The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics

Dennis O'Neil's The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics provides the basic groundwork for anyone interested in learning how to write a comic or simply looking to understand a bit more about the technical aspects of comic book storytelling.

This book is highly similar to Scott McCloud's Guide to Understanding Comics but perhaps less idiosyncratic and more easily understood in that it is contextualized by examples from DC Continuity.

O'Neil's writing style is personal and at times quite humorous. This makes the book extremely enjoyable and seems to detract form the books potentially boring didactic nature. Furthermore, Denny O'Neil is among the most seasoned comic veterans of comic book writing and his personal experience is often drawn upon to personalize and contextualize the topic at hand.

And perhaps it is in this sense that the book really goes beyond McCloud's Guide to Understanding Comics. O'Neil explains devices like "The Levitz Paradigm", a model for managing various subplots and side stories, developed by former DC writer / editor and current DC publisher / vice-president Paul Levitz. O'Neil's anecdotal account of working with Paul Levitz personalizes the "Levitz Diagram" on a level that simply does not exist in McCloud's book.

Additionally, by working within the framework of DC Comics, O'Neil discusses many aspects of "big publishing" that McCloud does not mention. Things like the miniseries, maxiseries and megaseries; continuity and story-arcs are important aspects of the world of comics that are not included in McCloud's book.

Finally, I greatly enjoyed O'Neil's chapters on Creating Drama, Characterization, Story Structure and Script Preparation. These truly allowed for a unique and helpful perspective on the essential elements of comic book storytelling.

Blankets, AKA Craig Thompson's Wet Dream

Craig Thompson claims that Blankets, his autobiographical graphic novel, is meant to describe "what it feels like to sleep next to someone for the first time". Having read Blankets, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that I never want to sleep next to Craig Thompson. In fact, it's hard for me to imagine someone that would.

Blankets focuses primarily on Thompson's Evangelical Christian upbringing and his struggle with faith and a girl. Although his difficulty finding a place in his community is somewhat compelling and his difficulty establishing and maintaining a relationship with a girl is certainly relatable, I found that his complete detachment from the world around him had a similar affect on me: I felt wholly detached from this character.

Personally, I found Thompson's brother to be more compelling than the protagonist. He similarly seemed to exist in a world detached from reality but somehow seeemed to find contentment. The way he is obscured and only appears at somewhat sporadic intervals allowed for glimpses into Thompson's foil: someone who was in his shoes, but coping.

The art in this story was intriguing, specifically Thompson's linework. His adherence to black and white and use of strong and often wavy lines created a style that complimented the book's sentiment of transience and listlessness nicely. Of particular note were Thompson's panel work and transitions. This is where I think that he truly exhibited his artistic skill, especially in his use of surreal motion and monsters that often broke free of the rigid panels and sprawled across this page.

This book seems to fit the bill perfectly for the angsty teen's required reading list, but for anyone with even the slightest bit of contentment, Blankets may be hard to stomach.

P R E A C H E R

What do god, violence, vampires and John Wayne have in common? If you said The American Dream, you're right. If you said Preacher, you're also right.

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon lead the reader on a wild ride through an upside down universe where there really is no god in heaven in the 75 issue National Comic Award winning American epic, Preacher.

Ennis' hyper-violent pseudo-religious-western plays out elegantly against Dillon's soft, but sufficiently detailed pencils. In fact, the unreality of Dillon's somewhat cartoonish characters often serves to enhance the intensity of the violence -- the blank expressions and simple explosions that accompany gunshot wounds or the water cooler spout that ultimately serves as Herr Starr's catheter are two examples that seem to stick out. Needless to say, with Ennis' endless cast of quirky characters and calls for obscene violence -- this is one partnership that works out nicely.

Y The Last Man

Y The Last Man is a phenomenal epic. From the art to the pacing to the character development, this is one comic that I had trouble putting down.

First of all, I love J.G. Jones' cover art. His lifelike character interpretations, although a divergence from Pia Guerra's softer, more cartoonish style, offer a nice complement to the stories -- often setting the tone for the rest of issue. As a side note, Jones' recent covers for DC's Final Crisis were spectacular, rivaling those of fellow realist Alex Ross.

Pia Guerra's art, although not as lifelike as Jones', certainly holds it own. I found that his subtle attention to detail combined with his cooler color palette did Brian K. Vaughn's writing justice.

An interesting facet of this comic was the pacing / character development. The perpetual cuts in the time, combined with the obscured and often omitted scenes in the story seemed to create the sense that the story was going on even when the reader is not reading.

Additionally, the story seems to be perpetually moving forward. Although that may seem like a trite observation, Vaughn really doesn't skip a beat. Every line of dialogue, even if it is introspective, reveals a new element of the plot and moves the story forward. This onward-ness seems to be a typical element of the serial epic and was reminiscent of "Preacher" and "Walking Dead".

Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again

"Dark Knight Strikes Again" ("DKSA") is one of Frank Miller's crowning achievements. Building off of Dark Knight Returns, he continues to recreate the DC Universe in his terrifying image. And personally, I think it's never looked better.

Captain Marvel is easily my favorite character in this story. The separation of Billy Batson and Captain Marvel is a fascinating concept and one that I had not considered before "DKSA". My favorite Captain Marvel moment comes when he is dying and Wonder Woman asks him where he goes when he says the word SHAZAM and he responds: "Where does a wish go? Where does a dream go when you wake up?" Although to most this must seem incredibly corny, I find that corniness is the most important element of Captain Marvel's character -- one that is frequently played upon in continuity. That's what makes his final words so compelling, he retains Batson's childlike innocence despite their alleged separation.

Frank Miller is an extremely capable comic book artist -- both in his own unique style (demonstrated in "DKSA") and the classic sense. Chris Claremont even went so far as to hail him as one of the most talented comic book artists he has ever worked with (circa the Miller / Claremont run "Wolverine). But it is apparent at first glance that "DKSA" is not illustrated in the classic style. I personally found that his less-than-realistic design style coupled with digital inks perfectly portrayed an edgy, highly emotional, futuristic dreamscape.

Batman: The Killing Joke

Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke" is revered as one of the definitive Batman comics. Personally, I've never been that into it. Don't get me wrong -- it's a great comic and it certainly lays down some important Batman groundwork (Joker's origin story as well as the crippling of Barbara Gordon), but I wouldn't say it's Batman at his best.

One of the biggest problems I have with the story is Commissioner Gordon. When Batman ultimately frees him from captivity he tells Batman to "do this one by the book" in order to "show him that the system works". Although I like the honest, unflinchingly benevolent portrayal of Gordon, I find him a better counterpoint to Batman when he encourages Batman to act outside of the law. I guess I just can't believe that given Gordon's situation -- having been captured by the Joker and forced to watch the rape, crippling and torture of his daughter repeatedly -- that he wouldn't seek a higher degree of revenge. I find that it is often Gordon's desire to see a criminal suffer and Batman's decision to do "justice" that characterizes their relationship, not the other way around.

One of my favorite elements in this comic is the groundskeeper who sells Joker the abandoned theme park. From the moment the Joker electrocutes him, leaving him with a sickening grin atop a child's rocking horse toy, he does not leave this spot. Throughout the comic he appears several times, merely a piece of scenery, whenever new action is taking place in the theme park. This little touch is Brian Bolland's art at its best.

All Star Superman

It seems like every time Quitely and Morrison enter a genre, they walk out with a masterpiece. "All Star Superman" is no exception, critically acclaimed as one of the best Superman stories of all time, this Eisner, Harvey and Eagle Award winning series is certainly among the greatest Superman stories in recent history.

Morrison's take on Superman, in many ways a more gentle variant than the norm, captures what I find to be the most intriguing aspect of his character: his humanity, or lack there of. Morrison establishes something of an unspoken relationship between Superman and the reader in which both are cognizant of his ability to handle any situation at super speed and his deliberate choice not to. It is this decision, his pandering to lesser human ability, that truly characterizes his true inner struggle: his desire to be human. 

And Quitely's gentle lines and soft features, coupled with Jamie Grant's generally cooler color scheme seemed to further this notion. It was this dichotomy, between Superman's unbelievable strength and his gentle demeanor, that really spoke to me in this read of "All-Star" and in many ways, I found it to

 be the driving aspect of the story.

Another comment worthy of note is that Morrison uses "All-Star" as a vehicle to flesh out aspects of his "DC: One Million" storyline. "One Million" tells the story of the DC universe in the 853rd century and the Superman Squad, Superman Gold and Superman Prime are key characters. By adding these elements to Superman's past, he brings the "One Million" universe into continuity. In fact, as I recall, both Superman Gold and Lois Lane are still in the sun in "DC: One Million". 

I am not sure whether or not this series will continue, but I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping that it will.