All About Comics!
Aug. 20th, 2017 08:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearA friend and I had dinner a couple of weeks ago, and randomly came up with an idea for a comic book series. It really excited us both, and we have since met up again and started working properly on the outline. The only problem is, neither of us knows how to write a comic book, and neither of us can draw.
So, of course, I turned to Amazon, and purchased Words for Pictures, by Brian Michael Bendis. This is a large, beautiful book, which contains a lot of great comics art, and even more varied and interesting information about writing comics. It covers everything, from pitch documents to different types of scripts, to what artists and editors are looking for from writers, to the best ways to get started in the comic book industry. The whole thing is really well presented, entertainingly written, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not all of the information was directly relevant to me, and I think I was really looking for more in depth guidance on the actual writing process and how it differs to normal prose. But it was a great introduction to the concept, and pointed out to me just how much I don't know about it - but in an inspiring rather than off-putting way.
The book also talked about a fair few comic series that sounded quite interesting, so I will be sourcing some of those as well. The first was Takio, written by Brian Michael Bendis, with art by Michael Avon Oeming. It's a four-volume series about two adoptive sisters who gain super-powers in an industrial accident and try to become superheroes. It's fresh and funny, very dynamically presented, and lots of fun. There's very amusing banter between the sisters (Taki and Olivia - hence Takio), credible threat from some very sinister bad guys who want to harness the girls' power for profit, emotional impact from difficult family relationship and friendship troubles, and tons of great action. There's a section at the back that was presumably an advert for the series, where Taki and Olivia talk about how it's and all-ages series, which is hilarious, but also makes a lot of good points about the perception of comic books (and other media). The whole thing is only 90 comic-book pages, but it was highly entertaining, and I'll definitely be referring back to it to study the way the writing works, for when I get to the stage of wanting to put pen to paper on my own story.
Wow - I did research for a writing project, and really enjoyed it! That's got to be a first!
So, of course, I turned to Amazon, and purchased Words for Pictures, by Brian Michael Bendis. This is a large, beautiful book, which contains a lot of great comics art, and even more varied and interesting information about writing comics. It covers everything, from pitch documents to different types of scripts, to what artists and editors are looking for from writers, to the best ways to get started in the comic book industry. The whole thing is really well presented, entertainingly written, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not all of the information was directly relevant to me, and I think I was really looking for more in depth guidance on the actual writing process and how it differs to normal prose. But it was a great introduction to the concept, and pointed out to me just how much I don't know about it - but in an inspiring rather than off-putting way.
The book also talked about a fair few comic series that sounded quite interesting, so I will be sourcing some of those as well. The first was Takio, written by Brian Michael Bendis, with art by Michael Avon Oeming. It's a four-volume series about two adoptive sisters who gain super-powers in an industrial accident and try to become superheroes. It's fresh and funny, very dynamically presented, and lots of fun. There's very amusing banter between the sisters (Taki and Olivia - hence Takio), credible threat from some very sinister bad guys who want to harness the girls' power for profit, emotional impact from difficult family relationship and friendship troubles, and tons of great action. There's a section at the back that was presumably an advert for the series, where Taki and Olivia talk about how it's and all-ages series, which is hilarious, but also makes a lot of good points about the perception of comic books (and other media). The whole thing is only 90 comic-book pages, but it was highly entertaining, and I'll definitely be referring back to it to study the way the writing works, for when I get to the stage of wanting to put pen to paper on my own story.
Wow - I did research for a writing project, and really enjoyed it! That's got to be a first!
