You, especially, Mark, will appreciate the script I got a while back in which one of the art descriptions for a panel included the word "tracking".

An editor lied to me?

Good thing I was sittin' down.

I listen to the complaints of so many artists who have to deal with these "tourists".

I have heard of the tracking reference. I've also been told of a writer asking to have a character blink. Or complaining that the lead character doesn't look enough like the actor they had in mind (and failed to mention in the script). TV and movie guys seldom know how comics work and look upon the artist the way they would upon a camera crew. Not as a collaborator but as a facilitator there to bring the writer's dreams to life. Jump, monkey, jump! Now, draw, monkey draw!

The things that crisps me most are the writers who won't even take calls from their artists. You'd think after being treated like dirt in Hollywood that they'd return some respect to the people willing to show them respect in the comics biz. Instead, they take it as an opportunity to lord it over all us comic book underlings.

You got some guy who wrote two episodes The Nanny lording it over pros who have decades invested in comics. Makes me nauseous. And a special loathing is reserved for the editors who pimp them.

If all of the butt-kissing of these tourists turned into big sales for comics I'd be the first to say, "God bless, brother!" A rising tide raises all boats, I say. But they haven't moved the needle overall. They only serve to further marginalize the medium.

I could post more inflammatory stuff but I get in enough trouble on my own site.

who wrote two episodes The Nanny

Heh.

http://www.newsarama.com/general/WordsWordsWords/WWW02.htm

You read something like this, and you'd think the artist has next-to-zero input in the process.

Irony time:  after about 12 years completely away from any comics, I walked back into my local comic shop to check out Identity Crisis.  Why?  Because I read an article in the paper about Brad Meltzer being a tv writer (or something) and then agreeing to write Identity Crisis.  The article made Identity Crisis sound good.

What's the irony?  I've never heard of Brad Meltzer before or since, and have no idea what he wrote.  I didn't like Identity Crisis.

But I'm back to being a 12-15 title a month buyer.

......................

It was not the only reason I got back into comics but all these guys like Kevin Smith and JMS writing comics did help to attract me back into reading them again. I genuinly think these guys do have something to offer the industry the problems that have on occasion occured because of them have in my opinion been due to poor handling of these talants by Marvel and DC. These guys should have had at least been given some training in scripting comics and they should be shadowed by an editor permantly.