Writing
Writing: it's not just for breakfast anymore
Alan Moore’s Writing for Comics
Submitted by Jamie Robertson on March 26, 2003 - 13:12
According to Small Press Magazine, Avatar will soon offer the long awaited Alan Moore's Writing for Comics. This book combines writings of Moore's which were first serialized in a British fanzine back in 1985, just prior to the release of Moore's stunning Watchmen
"Alan Moore was one of the first comics authors to write extensively and intelligently about the underpinnings of the craft," says writer Warren Ellis. "I know people who've been waiting fifteen years to see this reprinted. It goes right next to Eisner and McCloud on the smart reader's shelf."
The book is scheduled for a June 2003 release.
Thanks to the Small Press Magazine for the links
Resources for Sharpening Your Writing Skills
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on March 18, 2003 - 12:48
Another useful thread on the Rocketbox forums, this one concerning resources for writers.
Repeat After Me: Comics Need Good Writing...
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on March 5, 2003 - 11:55
Over on the Rocketbox forums, there's a good thread on writing for webcomics, started off with a lengthy post on the topic by Mordred:
In the world of dead tree comic books, 98% of the bad stuff out there is superhero comics. (You want to know more about the failings of the dead tree comic industry? Go read Warren Ellis's "The Old Bastard Manifesto". Go read it anyway - so much stuff in there applies to webcomics, with slight contextual differences.) In the world of webcomics, the bad stuff generally falls into four different categories:
1. An American pretending he's Japanese, trying to write manga, and failing. (More on why this is bad in another rant.)
2. Wacky students go to Wacky University and have Wacky Antics together. (More often than not, this is a vanity comic. To those of you doing this: if the best thing you can think of to do with your time is to write a comic about yourself, except where you live in a universe where your life isn't pathetic, your acne problems have disappeared, you've lost fifty pounds and you actually get nookie occasionally, then you may as well just go do unmentionable things while looking at porn. They're both the same thing, and doing the unmentionable thing is probably more fun.)
3. Gaming humour. Sprites may be involved.
4. Geek humour. (Ha-hah-hah, Linux, etc.)
Sometimes you get a heady fusion of all four, and then you know you're really in trouble. Manga written by Americans about wacky gaming geek university students? Bleargh.
