Comic Book Writer's Guide (by Sean J. Jordan)

Here are some quick looks at books on the subject of writing comics:

UNDERSTANDING COMICS by Scott McCloud

Many books have been written about comic books, but none of them have captured the art and style of the medium quite so well as Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. Part of the appeal of this book is that in its discussion of comics, McCloud presents his arguments in comic book form, rendering himself in the form of a cartoon and explaining comic books from the inside out. But even when the novelty of this guide wears off, the reader is still treated to a book that presents many deep and insightful ideas in coherent and easy-to-understand segments.

Author Scott McCloud knows a lot about comics, and it is clear that his enthusiasm for the medium has inspired him to explore the roots of the comic book form. His introductory chapter explains the history of comics and the evolution of visual communication through art. Another chapter presents the idea that the simpler and more iconic a character, the easier it is for the reader to read him or herself into it. Later on, McCloud also explores the concepts of time and space in comics with a very clever concept he calls “blood in the gutters,” which states that the action that takes place between two comic book panels is created in the reader’s mind rather than by the page itself – thus if a character dies between panel A and panel B, it is the reader, and not the comic, that truly does the killing.

It’s fascinating stuff, and unlike many of the “how-to” guides available on the topic of comics, this book goes beyond the obvious and challenges readers to think deeply about the mechanics of the medium and understand why comic books are so fun and easy to read.

Recommended for: anyone!
It’s helpful because: it will understand not the “how to” of comics, but rather the “why”.
It won’t help you: learn the technical aspects of writing comics, though it will inspire you to understand a comic book’s style and underlying structure.
Overall rating: Gold

REINVENTING COMICS by Scott McCloud

The second chapter in Scott McCloud’s series is less focused on the mechanics of comics than it is on the future of them. Told once again in McCloud’s trademark “panel by panel” visual style rather than regular prose, Reinventing Comics is, at the very least, an entertaining and thought-provoking follow-up to the classic Understanding Comics.

But is it helpful to someone trying to learn more about the industry or the medium? Not really. This time around, McCloud offers theories on his ideas on how the comic book industry should evolve, spending quite a bit of time presenting his ideas on digital delivery techniques via the Internet and offering alternative, innovative ideas on how a traditional comic can be presented on a computer screen without losing anything in the translation. There is a lot of thought-provoking stuff here, but it lacks the relevance and informative spirit that’s found in Understanding Comics, and some of McCloud’s ideas have already been outgrown by emerging technology.

Readers would do better to simply visit http://www.scottmccloud.com, which is superior to Reinventing Comics in that is free and that it offers an evolving perspective on these issues, as well as many of McCloud’s own sample comics.

Recommended for: those interested in alternatives to monthly comic book issues.
It’s helpful because: it poses very poignant questions about the future of comics.
It won’t help you: learn much about crafting your own stories.
Overall rating: Bronze

COMICS AND SEQUENTIAL ART by Will Eisner

For many years, Comics and Sequential Art was the reference book of choice for those interested in creating comics. Written and illustrated by master comic book creator Will Eisner, this book offers a little bit of everything: instructions on splash pages, ideas about page composition, tips for visual storytelling, and even some comments about writing. The book also contains many, many examples of Eisner’s own distinctive, amazing work and will give readers not familiar with Will Eisner a good reason to become interested in his crucial role in the evolution of comics.

The problem with this book, however, is that it is extremely sparse on content, and while it bears the distinction of being one of the first and most commonly referenced books on the subject of comic book creation, it assumes a lot about the reader’s skills at art and composition. Eisner was a one-man-band who was capable of writing and illustrating incredible comic strips, books and graphic novels, but comic books are rarely produced in this manner in the modern industry, and thus his ideas, which are broken down and presented quite well in Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics, may seem a bit antiquated to some.

Still, this is a beloved guide to the creation of comics, and it is definitely worth a read for those aspiring to understand the art, structure and style of the medium.

Recommended for: those interested in the technical aspects of comic book creation.
It’s helpful because: it offers many great instructions and tons of examples.
It won’t help you: if you are ready to move past the “big picture” and get down to the finer points of creation.
Overall rating: Silver

The DC COMICS GUIDE TO WRITING COMICS by Dennis O’Neil

I have mixed feelings about THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO WRITING COMICS because, on the one hand, it offers an experienced comic book writer and editor’s instructions on the theory of how to read and write comics instead of a cookie cutter approach. But on the other hand, this book is extremely short, with around half of its 128 pages taken up by pictures of examples, and the content itself is concise enough that it’s almost a tease to those who are seriously interested in the process of creating a solid comic book script.

First, the good things – author Dennis O’Neil starts from the assumption that the reader knows nothing, and explains many of the technical terms used in the business right off the bat, ensuring that there is no confusion down the road. I actually learned that a term I use quite often in my scripting – “splash page” – is meant to describe an introductory page that contains the book’s titles and credits and not, as I had always assumed, meant to describe a full page illustration. I also was pleased to see O’Neil approach the world of comics writing critically, explaining how the process of scripting has evolved over the decades and even offering examples of the techniques used by influential writers in the industry.

But much of the content seems like fluff. Much of what O’Neil offers seems like more of an overview of how things have been done at DC than anything else, and the book spends a lot of time touching on the content of past story arcs and books without taking the time to break down the actual writing itself and offer an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses. O’Neil also states over 50 times a derivative of the mantra that “there is no correct way to script comics, and whatever works for you is what you should do.” Good advice in spirit, but bad in practice, and I doubt DC offers its writers such flexibility.

I should also note that many of the terms and ideas O’Neil presents are borrowed from the film industry and thus are present in many screenwriting books as well. For example, he refers to Albert Hitchcock’s “McGuffin,” which is a word for the object, idea, or cause that a hero and villain are fighting for. O’Neil also touches on the differences between a story that moves event to event (much like the books of the Golden Age) as opposed to books that are part of a story arc or series (where there is more of an episodic structure with a beginning, middle and end to each arc or story).

If you are curious about the big picture of writing comics, give this one a try. If you are serious about wanting to write comics and want details, there are other, better books that will help you more.

Recommended for: casual writers and curious readers.
It’s helpful because: it offers some good terms and definitions for the process of writing comics, as well as a broad overview of style.
It won’t help you: improve your style beyond a basic level.
Overall rating: Bronze

Alan Moore's WRITING FOR COMICS vol. 1 by Alan Moore

A word of warning before I begin this review -- this is not so much a book as a reprint of a series of essays Alan Moore wrote in 1985 on the topic of writing comics, as well as one new essay to share his thoughts twenty years later. Avatar Press is to be thanked for resurrecting these articles (which were barely known and only whispered about only a few short years ago), but there's not much in the way of content here -- in fact, this book is heavily illustrated and the typesetting leaves a lot to be desired as some of the words get s t r e t c h e d across the columns due to the computerized justification.

But these are minor gripes, I suppose, considering that the content that was included is incredible stuff. Alan Moore didn't write a "how-to" book about comics as so many lesser writers have done; instead, he focused his articles on helping writers to develop good storytelling skills and to understand the purpose of what they were setting out to do. If you're looking for an instruction manual, however, look elsewhere -- this book will not teach you the basics of comic book writing, and its brevity will likely put off those who are focused specifically on writing comics.

Oddly enough despite the title, I would recommend this title to anyone who wants to write fiction, because it's full of great advice that any writer can embrace and put to use.

Recommended for: anyone who wants to write fiction.
It’s helpful because: it focuses not on the mechanics of comics writing, but the principles.
It won’t help you: if you aren't ready for high-level advice on writing; its brevity will leave beginning writers wondering what all the fuss was about.
Overall rating: Silver