There must be dozens of books on how to draw comics, but even the best artists need to tell a good story. Who can teach them? Dennis O’Neil. A comics writer and editor for more than 20 years, O’Neil oversees DC Comics’ Batman titles–one of the most successful comics franchises ever. In addition, he’s a bestselling novelist, a screenwriter, and a writing teacher. So when it comes to storytelling, O’Neil knows his stuff. In this guide he delivers his knowledge in a succinct, no-nonsense style.
O’Neil explains three-act story structure and examines subplots, characterization, and methods for developing drama and suspense. He then applies these concepts to comics’ specific forms: graphic novels, miniseries, maxiseries, and the rare megaseries (such as Batman: No Man’s Land, a year-long über-narrative played out across five comics titles). As in good comics, words and images work together in this book. Every idea is illustrated by panels or pages from great moments in DC Comics lore. Especially illuminating are the script excerpts that come paired with the comic book pages they describe.
Strangely, the book ignores the visual side of comics writing. Modern comics scripts specify shots, angles, and blocking in movie-director fashion, but that craft is never addressed. (DC has a good opportunity here for a second volume.) However, what this book sets out to teach–storytelling–it does quite well. Aspiring comics writers won’t just learn theory, they’ll be empowered, because O’Neil provides a framework for crafting new tales. –J.B. Peck
Adult/High School-This witty, clear, and concise guide is tailored to those who want to create comics. O’Neil is adamant that there is no One True Way, although he stresses the importance of practice. He discusses story structure, characterization, script preparation, and other general writing topics. He also covers those more specific to comics writing such as miniseries, maxiseries, and continuity. O’Neil addresses the visual component of the art, the importance of page layout, and the relationship between the writer and the artist. He concludes with a short essay, “Writing Humor Comics,” by Mark Evanier. The book is lavishly illustrated with black-and-white examples from various DC comics. In addition, the author includes many pages of scripts, which are usually juxtaposed with the finished page. He provides excellent advice and guidance for beginners. Although the examples focus on DC characters and stories, the content should have broad appeal. This is a nice balance to the many how-to-draw-comics books in most collections. Even for nonwriters, the book is interesting for the background look it provides into how comics are created.
Susan Salpini, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
O’Neil has been scripting comics professionally for nearly two generations, and he offers much good sense and valuable information about his craft. Although an ex-Marvelite endorsed in a foreword by Stan Lee himself, O’Neil’s principal experience has been with DC, for whom he started with Batman and Superman and proceeded to most of the other titles in the company’s catalog. He provides everything from a basic glossary, complete with visual examples, of scripting concepts to advice on characterization–something vulgarly and erroneously supposed not to exist in comics–to guidance on work habits and concludes by discussing the various kinds of comic books, broadly conceived. He exemplifies from DC’s stable, which may make the book enticing to even the fan who isn’t particularly interested in becoming a scripter. But above all, O’Neil addresses the universals of writing in a way that makes the book useful to all aspiring scripters, regardless of their knowledge of comics. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
About the Author
For more than 20 years, Batman editor and writer Dennis O’Neil has put the “dark” in the Dark Knight and has been the guiding force behind the Batman mythos. He has been called a master of the comics form, and the dean of American comics writers. A best-selling novelist and screenwriter, O’Neil currently teaches a course in comic book writing at Sarah Lawrence College. He lives in Nyack, New York.
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