As I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to write comics, or rather graphic novels, I thought I’d end our themed week with my thoughts and a blatant plug.
It always surprises me when people snub comics as inferior products, or refuse to class them as an art form. The skills that are (admittedly, not always) taken in drawing comics requires impressive talent – it is not just about drawing one picture, it is about creating a set of sequential images that tells a story. Dialogue, captions and sound effects are optional, but it should be remembered that the artist drew those images under the guidance of the writer.
The writer doesn’t just add some inane speech bubbles and a few WHAM BAM sound effects; the writer is responsible for describing the action within the panel and how it relates to the next panel on the page. This comes in the form of a script, very much like a stage play or movie screenplay.
In some respects, writing comics is one of the most disciplined forms of writing around (I’m leaving poetry and song writing out of that argument, because I find both fiendishly difficult!) Don’t believe me? Writing a play or film, you have general guidelines on how long the story should last (90 minutes or two hours, for example). Writing a book, you have endless snow-white pages to fill. With a comic book you generally have 22 pages to tell a story. On top of that, each page has to be split into panels – usually between one and six – so you are further constrained in how you tell your tale. This makes encourages writers to trim the story to the bone, and to imagine creative ways to tell a scene with one picture and a few words.
And for all those naysayers out there, a huge plus point for comics is that they encourage reluctant readers to read. Surely that alone deserves our respect?
And now, the commercial break…
My latest graphic novel has just been released by the good folks at MARKOSIA COMICS. Check out KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND. It’s the official prequel and sequel to KING KONG. It’s available at all good comic stores or you can find it on:
Or Markosia’s own website:
09/10/2009 at 1:32 pm Permalink
The one down point that I can think of is that it is hard to get some good comics. A lot of the comics are just rewrites of things that have been created ages ago. All of the comics and graphic novels you have suggested would be hard for me (and a lot of kids) to get. Because with internet comic shops you need a credit card and I have a feeling that my parents (and a lot of other kids parents) wouldnt spend any money on comics for us.
09/10/2009 at 5:34 pm Permalink
Alas, Adam, you are right. The comic industry is suffering and it’s all down to distribution problems and book shop mentality…
All the more reason to support your local comic shop and independent book retailer!
10/10/2009 at 12:56 pm Permalink
Andy: I have HUGE respect for anyone who writes comics. Weaving words and art into 22-page episodes – to a monthly deadline!! – seems like a recipe for insanity, to me!
10/10/2009 at 12:59 pm Permalink
Adam: Thanks so much for your thought-provoking comment. Hope you’ve seen my response in my new post?