Great stuff. Jim Starlin wrote a Batman mini series ",The Cult". The end of issue 2 where Robin rescues a mentally broken Batman in the sewers was mind jolting. Robin describes the visceral scene and stench en route to his partner. The end is a splash panel of Batman facing Robin dazed and confused in this abatoir.
The reader has lost all faith that the hero can make a comeback from this.
Do you have a selection of favourite horror comics? I'm fascinated by the way the medium expounds on the genre. I'm a massive fan of Snyder's Severed and Dungeon, the works of Emily Carroll, various (and obvious?) Vertigo works in the 90s and 00s. Even current Marvel's slate of "horror superhero events", i.e. Blood Hunt, the current Death Spiral, there's a lot of dread out in the world of comics, but what are your favourites?
I'd love to hear some of Joe's favorite horror comics as well. The idea of having to focus on dread over jump scares really resonates with me. I think it's why Junji Ito's work is so universally loved.
Personally, I think Harrow County is one of -- if not the best -- that's ever been done.
Another great tutorial. One thing I learned at Madefire, when I was pioneering an alternative digital storytelling platform, was that so much is about timing. And you’re so right about horror, but it’s also true of comedy. The gag, like the shock reveal, can often work most effectively on the page turn.
Starting out at Marvel, back in my Death’s Head II and Hulk days, the splash was all the rage. Every page was splashy. But speaking of horror, by the time I came to The Man-Thing series the storytelling was reverting back to something more classic. We had a number of 16 panel pages in that series. I think that’s the strip where I really cut my teeth as a storyteller, thanks in no small part to the astonishing script by Marc DeMatteis.
I know most of what you've been teaching us so the things I didn't know (or hadn't thought about in a long time) stand out all the more. I appreciate your attention to detail. Each installment sticks better because of it.
Fascinating! I've never really consciously thought of the panel sizing rhythm before, will have to give it a try! (The sequence Steve Ditko did in ASM #33 with Spider-Man trapped under the steel beams comes to mind as a good example.)
I love those random encounters with great artists that end up leaving lifelong imprints. Jim Steranko told me in 2001 to keep a long memory, and I still do!
Fantastic. I’ll ask a few questions but need to read this again. Your first page in the Ash comic was Ashely burning. Did you mean to grab the reader at such a high moment or was this not the high moment for Ash? Also, do word bubbles not work on covers or are they silly? One thing that bothers me is when the cover has nothing to do with the book. Lastly everything you mentioned above I think is the reason for Absolute Barman being such a hit. A page or two would be a low heart rate and the next pounding. One more thing how has writing evolved from the 50s- early 80s, 90s-early 20 and current. Back during my younger years older books seemed super heavy on writing and I would avoid.
Great stuff. Jim Starlin wrote a Batman mini series ",The Cult". The end of issue 2 where Robin rescues a mentally broken Batman in the sewers was mind jolting. Robin describes the visceral scene and stench en route to his partner. The end is a splash panel of Batman facing Robin dazed and confused in this abatoir.
The reader has lost all faith that the hero can make a comeback from this.
Super helpful! Love the analogy to music. Thanks for the great info!
Thank you for yet another masterclass, Joe. I hope these articles will be a book one day, I would like to preorder it now :)
Do you have a selection of favourite horror comics? I'm fascinated by the way the medium expounds on the genre. I'm a massive fan of Snyder's Severed and Dungeon, the works of Emily Carroll, various (and obvious?) Vertigo works in the 90s and 00s. Even current Marvel's slate of "horror superhero events", i.e. Blood Hunt, the current Death Spiral, there's a lot of dread out in the world of comics, but what are your favourites?
I'd love to hear some of Joe's favorite horror comics as well. The idea of having to focus on dread over jump scares really resonates with me. I think it's why Junji Ito's work is so universally loved.
Personally, I think Harrow County is one of -- if not the best -- that's ever been done.
Another great tutorial. One thing I learned at Madefire, when I was pioneering an alternative digital storytelling platform, was that so much is about timing. And you’re so right about horror, but it’s also true of comedy. The gag, like the shock reveal, can often work most effectively on the page turn.
Starting out at Marvel, back in my Death’s Head II and Hulk days, the splash was all the rage. Every page was splashy. But speaking of horror, by the time I came to The Man-Thing series the storytelling was reverting back to something more classic. We had a number of 16 panel pages in that series. I think that’s the strip where I really cut my teeth as a storyteller, thanks in no small part to the astonishing script by Marc DeMatteis.
Awesome. How soon will the portfolio advice come out? Is this for writers or artists?
Finding these so useful as I work through thumbs for my webcomic.
I know most of what you've been teaching us so the things I didn't know (or hadn't thought about in a long time) stand out all the more. I appreciate your attention to detail. Each installment sticks better because of it.
Very insightful! I think I've learned more about storytelling from this post than anything I've read before. Thanks for sharing!
Fascinating! I've never really consciously thought of the panel sizing rhythm before, will have to give it a try! (The sequence Steve Ditko did in ASM #33 with Spider-Man trapped under the steel beams comes to mind as a good example.)
I love those random encounters with great artists that end up leaving lifelong imprints. Jim Steranko told me in 2001 to keep a long memory, and I still do!
Fantastic. I’ll ask a few questions but need to read this again. Your first page in the Ash comic was Ashely burning. Did you mean to grab the reader at such a high moment or was this not the high moment for Ash? Also, do word bubbles not work on covers or are they silly? One thing that bothers me is when the cover has nothing to do with the book. Lastly everything you mentioned above I think is the reason for Absolute Barman being such a hit. A page or two would be a low heart rate and the next pounding. One more thing how has writing evolved from the 50s- early 80s, 90s-early 20 and current. Back during my younger years older books seemed super heavy on writing and I would avoid.