Comic books?

M

mrWr0ng

Well-known member
Has anyone tried their hand at comic book writing? I'm trying something new, basically writing a screenplay as a comic book (not drawing it). I broke the act structure down into 6 books. Books 1 and 2 are Act I, Books 3, 4 and 5 are Act II and then Book 6 is Act III. I haven't seen any comic book scripts so I'm not exactly sure if I'm even close, although the idea is that if the comic gets interest, the screenplay is already complete (or viice-versa, but the budget for this would make it v ery difficult to get to the right people).

Has anybody tried this? Pondering it? It's been an interesting challenge... there's a LOT of big fight scenes, so Act II (which I just finished today) has only a few pages with actual dialogue. I'd say at least half the pages have no dialogue at all, which has been very difficult.

Once it's done I'm going to start pitching it to a few friends that draw comics to see if any of them are interested.
 
I just started writing my first comic book actually. I'm a feature writer by trade but i've always wanted to dive into comics. It's been a blast. I recommend two books that helped me figure out the structure and design behind the craft.

One is by Peter David, I think it's called, Writing Comic Books by Peter David. the other is something like, Writer's on Comic Book Writing with several interviews by Comic Writers including the aforementioned and the other greats like Frank Miller.

Good luck!
 
Do you find the structure, format-wise, very different from screenplays? I'm referring very specifically to each page itself... is dialogue written differently? Are things bascally described the same? I look at it right now as very similar in that the artist is like the cameraman, I write the blueprint and then he figures out the angle, direction of the shot, how far to zoom in, etc. Here is an example line:

They immediately begin battle, with Grant being the most prepared, his hands open.

He punches a face, collapsing a nose, then slices in to a neck, knees a groin and grabs a neck with both hands, twisting it and throwing the body over his shoulder.

With a single deft movement, he pulls out two knives and swings his open arms in a wide circle, mowing down Shepherds.
Click to expand...

Would that be described pretty much the same?
 
I can draw justa tad bit better than this :P

I saw this technique online; I have some practice still to accomplish. This was done in around 20 minutes, from ink to scanner to PS

comicsamplett8.gif
 
Comic book writing is panel writing. You have to think different. I've written one comic book, the guy who was going to help me draw it posted it on the internet, burned me pretty bad. Never trust an artist, no, wait, that's never trust a musician, never mind.

Think in panels and you'll be able to see the big picture.
 
The structure is totally different, check out those books man, don't guess. It's a craft all to its own.

Good luck!
 
J.R. Hudson said:
I can draw justa tad bit better than this :P

I saw this technique online; I have some practice still to accomplish. This was done in around 20 minutes, from ink to scanner to PS

comicsamplett8.gif
Click to expand...

John, that's COOL man! It's got a real personality and style to it... and I'm dead serious...
 
Ha ! Thanks Tommy

Here is another one; not great, still trying to figure out what works and what does not. I can see the appeal in doing a comic series though

Drawn from a quick sketch.

sketchjh8.gif


comicsamplecw3.gif
 
A couple hours; but it shouldn't have

I spent more time trying all these filters and image adjustments. I drew the sketch in a minute or so; lol.

Once i figure out a solid technique, I imagine it could go quicker
 
Nice, J R. I especially like the first one, has a rreal Fear & Loathing vibe to it.

Here are a couple of my old ones for another screenplay I wrote as a comic book (finished the screenplay, gave up on the drawing... I'm not enough of an artist)

3_01.jpg


3_04.jpg


3_11.jpg


I finished the first screenplay of my trilogy this morning, so now I'm working on the 2nd part. Got a meeting with a comic book artist hopefully next weekend, so I want to sit down with as much ready to go to show him how committed I am to this.
 
Nice comics guys... Just the other day I was thinking about making a movie sort of like a comic book, it's a neat idea.
 
I wound up doing all mine drawing them by hand, inking them with big, thick lines, then scanning and just photoshopping the hell out of them. a light grain filter over the whole thing gives it a touch of texture, but the most important thing is a solid style that goes through all the different images.
 
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