Hey guys, welcome back. Sorry about the weird timing this week. I'm changing my sleep schedule for a job so this week's post is a little later in the day than usual.
This week I'm going to discuss a topic that is going to upset a lot of folks and step on a ton of toes: Grit in Comics. I don't know how old a lot of you are, but I'm going to presume you guys remember mainstream comics in the 1990's. There were giant (and I mean giant) muscle-bound heroes with biceps the size of my torso, giant guns that only the Hulk could lift, feathered hair, and pouches everywhere. Wow... I just described ninety-nine percent of Rob Liefeld's male character designs. We were also subjected to massive increase in shocking violence, sex, and "extremes" in comics. Now I'm not saying all of these are bad. Some of the comics and characters that came out of that time are great. I'm still particularly fond of Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon, I like Cable and Bishop from X-Men, hell, Hellboy came out of the 90's, and that's my favorite series of all time! But for every excellent comic that came out we had twenty Youngbloods or WildC.A.T.s.
I find that nostalgia has been kinder to these comics than they ever deserved. And many comic writers look to these as though they were part of some Golden Age of comics. Ask Mark Millar, he's made a career out of "gritty" comics, which seems to involve turning every character into a jerk anti-hero who shoots every villain in the face.
We've also seen a recent resurgence in darker themes across all media thanks to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. Now, let me clarify, this absolutely, completely works for a character like Batman. Bats is the quintessential brooding, dark superhero. But not all comics heroes should have this treatment. Superman doesn't need a gritty re-telling, neither does Spider-man. These characters are and were essentially light-hearted characters who, at their core, have a more Gee-Whiz factor of fun with them.
Now, don't get me wrong, sometimes dark and gritty is exactly what a comic needs. Sin City and The Walking Dead are perfect examples of this. These tales by their nature are disturbing, dark, unsettling, and all that jazz. My series The Red Eye which is a serious sci-fi neo-noir comic was dark and gritty. But it fit the tone of the entire book and the themes. It's also not the only comic I've ever written. Igor: Occult Detective has some serious noir/detective elements in it too, but it's vastly more light-hearted than The Red Eye, because that's just the kind of book that it is. Things will get darker toward the end, but we plan on maintaining a sense of humor and fun right through to the last page.
I guess what I'm getting at is that not all comics need to be Kick-Ass or Wanted or Sin City. I feel like so many guys have gotten lost in their pursuit of grit that they've forgotten that comics should be fun too. More or less, I suppose this is a plea for some variety from your comics. Seeing a superhero punch his fist through a villain's head was shocking and crazy the first time, but now... well, now it's just getting old.
Finally, writers need to realize that sex, violence, and gore do not constitute story. Some guys are so focused on making their comics dark that they really forget that their story isn't very good. Focus on the story first, then decide what tone is appropriate. So many guy go in guns blazing say, "I'm gonna write the grittiest darkest comic ever," and just ignore the most important component of their story, the plot. Tone shouldn't dictate the story, story should dictate your tone.
Well, that's all for this week. See you next time!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Panel 14: Say What? Pt. 2
Hey guys,
Thanks for your patience last week. But I'm back in my full ego-crushing glory this week with a more in-depth post on dialogue. Dialogue is a tricky thing when it comes to all media. How often have you watched a film or read a comic and just groaned at the words coming out of the characters' mouths? I bet it's pretty frequent. Harrison Ford famously once said to George Lucas, "George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it."
A frequent mistake we often make is looking to turn everything into a one-liner or make it overly theatrical. A lot of villains, in particular, tend to be written as overly dramatic, frequently "monologue-ing " as they famously called it in The Incredibles. And that works in certain cases. If you're going for the overtly pulpy vibe, it's great. But odds are you attempting to write something a little less tongue in cheek.
Heroes suffer from the same problems. We tend to think of everything they say as a clever one-liner like they're John McClane. (If you don't know who that is just... I don't even know. You make me sad inside.) But for every awesome quipping Han Solo, there's an Anakin Skywalker with his forced, awkward, groan-worth dialogue. Also, realize that not all characters are smart-asses. Some characters should be more serious, or dumb, or intelligent. Not every character should be sarcastic like Spider-man.
Mind you, I find myself making these mistakes too. It happens to all of us, no matter how long we've been writing. But write your dialogue to fit your characterizations. Is your character a socially awkward scientist that has trouble relating to common folk? Have them spout scientific lingo that confounds the other characters and then have them clarify. The key to naturalistic dialogue is to think of an actual person you know who kind of resembles the character. Then think of what that actual person would say. It can be difficult because we're frequently writing fantastic characters in fantastic situations but give it a try. It helps me immensely.
Most of my characters are loosely based on people I know. Elsa from Igor: Occult Detective is heavily based on my girlfriend, most of my villains are based on a high school English teacher I had who had a bit of a flair for the dramatic, others are based on friends, relatives, other comic creators, odds are, if I know you, I've probably based a character on you at one time or another. Or at the very least, thought of what you might say in a certain situation. Hell, Igor and Mr. Frank are different parts of my own personality. So even I'm subject to my own solution.
Well, hopefully, this helps you guys out. I'll see you next week!
Thanks for your patience last week. But I'm back in my full ego-crushing glory this week with a more in-depth post on dialogue. Dialogue is a tricky thing when it comes to all media. How often have you watched a film or read a comic and just groaned at the words coming out of the characters' mouths? I bet it's pretty frequent. Harrison Ford famously once said to George Lucas, "George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it."
A frequent mistake we often make is looking to turn everything into a one-liner or make it overly theatrical. A lot of villains, in particular, tend to be written as overly dramatic, frequently "monologue-ing " as they famously called it in The Incredibles. And that works in certain cases. If you're going for the overtly pulpy vibe, it's great. But odds are you attempting to write something a little less tongue in cheek.
Heroes suffer from the same problems. We tend to think of everything they say as a clever one-liner like they're John McClane. (If you don't know who that is just... I don't even know. You make me sad inside.) But for every awesome quipping Han Solo, there's an Anakin Skywalker with his forced, awkward, groan-worth dialogue. Also, realize that not all characters are smart-asses. Some characters should be more serious, or dumb, or intelligent. Not every character should be sarcastic like Spider-man.
Mind you, I find myself making these mistakes too. It happens to all of us, no matter how long we've been writing. But write your dialogue to fit your characterizations. Is your character a socially awkward scientist that has trouble relating to common folk? Have them spout scientific lingo that confounds the other characters and then have them clarify. The key to naturalistic dialogue is to think of an actual person you know who kind of resembles the character. Then think of what that actual person would say. It can be difficult because we're frequently writing fantastic characters in fantastic situations but give it a try. It helps me immensely.
Most of my characters are loosely based on people I know. Elsa from Igor: Occult Detective is heavily based on my girlfriend, most of my villains are based on a high school English teacher I had who had a bit of a flair for the dramatic, others are based on friends, relatives, other comic creators, odds are, if I know you, I've probably based a character on you at one time or another. Or at the very least, thought of what you might say in a certain situation. Hell, Igor and Mr. Frank are different parts of my own personality. So even I'm subject to my own solution.
Well, hopefully, this helps you guys out. I'll see you next week!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Panel 13: Say What? Pt. 1
Hey guys,
This week is going to be really different because, honestly, I had a really messed up night/morning and didn't get much sleep. As a result I'm not in any shape to write a full on blog post today. However, I didn't want to leave you guys hanging completely so here's a little comic that H. Giles Crawford (Igor: Occult Detective, FUBAR, FAC: ABC, Atomic Robo: Last Stop) and I put together to hold you guys over until next week when I write a proper post on the topic of dialogue. Hope you guys enjoy our little comic and see you next week.
This week is going to be really different because, honestly, I had a really messed up night/morning and didn't get much sleep. As a result I'm not in any shape to write a full on blog post today. However, I didn't want to leave you guys hanging completely so here's a little comic that H. Giles Crawford (Igor: Occult Detective, FUBAR, FAC: ABC, Atomic Robo: Last Stop) and I put together to hold you guys over until next week when I write a proper post on the topic of dialogue. Hope you guys enjoy our little comic and see you next week.
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