Book Review

The DC Guides To Writing and Pencilling Comics

 Comic books are fascinating. From a childs’ first exposure to the illustrated story, they are either entertained, taught indirectly, or disinterested. As a young man, I was immediately drawn to the comic book. The first comic I may have read was probably a Batman, or Superman. Others may have read Richie Rich, Archie, or Spiderman first. Whatever first caught your atttention, you will always fondly remember.

As a young comic fan, I followed the book for their stories, and in some cases, the artwork. Now, as an older collector, I find myself looking at the ‘back up’ personnel, the inker, the letterer, and the editors.

While reading a couple of books from Watson Guptil on the writing and pencilling of comic books, I was entranced by the sheer elegance and talent involved in the production of a simple comic book.

The term ‘simple’ is a misnomer, and will soon be corrected. The number of professionals involved in the creation of a comic book is staggering. In this series of columns, I will discuss who they are and what they do.

The short list of professionals involved include the writer, the penciller, the inker, colourist, and the editor.

While each of these individuals plays a major part in the impact of a comic, in this column, I will discuss the role of the writer and penciller. In further columns, I will delve into the world of inking, editing, colouring, and lettering.

Part I: The writer

To state the obvious, without a story, there can be no story telling, no artwork, no comic, and as a result, no reader. The role of the writer in any comic book/ story cannot be underestimated. Writers have probably been under appreciated since the first comic book hit the stands in the early 1930's.

As was the practice for most of the first 30 years of comic books, the creative team was not credited in the issue. Since a large majority of the comics produced in our lifetimes occurred in this period, the issue of creator identification becomes important. Whether it is an artist, writer, inker, colourist, or letterer, few records were kept, and few artists kept track of their work. Significant artists of the golden age of comics have recently been recognized for their part in the comics industry, and the remaining ‘giants’ routinely draw crowed rivaling the young professionals.

In the case of a long story arc, the major conflict in the story may already be decided by the editorial team. The writer, in his job as creator of the initial spark for any story, and conductor of the characters and conflict, carries a major responsibility. Firstly, the story he/she is trying to tell must be enjoyable and move the characters ahead in their story arc. Most of the early comics were one shots, and continuing story lines were not common. Today, individual issues are part of large themes and progress the whole line ahead.

As a comic writer plots the issue, a couple of formats can be followed. The story can be laid out frame by frame with full dialogue, with a suggested layout from the writer. The second method is plot first, and the artist takes control of the layout. Either method has stengths and weaknesses, and the method used depends on the creative team. Stan Lee used the plot first format for most of his career, as his collaborators knew what Stan expected. Early issues of the Fantastic Four, Spiderman, The Avengers, and Daredevil were results of a short telephone conversation between Lee and Kirby, Lee and Ditko, and Lee and Ayers. Writers like Alan Moore use the full script format.

Good comic book stories are good stories, period. The story must have the usual elements, conflict, characterization, empathy, theme, good pacing, and interest. Without all of these elements, the chances of a good story being produced is low.

Part II: The Penciller

The completed script goes to the penciller next.

Again, depending on the relationship between the writer and artist, the artist may have an inkling of what the story is about already. If they have discussed the story, and what basically happens, then the process between reading the story, and illustrating it becomes more simple.

In the case of a plot first scenario, the writer has to decide the major elements him/herself. They may have been given the beginning, the middle and the end, and know that they have 21 pages to work with, but the rest is up to them. At this point, experience in pacing, layout, and good visual storytelling is important.

Mike Kaluta tells the story about his first few assignments and that his short 2-3 pagers were rejected. From his work he was taught about layout, pacing, and good visual technique by his editors and co-workers. It was only after he had learned some basic lessons that he progressed into his early published works like The Shadow and John Carter.

Dick Ayers told me once that in his collaborations with Stan Lee, that the only instructions he would get is a basic script outline like ‘The Hulk battles ________, and Betty gets hit by a boulder, placing her in a hospital bed," and one time Stan gave him nothing for a story idea, just ‘Do what you want this month.’ The story at that point was up to him, sometimes he hit the nail on the head, and other times, the pacing was not quite right. That is the inherent danger of the plot first method.

With the full script method of comic book storytelling, the job of the artist is somewhat easier. Instead of having to visualize the entire story and transfer it to the page, the artist has to follow the written instructions. Improvements can be made, but the writer has more control of the finished product and the only surprise is how the story is going to look, not what is going to happen in the story.

A good artist can make a bad story good, and a bad artist can make a good story bad. Many classic comic stories are good stories made better by a good artist, and the truly great stories are outstanding stories with spectacular art (i.e. Alan Moore Swamp Thing).

Whatever method the script is delivered, the artist has to utilize all of the tools of the art trade. Perspective, shadows, variety of panels, vanishing points, emotion, centre of focus, and movement all play into truly great comic art. Good artists make the best use of the tools at hand, and make wise choices that tell the story best. Consider Batman or the Shadow without intelligent use of light and dark, Superman or Spiderman without dramatic motion?

However, no matter how good (or bad) the original art is, the inker has a major role to play in the finished product.

Another factor in the pencilled artwork is the level of detail that is drawn. If the penciller knows who the inker is going to be, then he/she can play to their strengths so their drawing time is maximized. Mike Kaluta said that when he drew Hitlers Astrologer, he drew the art for Bernie Wrightson to ink, and because he knew what Bernie could and could not draw. When Russ Heath got the nod to ink the book, he realized that the items he had roughed in, he should have drawn in more detail and the items he drew in detail, he didn’t have to.

No matter who pencils or inks, there is not automatically chemistry between penciller and inker. If you are fortunate to achieve that, then you, as part of the art team are blessed and your work will elicit Oohs and aaahs.

The DC Comics Guide To Writing Comics Denny O’Neil with introduction by Stan Lee Watson Guptill, 2001	The DC Comics Guide To Pencilling Comics Klaus Janson with introduction by Dick Giordano. Watson Gutpill, 2002

Both books are available from www.watsonguptill.com or your local better book store.