DC Conspiracy[dots pattern]

7.26.2005

The Small Presser, No. 7: "Not a Word"

Talking heads are a pet peeve of mine. I’m not talking about some politician or flack on TV; I’m talking about head-and-shoulders illustrations in comic books. One or two drawings like this in a book is OK, but any more simply shows the illustrator’s laziness. It’s a visual medium, dammit! Use it for all it’s worth!

Whether you want to break into the business or just like to dabble in the self-published realm, to produce a quality comic you have to flesh out a comic to make
it come alive. Sure, drawing a detailed background takes time, but it makes for a better read and a better comic. If you’ve got three or four talking head panels in a row, the reader is just going to read the text and gleam over the drawings. It’s just boring to look at. You know what I’m talking about.

So how can you become a better storyteller through your drawings? Easy. Draw a story without any words. It’ll force you to draw the necessary details to get your story across to the reader. So instead of sketching two guys arguing with “New York City” in a caption above them, draw the two arguing, but perhaps have the skyline of New York City visible through a window in the background, with the Empire State Building jetting through the mass of skyscrapers. That immediately tells you where the two are without a single word.

You can add further details to provide context to the illustration. Perhaps the two men are in jail. Or they are in a boardroom. Or maybe on the roof of building. There’s just so much more that you can do to tell a story without saying a single word.

In theory, you should be able to tell almost any story without using words. Take a look at Andy Runton’s Owly, which is done sans words. And when Runton needs to convey a thought, he draws them as picture in a character’s thought bubble. A few years ago, Marvel Comics published all there comics one month without any words (The "Nuff Said!" series). If you can do that successfully, you’re a great storyteller. And trust me, you’ll impress not only the babes, but also that submissions editor who you’re making a pitch to!

Dembicki at 6:06 PM  |  link to this     

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