Playing with Toys…
Over the weekend, and last night while I was working on the new Flobots comics, I had sort of a brief epiphany about the craft of creating comics. There seems to me to be two mindsets when approaching creating comics (writing and drawing combined here)
#1 The Formula Method - This is where you’re just kind of going through the motions of PLOT and what’s supposed to happen. YOu may be playing with someone else’s characters or be following “rules” of some kind. It might even be your own creation but you’re sticking to everything you know and making sure all the language and setup is proper and in acts…. Good things can come from this method, but mostly mediocre things. And some very BAD things come from this method too, especially when editors get involved or something is being created by a “boardroom” instead of professional sequential artists and writers. In the formula method, you’ll find people telling you “You can’t break the panel borders!” – Or many people following “Draw Comics The Marvel Way!”
#2 Playing With Toys Method - There’s a zone I get into where it sparks some feeling I had when I was a kid. I only made this connection last night, but it’s the same feeling I use to have when I was 9 or 10 and would take GI JOE action figures and rename them based on their looks or design. Sometimes they’d even fight larger HE-MAN action figures as genetic mutated freaks or monsters. And when you’re a kid and making up your own stories, there’s a zone you get into where you don’t want to stop… your parents tell you it’s time for bed, but you can’t stop thinking about your story and can’t wait to wake up the next day to play out the next chapter. — This is the feeling I once had when creating the Hero By Night Universe, and this is also the feeling I had over the weekend and last night working on the Flobots Universe. Writing dialogue and sketching the characters around on the screen was like one giant toy box filled with unlimited awesomeness. I think I can also sense when other comics have this element to them. Comics like Atomic Robo, or Doug Tennapel’s work appeals to me in this way.
I don’t know if this feeling is unique to me or not, I reckon that it isn’t. But it’s one of the best feelings in the world. Playing with toys…
7 comments7 Comments so far
I like comics where the creator take the trouble to fill in all the details. Why the character does things, what soda does it always drink. Even trivial sideline characters get personality traits. It fills in and draws the reader into the world created. Artwork can do the same thing with backgrounds. In HBN, you planned out the whole history of the ring creation, why it was made, the intent of it, etc. You could have just had it fall from the sky, lame, but a functional plot start. (I mean, it worked for superman)
The best stories, in my opinion, are a result of the combination of the two. You need acts to tell a story, the best movies, tv, and comics all use the act structure (though if it’s done well, the readers don’t notice it). But you also have to have that “playing with toys” feeling, because that fun translates into fun on the page.
I love when the characters take over as you write, and they dictate what comes next. That’s when I know I’ve found a groove. When writing ANGEL:ATF around 10 or so, I had Angel do something that we planned for him to do around 12 or so, simply because Angel’s a smart guy and he’d figure things out more quickly. The rest of the story had to adapt and fall in line because Angel took over and figured things out quickly. Wonderful, wonderful feeling.
Yeah, you definitely have to have structure or things would just go all over the place. I absolutely love it when the characters just play out themselves, it also feels like YOU are a fan and watching it all play out, or you’re the FIRST fan who gets to see it.
I had the same experience when I was drawing the Kiss comic. It was a lot of fun to play around in someone else’s world, with someone else’s ideas, and see what I could do with them.
Gene Simmons owns all the characters in the Kiss comics (besides Dr Strange and Dr Doom, of course), from the 1970s Marvel version to the present incarnation, and it was a LOT of fun to bring in characters from the Marvel version and the Image version and have them interact with the newest characters.
It was a very hard decision for me to leave that comic. As much as I enjoy working with my own characters, it’s also a lot of fun to play around in someone else’s sandbox.
Speaking of which…I’d give my left nut to draw a limited series based around Doctor Strange.
Adam, I am not a fan of KISS (though I love Gene Simmons as a personality), but I really dug your KISS comics. Really fun stuff. What are you up to now?
It’s always starts playing with toys, but leans toward formula when the deadlines come.
Thanks for the kind words, Brian! There were a surprising amount of people who enjoyed the comic even though they weren’t necessarily fans of the band.
As for what I’m up to now, click on my name to see the one that’s running right now.
(thanks to DJ for putting in a good word for me with Chris Crosby! It’s nice to be off the Duck)
I’m working on four other projects, which won’t be out till next year sometime.