithelps create the illusion thatwhat’sonthepage isaperson,andnot justsomeink.Shakespearetoldgoodstories,but what we remember, what makes Hamlet more than just a kid withproblemsisthepoetry,renderedasdialogue.

Page 108: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Sometimesdialogueisn’tnecessary.Here,asilentCatwoman’sactionsrevealcharacter.FromBatman:GothamKnights#8.ScriptbyDevinGraysonandartbyRogerRobinsonandJohnFloyd.

Here’sthefirstthingI’daskyoutorememberaboutdialogue:Useitearlyandoften.There’sbeenatendency,recently,forwriterstoloadpageswithcaptions, often omitting speech balloons for several pages running. That’sdangerous.Oneverygoodwriter-editorI’veworkedwithbelievesthatmanyreadersdon’treadcaptionsatall,andhemayberight.Evenifheisn’t, it’salmost certainly true that captions don’t have dialogue’s power to engagereaders.We’re all interested in people andwehave a tendency towant to“hear” them talk. So when writing comics (or short stories or magazinefeatures) it’s a good idea to get your people speaking as soon as possible.

Page 109: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

TomWolfe,asuperbreporterandnovelist,wrotethathispeers“learnedbytrial and error something that has since been demonstrated in academicstudies;namely,thatrealisticdialogueinvolvesthereadermorecompletelythananyothersingledevice.”

Page 110: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

WilliamMoultonMarstonuseddialoguetolendcolor,depth,wit,andmeaningtohisWonderWomanstories.ArtbyHarryPeter.(1)

Page 111: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 112: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(3)

So, then, my task is to teach you how to fill those word balloons withscintillatingspeech?Sorry.Ican’t.I’venevermetanyonewhoclaimstohavebeentaughthow

towritedialogue.Butitcan’tdoanyharmtoofferafewsuggestions:

Listen. Not only to the meaning of words, but to the cadences andrhythmsofspeech.Listento themusicof thehumanvoiceaswellas to

Page 113: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

whatitsays.

Cultivate awareness of the difference between written and spokenlanguage. You want to convince your readers that they’re “hearing”

peopletalk.Youwon’treproducespeechexactly—nofictionwriterdoesandIsuspectnotmanyjournalistsdo,either.Inreallife,andinthemovies,onstage and on television,much is communicated by gradations of tone andinflectionandchangesofexpression,allofwhichsupplementthewordsandaresometimesnecessarytothemeaningcommunicated.Thesetoolsarenotavailable to comicswriters. Your characters have to communicate throughflatwordsonpaper,thoughyoucanimitatevocalnuances,inalimitedway,by italicizingwords,making thembold, diminishing them, andby varyingtheshapeofyourballoons,asdiscussed.Thosearehandy little techniquesandyoushouldn’tbeafraidtotrythem.Butyourjobismostlytocondenseandheightenspeech,creatingtheillusionofspokenlanguage,andtodoitinverylimitedspace.HaveImentionedthatcomicswritingisnoteasy?Here’sasimpletrick:Readyourdialoguealoud.Doesitsoundlikespoken

speechtoyou?Ifso,it’sprobablyokay.Observe how otherwriters do dialogue. You’re not going to copy them,

exactly. Rather, you’ll try to learnwhat effects they achieve and how theyachieve them. As the great haiku poet Basho suggested, don’t imitate themastersbutseekwhattheysought.

Page 114: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ThispagefromSandman:TheKindlyOnesshowshowwriterNeilGaimanhandlesthedialogue-imagejuxtaposition.ArtbyMarcHempelandD’Israeli.(1)

Page 115: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

There is a special form of dialogue called dialect, which my favoritedictionary defines, a bit long-windedly, as “a variety of language that isdistinguished from other varieties of the same language by features ofphonology,grammarandvocabulary,andbyitsusebyagroupofspeakerswho are set off from others geographically or socially.” Youmay call this“accent,” which our dictionary defines as “the unique speech patterns,inflections, choice ofwords,etc. that identify a particular individual.”Thetwomeanings,forourpurposes,arevirtuallyidentical.Sowhenafellergitstoa-talkin’lakthishere,he’stalkin’inaaccent,andthewriterfellerwho’s

Page 116: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

puttin’thewordsinhismouthiswritin’dialect.(Thefellerwho’stalkingisnotaHarvardprofessor.)Usedialectatyourownrisk.Not that dialect is, in itself, bad. On the contrary, it has a long and

honorable history, especially in American fiction. The Adventures ofHuckleberry Finn, arguably the greatest of American novels, is writtenentirely indialect. Itsauthor,MarkTwain,néSamuelClemens,claimed tobe able to identify the dialects of different Missouri counties and,presumably, to render them accurately. But few of us have the ear or thetalent, not to mention the genius, of Mr. Clemens. The danger in usingdialect is twofold: First, it’s hard to do andwhen it fails, it often fails big;and,second,historically ithascontributedtoracialandethnicstereotypes.Whena“Chineefellatalkeechopchoplikeethis,youbetcha,”inanyworkof fiction, he is demeaning an entire race; the clear implication of thatdialogueisthatthespeakerisajolly,childlikedimwit.AndnoChinesedoestalklikethat,sonotonlyisthewriterbeingracist,he’salsobeinginaccurate.Onceupona time,maybe,writersdidn’tknowbetter.Youdon’thave thatexcuse.

Page 117: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ApagefromSupermanManofSteel#20byWeezieSimonsonwrittenfromalready-existingartwork—agoodexampleofthe“Marvelstyle”ofscripting.ArtbyJonBogdanoveandDennisJanke.(1)

Page 118: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

AmItellingyoutoavoiddialect,everandalways?No.Ifyouhaveagiftfor it—if you’re sure you have a gift for it—then use it. If you are not sogifted, you canmake effective use of what I am hereby dubbing “pseudodialect.” The technique here is to suggest a dialect without attempting toreproduceitliterally.Aneducatedindividualorotherpersonofhighstationwill use formal grammar,Latinate vocabulary, precisediction, and employotherverbalaccoutermentsoftheprivileged.Furthermore,suchapersonage

Page 119: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

will eschew contractions and colloquialisms. But a guy who ain’t had noschoolin’ is gonna drop his g’s, run his words together like when he says“gonna,” an’ if that ain’t enough, he’s gonna slang up his talk to hell an’back.If’nhe’sahombrewhat’stotin’asixgunan’wearin’asombrero,likelyhe’llstickan“n”ontosome’awhatacityfellacallsconjunctions,mebbeuseafurrinwordlike“sombrero”nowan’thenan’heain’tgoin’tapaygrammarnomind.Notethatbothmystreetguyandmygunslingercontract“and”to“an’”;

Contextwill determine how the reader “hears” the locution.Note also themisspellings—“mebbe” and “furrin”; this kind of orthographic abuse isallowable, in moderation. Finally: My street guy says “gonna” and mywesternersays“goin’”.That’sbecause,inmyhead,Ihearadifferenceinthemispronunciations;youmayhear itdifferently.However, ifyouhappen tohaveastreetguyandacowboy in thesamescene,oreven thesamestory,youmaywant tomake this sortofminoralterationdeliberately, tosuggestdifferentdialectsforthereader.Butwhat about a furriner… pardonme—a foreigner speakingEnglish?

Zut alors! ze Frenchman, ‘e speaks like zis? Well, he can, but, again,moderation isadvised.MyFrenchnationalwasdrawingperilouslyclose tostereotypingand,thataside,suchtorturouslocutionscangetprettytiresomeprettyquickly.(Bytheway,Ihavenoideawhatzutalorsmeans.Myeditorwillundoubtedly tellme if the translation issomething like“Grandmaeatsworms” and insist on a rewrite.) But the sentence, he could be awkwardlyphrased, with perhaps the wrong pronoun. This strangeness could besuggestingaspeakernotfamiliarwiththeEnglish.Ithinkit’spermissibletodroptheoccasionalforeignwordintoasentence,

provided it is familiar and either themeaning is clear from context or thetranslationisirrelevanttothedramaticpointofthescene.Mostpeopleknowthemeaningofsi,oui,jaandiftheydon’t,theywillbeabletofigureoutthatthecharacterhasexpressedassent,n’est-cepas?Ihaveoccasionallyputanentire foreignsentence intoascript,ensuring

that I didn’t appear to be a pretentious imbecile by enlisting the aid of awonderful,multi-lingualwomannamedPhyllisHumetodothetranslation.IdidthistogivethedialogueadistinctlyalienandsophisticatedflavorandIwas careful to surround theunfamiliar stuffwitha lotofplainEnglish forreaderswho,likeme,didnotalwayscountstayingawakeinlanguageclassesamongtheirhighestprioritiesincollege.AndIhadsomethingotherkindsof

Page 120: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

writers don’t have: thepictures; as always inwell-wrought comics, the arthelped convey information. It was an experiment, one I’m not certainsucceeded.Myadviceis,don’ttrythisathome,kids.Zutalors!KnowwhatImean?

Page 121: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

EarlyuseofdialectfromthebrilliantandpioneeringteamofJackKirbyandJoeSimon.

Page 122: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Humor

In an appendix to this book, you’ll find a dissertation on how to writehumorousstoriesbythemanIconsidertobecomics’greatraconteur,MarkEvanier. I wouldn’t presume to second-guess Mark, so this section isn’taboutwritinghumorouscomicsbut,rather,howtousehumorinotherkindsofcomics.It’sasubsectionofthecharacterizationchapterbecause,frankly,Ididn’tknowwhereelse toput it.Not that it shouldn’tbehere:Humor isacharactertraitwhenproperlyused,butit’salsoafewotherthings.What’s important to remember when incorporating humor into your

(basically non-humorous) stories is this: It must be organic. That is, itshouldoccurnaturallyandlogicallyinthecontextoftheactionanddialogueandnotbe imposedfromoutsidebyawriterwho’scramming itdownintothe scene. If you’ve shown that a character has a dry wit, it is perfectlyappropriatetogivehimawrylyfunnyremark.Ifacharacterisestablishedasclumsy, he can do a bit of slapstick. Sometimes, a situation can be funny,evenifthestoryinwhichitappearsisn’t.Thereareanumberofreasonswhyyoumightwantto incorporatesome

funny stuff into your serious narrative, especially if your narrative is veryserious.ThinkbacktoyourfavoriteShakespeareantragediesandhistories.Remember all the gravediggers and gatekeepers and servants and otherassorted buffoons whose appearances brighten up those glum plays? Youmight recall the term for those scenes from high school lit classes: comicrelief.Someofyoumayfeelcertainthatadefinitionisintheoffingaboutnow;

someofyouare right.According to theOxfordCompanion to theEnglishLanguage,comicreliefis“anamusingscene,incident,orspeechintroducedinto serious, tragic or suspenseful drama to provide temporary relief fromtension.”Enoughsaid?AnotherreasonWillShakespeareandhiscolleaguesmighthavechosento

sprinkleafewchucklesintotheirworkisthat,generally,weknowthingsbytheiropposites—wehaveaconcept for lightbecauseweknowdark,of lowbecauseweknowhigh,andsoforth.Maybethetragedyseemsallthemore

Page 123: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

tragicbecausewhenwe’rewitnessingitwehavearecentmemoryofcomedy.Theusesofhumorjustmentionedhavebeenusedinplays(andprobably

moviesandnovels)morethanincomics,butcomicswritersmightfindthemuseful.Here’sanotherone,moredirectlypertinenttocomics:Humorcanbeused tobrightenanotherwisedrearystretchofexposition.Thesituation isthis: You’re stuckwith a page of talking heads in which nothing happensexceptthatthecharacterstalkor—perishforbid—evenmorethanonepageoftalkingheads,andalthoughyou’vetriedcompressing,restructuring,andevery visual trick you’ve ever heard of, still those characters mustcommunicate important information by decidedly unexciting blather thatseemstogoonandon(ratherlikethissentence).Trydroppingaone-lineror two into thescene.Give the folksa fillipofentertainmentwhile they’reabsorbingthefacts.Itmighthelp.Acoupleofcautions:

• Don’t have your people speak or act out of character just to get alaugh.Hamletsaysseveralfunnylinesinthecourseofhisfive-actlife,but they’re all as dark as the rest of his dialogue. Let Will be yourmasterhere.•Ifyouhaven’tdevelopedaknackforwritinghumor,don’ttrytouseit.Ever sit in an audiencewhile someone in the spotlight told jokes thatweren’t funny? Painful, wasn’t it? Be kind. Spare your audience themisery.

Beforewefinallyleavethislong,longsection,I’llsuggestacoupleofotherthingstokeepinmind:Yourcharactersmustbe“true”tothemselves—thatis, they must behave/act consistently. A few paragraphs back, I said thatyou’llhavetolearnaboutyourfictionalpeople.Youmightbeabletodothisas you’rewriting.Formanywriters, that’s anoption. If you’re thekindofwriterwhoneeds that informationbeforeyoubegin,youmightwant todowhatplaywrightArthurMillerdoes:write,foryoureyesonly,abiographicalsketch for yourmain characters.Miller puts thousands ofwords abouthispeople on paper before he even starts Act One. If you’re a little lessindustrious, or caught in a deadline crunch, you might at least want toanswer the four basic questions outlined previously about your maincharacters.I’vesavedoneofthemostimportantpointsforlast.Itissoimportantthat

Page 124: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

itdeserveslarge,blacktype:

Everything that’s true about creating heroes is equally true aboutcreatingvillains.

If you’re going to be a slacker, be lazy about your hero and save yourindustriousness for your villain. He or she is in some ways the mostimportant character in your story. The reason is simple:A hero is only asgood as his antagonist. That’s why some kung fu movies are dull—theexcellentmartialartsmasterspendsmuchofhisscreentimemowingdowncardboardbaddieswhoareobviouslynomatchforhim—andwhycharacterslikeSupermancanbehardtowrite:Anordinarybankrobberisnotlikelytocauseaguywhocanflittotheendsoftheuniverse,withstandnuclearblastsandmarryLoisLaneawholelotofworry.Andifyouusehundredsofwordsexplaining why this particular bank robber is fretting the Man of Steel,you’re in danger of bringing your story to a screeching halt. (Remember:you’rewritingmelodramaandeffectivemelodramahastomove.)So:Yourvillainmustbeatleastyourhero’sequalandit’softendesirable

ifhe’ssuperior,instrength,resources,andintelligence,ifnotmorals.Givethebadguyanedgeandyougivethegoodguyproblemsandthereaderanunderdog to root for. Provide your antagonist withmotivation. Intelligentcomics readers won’t happily accept a nasty fellow who announces, “I’mgoing to unleash the herd of killer robots on downtown Metropolisbecause…I’masupervillain!”That’sreallynotmuchofareason.Andmakehim colorful, even if he has no extraordinary powers. (The best-knownvillainincomicsis,arguably,Batman’sarchfoe,theJoker,whoisphysicallypretty wimpy, but, with that green hair, purple suit, and white skin, hecertainlyisvivid.)

Page 125: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

InForeverPeople,JackKirbycreatedavillainwhocouldmatchwitswithevenSupermaninthecharacterofDarkseid.

Page 126: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

SupermansnacksonkryptoniteinSuperman#233.ScriptbyDennisO’Neil.ArtbyCurtSwanandMurphyAnderson.

Page 127: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

InYoungJustice#31writerPeterDavideschewsballoonsandcaptionsinthisamusingsequenceshowingImpulsetryingtoenlisttheaidofacouch-boundSuperboy.ArtbyToddNauckandLaryStucker.

Afewfinalthoughtsoncharacterization,andthenwe’llleavethesubject:Early comicswritersdidn’tworryabout characterization.That’spartially

because the form hadn’t yet evolved enough to allow for it and partiallybecause the audiences didn’t demand it: Characterization in other popularentertainments—radio shows, pulpmagazines, Saturdaymatineemovies—

Page 128: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

alsotendedtoberudimentary.Thewritercouldletthereaderknowthatthechap with the killer robots was a “mad scientist” and he’d done all thecharacter work anyone expected. That’s no longer true. The best moderncomics writers often operate, as do serious novelists and playwrights, bystartingwith the characters and letting the story grow fromwho they are.Thisdoesn’tmeanthatawritercan’tstartwithanideaforaniftygimmickorauniqueMcGuffin,shapethecharacterstofitit,andproduceagoodcomicbook. But it does mean that we writers can no longer ignore the task ofcreatingbelievable,oratleastinteresting,people.

Page 129: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ThatPlasticMan…hesureknowsthewaytoagoddess’heart.WittydialoguecanbothdeepencharacterizationandenlivenaJLAscene.ScriptbyGrantMorrisonandartbyHowardPorterandJohnDell.

Page 130: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

SCRIPTPREPARATION

Here’s what you’ve already done: You’ve sat alone in a room. Or you’vetakenawalk.Or, likewriterDevinGrayson,you’ve listened toappropriatemusic.Onewayoranother,you’vethoughtaboutyourstory.Maybeyou’vealso talked itoverwithyoursignificantother,awriter friend,aneditor,oranyoneelsewho’swilling to listenandofferhonestcomments.Youhaveaclear idea of who your principal characters are, how they’ll come intoconflictwitheachother,whattheywant,andyouhaveatleastaclueofhowyourstorywillend.Now,you’rereadytobeginthephysicalactofwriting.How?Thatdependsonwhoyouare.Experiencedwriters can justbegin

writing, trusting their hard-earned proficiency to provide them with theparticularsoftheirnarrativeastheygoalong.Beginnerscandothat,too,butiftheydo,theyshouldbereadytodoconsiderablerewriting.It’slikelythatsome rewriting will be necessary regardless of how you prepare, or howmanyscriptsyou’vedone,buta littleadvanceworknowcansavetimeandtoillateron.Manyofusstartwithanoutline.Trythis:Getasheetoflinedpaper,the

kindyouusedforpenmanshipexercises infourthgrade,andscribbleonitthemaineventsofyourstory—whatourtelevisionbrethrencall thestory’s“beats.”Read itover to see if anythingseems tobemissing,or if anythingdoesn’t stick to the story’s spine. Try to estimate howmany pages and/orpanelseacheventwillneed.Add.Subtract.Makenotesinthemargins.Youmay discover, when you’re actually doing the script, that you’ve guessedwrong—a bit of action that you thought would occupy a page isaccomplishedinapanel,andtwolinesofexpositionhavesomehowbecomeeighteen.That’sallokay.Youroutlineisnomorethanacruderoadmap;itsonlypurposeistokeepyoupointedintherightdirection.That’soneway.Another is towrite your beats on 3 by 5-inch cards or Post-its. Spread

themout.Movethemaround.Usethemasaidsinshapingtheplot.Continue

Page 131: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

to play with them until you think you’ve arranged them to form the bestpossiblestorystructure.Technophilesmaywant to accomplish the same thingwith a computer.

Every decent word processing program has a cut/copy/paste function thatcanmove your beats from one part of your outline to another. (I know atelevision writer who uses his outline as the foundation for his finishedscript; he puts it on his screen and adds dialogue and camera directions.There’snoreasonwhythiswouldn’tworkforcomicbookscripts,providedthewriterisfriendlywithhiscomputer.)ScottPetersonhasamoreelaborateprocedurethatcombineselementsof

everythingjustmentioned.ItseemstomethatScott’smethodologyisboththoroughandefficient.Youmightwanttotryit.Asheexplainedinarecente-mail:

BeforeIwriteastoryIstartafolderonmycomputerwiththenameoftheissueI’mgoingtowrite.Intothisfolderaregoingtogofourdifferentdocuments.FirstIwritethestoryoutinprose,whichusuallytakesoneandahalftothreepages(IusetheTimesfont,14-point,space-and-a-halfspacing,justsoyouknow).Thisisthedocumentcalled“Plot.”

ThenIhaveadocumentthatsimplylistsfrompageonetopagetwenty-twoandIfillinwhathappensoneachpagewithbetweenoneandadozenwords:

PageThreeMorefightPageThirteenBatmanchecksoutalibi,realizestruth

Thisisthedocumentcalled“Outline.”AllalongIhaveanotherdocumentcalled“Thoughts”or“Ideas”or“Notes”whereIjotdownmy,oddlyenough,thoughtsorideasornotes—stuffIwanttoremembertoputinthestorytoaddtothesubplotorsubtextorjustacoolvisualmoveforlaterintheissuewhenBatmanhasthefightsceneinthebakeryorwhatever—thisfrequentlyendsupbeingthelongestdocumentandhassometimesproveninvaluable,especiallywhenIhavetostopworkonaprojectinthemiddleforsomereasonandcome

Page 132: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

backaweekortwolater.

AndthenIstartwritingtheactualscript.I’vefoundthatifIgothroughallthesesteps,theprocess,frombeginningtoend(includingallthosesteps,plustheactualwritingofthescript),isnotverylong,butifItrytoskiponeofthesteps,Iusuallyactuallylosetime.

Okay,yourpreparationiscomplete.Themomentof truthhascomeat last.Youhavetowritethedamnscript.Anyonewho’sbeenthroughhighschoolprobablyknowswhattodonext;we’veallhadpaperstowriteandwehavelearnedhowwebestget themdone.Youdon’tneedme to tellyouhowtoproceed; you’vebeen through thisbefore,dozensof times. If you’reDougMoench, you’ll beginwriting in longhandwith a stack of Post-its by yourelbowand as youwork, you’ll scribble ideas anddialogueon thePost-its,stickthemontotheappropriatenotepadpagesandincorporatethemintothefinished script or plot when you type it; the procedure is similar to ScottPeterson’s. If you’re Sam Hamm, you’ll play games for a few minutes toaccustom yourself to using the computer. If you’re Chuck Dixon, you’llsimplybegintyping.

Page 133: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ScottPeterson’sstagesofcreatingastoryforBatman:GothamAdventures#32.ArtbyTimLevinsandTerryBeatty.(1)

Page 134: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 135: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(3)

Page 136: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(4)

Page 137: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(5)

You’ll do it yourway because—and Iwant you to put some real feelingintoit thistime—thereisseldomoneabsolute,unarguable,unimpeachablyright way to do anything. There’s what works, and what doesn’t, and tenyearsfromnow,whatworksmayhavechanged.Nowsome timehaspassed:days,weeks,hours,however long it’s taken.

You’ve labored long andmightily and the script is done—that is, the firstdraft is done. It’s a good idea to reread yourmasterpiece, preferably after

Page 138: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

beingawayfromitforatime.Youmightconsiderlettingsomeoneelsereadit, too: a sibling, a friend, a significant other—someonewhowants you tosucceedbutdoesn’tfeelyouwalkonwater.You’reseekinghonestcriticism,notpraise.Youmay find thatyou’veneglected to informthereaderhowacharacter got from here to there, how your intrepid hero knew the killerrobot was hiding in the arboretum, exactly who put the overalls in Mrs.Murphy’schowder,whatever.Oneofthemostfrequentbeginner’smistakesis, in the words of my college creative writing teacher, “leaving it in thetypewriter.” You knowwhat happened. To you, it’s perfectly obvious. Butthe reader can’t know, not unless you tell him. He’s not reading fictionbecause he wants to play guessing games. So you reread to discover youromissions.Andtocatchspellingerrorsandto improveyoursentencesandeven to make sure you’ve done the correct number of pages; more thanonce, I’vehadaneditor informme thatmy22-pagescriptwasactually23pageslong,or21,becausesomewhereinthewritingI’dmisnumbered.Thenyourewritetocorrectyourerrors.You may not be finished yet because now it’s the editor’s turn. That

godlikepersonagemayseemistakesyou’vemissed—hey,nobody’sperfect—orhemaythinkthescriptneedsmoreaction,orlessaction.Oryoumayhaveviolatedaruleofhisthatyouweren’tawareof.Orthelegaldepartmentmayfeelthatthedroolingcretinwhoseownstupiditygetshimeatenbythekillerrobot too closely resembles a talk-show host who loves to sue publishers.Don’tbeupsetwhenasked toamendyour script.Aworthyeditorhasoneprimarydirective:tomakethecreativepeoplelookgood.Todothis,hemustsometimesdemandfurtherwork.Hedoesn’tdoitcasually.Remember,moreworkforyoumeansmoreworkforhim,too.Ifyoubelieveyou’vemasteredeverythinginthissection—ifyouknow,as

youknowhowtotakeyournextbreath,alltheintricaciesofstorystructure,characterization, suspense, pacing, dialogue, and your script preparationcauses editors to swoon with joy—you’re either a) deluded or b) kiddingyourselforc)innoneedofhelpfrommeoranyotherwritinginstructorandwhyareyoubothering toread thisbook,anyway?Butyouprobablydon’t.However,youmightnowhavesomeideaof thebasicsofcomicswriting,abare beginning you can spend the next couple—three decades developingand evolving remembering as you do so that, yes, there is seldom oneabsolute,unarguable,unimpeachablyrightwaytodoanything.Thisyouwilldonotbyrereadingmywords,ortakingclasses,ortalkingwithyourfriends,

Page 139: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

butbysittingdownforagivennumberofhourseachmonthanddoing it.Writerslearntowritebywriting.Everything I’ve discussed to this point has been about writing a single,

complete-in-one-issuestory.You’llhavetoknowhowtodothatbeforeyoucan attempt longer, more complicated projects. But eventually, you’llprobablywant to trydoinggraphicnovelsand limitedseriesand ifyougetassignedtoanongoingtitle,you’llhavetodealwithproblemsofcontinuity.Thosearethetopicsyou’llbeginreadingaboutassoonasyouturnthepage.

Page 140: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Supergirlshowsherstuff,aseverygoodsuperbeingshouldatsomepointineverystory.ScriptbyPeterDavid.ArtbyLeonardKirkandRobinRiggs.(1)

Page 141: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 142: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

PARTTWO

Page 143: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Truestory,withdetailschangedtoprotecttheinnocent—or,moreprecisely,thenaive:Guy wangles an appointment with the editor of a major comic book

company. Although he’s never published a comic book story, or anythingelse, he wants to write comics. He has some good ideas about one of thecompany’s characters. (For purposes of this slightly fictionalized account,let’ssaythatthecharacterisouroldfriend,CaptainWonderful.)Impressedwith theguy’senthusiasmand,maybe, rememberinghisownearly career,theeditoraskstheguytodevelopthoseideasandcomebacklater.Aweekpasses.Guycomesintotheeditor’sofficewithfouryears’worthof

CaptainWonderful continuity in outline form. The editor thanks him fordroppingbyandwisheshimanice life.Moral?Well, foropeners, theguywas,toputitgently,ingenuous,tothinkthatanypublisherwouldentrust48months’ worth of a major property to a completely untried talent. Fewestablishedwritersaregiventhatkindoflicense.Noeditorwantstocommittofouryearsofanything—therearetoomanycircumstanceslikelytochangeover such a span of time.And if Iwere that editor, I’d have to doubt theneophyte’s ability to sustain a narrative of over a thousand pages withouttherebeingalotofdeadspots.Rememberwhatwediscussedintheprevioussection: The story must continually move. The action must rise. Thereshouldbenoscenethatdoesn’tadvancetheplot.A beginner is going to manage all that for a thousand pages? Not any

beginnerI’veevermet,andI’veworkedwithbeginnerswhowereeventuallynumbered among the best writers in the business. What our beginnerprobably should have done was to present the editorial director with anoutline for a ten-or twenty-page story, listened eagerly to any commentsofferedandbeenwillingtowriteascriptonspeculationor“spec”—that is,with no guarantee of publication or payment. Your first script—your firstdozen scripts—are going to be primarily learning experiences. If they getintoprint, fine.Butwhether theydoornot, they’llbevaluablebecause,asyoumayhaveheardsomewhere,writerslearntowritebywriting.But let us not judge our guy harshly. His mistake was understandable.

Anyonebornafter…oh,say,1939,hasmostlyexperiencedfictioninserialform.We’veallreadnovelsandshortstoriesaboutcharacterswhoweneverexpecttoencounteragain,butforatleastthelasthalf-centuryorso,we’vegotten our fiction primarily through television and, I’m assuming, comics,and those forms deal chiefly with continuing characters, often with

Page 144: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

continuing storylines. (Nor is serialized fiction confined to the tube.Moreandmore,novelsandmoviesarecreatedwiththehopethattheyevolveintofranchises,whichismediaspeakforalotofstoriesaboutthesamepeople.)YoumaynothavemissedasingleepisodeofMagnumPIandstillnotbe

able torecallevenoneplot,butyourememberThomasMagnum,Higgins,theFerrari,Rick,TJ, theestate, thedogs, the long-suffering lawyer.…Theplotwasusuallyconcluded in fiftyorahundredminutes,but therestof itoozed into your living room for years. So of course that’s what youremember.ButI’mconvincedthatifthoseforgottenplotsdidn’tengageyouat the time, if good old Tom Magnum’s adventures were snoozers, youwouldn’thavereturnedtotheshowweekafterweek.Plots,andrisingactionandtherest,willalwaysbeimportant.Whichbringsus,ratherlong-windedly,tocomics’ longforms.Theyare:

thelimitedseries;theminiseries;thegraphicnovel;andongoingtitles.

Page 145: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

MINISERIES

Thedefinition:Aminiseries isa title thathasapredeterminednumberofissues.Beforeyoubeginwritingaminiseries,youknowyouhaveagivennumber

ofpagestofill.Thesearedividedintoissues,usuallybetweenthreeandsix,thoughsomeareasfewastwoandsomeasmanyassix.Theformatvaries:They can be printed as regular comic books, with the same paper andproduction techniques as anyongoing title or they canbe given a grandertreatment—slickpaper, thickcovers, lavish, full—colorprinting,much likethefancyartbooksthataregivenasChristmaspresentsorleftcasuallylyingaroundoncoffeetablestoimpressAuntMinnie.I’mgoing to give you two rules forwriting them, orwhat I’ll call rules,

though you should bear in mind that … sigh … there is seldom any oneabsolute,unarguable,unimpeachablyrightwaytodoanything.

RULE1:Haveenoughstorytofilltheallottednumberofpages.You don’t want to get halfway through issue three of a four-issueseriesandfindyou’verunoutofstoryandyoudon’twanttobeguiltyof writing a single panel—a single line—that does nudge the storytoward its conclusion. That’s called “padding” and consummatecraftsmenlikeyoudon’tdoit.Soifyoudohavemorepagesthanstory,youmayhave to rethink your entire plot anddomassive rewrite or,worst case scenario, start again from thebeginning.Novelists, short-storywriters,poets,andscreenwriterssometimesdoexactlythat,withgoodresults.There’sonlyonereasonwhyitmightnotbeagoodideafor comics writers; most commercial comics writing is done to astringentdeadline.Ifyourprojectisn’tdeadline-intensive,andyou’rethe kind of writer who likes to experiment with various narrativetechniques,orclimbinsideyourfictionalworldandwanderaroundforabit,ortrydifferentendingslikeyourfussycousintriesonjeansattheGap,thenbyallmeanssitdown,starttyping,andseewhereyougo.

Page 146: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

However, if you areworking ondeadline, use one of themethodsexplained inPartOne toshapeyourstorybeforeyouwrite it.Unlessyou’reanexperiencedprofessional,youmaystillhavetoputinrewritetimebeforeyoudeliveryourmanuscript;aswithsingle-issuestories,you’ll find that your outline doesn’t always accurately gauge howmuch space each scene will demand, and that some outlined sceneswillhavetobeabandonedwhileothersstretchfarbeyondthenumberof pages allotted for them. But pre-writing preparation insures thatyouwon’tspenddays,orweeks,reworkingyourmaterial.

RULE 2: Theremust be amajor change, development, or reverse inevery issue. This is just another version of the “keep-the-story-moving”dictum.Somethingimportantmusthappenineveryissueoftheseries.Eachmusthaveatleastoneturningpointorsurprise.Andineach,theheromusteitheraccomplishorlearnsomething.

Afour-issueseriesmightbreakdownlikethis:Issue 1: Introduce the hero and establish status quo. Hero learnsof/definesproblem.Encountersfirstopposition.Issue 2: Hero finds allies and/or means of combatting villain.Oppositionintensifies.Issue3:Heroseekssolution.Oppositionintensifies.Issue4:Herofindssolutionandsolvesproblem.

Page 147: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Thefour-issueRobin:YearOneserieswaswrittenbyChuckDixonandScottBeatty.ItwasillustratedbyJavierPulido,MarcosMartin,andRobertCampanella.

Page 148: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Threeadditionalconsiderations:

•Each issue shouldendona reason for the reader to continuebuying theseries. This can be something as crude as an old-fashioned cliff-hanger—CaptainWonderfulischainedtothatdarnobeliskatthebottomofthepoolfullofcarnivorousfishandthereaderwillhavetogetthenextissuetofindouthowhe escapes.Or itmight be a bitmore subtle—Caphasdiscoveredthathisstaunchestallyseemstobesabotaginghimandthereaderyearnstoknow whether this can possibly be true. In either case, you’ve posed aquestionthatyouhopethereaderwillwantanswered.Someofyouraudiencewillmakeacommitmenttotheentireseriesbefore

they pick up the first issue, especially if they like the hero or any of thecreativeteam,butmanywon’t.They’llsample,andlettheirreactiontowhattheyseedeterminewhetherthey’llfollowthestorythroughtotheend.Salesfiguresconfirmthis:There’salwaysadecreaseinsalesbetweenissuesofanyseries, sometimesslightandsometimesprecipitousregardlessofhowgoodor bad the material is. Obviously, it’s in everyone’s best interest if thedifferencebetweenthefirstandlastissues’salesis10insteadof90percent.

• The beginning of each issue after the first should incorporate a briefsummaryofwhat’sgonebefore.Yourreadermaybesamplingthesecondorthirdissueandifhecan’tfathomwhat’shappening,he’llabandontheseries.Butifhedoesgetinterested,hemaybuythenextissueorevenaskhisdealerfor theearlier stuffhemissed.So feedhimenough information to lethimunderstandwhattheconflictsare,what’satstake,wheretheactionistakingplace.Thesimplestwaytodothisistoplunkdownablockofcopyonpageone. Ever read the PrinceValiant newspaper strip? The first panel alwaysfeaturesapictureand,beneathit,acaptionlabeled“OurStory”:Inacoupleofdozenwords,thewritertellsuswhereVal isandwhyhe’sconsternated.It’saclumsytechnique,but itgetsthejobdone.Youmightconsiderdoingyour own version of Val’s synopsis; it won’t enhance your reputation forcleverness,butit’sbetterthanriskingapuzzledreader.Thereareotheroptions,buttheyrequireeffort.Theslickestmethodisto

slip exposition into dialogue or panel captions spaced throughout the firstcoupleofpages,butdon’tstartyourexpositiontoofarintotheepisodelestyou lose the reader’s attention. You can also resort to a flashback whichincorporates all you want the reader to know. This is tricky: A flashback

Page 149: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

placed too early in the issue delays the start of the action and slows thenarrativetoacrawl;butaflashbackthatappearsathirdofthewaythroughtheissue,orlater,maynotaccomplishthetaskofimpartinginformationthereaderneeds.

Page 150: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Usingaflashbacktorecapwhat’salreadyhappenedisagoodtechnique,butonethatshouldbeusedsparinglyandonlywhennecessary.Notetheheavybordersandroundedcorners.It’stheartist’swayofsignalingthatwhatwe’reseeingisn’tinthepresent.FromDetectiveComics#471.WrittenbySteveEnglehart.ArtbyMarshallRogersandTerryAustin.

• We’ll return to this final point when we discuss ongoing titles, but it’sequallypertinent tominiseriesandsoworthamentionhere: Ifacharacterhasn’t appeared for a while, for fifty pages or more, reintroduce him,especially if he’s a minor character who’s important to the plot. Let thereaderknowwhoheisandwhyhe’sinthestory.Bekind:Thereadermaybehavingabaddayandnotremembereverydetailofyourbrilliantnarrative.

Page 151: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

WonderWoman:SecondGenesisendswithacliff-hanger,compellingreaderstocontinuereadingtheseries.WrittenandillustratedbyJohnByrne.

Page 152: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

GRAPHICNOVELS

First, let’s try to agree on what a novel, graphic or otherwise, is. Thedefinition in The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy—“a long. fictionalnarration”—istrue,butitdoesn’treallyhelpusmuch.Anovelisnotjustashort storywith glandular problems. It is not achieved by awriter gettinginsideashortstory,puttinghisbackagainstthelastpageandshoving.Here’s a simple way to differentiate between the two kinds of fictions.

Let’sagreewithsciencefictionwriterWilliamTennthatashortstoryisoneinwhichonethinghappens.Logically,then,anovelisastoryinwhichmanythingshappen.Whichmeans: The novel has more characters, more information about

central characters is given, and the reader can witness their personaldevelopment.Eventscanoccuroveralongtime.Thereismoreinformationaboutthe“world”ofthenarration,includinghistoryandsociology.Finally,a novel should culminate in large consequences, either to the characters,theirmilieu,orboth.None of this means that the graphic novel writer is exempt from the

disciplinesmentionedinconnectionwithsingle-issuestoriesandespeciallyminiseries. (In fact,miniseries canbe considered serializednovels and areoften collected in one volume after initial publication.) The narration willprobablybreakdownintothree“acts”asoutlinedinPartOneandeachwillculminateinasurpriseornewdevelopment—amini-climax—leadingtothenextsection.Asalways,theactionshouldgoup,up,uptoprovidesuspenseand sustain interest. Each fight should be tougher than the previous one,eachemotionalupheavalgrimmer,eachproblemknottier.Aswiththeotherforms,thereshouldbenoscenethatdoesnotcontributetothegrandclimax,but…Youcanstretchabit.Thescenesneednotbeasspareastheywouldbein

shorterstuff.Withahundredpagesormoreatyourdisposal,youcanallowyourselftheluxuryofdialogueandeventthatdonotnecessarilyadvancetheplot,providedthey’reamusingandcreateafullersenseofpersonality,era,

Page 153: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

orplace.Asubplotorthreecanbeintroducedanddeveloped,againwiththegoalofgivingthereaderasenseofreality,ortoprovidecontrasttothemainaction,orperspectiveonit.Notthatsubplots,ordigressionsintohistoryorsociology,arerequired;ifyouhaveasingleplotsofullofincidentandactionthatitneedsahundredpagestoberealized,thenstartwritingandgoodlucktoyou.There’snoreasonagraphicnovelcan’tspeedtoitsclimax.But the novel writer can also adopt an easier pace. I have no way of

verifying this, but I suspectnovel readers areof adifferentmind-set thanperiodicalreaders.They’veboughtthebookbecausetheylikethecreatorsorcharacters,they’vereceiveditasagift—it’snocoincidencethatmostgraphicnovels are published after Thanksgiving—or, if they’re my age, they’recuriousastowhythemdangfunnybooksarecomin’outinhardcoversandcostasmuchasagooddinneratafancyrestaurant.Oncethebookisintheirhands,theyhaveacommitmenttoit,soyoucantrustthemtostaywithyouasyouintroducecharacter,place,andconflict.Iamnotadvisingyoutousethefirstfiftypagestostartthestory’sengine.

Well-writtenstoriesmove,regardlessofwhatformattheyappearin.Nor should you slight the ending. By the time your tale is done, your

readers should have a sense of completion: all conflicts resolved, allquestionsanswered.Youshouldavoid,likedirtyhandkerchiefs,anticlimax,atermwhichoncemeantoversentimentalizationandnowmeansexplainingplot elements after the emotional interest is exhausted. Old-fashioneddetectivenovelsoftenhave longsections inwhichthe investigatorexplainshisbrilliantdeductionsafterthelocalconstablehascartedthemurdererofftothevillagehoosegow.Theyaren’tmuchreadtoday.Toavoidanticlimaxes,you may have to feed information to the reader as the story progresses,particularlyifithaswhodunitelements.Thisisn’teasy,butitcanbedone.Acleverwritercanletthereadershareinthehero’sthoughtsandconclusionsastheyoccurwithoutnecessarilytelegraphinghisendingandthusspoilingitsimpact.Didanyonesaythatwritingiseasy?

Page 154: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ApagefromArchieGoodwin’sscriptforBatman:NightCries,includingasuggestedlayout.(1)

Page 155: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics
Page 156: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 157: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

MAXISERIES

A comic book that’s cancelled after one year looks a lot like a 12-issuemaxiseries,butitisn’t.Ashort-livedongoingtitlemayhaveadozenwhollyseparate stories with little or nothing to give them a single identity. Butmaxiseries, like their smaller cousins, shouldhave aunifying themeand acontinuityofplot.However,althoughtheycanhave144pagesormore,theyneednotbeastightlyplottedasanovel—theyneednotbe,buttheycanbe.Thebestofthemreachaconclusionthatincorporatesanswerstoalltheplotandcharacterquestionsandtiestogetheralltheelements,regardlessofhowdiverse they may be. They are clearly single works divided into manysections,notalotofstoriesappearingunderonetitle.Towrite amaxiseries, apply everything you’ve learned aboutminiseries

andnovels.Eachsectionshouldadvancethestory;haveamajorsurpriseorplot development; and end with a reason for the reader to buy the nextinstallment.Maxiseries arepretty rare.Fewerof themhavebeenpublished thanany

formwehavediscussedorwilldiscuss.They’rehardtodoandveryhardtodowell.Buttheycanberewardingforbothwriterandreader.ManyexpertsbelievethatTheWatchmen,byAlanMooreandDaveGibbons,istheCitizenKaneofcomicart,aworkthatentertains,innovates,critiques,anddefinesagenre.Itiswhatcomicsloversoftengivetofriendswhothinkthatcomicsaresilly amusement for kids and dummies, devoid of literary merit. TheWatchmenisamaxiseries.

Page 158: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Inthe12-issuemaxiseries,CrisisonInfiniteEarths,DC’sfictionaluniversewasdramaticallyaltered.MarvWolfman’ssagaincludedthedeathsofseveralestablishedheroesandtheannihilationofwholeuniverses—astorywhosescopeandcomplexityneededalotofpages.ArtbyGeorgePérez.

Page 159: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ONGOINGSERIES

When the average, non-comics reading person hears the words “comicbook,”hethinksofflimsymagazinesprintedoncheappaperthathavebeenpublishedfordecades.They’renotwrong,butnotwhollyright,either.Actually, only five titleshavebeen in continuouspublication since their

debutmorethan60yearsago:ActionComics,Superman,DetectiveComics,Batman,andWonderWoman.Of these, fourhadas leadfeatures just twoheroes:ActionandSupermanandDetectiveandBatman.(Iwon’tinsultyoubytypingthenamesofthoseheroes,nordoyouneedtohaveanEinsteinianIQ to fathom the name of the third lead character.) A few others haveappeared continuously formore than twenty-five years,Spider-Man, TheFantasticFour,Thor, IronMan,andTheX-Menamong them.Yetothers,though they are among the earliest comics heroes, went on hiatus for awhile, including The Flash, Green Lantern, Sub-Mariner, and CaptainAmerica.Bythetimeyoureadthis,someofthetitles/heroesinthelistmayhave, again, suspended publication and others may have emerged fromlimbo;everyfewyears,itseems,someonetriestoreviveHawkman,CaptainMarvel,Dr.Strange,GreenArrowandPlasticMan.TheSupermanwhoappearedinActionComics#1,datedJune1938,and

theSupermaninwhateverissueofActionwillarriveinyourretailer’sshopnextmonth, aredifferent critters.Sure, the clothing is similar (though thecurrentsuper-suit issleeker)andnamesofsomesupportingcharactersarethesame,asarethenamesoflocales(thoughthefirstSupermanoperatedinNewYork,notMetropolis).But the Superman of the thirties was rougher, brasher, and far less

mighty.Thatwimpcouldonlyleapaquarterofamile,couldbarelyoutracealocomotiveandan“explodingshell”mightlayhimlow.Imagine!Thepoordweebdidn’tevenhaveX-rayvision.Today’sManof

SteelisaspowerfulinhiswayasanygodinGreekorNorsemythologyand,ofmuchgreaterstorytellingconsequence,isafullyrealizedpersonality,withmoments of anguish anduncertainty, capable of loss anddefeat aswell as

Page 160: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

triumph.

Page 161: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Alandmark—thefirstissueofDetectiveComics,theforerunnerofmoderncomicbooksandtheirongoingseries.CoverartbyVincentSullivan.

Superman, andhis cohortsBatman andWonderWoman,have evolved.I’d argue that if they hadn’t, they’d long ago have become antiquecuriosities,notthecontemporary,popularcreationstheyare.Themagazinesinwhichtheyappearhavealsochanged.TheSupermancomicsofthefortiesfeaturedthetitlecharacterintwoorthreeunrelatedstoriesandfourorfivestories about other characters. Plus a short text piece and several short,humorous fillers. The current Superman has only one story—really, lessthanone,sincethestoriesarealmostalwayscontinued.That’strueofmost

Page 162: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

othercomics,too.Continued stories are the norm; single-issue adventures appear only

occasionally,asachangeofpacethatservesasakindofpunctuationmarkbetweenmulti-issue pieces or as what publishing folk call a “jumping-onplace” to entice potential new readers whomight not want to start in themiddle of a narrative. Big change, this: Until the proliferation of specialtystoreswhichsellonlycomicsandrelateditems,single-issuestorieswerenotonly common, theywere all but required; publishers believed that readerscouldn’t be sure of getting two consecutive issues—newsstanddistributionwas erratic at best—and so theywanted everything complete in one issue.Onceinagreatwhile,aneditormightbeallowedtostringanarrativeovertwoissues,butneverthree.Now,six-orseven-issuestoriesaren’trare,andsomeeditorial teamsarewilling topusha story into evenmorepages,notalwaystothestory’sbenefit.

Page 163: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ThepowersandabilitiesoftheearlySupermanwererelativelymodest.Imagineonlybeingabletoleapandeighthofamile!FromActionComics#1.WrittenbyJerrySiegelanddrawnbyJoeShuster.

Whatallthismeanstoyouisthatifyouhankertowriteanongoingtitle,youll have to deal with the complexities of continued stories and theproblems of continuity they entail. This does notmean you don’t have tolearn to write a single-issue story using, perhaps, O’Neil’s Heavy-Duty,Industrial-Strength Structure for a Single-Issue Comic Book Story. EvenSuperman had to master jumping those paltry quarter miles before helearned to fly. Well-written single-issue stories incorporate basics you’llapply to every other form. And, to go from the aesthetic to the practical,beginners will probably be assigned a short piece, or several short pieces,beforeaneditorwilltrustthemwithanythinggrander.Butlet’sassume,fortheremainderofthissection,thataneditorbelievesyoutobeaHotTalent

Page 164: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

and asks you to do the writing chores on an ongoing title. Unless comicspublishing changes vastly between now and whenever you get theassignment,you’llhavetostartthinkingintermsofcontinuity.Therearetwoapproachestotheproblemsmultiple-issuestoriespresent:

arcsandwhatIherebydubTheLevitzParadigm.Arcsareeasiertoexplain,sowe’llstartwiththem.

Page 165: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Today’sversionoftheManofSteelistrulysuperbecauseSuperman,likemostsuccessfulongoingcharacters,hasbeenallowedtoevolve.FromSupermanForever.WrittenbyKarlKeselandillustratedbyTomGrummettandDennisRodier.

Page 166: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Some63yearsafteritsdebut,ActionComicsisstillgoingstrong.CoverartbyWayneBoring,WinMortimer,CurtSwan,GeorgeKelin,NealAdams,NickCardy,GilKane,Kano,andMarloAlquiza.

Page 167: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

STORYARCS

Easier to explain because they’ve already been explained. Let’s review thedefinitiongiveninPartOne:Astoryarcisastorythattakesseveralissuestotell.Anything familiar there?Remembermycalling something“a title thathasapredeterminednumberofissues?”Right—that’saminiseriesanditisvirtually the same thing as a story arc.Thedifference is that a story arc ispartofacontinuingseriesandaminiseriesispublishedasaseparateentity.Apartfromthat,arcsandminiseriesaretwinsandinfact,reallygoodarcs,likeminis,aresometimesrepackagedaspaperbackbooks.So, if youwant to know about arcs, I suggest you review theminiseries

section.Whendoinganarc,itmaybeslightlymoreimportanttoremembertwothings:First,reintroducecharactersandlocalesiftheyhaven’tappearedfora fewissueswhendoinganarc,simplybecause it’seasytoforget todothatwhenyou’vebeenwritingaseriesforawhile.Thewriterliveswiththesefictionalpeopleandplaces;thereaderdoesn’tand,ofcourse,everyissueissomeone’s first—you don’t want to confuse, and maybe scare away, apotential loyal fan. New readers should be invited in, given a comfortablechair by a warm fire and made comfortable, not feel as though they’vestumbledintoanexclusiveclubwhereeveryonebutthemknowsthesecrethandshake.The second thing tobear inmind is that, aswithminis andnovels, you

musthaveenoughplot for thenumberofpagesyou intend to fill, anotherobvious point easily forgotten when you’re constantly struggling withdeadlines.Theeditorofanongoing title isn’tas likely to insistondetailedoutlinesastheeditorofaminiseries,soyou’llhavetodisciplineyourselftodowhateverpreparationisdesirable.It wouldn’t be accurate to state that arcs are the preferred form for

ongoing titles, but in recent years some editors have used them quitesuccessfully. As a writer, you should be aware that they offer the happypossibility, albeit a distant one, of additional income because, remember,theycouldgetreprintedasbooks.

Page 168: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Storyarcsthatwerecollectedintotradepaperbacks.

Page 169: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

THELEVITZPARADIGM

Thiscouldbethesituation:Youreditor,thefossil,doesn’tlikearcs.Thinksthey’retoofancy,maybe.

Thinks they aren’t real comics. (Did I mention that he was born before1950?)Hewantsyou todeliver 12 issuesandhe insists thatmanyof themcontaincontinuedstories.Whatareyouroptions?You could give him arcs without calling them arcs. Just dash off three

issuesofexcitementasCaptainWonderfulcombatsthekillerrobots,besureto give each a different title, and with your fourth issue, start anotheradventure.Oryoumightconcludeastoryintwoandahalfissuesandbeginanother

inthelastfewpagesofthethirdissue.(The1940sSupermanradioprogramusedasimilartechniquesuperbly.)Or you could adopt a structural procedure from our television brethren

and conclude your main plot in one, two, three or more issues, but letsubplots continue longer—years, maybe. But a caution: Don’t use thesubplots as page-killers. As noted in Part One, subplots have to move,develop,andentertain,justlikeanyotherkindofplot.OryoucouldadopttheLevitzparadigm.Itwasdevelopedbythemanwho

isnowDCComicsexecutivevicepresidentandpublisher,butwasonceaneditor,andbeforethatawriter,andbeforethat,afan.PaulLevitzprobablythought about what a comic book writer does more than any of hiscontemporaries,ormine,andduringhisdozen-plus-yearsstintaswriterofThe Legion of SuperHeroes, systemized what his predecessors didhaphazardly, if at all. Then, as an aid to his own work, he created threeversionsof theLevitzGrid,whichyou’ll findprinted somewherenear thisparagraph.Basically, the procedure is this: Thewriter has two, three, or even four

plots going at once. The main plot—call it Plot A—occupies most of thepages and the characters’ energies.The secondary plot—PlotB—functionsas a subplot. Plot C and Plot D, if any, are given minimum space and

Page 170: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

attention—a few panels. As Plot A concludes, Plot B is “promoted”; itbecomesPlotA, andPlotCbecomesPlotB, and so forth.Thus, there is aconstant upward plot progression; each plot develops in interest andcomplexityastheyear’sissuesappear.Asimplifiedfour-issuebreakdownmightworklikethis:

Issue1:PlotA:Killerrobotsattackatourbus.CaptainWonderfularrivesintimetorescueaherdofvacationersfromSt.Louis.PlotB:Meanwhile,Cap’ssidekick,theGroovyKid,findsagoldenwaffleironduringafieldtripwithasecond-grade class: Plot C: And Cap’s kindly mentor, Professor Fondue,seesacometcrashnearhissuburbanlaboratory.

Issue 2: Cap learns that the robots are controlled by his old enemy, Mr.Nemesis.Heflies toNemesis’s lair,wherehe isrenderedunconsciousbyamagiccrumpet,chainedtoanobelisk,anddroppedintoapoolfullofman-eating guppies. Meanwhile, the Groovy Kid eats a waffle made with thegolden iron and turns into a puddle ofmaple syrup.On the other side ofGenericCity,ProfessorFondueseesahumanoidwhirlwindemergefromthecomet.And—introducingPlotD—Cap’sgirlfriend,Susie,getsane-mailthatcauseshertoshriek.

Issue 3: Cap escapes from the obelisk—by now, he’s had considerablepracticeatthis—clobbersNemesisanddropsthenow—inertrobotsoffattheSalvationArmy:endofPlotA.Meanwhile…analleycat findsapuddleofsyrup lyingnear awaffle iron and licks its chops:PlotB gets promoted toPlot A. The whirlwind announces its plans to run for mayor: Plot C getspromotedtoPlotB.AndSusietellshermomshehastogotoPoughkeepsie:PlotDgetspromotedtoPlotC.

Issue4:Cap,needing to conferwithGroovy, arrives in time to see the catabouttoslurpupthesyrup,guesseswhatmusthavehappenedtohispal—Cap’shada lotofexperiencesuperheroing—andshoosthetabbyaway;thewhirlwindblowshismayoralopponentstoKansaswherethey’reattackedbya scarecrow; and Susie’s Poughkeepsie-bound bus enters a space warpsomewherenorthofAlbany.

Page 171: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ThisexampleoftheLevitzparadigmshowstypicalplotlinepaths.Theonly“rule”isthateachtimeaplotlineshowsup,somethingmustmoveforward:eithernewinformationrevealedordevelopmentinthecharacter’srelationships.

Thismulti-leveledstructurehasmuchincommonwiththewaytelevisionsoap operas—also known as “serialized dramas”—are constructed. Havingthree-plusstoriesrunningsimultaneouslyisasmallinsurancepolicyagainstboringreaders.Someonewhoonceworkedonasoaptoldmethattheshow’swriterswereaware thatnot everyviewer likedevery character and so theygave each principal time in each episode. Don’t care for that slut Carrie,gentle viewer? Wait until after the commercial and you’ll see what’shappeningwith thathunkBernardo.…Similarly, theupwardlymobileplotconstructionoutlinedgivesreadersseveralcharacterstobeinterestedinandcreates the illusion, if not always the reality, that there’s a lot goingdown…theissue’sjustjam-packed.…Ithasacoupleofadditionalvirtues.Itsolvestheproblemofhowtoentice

the reader tobuycoming issues—everymonth,you’regiving themat leasttwo suspenseful reasons to learn what happens next. Readers sometimeslook for reasons to stop buying a title either because they’ve found otheruses for themoney—silly luxuries like food and shelter—or because their

Page 172: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

interest in comics in general is waning. The end of a story is a perfect“jumpingoff”place.Theobvioustacticistoavoidprovidingthatplace.Another reason to employ the Levitz Paradigm requires us to step,

gingerly, from the practical to the philosophical. It seems to me that thisstorytellingmethodisthebestimitationoflifepossibleinaworkoffiction.Life,youmayhavenoticed,doesnothappeninparcels,butasacontinuum.Whateverdramasyou’reinvolvedinatthemomentwilleventuallystop,butyouwon’t, not until that final day, and even then, lifewill continue, eventhough you aren’t participating in it any longer. So it is with this kind offiction;itimitatestheprocessofliving.Oneofthereasonswereadstoriesisto imagine ourselves having another existence—heightened,more excitingand fulfilling, but recognizably human. Open-ended fiction facilitates themental leap from themundane to the imaginative because it provides theillusionofaworldthatoperatesliketheworldweknowandthat,Isubmit,canbedeeplysatisfying.Unlessit’sbadlydone.Badlydone,it’sdeadly.

Page 173: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Are-creationofthegridsystemPaulLevitzusedtotrackplotlinesforLegion#22–27.Ifthishadreallybeenthegridusedatthetimeforissue#22,titlesandinformationforthelaterissueswouldhavebeenmissingorindefinite.

Page 174: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

MEGASERIES

That’satermyouhaven’tseenbeforebecauseIjustmadeitup.Ihavetocalla long continuity that features a single set of characters and appears inseveraltitlessomething.I’mnotdiscussingamaxiserieshere;megaseriesarefar, far more complex and very unusual—you might write comics for 30yearsandneverparticipateinone.Infact,tomyknowledge,therehavebeenonlyahandfuland they’vestarred just threeheroes,Batman,Spider-Man,and Superman. Theywere possible because those good guys appear everymonth in several different magazines. So, although each megaseries haslastedonlyayear(orless)they’vefilledalotmorethanthe264storypagesthatnormallycompriseayear’sworthofanygiventitle.(Themostambitiousofthem,NoMan’sLand,whichappearedinmostoftheBatmantitlesduring1999,wasamighty1,449pageslong.)Rather than continue giving you generalities, I’ll outline a brief case

history of the aforementioned No Man’s Land and then discuss someparticulars.Beforewe begin, however, you should keep inmind that theNoMan’s

Land editorial team had worked on a few earlier megaseries as well asthousands of single-issue stories, arcs, and graphic novels; a megaseriesrequiresalotofexperience,atleastfromthepersonorteamguidingit.

Page 175: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

NoMan’s Land, hereafterNML, began when an associate editor at DCComics, Jordan B. Gorfinkel, turned a strange idea he had into a 12-pageoutline.Jordandidthiswithnopromptingfromhisbosswho,Imayaswelladmit, was me. Jordan’s premise was this: Gotham City has sufferedenormousdamagefromanearthquake.Thefederalgovernmentrealizesthatthe cost of rebuilding the city would be in the trillions of dollars. A fewgreedyfolksee thepossibilityofhugeprofits if the fedsdon’thelprebuildthe city and, through bribery and the odd murder or two, convince keylegislators to stymie the rehabilitation effort. So the citizens are given the

Page 176: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

choice of relocating or remaining in an area isolated from the rest of thecountry.Onagivenday,bridgesandtunnelsareblown—Gothambearsanuncanny resemblance to Manhattan—and troops are stationed to keepanyonefromgettinginorout.Noteveryoneleaves.CriminalsseeGothamasagiganticversionofButch

Cassidy’shole-in-the-wall, amecca for the lawless.Therearealsoa lotofmentally impaired people who just can’t manage the exodus, severalhundred thousand citizens who refuse to abandon their homes, and ahandfulof costumedvigilanteswho remainbehind toprotect the innocentand,notincidentally,toreclaimthecity.Thatwasthepremise.Jordan first had to convince me that the story was worth the risks it

entailed.Irealizedthatwe’dhavetocommitfiveofDC’smostpopulartitlestoitforanentireyear;ifweflopped,we’dflopbigandthatwouldnotendearmetoeitherreadersorthegentlefolkwhosignourpaychecks.Buttheideaseemedtohavetremendouspossibilitiesfordramaandnothingexactlylikeithadeverbeendonebefore, anywhere—aseductive lure for a storyteller.SoIapproveditandsentJordan’soutlinetomysuperiorswho,toourhappysurprise,alsoapprovedit.Next, Jordan, Scott Peterson, Darren Vincenzo, and I—the Batman

editorial team—invited a few select writers to a day-long meeting. Wecommandeered a conference room, ordered in lunch and refreshmentsand … talked. Story arcs, scenes, themes, personnel, pros and cons—wediscussedeverything.At theendofeighthours,wehadhundredsofnoteswhichbecameagreatlyelaboratedversionof Jordan’soriginaloutline.Wemadeassignments,someofthemtentative,andsenteveryoneofftowork.

Page 177: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Then, while the writers were starting their scripts, the editors recruitedartists,conferredwithDC’smarketingdepartment,andlistenedtoanyoneintheDChierarchywhocaredtoofferasuggestion.WeagainrevisedJordan’soutline. And again and again, as the series progressed and our creativepeoplehad fresh ideas.Whenwewere about tobeginworkingon the lastthird of the story, we realized that our final month’s issues would beanticlimactic, devoted to tying up loose ends after themain conflictswereresolved. Two of our writers, Greg Rucka and Devin Grayson, did a finalrevision,onethatproducedthemostdramaticscenesinthewholeseriesand

Page 178: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

anunforgettableclimax.Analyze the sprawling behemoth that’s NML and you discover that it

doesn’treallysprawl;itfallsneatlyintothreesections—enterouroldfriend,thethree-actstructure,withanincitingincidentatthebeginningofthefirstandmajorplotdevelopmentsat thebeginningsof thesecondand third. Inadditiontothemainplotline,thereareaboutadozensubplots,whichmakestheseriesseemdisorganizedat firstglance,buteachhasadistinctplace inthe development of the story, either contributing to the central action orelaboratingbackgroundandcharacterization.NMLwasasstructuredaswecouldmake it and still allow for the possibility that ourwriters and artistsmighthavesomegoodlaterideas.Wewerealsoawarethatnoteverypotentialreaderwouldreadeveryissue

and that some would come to the series late. As always, our writersintegrated bits of exposition into the ongoing narrative, but we felt thatwasn’tenoughsoweborrowedatrickfromPrinceValiant.Rememberthatstrip’s “Our Story”?Here’s our version, printed on the first page ofmostNMLissues:…andaftertheearthshatteredandthebuildingscrumbled,thenationabandoned Gotham City. Then only the valiant, the venal, and theinsaneremainedintheplacetheycalledNoMan’sLand…

Wefelt thateventhismightnotbeenoughtogivenewcomersandreaderswhoskippedsomeissuesnecessaryinformationaboutwhatwashappening,soweoccasionallyprintedacolor-codedmapshowingwhereinthecityourprincipalcharacterswere.

Page 179: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

MikeCarlin’scharthelpedtheSupermanwritersandartiststokeeptrackofplotsandsubplotsduringthedeathofSupermanstoryline.

NoMan’sLandwassuccessful,bothcriticallyandfinancially.Itwasalsocomplex,challenging,and,fortheeditors,abitfrightening.Astuntlikethisis the editorial equivalent of a tight ropewalkerworkingwithout a net. IftherehadbeenaflawinJordan’soriginalconcept,oracontradictionintheplotline,wemightnothaveseenitbeforetoomanyissueswereinprinttodoa decent reworking—remember, we didn’t see the problem with theanticlimacticfinalthirduntilwewerebeginningthatpartofthecontinuity.Novelists and filmwriters can revise before theirwork is seen by anyone;writersofmonthlycomicbooksdon’talwayshavethatluxury.Which iswhythe initialoutline isso important. It isabsolutelyessential

that everyone concerned agree onwhat the story is about and how it willend. It’s a little like playing jazz: Once everyone in the band knows themelody, individual performers can improvise, as Greg and Devin did,providedtheimprovisationscontributetotheworkasawhole.EvenifGregandDevinhadn’tmade their final, superbcontributions,NMLwouldhave

Page 180: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

come to the conclusionwe envisioned at that firstmeeting, though not aseffectively.Everything that applies to arcs, novels, and individual stories applies to

megaseries; every scene shouldpoint to the climaxandnopage shouldbewasted.Themost importantaspectofamegaseries is this:Thestorymust justify

thespaceallottedto it.HermanMelvillesaid,“Towriteamightybookyoumusthaveamighty theme.” Ifyou’regoing todevote 1,000-pluspages toyournarrative,yourthemehaddamnwellbetterbemightyindeed.As a writer, you should avoid getting drafted into helping with a

megaseriesunlessyou’rewillingtotemporarilysquashyourego.Yourworkwillbesubmergedinavastwholeand, if theprojectsucceeds,you’llsharethe credit with a dozen or more colleagues. But you’ll have a satisfactionthat’s very rare in professional comicswriting—you’ll have been part of ateam, a group of kindred souls, laboring to create something greater thananyindividualiseverylikelytoachievealone.Idon’t regret theprolongedeffort required toparticipate,asbotheditor

andwriter,inNoMan’sLand.ButIdoubtthatI’lleverwanttodoanythinglikeitagain.

Page 181: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ApagefromBatman:NoMan’sLand,thelongest,mostcomplexmegaseriestodate.Notmanywordsareneededherebecausetheartsoperfectlyconveysthemoodandtoneofthestory.ScriptbyBobGale.ArtbyAlexMaleevandWayneFaucher.

Page 182: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

PagesfromJordanGorfinkel’soriginalproposalandsubsequentoutlinefortheBatman:NoMan’sLandmegaseries.(1)

Page 183: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 184: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ADAPTATIONS

Comics and motion pictures have always had a kind of symbioticrelationship. Many of the early comic book creators were habitualmoviegoersandmanyHollywooddirectorsandwriters,inturn,readcomics.Thekinshipextendedbeyondmutual influence:Asearly as 1940, just twoyearsafterSupermanmadehisdebutinActionComics#1,heappearedinaseriesofanimatedcartoonsintendedfortheaters,producedbytheFleischerbrothers, who also brought Popeye The Sailor Man to the screen. Then,throughout the ensuing decade, other comics heroes were given filmincarnations, among them Batman, Captain Marvel, Blackhawk, CaptainAmerica, Dick Tracy, and Nyoka, the Jungle Girl. (You don’t rememberNyoka?Forshame…)Themovies-comicsassociationcontinues:Superman,Batman,Steel, the

Punisher,theMask,MysteryMen,thePhantom,andtheX-Menhavebeenfeatured in recent theatrical movies and, as I write this in 2000, a filmadaptationofMarvel’sSpider-Manisinproduction.Andwhat,youmaybeaskingaboutnow,hasthismini-historylessonto

dowithscriptingcomicbooks?Notmuch,excepttoserveasanintroductiontothelastkindofwritingwe’lldiscuss:theadaptation.Often,whenabigmoviethatmightappealtocomicsfansisintheworks,a

dealwillbestruckbetweenthefilmstudioandacomicbookpublishertodotheflickincomicbookform.Enter,atthatpoint,thecomicbookwriter,withapotentiallydauntingjobtodo.If you’re ever assigned one of these projects, your creativity won’t be

challenged—after all, someone else provides the story and characters—butthere will be demands made on both your professionalism and yourcraftsmanship.Thedeadlinewillbeinviolable;thejobwillhavetobedoneby the release date of themovie—if it isn’t, therewon’t bemuch point inpublishingthecomic.Mostmoviesdotheirbestbusinessthefirstweekendoftheirreleaseand

are very old news within a month. Unless the movie is a StarWars-size

Page 185: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

megahit,anyonewhomightwantthecomicwillwantitsoonafterseeingthemovieandso,obviously,thecomicwillhavetobeavailable.Youwon’thavealotofleadtime,either.Moviescriptsconstantlyevolve;youwon’tevenbegiven anything resembling the movie’s shooting script until productionbegins and as themovie is beingmade, it will also be revised, sometimesdaily. So you’ll be sent revised script pages as you do your work, whichmeansthatyou,too,willhavetorevise.Inthemeanwhile,anartist,whosejob is much more time-consuming than yours, will be waiting for yourversionofthescript.Allofwhichmeans,you’vegottohonoryourdeadline.WhenI’vedoneadaptations,I’vebegunbyestimatinghowlongI’llneed

to complete the job—usually about three weeks—and then deciding howmany pages I’ll have to write every day. Once that decision is made, itbecomesgospel.That’stheeasypart.Therestisprobablythebestexerciseinwritingcraft

imaginable, so good that if you’re seeking a way to develop your skills, Isuggestyouobtainamoviescriptanddoanadaptationofit.Theexperiencemay be quite educational. It will force you to understand anotherwriter’sstructureorwhy,infact,hisscripthasnostructure.Here’stheprocess:First,definewhatthestoryisabout—thatis,locatethe

spine.Next,choosewhichscenesareimportant.Then,choosewhichlinesofdialogueandbitsofactionwithinthescenesareimportant.You’llalsowantto decide which lines that aren’t integral to the spine of the story are soamusingandmemorable that they’llhave tobe included in the finalcutofthemovie.(You’llbewrongasoftenasnot,butmaketheeffortanyway.)Attheendofallthischoosing,you’llhavewhatamountstoanoutlineof

the script you’ll write which includes most of your dialogue—and you’lldiscoverthatit’swaytoolong.Theaveragemoviescripthasbetween110and130pages;you’llhaveabout56pagestotellthesamestory.Back to the movie script. Look for places where two scenes can be

compressedintoone.Thenturnyourattentiontoactionscenes,particularlychasescenes.Onthescreen,thetwoatomic-powereddunebuggieswhizzingover the roller coaster asCossacks lobmortar shells at themwill have theaudiencegrippingthearmsoftheirchairs,butthatwon’tbetrueofthesamechaserenderedinstaticdrawings.Somethingsmoviesdobetterthancomicsand chases are high on the list. Trust me: You won’t achieve the kind ofpulse-poundingthrillsthemovieguysdeliver—theexcitementmostlycomesfrommovement and your pictures just lie there. So ask yourself what the

Page 186: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

chase does to advance the plot. The answer will often be that it getssomebody fromhere to there.Youcando that in twopanels. If somethingimportanthappens in the courseof the chase, by allmeans include it, butjustenoughofittobringitintothestory.Other kinds of action scenes can often be similarly compressed. In the

movie script, the good guys battle six dozen snarling ninjas to achieveentranceintothevillain’sstronghold.Okay,whatdoesthatmeanintermsoftheplot?Justthis:Theheroesencounterresistanceandgettowherethey’regoing.Loseallbutthreeoftheninjas;givethefightapage—it’stakenfiveinthemoviescript—andyou’vedoneallyouneedtodo.You’vecut,compressed,reduced—andyoustillcan’tcramthemovieinto

yourcomicbook?Lookatthesubplots.Aretheyessential?Cantheysimplybeeliminatedaltogether?Iftheyinvolvethestar’sromancewiththeleadinglady, theanswer isno—the leading lady isoneof thebigattractionsof themovieandhercharactermusthaveapresenceinthecomicbook.Butiftheyaren’t essential to the plot, take a deep breath and expel them. They’reexpendable.Theymaycontain thebestwriting in themovie,butyouneedthepagestheyoccupy.As you’ve been doing all this, your editor has been sending you the

revisionsinthemoviescript.Mostofthemwillbeminor.Applytothemthesame selection process that you applied to the original. Therewill come apointwhereyourscripthastogotothepencillerandstilltherevisionswillarrive.Well,you’reoutoftime.You’vedoneyourbest.Now,presumably,youhaveacompactedversionofthemoviescript,one

short enough to fit into your comic. Begin typing. As you progress, you’llfindthatyouhavetorewritelinesandaddbitsofnewdialogue,transitionalcaptions, and an occasional establishing shot. Do these chores sparingly;your task is to approximate the moviegoing experience, not demonstrateyour own brilliance by showing the world how the movie script ought tohavebeenwritten.This isnot thebestconceivableway to takeastory fromonemediumto

another.Ideally,you’ddowhattranslatorsofpoetrydo,rethinkthemeaningof the original andwrite it in your own language. Japanese haiku that aretranslatedliterallyareatworstgibberishandatbestflatstatementswithallthegraceandnuance—allthepoetry—missing.JapaneseisnotEnglishandmovies are not comics. Each has its peculiar strengths andweaknesses. Ifyoutoldthestoryofamovieincomicbooktermswithouttryingtoimitate

Page 187: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

theothermediumyou’dhaveabettercomicbook—maybeevenafineone.But that’s probably not what the people who’ve hired you want. They’reaskingyoutogetasmuchofthemovieontotheprintedpageaspossible—toremindpeoplewho’veseenthemovieofwhatanexcellenttimetheyhadinthetheaterandtotemptpeoplewhohaven’tseenthemovieintothenearestmultiplex.That’s your job.Do it aswell as you canand take a craftsman’sprideintheresult.

Page 188: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

PagesfromtheadaptationsofBatmanandBatmanReturns,big-screen,big-budgetrenderingsoftheDarkKnight.FourofthecomicbookadaptationshavebeencollectedinonepaperbackbooktitledBatman:TheMovies.ScriptbyDennisO’Neil.ArtbyJerryOrdway,SteveErwin,andJoséGarcia-Lopez.(1)

Page 189: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

(2)

Page 190: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

CONTINUITY

Continuity isapartofeverykindofcomicswritingwe’vediscussedso far,andaparticularly importantpartof allongoing series.For somereaders—and,I’mafraid,somewriters—it’sthemostimportantpart.Yet, when I began doing this work some 34 years ago, it wasn’t in the

comicbookwriter’svocabulary. Itgraduallyseeped intoourconsciousnessinthelatesixtiesand,adecadelater,itwassomethingthatdemandedalmostconstant attention. Now, continuity sometimes seems to be what comicswriting is all about. That’s not only not true, it’s a dangerous notion, butwe’llsavethatdiatribeforlater.First,whatisit?The word “continuity,” as used in comics. television and movies, is

actuallyattachedtothreedifferent,butrelated,disciplines.We’lllabelthemContinuityA,ContinuityB,and—youguessedit—ContinuityC.

Cont inu i t y A

This might better be called “consistency.” When it’s done properly, itinsures thateverythingwithin thestory (orarcorseries)remains thesamefrompage topage. issue to issue.Acharacter’snamedoesnotchange.Hishairremainsthesamecolor,andispartedonthesameside,throughoutthestory.His car, clothes, apartment, job, hometown, relatives, and friends—everything about him remains consistent unless the plot demandsalterations.In movies, this task belongs to someone whose job title is Script

Supervisorandademandingjobitisbecausemoviesareusuallyshotoutofsequence; scenes that appearwithin seconds of each othermayhave beenphotographedweeksapart.Incomics, it’sthetaskoftheeditororassistanteditor. When an editor gives an issue a final read-through, immediatelypriortoshippingittotheprinter,he’scheckingforthiskindofcontinuity.

Cont inu i t y B

ThisissimilartoContinuityA,butitsscopeislarger.Itreferstoconsistency

Page 191: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

withinanentireseries,notjustasinglestory.Inadditiontotheconsistenciesmentioned,ContinuityBisconcernedwiththebackstoryandthesequenceof important events—inotherwords, the “history”of important charactersandlocaleswhichhaveusuallydevelopedoveryearsofpublication.

Page 192: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

DevinGrayson’spreferredscriptformat.ThestoryappearedinthefirstissueofBatman:GothamKnights.

Page 193: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

InthisBatman:GothamKnightsstory,DevinGraysonincorporatedexposition(thestuffabouttheattachécase)intoanemotionalconfrontationbetweenBatmanandNightwing.ArtbyDaleEagleshamandJohnFloyd.

Cont inu i t y C

ThisisContinuityBwritlarge,andappliesonlytocharacterswhoarepartofawell-developed fictional “universe,”whichmeans, at least for now, onlybookspublishedbyMarvelandDC.Itisconcernedwiththerelationshipsofhundredsofcharactersandeventsandavastchronologythatencompasses

Page 194: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

past,present,andfuture.The care and feeding of Continuities B and C are, theoretically, yet

another editorial chore. In practice, there is usually someone who has alifelong devotion to the “universe” and an awesomememory who can becalled on to answer continuity questions. This person, nicknamed the“continuity cop,” may be a staff member, a freelancer, or even a fan.Althoughthepositionisunofficial—nobodyiseverhiredtobeacontinuitycop—theserviceisincreasinglynecessary.Maintainingconsistency inasingletitle isdemandingandmaintaining it

in forty titles for a decade or more is Herculean. So why bother? Theprimary reason is simply that editors and publishers are convinced thatmodernreadersdemandit.Thiswasn’talwaystrue.AsImentionedearlier,the first-generation comics writers and editors weren’t terribly aware ofcontinuity, and probably never used the word. They were just … tellingstories.Andtellingstoriesinwhatwasconsideredatransientmedium.Untilthe seventies, the conventionalwisdomheld that the comicbookaudiencechanged every three years. “Comics are for kids,” the theory went, “andwhen the kids discover sports, cars, and the opposite sex, they’ll abandontheirfunnybookhabitandgivetheircollectiontotheiryoungersiblings.”Thatmayneverhavebeen completely true, and after comicsbecame an

entertainment-of-choice for high school and college students, it stoppedbeingtrueatall.Gradually,editorsbecameawarethattheiraudienceswerefarmore sophisticated than anyone had previously thought, and that theycared—deeply and, in some cases, almost obsessively. That was anunexpected boon for editors, both financially and artistically. It enablededitors to build reader loyalty—that was the financial gain. The artisticbenefit was that it allowed for longer, more complex stories that couldcontinue over several issues; editors could stop worrying about thepossibilitythatareaderwouldbeoutragedwhenaskedtospendmoneyonanother issue, or three, or six issues, to learn how the story ended. Storyarcs,mini-,maxi-,andmegaserieswouldnotbepossiblewithouttheloyaltythatcontinuitycreated.Unfortunately,continuitywasamixedblessing. Ityieldedhugebenefits,

but it also created problems. Editors and writers who began their comicscareers as fans brought their devotion to continuity to their professionallives;theyknewallthedetailsaboutcharactersandseries,buttheyweren’talwaysconcernedwithbasicstorytelling.Theysometimesneglectedplotting

Page 195: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

because their interests lay in the minutiae, not in an expertly structuredstory.Someofthemassumedthatbecausetheyknewseries’names,places,relationships,andevents,knewthesethingsaswellastheyknewtheirownkitchens,thateveryoneelsedid,too.Sotheydidn’tbotherwithexposition.Theresultwasthatnewreaderscouldn’tunderstandwhowaswho,whatwashappening, and why. This narrowed the potential audience; a new readerwhocan’tcomprehendwhatthehellallthefussisaboutisnotlikelytomakecomics reading a habit.After all, he hasn’t been entertained, just puzzled,andmaybeinfuriated.Anotherproblem:Continuitychanges.Ithasto—withadozeneditorsand

hundreds of creators working on a fictional universe over ten years,contradictions are bound to occur. And fictional heroes must evolve orbecomedatedandloseyoungeraudiences.Finally,onceinawhileawriteror editor has an idea for a change in a character’s history thatmakes himstronger,more interesting.For these reasons, continuitymustoccasionallybeupdated,eitherbyjustchangingthestorylineswithoutmentioningitorby making the changes part of a story line. The result is twofold: First,necessary changes happen and, second, a lot of older fans, who have anemotional investment in the status quo, get angry. Editors are in a classicdouble-bind.Tochangeornottochange.…Iftheydon’t,theywon’tattractnewreadersandgraduallylosetheirpresentaudiencebynaturalprocessofattrition. If they do, they aggravate that audience and perhaps lose themfaster.Howdoeditorsresolvethedilemma?Anywaytheycan.WhereIwork,we

believethat,intheend,peoplewillalwaysrespondtoastrongstory,thoughtheymayinitiallyresistit.Soweletthechangeshappenwhenwefeelthey’redesirable. Such decisions are always based on educated guesses, and it ispossible thatwe could bewrong. Taking these kinds of chances is part ofwhataneditorgetspaidtodo.Itis,asthesayinggoes,adirtyjob,butsomebodyhastodoit.Notmuchofthiswillconcernyou,thewriter.Butitmightbehelpfulfor

you to understandwhy continuity decisions aremade, especially if you’reever asked to write a continuity-wrecking script. Like virtually everythingelsewe’vediscussed,continuityis,finally,astorytellingtool.Butitnotholywrit.It’s useful to differentiate between the tail and the dog, and remember

whatshouldbewaggingwhat.

Page 196: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

DENOUEMENT

Thebellies are full, the firesbanked, the childrenquiet, and,perhaps, theurgetomateissatisfied.Thencomesthebeatingofthedrumsandthetellingoftales.Storytellingisprobablyman’sfirstactofcivilization.No single story, no hundred stories, are very important, a fact useful to

rememberwhen that annoying illusion, the ego, tempts us to believe thatanyone storyteller is important.But storytelling itself—that is deepwithinourcommonhumanity.Thepurposeofall I’vewritten in this littlebook is tohelpyou tellyour

storiesaswellasyoucan.Gotellthem.

Page 197: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

APPENDIX

Page 198: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics
Page 199: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

WRITINGHUMORCOMICSbyMarkEvanier

Anyone who’s done both will attest:Writing humor comics is a lot moredifficult than writing the non-humorous variety. You have all the samechallenges—characterization, suspense, story development—that Dennymentionselsewhereinthisbook.Plus,youhavetobefunny.That’s themain difference, but it’s significant enough thatmany comic

bookcompanieshavepaidmoreforapageof“humorcomic”scriptthanforoneoftheadventureorsuperherovariety.Sohowdoyoumakeitfunny?Therearethosewhosayitcannotbetaught

or learned; that a sense o’ humor is something you’re either bornwith oryou’renot.Ifyouweren’t,don’tworry.Youmaystillhavealucrativecareeraheadofyouincomics,probablyasmyeditor.ButI’veonlygotsomuchspacehere,solet’spresumeyoucantellajoke

or,atleast,writeajoke.Andlet’shopeit’sbetterthanthisone:Amanwalksintoapsychiatrist’sofficeandhesays,“Doc,you’vegottatell

me.Isitpossibleforamantobeinlovewithanelephant?”Thepsychiatristsays,“Absolutelynot.”The man says, “Are you sure? Because this is very important. Please,

doctor,lookmeintheeyeandtellmeyou’reabsolutelypositivethatamancannotbeinlovewithanelephant!”The psychiatrist says, “I studied at all the finest schools.… I have every

degreeamaninmyprofessioncanearn.…I’mabsolutely,positivelycertainthatamancannotbeinlovewithanelephant!”Themansighs,whipsoutathree-footpieceofjewelry,andsays,“Inthat

case, doc, can you tellmewhere I can get rid of an engagement ring thisbig?”Now,Ipickedthatjokefortworeasons:One,it’spublicdomain,itsauthor

having perished sometime during the Byzantine Era. Secondly, its punchline involvesa funnyvisual.That’soneofyourmissionswhenyouwriteahumor comic book: Create funny visuals. This joke would probably play

Page 200: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

betterinacomicbookbecauseyoucouldactuallyseethebigdiamondring.Youcouldalsoseethepsychiatrist’sshockedreaction…and,dependingonmymood,Imightevencallfortheartisttodrawalovesickelephantpeekinginthewindow.Funnydialogueisfineinitsplace.(Tip:Thefirstmistakeofthebeginning

comedy writer is to try andmake everything funny.Whatevermerits ourexamplejokehaswouldbelostifoneattemptedtoinsertgagsintothesetup.Thedoctorhastobeplayedabsolutelystraightsothathisdignitystandsincontrast to the silliness of the punch line. And theman’s urgent problemmustbetreatedasadirematter.…again,tocontrastwiththesillinessofthepunch line. Ifyou tried togive funnydialogue toeither,you’dweakenthecontrast.“Contrast”isagoodwordtokeepinmindthroughoutanykindofwritingbutespeciallycomedywriting.)Funny dialogue, however, is an enhancement for funny visuals, not a

substitute.Youwant to give the artist, even if you’re the artist, somethingfunny to draw. However, that leads to another problem, which is to nottelegraph the punch line—i.e., not to let the audience/reader knowwhat’scomingbeforeyou’reready.Ifyou’retellingsomeonea joke,yougenerallydon’twantthemtogetto

thepayoffprematurely…butit’salsoimportantnottorushsoquicklytotheendthatyoudon’tset thingsupfully.Inourmodel joke, themanaskshisdesperatequestiontwice.Ifheonlyaskeditonce,hisplightwouldn’tseemso urgent; ergo, it wouldn’t seem as much a contrast—there’s that wordagain—whenwediscoverwhatit’sallabout.Ajokecanalsogoontoolong.IfIhadmoreroominthispiece,Imight

havehadhimask three times—thatwould reallypointuphisurgencyandbuild us up for the payoff—but I don’t think I’d stretch it out any longerthan that. I’d risk the audience getting bored and distracted or—worse—figuringoutwhat’scomingbeforewedeliverthekicker.

Page 201: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

FromSergioAragonésDestroysDC.ScriptbyMarkEvanierandartbySergioAragonés.

In amystery story, youmight like the idea of the audience figuring outwhodunitbeforeyourherotellsthem.Thatcanbedesirable,justaslongastheydon’tfigureitouttooearly.Butwhenyou’retellingajoke,youusuallydon’twantthemtorealizewhereyou’regoingbeforeyougetthere.In a comic book, there’s a very real danger of your reader seeing that

visualpunchlinebeforethey’vedigestedtheentiresetup.Afterall,it’srightthereonthepageandreaders tendtoat leastglanceat theartworkfor theentirepagebeforetheyplowintothewordballoons.Iftheydo…well,haveyoueverheardarealamateurjoke-tellerwhoputsthepunchlinebeforethe

Page 202: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

setup?(“Thisguywalksintoapsychiatrist’sofficewithahugeengagementringheboughtforanelephantandasksifit’spossibleforamantobeinlovewith…”)Onewaytoavoidtippingthejoketoosoonistotryandlayoutthepanels

sothepayofflineisn’tonthesamepageasthesetup.Ifthiswereoccurringinthemiddleofastory,Imightendpage8withthepatientsaying,“Inthatcase,doc…”Thenthefirstpanelonpage9wouldbeourfirstglimpseofthehugeringandtherestoftheman’sdialogue.Unfortunately,youcan’talwaysarrangeforthepagebreakstofallwhereyou’dlikethem.One thing tokeep inmind is thatpeople read the lettering left-to-right

and theireyes tend to scanacrossapicture the sameway. In this case, I’darrangethefinalpanelwiththepatientontheleftandI’dcallfortheangletofavorhimandthehugering.Thenwe’dputthepsychiatristtohisright,sowe see the ring and then we see the reaction to it. (Important point: Theamateurhumoristwould leave thepsychiatristoutof thepanel, figuringtofocus on the guy delivering the punchline. Bi-i-ig mistake. The doctor’sreaction is anotherpotentially funny visual and it’s thepunctuation to thejoke.)Soyouincludethedocandyouputhimtotherightofthepatient.Ifyou

do it the other way around, the panel’s time sequence is backwards: Thereaders will be seeing the psychiatrist’s reaction a split-second before theeventthattriggersit.AndifIweregoingtoincludethatlovesickelephant—anditmightbetoomuch,butitmightnot—shewouldcertainlygoonthefarright,asakindoftopper.But that’s just theway I’d do it. In comics—and especially in comedy—

whatworksworksandwhatdoesn’tdoesn’t.AsIlearnedwritingforstandupcomedians, if the audiencedoesn’t laughat it, you throw it out,nomatterhow funny it seems on paper or how well it adheres to any given set of“rules.”That’sonefrustrationofthecraft.Anotheristhatyouneverseemtohave

enough room to take your time and fully develop each setup/punchlinecombo. You find yourself having to shorthand… to do in tenwordswhatyou’dratherdoinahundred.IfindIneverhaveenoughroomtosayallthatIwanttosay……notinmostcomicbooksandcertainlynotinthisarticle.Ciao!

Page 203: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

FromFanboy#6.ScriptbyMarkEvanierandartbySergioAragonésandSteveRude.

Page 204: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

THECOMICBOOKWRITER’SLIBRARY

First,theobvious.Ifyouwanttounderstandcomics,youmustreadcomics.Iwon’t presume to give you something like a greatest hits list because,frankly, I don’t want to risk offending friends and colleagues by omittingwork they consider worthy. But in any comics specialty store, you’ll findwhatever’snewandpopularaswellasaselectionofcollectionsandgraphicnovels. Bookstores, both online and the old-fashioned steel-and-concretevariety,canalsoprobablyhelpyou.Below,I’velistednon-comicsbooksthatI’vefoundinteresting,useful,or

both. Each has something to say, directly or indirectly, about the visualtellingofstories.

Screenplay—SydField

Fieldgivesthebestexplanationofthethree-actstructurethatI’veeverread.

AdventuresintheScreenTrade—WilliamGoldman

Asnotedearlier,thisiswhereIfirstencounteredtheideaofastoryspine.Inadditiontobeingofinteresttowriters,it’sawonderfullyentertaininglookatthemoviebusiness.

Hitchcock—Truffaut

For fifty hours, François Truffaut talked to Alfred Hitchcock aboutHitchcock’s craft and art.This is a transcriptionof that conversation,withphotosadded,andtheremaybenobetterprimeronvisualnarrative.

WritingtoSell—ScottMeredith

Outofprint,butperhapsstillavailablefromrarebookvenuesbothon-andoffline,thisisagood,basictextforcommercialstorytellers.

ComicsandSequentialArt—WillEisner

GraphicStorytelling—WillEisner

Page 205: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Eisner isasgoodanartist, ineverysenseof theword,ascomicshavehad.He’salsoagoodteacher.I’dconsiderboththesebooks,butparticularlythesecondone,requiredreadingforanycomicbookwriter.

UnderstandingComics—ScottMcCloud

Anyonewhoreallywantstounderstandthemedium,thoroughly,hastoreadthisincredible,216-pagecomicbook.LikeWillEisner’sbooks,itisrequiredreading.

ReinventingComics—ScottMcCloud

ThisisnotsomuchasequeltoMcCloud’searlierbookasanadditiontoit.Theauthorexplainshowcomicshavecometobewheretheyareinthefirstsectionanddiscussesthefutureinthesecond.

McLuhanforBeginners—W.TerrenceGordon

Comicsarepartofthatbig,misunderstoodmonsterwelabel“themedia”andMcLuhan thoughtmoredeeplyaboutmedia,probably, thananyone. I findhis own books hard going, but Gordon’s text—which is, coincidentally, infauxcomicbookform—presentshisideasclearlyandconcisely.Itmayhelpyouunderstandtheuniqueappealofcomicbooks.Youmightwanttoreaditin conjunctionwithMcCloud’sUnderstandingComics. If you’d like to tryreadingMcLuhanhimself,youmightbeabletofindacopyofhismagnumopus,UnderstandingMedia.

TheWriter’sJourney—ChristopherVogler

VoglertakesJosephCampbell’s ideasaboutmythologyandappliesthemtoscreenwriting.Althoughostensiblyformoviefolk,thebook’scentralthesesare also pertinent to comics writers. People with a general interest inmythologywillalsobeabletolearnfromit.

Story—RobertMcKee

Another book directed at screenwriters that comics writers will findenormouslyuseful.McKee,who isprobably theworld’spremier teacherofscreenwriting,looksatplot,characterization,andstorystructurefromeveryangle. Ifyou’renot luckyenough to takehiscourse,youcanconsider thisbookthenextbestthing.Ifyouhavetakenthecourse,thebookconstitutesthebestclassnotesyoucanimagine.

Page 206: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ManofTwoWorlds:MyLifeinScienceFictionandComics—JuliusSchwartzandBrianM.Thomsen

Thisisnotaboutwriting,butitisthestoryofoneofthemostinfluentialandimportant editors comics have ever had, and so should be of uncommoninteresttoanyoneinvolvedinthefield.

Page 207: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR

Formore than twenty years, Batman editor andwriterDennisO’Neil putthe“dark”intheDarkKnightandwastheguidingforcebehindtheBatmanmythos.Hehasbeencalledamasterof thecomics formand thedeanofAmericancomicswriters.Abestsellingnovelist,O’NeilcurrentlyteachesacourseincomicbookwritingatNewYorkUniversity.HelivesinNyack,NewYork.

Page 208: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

INDEX

A

Accents,6.1,6.2ActionComics,11.1,11.2#1,11.3,11.4

Action/complicationscenesinminiseriesandmovieadaptationsrising,3.1,4.1inthestorystructure,3.1,3.2

Adams,Neal,4.1,5.1,11.1Adaptations,movieTheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn(Twain)Alquiza,MarloAnderson,MurphyAndru,RossAnticlimaxesTheanti-heroAparo,JimAragonés,Sergio,2.1,bm1.1,bm1.2Arcs,seeStoryarcsAustin,Terry,2.1,4.1,8.1Azrael,5.1,6.1Azrael#1#36,1.1,1.2

B

BackdoorpilotseealsoSubplots

Balloonsanddialogue,1.1,6.1,6.2,6.3typesof

Page 209: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Barks,CarlBates,CaryBatLashBatmanevolutionoforiginstory

BatmanBatman:GothamAdventures#32Batman:GothamKnights,16.1,16.2Batman:GothamKnights#8,6.1,6.2Batman:Knightfall,6.1,6.2Batman:NightCries,9.1,9.2,10.1,10.2Batman:NoMan’sLand“ByDeath’sEerieLight!”HugoStrange,unveilingofLegendsoftheDarkKnight#16,4.1,4.2LegendsoftheDarkKnight#100,3.1,3.2movieadaptations,15.1,15.2asongoingseriessubplotcharactersfrom,5.1,5.2

“ThereisNoHopeinCrimeAlley!”(DetectiveComics)Batman:TheMovies(book)

Beatty,ScottBeatty,TerryBogdanove,JonBoring,WayneBraun,RussellBreeding,Brett,1.1,4.1Burchett,RickBurstballoonBuscema,Sal“ByDeath’sEerieLight!”Byrne,John

C

Campanella,Robert

Page 210: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

CaptainAmericaCaptainMarvelCaptionsdefinedflashback,1.1,8.1overuseofandscript-writingformats,2.1,2.2

Cardy,Nick,2.1,11.1Carlin,MikeCartoons,televisionCatwoman,5.1,6.1Characterizationwithdialogue(seeDialogue)byfourquestionsofheroes,(seealsoHeroes)withhumorofvillains

Characterreintroductions,8.1,12.1Chekhov,AntonChinatown(movie)Cliffhangers,3.1,8.1ColoristColumbo(televisionseries)Comicbooksandclarity,importanceofdefined,1.1,1.2intheearlyyears(seeEarlycomics)assemioticentitiesterminologyof

ComicreliefseealsoHumor

Complications,seeAction/complicationscenesCompression,4.1,4.2,5.1,15.1ConsistencyContinuity,11.1,16.1seealsoLevitzParadigm;Storyarcs

CrisisonInfiniteEarths

D

Danger,asthehookDarkseid

Page 211: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

David,Peter,6.1,7.1DCComicscontinuityNoMan’sLandO’Neilat

Deadlines,2.1,8.1DeCarlo,MikeDell,John,3.1,6.1Dellperdang,JesseDeMatteis,J.M.Denouement,3.1,3.2DetectiveComics#457#471#472firstissueasongoingseries

Dialects,6.1,6.2Dialogueamountofdialect,6.1,6.2foreignlanguagesandrealspeech

Dini,PaulD’Israeli(artist)Ditko,SteveDixon,Chuck,2.1,6.1,7.1,8.1DonaldDuckDoomsdayDr.StrangeDrama,creatingcompression(avoidingpointlessness),4.1,4.2,5.1,15.1failureofheroesrisingaction,3.1,4.1startingscenessuspensevs.surpriseseealsoStorystructure

E

Page 212: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

E

Eaglesham,DaleEarlycomicscharacterizationexpositionheroesplot-firstwriting,atMarvelstorystructureseealsoContinuity;Readers,modern

Editors,2.1,7.1Eisner,Will,3.1,3.2,bm2.1ElectricballoonEndingsanticlimacticcliffhangers,3.1,8.1denouement,3.1,3.2determiningbeforeyoustart,3.1,3.2ingraphicnovelsseealsoSuspense

Englehart,Steve,4.1,8.1Erwin,SteveEsposito,MikeEthnicstereotyping,6.1,6.2Evanier,Mark,6.1,bm1.1Evolutionofheroes,11.1,11.2,16.1Expositiondefinedinearlycomicsinflashbacks,1.1,8.1reintroductions,inseries,5.1,8.1,12.1insubplots

F

Failure,hero’sFalstaff,SirJohnFanboy#6,bm1.1,bm1.2TheFantasticFourFaucher,Wayne

Page 213: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Fiction,serializedField,SydFinger,BillTheFlash#162#179,1.1,1.2“MysteryoftheHumanThunderbolt”(Showcase)asongoingseries

Flashbacks,1.1,8.1seealsoExposition

Floyd,John,6.1,16.1ForeignlanguagesForeverPeople,6.1,6.2Franchises,6.1,7.1Full-pageshotFull-scriptformatadvantagesofcombinedwithplot-firstdefinedseealsoPlot-firstformat;Scriptpreparation

G

Gaiman,Neil,5.1,6.1Gale,BobGarcia-Lopez,José,4.1,15.1Gardner,GuyGeraci,Drew,1.1,3.1,3.2Gibbons,DaveGiffen,KeithGiordano,Dick,1.1,6.1,6.2Goldman,William,1.1,3.1,bm2.1Goodwin,Archie,2.1,9.1,10.1Gordon,AlGordon,W.TerrenceGorfinkel,JordanB.,14.1,14.2,14.3Graphicnovelsdefined,1.1,9.1

Page 214: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Grayson,DevinBatman:GothamKnights,16.1,16.2Batman:GothamKnights#8NoMan’sLand,14.1,14.2

GreenArrow,4.1,5.1GreenLantern,5.1,5.2,11.1GreenLantern:DragonLord,2.1,2.2GreenLantern#76GreenLantern#85GreenLantern(GuyGardner)Grummett,TomGulacy,Paul

H

Hamm,SamHammett,DashiellHampton,ScottHawkmanHazelwood,Doug,1.1,4.1Hempel,MarcHeroescharacterizationdeconstructeddefinedevolutionof,11.1,11.2,16.1failureoffalseidentitiesflawedfranchiseandstorystructure,3.1,3.2,3.3andsuspense

Hitchcock,Alfred,3.1,3.2,4.1,bm2.1Hook(premise)Hume,PhyllisHumor,6.1,bm1.1TheHuntress

Page 215: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

I

ImpulseInfantino,CarmineInkerIronMan

J

Janke,DennisJLA#34#43,3.1,3.2#44,1.1,3.1

TheJokerJones,KelleyJones,MalcolmIIIJumping-onplacesJurgens,DanJusticeLeague:ANewBeginning

K

Kane,BobKane,GilKanigher,RobertKanoKelin,GeorgeKesel,KarlKingdomCome#2,1.1,1.2Kirby,Jack,2.1,6.1,6.2Kirk,LeonardKubert,JoeKungFu(televisionseries)

L

Lane,Lois

Page 216: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Lee,StanonDennisO’Neilflawedheroesofandplot-firstformat

Legion#22-27plotlines,13.1,13.2LettererLevins,TimLevitz,Paul,13.1,13.2LevitzParadigm,5.1,11.1,13.1seealsoStoryarcs

Lightbulbs

M

MagnumPI(televisionseries)Maleev,AlexManuscriptpageMarston,WiliamMoultonMartin,MarcosMarvelComicscontinuityearlyheroes,6.1,6.2O’Neilatscriptingstyle,exampleofunderStanLee

Maxiseries,1.1,10.1seealsoMegaseries;Miniseries;Ongoingseries

McCarthy,RayMcCloud,Scott,2.1,bm2.1TheMcGuffinMcGuire,KevinMcKee,Robert,3.1,6.1,bm2.1MegaseriesseealsoMaxiseries;Miniseries;Ongoingseries

Melville,HermanMeredith,ScottMiki,DannyMiller,ArthurMiniseries

Page 217: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

beginningsummariescharacterreintroductionscliffhangers,3.1,8.1defined,1.1,8.1developmentofeventsinfittingintotheallottedpagesingraphicnovelspaddingandsubplotsvs.storyarcsseealsoMaxiseries;Megaseries;Ongoingseries

Moench,Doug,2.1,2.2,7.1Moore,AlanMorrison,Grant,3.1,6.1Mortimer,WinMovieadaptationsMulti-imagepanels“MysteryoftheHumanThunderbolt”(Showcase)

N

Nauck,ToddNightwing,5.1,16.1Nolan,GrahamNoMan’sLand

O

O’Neil,Dennis(Denny)Azrael#1Azrael#36BatmanmovieadaptationsDetectiveComics#457GreenLantern#76GreenLantern#85GreenLantern-GreenArrow(Speedy)LegendsoftheDarkKnight#16

Page 218: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

LegendsoftheDarkKnight#100NoMan’sLand,14.1,14.2Superman#233

OngoingseriesseealsoMaxiseries;Megaseries;Miniseries

Ordway,Jerry

P

PaddingseealsoCompression

Palmiotti,JimmyPanelsdefinedmulti-imagemultipleactionsin

PaperbackcollectionsPascoe,JamesPelletier,PaulPencillerdefinedandthehookandscriptformats,2.1,2.2

Pérez,GeorgePeter,HarryPeterson,Scott,7.1,7.2,14.1PlasticManPlasticManPlot-firstformatadvantagesofcombinedwithfull-scriptdefinedseealsoFull-scriptformat;ScriptpreparationPlotscontinuityinseries,11.1,16.1fittingintothepageallottment,8.1,12.1ingraphicnovelsintheLevitzParadigmmegaseriesseealsoSubplots

Page 219: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Poe,EdgarAllanPorter,Howard,1.1,3.1,3.2,3.3,6.1Premise(thehook)PrinceValiantPseudodialectPulido,Javier

Q

Quesada,JoeQuestion,asthehook

R

RacialstereotypingRadiationlinesReaders,moderndemandsof,6.1,16.1enticingloyaltyof

Reintroductionofmaterial,5.1,8.1,12.1Rewriting,7.1,8.1Riggs,RobinRisingaction,3.1,4.1RobinasBatmansubplot,5.1,5.2JasonToddasLegendsoftheDarkKnight#100

Robin:YearOneseriesRobin#83Robinson,Roger,1.1,6.1Rodier,DennisRogers,Marshall,4.1,8.1Ross,Alex,1.1,6.1Rubenstein,JoeRucka,Greg,3.1,14.1,14.2Rude,SteveRyan,Paul

Page 220: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

S

Sandman:SeasonofMistsSandman:TheKindlyOnes,6.1,6.2Sandsmark,JoannaScarletSpeedster,1.1,1.2Schwartz,Julius,1.1,bm2.1ScriptpreparationseealsoFull-scriptformat;Plot-firstformat

ScroogeMcDuckSemioticsSergioAragonésDestroysDC,bm1.1,bm1.2Shakespeare,William,5.1,6.1,6.2,6.3Shot,1.1,1.2Showcase#4,1.1,1.2Shuster,Joe,11.1,11.2Siegel,JerrySimon,JoeSimonson,WeezieSingle-issuestoriesSpeechballoonSpeedlinesSpeedy(GreenArrow’sward),5.1,5.2Spider-Man,5.1,14.1Spider-ManSpineSplashpages,1.1,1.2examplesof,1.1,3.1,3.2

Starlin,JimStereotyping,6.1,6.2Stern,RogerStory,defined,itr.1,1.1Storyarcsdefined,1.1,12.1inongoingseries,11.1,12.1andsubplotsvs.miniseriesseealsoLevitzParadigm

Storypage

Page 221: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

StoryspineStorystructureActIActIIActIIIthebeginningcomplications/actionscenes,3.1,3.2,4.1denouement,3.1,3.2theending,determiningingraphicnovelsthehook(premise)incitingincidentinmaxiseriesinminiseriesone-damn-thing-after-anothermethodrisingaction,3.1,4.1situationandconflictstatusquo,startingfromthree-act,summarizedseealsoDrama,creating;Scriptpreparation

Storytelling,artof,itr.1,17.1Strange,HugoStucker,LarySub-MarinerSubplotsandbackdoorpilots,5.1,5.2continuingdefinedelevated,inLevitzParadigm,5.1,13.1ingraphicnovelsinmovieadaptationstreatmentof,5.1,5.2

Sullivan,VincentSuperboySupergirlSupermandeathof,storychartforevolutionof,11.1,11.2

Page 222: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

andLoisLane,assubplotinmegaseriesasongoingseries

SupermanSuperman#75Superman#233SupermanAdventures#2SupermanForeverSuperman:Lex2000#1,3.1,3.2Superman:ManofSteel#20,6.1,6.2Superman:ManofTomorrow#10Superman:PeaceonEarth

Suspensecliffhangers,3.1,8.1andtheLevitzParadigmvs.surprise

Swan,Curt,6.1,11.1Symbols-as-words

T

Taylor,DaveTenn,WilliamTerminator(movie)Terminology,comicbook“ThereisNoHopeinCrimeAlley!”(DetectiveComics)

Thomsen,BrianM.ThorThoughtballoons,1.1,1.2Three-actstructure,seeStorystructureTowne,RobertTradepaperbackcollectionsTruffaut,François,4.1,bm2.1“TruthandJustice,”Turner,DwayneTwain,MarkTypographyvariations

Page 223: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

V

Villainscharacterizationinstorystructure

andsuspenseVincenzo,DarrenVogler,Christopher,6.1,bm2.1VonEeden,Trevor

W

Waid,Mark,1.1,1.2,3.1,3.2TheWatchmenWhat’sUp,TigerLily?(movie)Whisperballoon“WhoDoYouLove?”Wieringo,MikeWolfe,TomWolfman,MarvWolverineWonderWomandialoguein,6.1,6.2asongoingseries

WonderWoman:SecondGenesisWonderWomanSecretFiles#1,6.1,6.2WonderWoman,evolutionofWoods,PeteWordballoonWritersdefinedofmegaseriesandrewriting,7.1,8.1andscriptformats,advantagesof,2.1,2.2scriptpreparationprocessseealsoFull-scriptformat;Plot-firstformat

X

Page 224: The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

TheX-Men

Y

YoungJustice#31