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Adam Schulman
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Posted: 14 September 2017 at 10:23pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

One side note: I've seen a-plenty in Marvel Style stories where script was added to characters in a panel just because they were in the panel by happenstance. You can feel when those are after-thoughts to make it seem in was all part of the plan.

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Yeah. "Everyone in this panel must be here for a reason so all of them must have something to say."

Even worse is when characters are saying far, far too many words in a single action panel. I can think of one particular writer, who first became famous at Marvel, who embodied the "No time to move! Only time to talk about it!" style (as someone once put it) in his early work. 
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John Byrne
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Posted: 15 September 2017 at 5:45am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

3. Frank is pacing the hallway outside Jane's apartment. He lights a cigarette and checks his watch. 7:54pm. His phone goes off in his pocket. He answers it.

****

JB, how many panels would it take you to convey that description? 1-2-3? I figure 2 at least? But knowing you, you can probably figure a way to do it in 1....

••

As written, I'd make that 4 panels. But if I was interested in trimming the fat, I could do it in one: Frank is "pacing" and has a lit cigarette in the hand with the watch on its wrist, as he talks on his phone.

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Wallace Sellars
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Posted: 15 September 2017 at 7:43am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I asked this in another discussion, but it may be more apropos here.

Can someone post a link to the thread where JB gives a number of different
ways to handle the beginning of a Batman story, with each one taking fewer
and fewer panels?
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 17 September 2017 at 11:59pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Does anybody know which DC comics might have been done Marvel-style?

I assume (from what I've read) that Neal Adams might have treated Bob Haney's BRAVE AND BOLD scripts more like plots since he freely admits changing things, but I'm not sure if he did that with Denny O'Neil.  Also, I bet he did Marvel-style on the DEADMAN stories he both wrote and drew--I can't imagine a writer/artist starting with full script.

Steve Ditko's CREEPER usually had him plotting and gave credit to someone else for the scripting, so that must have been "Marvel-style."  I wonder how Kirby tackled his FOURTH WORLD scripting.  His inkers usually did the lettering too on his later stuff, right?  Did that change anything with the scripting?

From what I remember, I would bet Gerry Conway wrote his DC books Marvel-style, but (I'm just going to guess) that Roy Thomas might have gone full script.


Edited by Eric Jansen on 18 September 2017 at 12:01am
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John Byrne
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Posted: 18 September 2017 at 6:00am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Does anybody know which DC comics might have been done Marvel-style?

••

The original SWAMP THING. Bernie told me he noticed that every time he drew someone with an open mouth, Len would have them saying something. So he started drawing more snd more open mouths!

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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 18 September 2017 at 7:26am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

^That's hilarious.
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