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Strengths of Writers
2007-12-03 17:31:25

For no particular reason, I was thinking the other day about the different strengths possessed by assorted writers in the business. Now, none of what follows is meant to be definitive, but it is the perspective of one editor who gets to work with these guys and watch them think and perform from behind the curtain. So here are some observations:

The most immaculate plotter is BRIAN K. VAUGHAN. Brian's the sort of guy who, once you've talked about the story in broad strokes will almost always turn in a string of scripts that are right on the money, with perfect pacing and build and reveals. And for that reason, he's the perfect sort of guy to be working on a show like LOST that plots in sweeping season-long movements (not that they're doing any plotting at all at the moment, what with the writer's strike.)

The fellow who most naturally thinks outside the box is BRIAN BENDIS. This can sometimes seem like a detiment, as there aer times when you'd just like Brian to round the bases on a story. But this drive towards experimentation and innovation helps keep him on the forefront of the field. Even when one of his attempts at being off-beat doesn't quite come off, it's at least an interesting failure--and he's pioneered almost single-handedly a whole style of comic book pacing. Brian's also about the hardest-working guy in the industry, and is inevitably a couple of scripts ahead of the guys he works with. He just puts in the hours, day after day, week after week, honing his craft.

The guy with the best command of language is J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI. JMS can truly put words together in interesting ways--his scripts have a lyricism to them that's almost like reading music. He also tends to be a thoughtful and intelligent writer, and his stories inevitably reflect the moral imperatives he feels the strongest about. He's also one of the most generous of writers, the first guy to raise his hand when there's a worthy cause to be supported or pro bono work to be done.

GEOFF JOHNS is a genius at coming up with what, in retrospect, seem like obvious quntessential moments for the characters he's writing, scenes and sequences that cut to the heart of a character, who he is and what he does, taking into account everything about them. He's great at boiling it all down to a tight, easy-to-grasp high concept, and is the master of the one-page character introduction. I think Geoff's largely underrated, but he's the writer most often to elicit that slap-to-the-forehead moment of, "Why didn't I think of that?"

The guy with the most ideas per second is DAN SLOTT, and while not all of them are shining gems, his hit-to-miss ratio is pretty high. Dan's a natural when it comes to writing comics, and yet, like Bruce Wayne, he's trained himself for years since birth to gain a mastery of the form. He's especially good at being witty on the page, but those people who dismiss him as just a funny writer aren't seeing the whole picture--he can do it all (if he'd just stop second-guessing himself so much and get on with it.)

The most consistent author at the moment is ED BRUBAKER. Ed's completely in the zone these days, able to think through the storylines and character beats of all of the many titles he's writing and both keep them straight and make sure they all get the love they need. He's one of the few guys whose work is regularly immediately ready to go to the artist when it comes in, without revisions of any kind. His one flaw is that, in needing to keep so many artistic mouths fed, he's gotten into the habit of writing many of his scripts in halves--and while he's good enough to pull this off moer often than not, there have been a couple of times where a story beat might have fired just a hair better if we'd been able to look at the entire script at once, rather than seeing the payoff after the set-up in the front half of the issue has already been drawn.

And finally, the most fearless writer in comics right now is MARK MILLAR. He'll structure his stories like a madman, making segues and scene changes that nobody else would dare to attempt. He's absolutely fearless when it comes to hitting the page. And he's an expert at nailing the quick bit of business that gets a character or a situation across to a reader in zero time, and his absolute love of super heroes comes across in everything he writes (combined with his li'l devil persona which makes him take the piss out of everyone and everything.)

There are tons of others, of course, and I could go on here for hours. But this isn't meant to be a complete Who's Who of writers, just a brief snapshot of what was running through my mind--so if you're one of the people who wasn't mentioned, try not to hold it against me too much.

More later.

Tom B

Just to prevent the internet rumour industry from going on a tangent here: "it is the perspective of one editor who gets to work with these guys" doesn't really mean you're working with Vaughan or Johns right now on Marvel projects, right?

Posted by Michael Heide on 2007-12-03 18:34:48

and you forget...
...notapotatoe

Posted by notapotatoe on 2007-12-03 19:15:32

for no particular reasons either I remember having miss the call for readers about their favourite comic-book cover,my personal choice is not so old that the golden age comics but I never had the original title :
it's a one-shot featuring Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom ,drawn by Mike Mignola when he was not yet so famous;his style was close of sketchings,I don't remember the names of the writer and the colorist -who wqs just perfect with Mignola's art at the time...
I can tell this is the better gift that Marvel had done for me,and just for me of course;

would you do that for me,Tom ?
find this cover ?
after all we've been trough and all ?..

Posted by notapotatoe on 2007-12-03 19:25:33

holy crow
i need to applaud how consistently awesome your blog posts are. i really loved reading this and would be very interested in reading more posts like this. more writers, or maybe artists? or maybe old school guys? again, really great job.

also, i thought your interview on the wieringo episode of ifanboy's video podcast was great!

Posted by nickmaynard on 2007-12-03 22:21:28

More please!
Great insights and a fun read (especially with typos hehe)... I'd like to see more of these in the future...

Posted by beta-ray on 2007-12-04 00:26:09

As I don't write for Marvel yet, I shouldn't be surprised that my name's not on the list. But, one day my time shall come...and then shall tremble all ye Editors...TREMBLE SHALL THEY!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Posted by The Gecko on 2007-12-04 04:33:25

Very interesting. Other writers I'd like to see profiled; Kurt Busiek, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Peter David, Fabian Nicieza, Tom DeFalco, Warren Ellis, Joe Casey...

Posted by CylverSaber on 2007-12-04 07:05:59

Geoff Johns=simply the best there is.

Posted by skagandboneman on 2007-12-04 07:14:01

I've loved Johns' work over at the Distinguished Competition (where he got me reading more of their titles in the last couple years than I ever have since I started buying Marvel 15 years ago) but his stuff at Marvel always left me a little flat.

I remain utterly baffled at the fanfic quality of that one Avengers issue that featured Wasp and Hank. I'd actually love to hear you write more about that, Tom, and why you as editor felt that scene was really important to the story. To this day, it baffles me. I certainly don't consider myself a prude, but I also don't think I normally turn to my Marvel books for titillation of that sort.

Posted by motteditor on 2007-12-04 17:06:51

My favorite writer at the moment is Dan Slott, but I do have to admit Brubaker is in the zone. I have more issues by Ed than of anyone else, and I enjoy them all.

Posted by doncorswhazie on 2007-12-04 21:13:14

appreciate your comments
Bru is amazing that way, and in his ability to really make the reader connect with characters.

thanks for posting this Tom.

Posted by coldwarmyth on 2007-12-05 07:46:24

In Praise of Complete Stories
Something to consider when evaluating a writer is his ability to write a complete story, meaning a tale that contains a plot, character development, and a theme. The development of the character doesn’t necessarily mean some dramatic, wrenching alteration that will “change his life forever,” a la soap operas. The development could be a change in attitude toward a person or thing, or a realization about himself that could come as a surprise, or as a shock.

If one looks back at classic Marvel storylines, he’ll see that they resemble traditional stories in a structural sense. The “Celestial Madonna” storyline in AVENGERS, for example, was an SF story told with superhero characters. Shooter’s storyline with Pym in AVENGERS showed a man cracking under the strain of trying to live up to a self-imposed standard of heroism. The VISION & SCARLET WITCH maxiseries had the two title characters, representing science and magic, respectively, blending the two disciplines in an unusual way (and within themselves), and discovering that their heritages could be expressed through children after all. The storyline might have been titled “The Magic in Science.”

One of the major problems with the dialogue-only approach to scripting is its detrimental impact on a story’s theme. If a character is going to be changed by an experience, or face hard choices, or be moved emotionally, he is going to have to reflect on his experiences, or be introspective, at some points. Introspection doesn’t lend itself to dialogue, and the absence of narration prevents the writer from making pithy comments about characters and their situations.

Screenwriters aren’t necessarily bad writers--the Knaufs, for example, have improved considerably since their first IRON MAN arc--but they’re less likely,, I’d guess, to write complete stories than are novelists and other prose writers who come in with the intent of portraying rounded characters and accomplish as much of that as they can within space limitations.

SRS

Posted by Steven R. Stahl on 2007-12-06 10:57:41

tO-om !
...The Gecko is gimmicking ....

Posted by notapotatoe on 2007-12-06 10:58:49

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