From: Nearly Everyone
I started another Nightwing today, jotting down ideas for the story (expanded from my original notes which had been approved 4-6 months ago). The notes usually cover the basic plot, any big visual scene I'm thinking of, and then a section for the emotions of the characters; what each person in the story wants so I don't forget stories are about people with conflicting needs. I want to know what people are thinking at different parts of the story to see how they are changing over the course of the issue.
Once I'm done with that, I write numbers 1-22 on the left side of my computer screen (each number corresponds to a printed comics page) and quickly pace out the story in one or two sentence concepts which I play next to each number. Then I sit back and play with that until the pacing works out the way I want. I take out parts that don't make sense. I combine sections which can be so I'm not wasting space, and I make sure the story makes sense and the ideas flow correctly. Once I get something that I'm satisfied with, I start adding a bit more detail to each page; a bit more of what's happening and who does what to whom. I try not to put in too much because I know it all gets changed, often drastically, but I try to give myself a road map even if I eventually take different streets to get to my location.
With the very rough breakdowns done, I go back to page one and spend forever coming up with the dialog and captions for the page. I say it takes forever because the first page is the one that sets the emotional tone for the writing for the entire issue. Once that page works, I can quickly write dialog for the rest of the story. Often I will stop writing dialog and add another scene description in case I've changed something from the original description or need to further explain something or I came up with a really neat visual gimmick I don't want to forget.
I take a number of breaks during the day and when I get back to the computer I start re-reading everything I've done starting with page one. I want to maintain a flow and even a half hour away can break the feeling. So it's back to the start so I get into the feel of what I'm doing again.
After I've written the dialog many, many times I go back to page one and write complete scene descriptions that break down the story panel by panel. Occasionally I will rewrite dialog. Sometimes I'll take dialog and turn it into captions and write visuals that play against what's being said. But this is where I tell the story visually and if I find a story is dragging, I will go back and rewrite until the flow is right.
With everything done, assuming I have the time, I save and close down the document and go out, watch TV, play a video game, go for a walk, see a movie, or do anything that isn't writing, or failing that, doing anything that isn't writing the script I just finished. I try to clear my mind of that work and spend the next day doing something else before I come back and do another edit/pass on the script. Dialog that sounded fine a day or two before, given 24-48 hours, reads differently. Sometimes clunky. I'm no longer enamored with a specific line and I go into edit mode instead of writing mode. Here is where I rewrite dialog, cut unnecessary lines (something I never did years ago when there wasn't time), and try to tell the same story in a cleaner, more precise fashion.
I then print out the script, two pages to a single page of paper, and do a final proofreading. I find it hard, sometimes impossible, to do a perfect proofreading on the computer screen and I prefer printing out the script, sitting back in an easy chair with a pen, and edit away. I will often find mistakes I missed on the computer. I mark each change then return to the computer to correct them.
Eventually, I email it into the office and wait for notes from the editor. Editors are vital; they are disinterested parties who are not married to what you've done and can more clearly see where you've gone astray, fail to explain something because you know it but don't convey the knowledge, or simply say "DB" which stands for Do Better. A few days later, I will occasionally do more more read through and send in corrected dialog. At this stage I know the story is being drawn so I don't change panel descriptions (unless it's at the very end of the story) but I will change dialog. Hopefully it will be this final script that gets sent to the letterer and not the previous draft.
This sounds like a lot of work, and it probably is. When I was younger I didn't do the endless editing and rewriting. There simply wasn't time. And I of course thought my stuff was perfect as I wrote it. Of course, when I reread some of those books, even though many of the stories themselves stand the test of time, the actual writing doesn't. Most of that stuff is over written with dialog so purple you could cover Barney in it. Today's dialog tries to be more realistic and less melodramatic. That stuff was fun to write but hard to reread decades later.
Anyway, I hope this answers a question that I get asked many times at cons.
From: Nearly Everyone
I
read in the Crisis On Infinite Earths collection that you didn't
want to kill Barry (The Flash) Allen and put in a loophole on how
to bring him back. Care to share that with us?
So many people
actually saw that comment I made in my forward and have asked me
how I'd bring back the Flash, that I've finally gotten tired of
explaining it. So that I don't ever have to explain it again, here
it is now, once and for all. Please remember, this is a very comic
booky answer and you can probably blow holes in it somehow (but
then nobody really complained how an anti-matter villain could co-exist
with a positive matter good guy, so maybe physics isn't anyone's
strong suit). This is what I proposed to DC back in 1985. Please
note that I didn't think it was a good idea to kill The Flash but
those were my marching orders, so I did the best I could to make
his death as moving as I could. Here is the given I worked from:
Much of the reason the people in charge didn't care for Barry Allen
was that he was considered dull. I felt if I could come up with
a way of making him vital again while keeping him alive, then perhaps
Barry would be given a second lease on life. I came up with the
idea of Flash moving back through time, flashing into our dimension
even as he was dying. So, thought I, what if Barry was plucked out
of the time stream at one of those moments he appeared? What if
that meant from this point on Barry knew that he was literally living
on borrowed time, that at any moment the time stream could close
in on him and take him to his inevitable death. What would this
mean to Barry? 1: from now on the fastest man alive would literally
be running for his life. 2: He knew he didn't have much time left
and believed (as Barry would) that he had to devote it to helping
others. 3: This meant Barry would become driven and desperate to
help others with each passing tick of the clock. I felt this new
revitalized attitude might be enough to make the formerly dull police
scientist into someone who now had to push himself as he never had
to before. I was hoping that this would make the character interesting
enough to live. Earlier, I said my explanation was comic booky.
In many ways it is because none of us knows when we are going to
die. But this knowledge would haunt a man like Barry Allen and change
him from an unassuming character into a driven hero. At least that
was the plan!
From:
Steve Foster
Steve asks where "Games",
the Titans graphic novel is right now. The answer is tricky as even
I don't know. George has been assigned to so many current DC projects
he hasn't had time to work on the final pages. Hopefully, that might
change, but I don't know. I'd love to see the project come about,
but there seem to be real impediments here. Hopefully that will
change.
From:
Rick Seetoo
I have seven Crisis
questions that you may have answered in the years since the series.
It's still my favorite series of all time. Anyway...
1) The Freedom Fighters went
running headfirst into the anti-matter. Why didn't they get destroyed?
2) Please describe the paradise
that Superman of Earth-2 and Lois went to.
3) What were the directives
you were given regarding the Charlton characters?
4) Why did the Anti-Monitor
want Red Tornado? I could never figure that out.
5) Were you told by DC to kill
Supergirl or was that your idea?
6) I know that you would not
have killed the Flash and would have had the heroes lose their memories.
Was there anything else you wanted to do, but couldn't?
7) Did you have plans to spin
off Lady Quark, Pariah, and Harbinger into their own series?
Wow. Lots of questions
and I don't have lots of answers.
1) I have no idea. I
don't remember at all.
2) See Infinite Crisis
Secret Files, March, 2006, for the answer.
3) No directives at all.
I did what I could within the limited space we had.
4) I have to admit I
forget now.
5) Killing Supergirl
was my idea, approved by DC in order to make Superman the sole survivor
of Krypton for his new relaunch. Everyone was in agreement but I
was the first to suggest it.
6) I wanted all the DC
books to start over again in 1986 with #1. We'd begin with an origin
issue and then bring back stuff from the past continuity as if it
were new (or easily explained). The idea was to make the new DC
a jumping on time.
7) No. I always assumed
they'd be used but had no specific plans.
From:
Joe Dillistone
I
have question.I was wondering how two people create a series together?
Actually,
Joe, the answer is fairly simple but in the case of the Titans it
wasn't 100% straight on. I was coming up with the characters, trying
to make the team work and keep the characters balanced. I worked
out all the basics before George came on board, but then we went
over what I had already done and began making changes. We'd talk
the ideas through with George and me working together to make each
character as strong as we could. I worked up the intricate histories
but the personalities and later changes came equally from both of
us working in partnership.
...this one's from waaaay out of left field, but how is it
that you came to write two episodes of "Jem" ? ^_^
I *told* you it was out there! LOL!
I have long been a fan of your work (the New Teen Titans
got me through my teen years), and was a fan of Jem from the start---I
was surprised when watching Jem (waaay back in the days...) and
seeing your name as the writer! (Loved the humour in "Broadway
Magic" and the emotional side of "The Band Breaks Up")
So I thought I'd ask how it came to be!
The
answer may be terribly disappointing, Matthew: I was asked. I had
already been writing G.I. Joe and Transformers for the same company,
Sunbow, and the story editor, who I believe was either Roger Slifer
or Christy Marx, asked me to do a couple of Jems as well, knowing
I wanted to do things other than just adventure cartoons. My daughter
loved the Jem toys which made it even more fun to do. I always thought
Jem could have been a serious contender to Barbie if the toy company
had kept with it. But, as usually the case, Barbie introduced their
rock band dolls and had more money to throw at it. Which, I guess
is okay since my wife is an absolute collector nut when
it comes to Barbie and there are about a zillion set of plastic
eyes staring at me whenever I wander into her office. Mattel's vengeance
for my doing Jem, I guess.
From:
<gawain@sympatico.ca>
Okay, I've got one. The greatest mystery of the New Teen Titans
isn't whether/how Cyborg goes to the toilet. It isn't where Changeling's
clothes go when he shapeshifts, or how he manages to speak clearly
when he's in the form of, say, a spider. It isn't even what Donna's
origin story is (though I think someday you and George ought to
reunite for a "Who The @*#% IS Donna Troy/Wondergirl/Troia/Darkstar
Already?!?!" story).
No, the big question is (and forgive me if I'm only the 8,532nd
to ask): if Starfire shaved her head would she still be able to
fly? If so, would brownish-red fire just shoot straight out of the
top of her head?
Thank you. -Neil
You know, Neil,
I always wondered how Gar spoke when he was a spider, but I guess
that secret comes with the super-hero union card. But I can answer
the Starfire question. The image of Kory's hair cometing out behind
her isn't what makes her fly. That's just a comic book representation
of her flight, cribbed from Mighty Mouse, of all heroes.
I used that MM trail once before with The Man Called Nova
and George and I both have acknowledged the Mouse as our inspiration.
It just looks real cool to have her hair flame out like that, but
I don't think if she was actually flying in front of you in real
life it would be there any more than the Flash's after-images. It's
just fun to draw her that way.
From:
Bill Walko <billwalko@sbcglobal.net>
OK Marv... here's some questions for your column...
1. Have you and George started GAMES? How have you
approached it to update it for 2004? Does everything
fit in continuity? Was it hard to find the 'voices' of
the characters again?
2. I heard you are writing more for the animated
series. Can you tell us anything about the episode[s]
you are working on..?
First of all,
for those who don't know about "Games," READ
THIS before proceding. Bill, as of today, April 22, 2004,
we haven't begun working on "Games." As most of you may
know, George hurt his hand while working on JLA/Avengers. This put
him behind deadline. Even though his hand was still bothering him
- his condition doesn't go away that quickly - he managed to finish
that assignment, but still had two others to complete for Crossgen
before he could tackle our Titans graphic novel. If George's hand
hold up, he expects to finish that around June or July. At which
point he'll be taking a month off to recuperate completely, and then
he'll start working on the final pages of "Games." George
was in L.A. a few weeks ago and we got together and discussed the
graphic novel. We came up with a way of seguing into the story that
both of us are very happy with, and, in fact, would have worked
just as well had we done it back in '87, too.
Does the story
fit into continuity. Yes and no. We will be working out a last few
things with DC to find out if certain characters had been used since
we started this (we don't follow every comic out there). We are
certainly sticking to the continuity we had done and hopefully we
aren't contradicting anything anyone else has come up with since.
As far as finding
the voices again, although I haven't written anything yet, I doubt
that I'll have any problem. I've done a few Titans related projects
over the years and the voices come back instantly. I had developed
Star, Vic, Raven and even Dick and Donna so specifically I know
them as people and therefore know exactly how they'd phrase every
thought they'd have. That, by the way, is one of the reasons I also
don't read today's Titans - or any other book I helped create after
I leave it. I have those speech patterns down pat and no matter
how good the next writer is, the characters aren't going to sound
right to me, and it's not fair to judge someone else for not catching
my style - and therefore in my mind doing the characters the right
way - than it would be for past Titans writers to have judged me
as I didn't bother to follow their speech patterns, either.
Finally, you
ask about the Titans cartoon show. The last episode I did was the
first part of a two part season ender for Titans season 3. It introduces
some new characters to the show, though not to long time Titans
readers. Unfortunately, because they like to keep these things secret,
I can't say anything, but as soon as any info leaks out there, ask
me this again. Okay?
From:
Visemoon@aol.com
Hello, sir,
sorry to bother you but I have a question about one over your stories
you wrote a long time ago.
In 1978 you wrote the Amazing Spiderman #187. This issue had
Captain America in this issue. Cap and Spidey got into a little
tussle and even manage to hit Spidey and knock him down. How
is that? Cap is peak human with peak human speed, strength
and agility while Spidey has SUPER human speed, Superhuman strength
and superhuman agility, Spidey perceives his opponent as moving
in slow motion and Not to mention the fact he has the Spider sense
that warns him of attacks.
Yes, I know Captain America is the worlds greatest soldier, but
he has NO Super powers, while Spidey on the other hand does have
Superpowers. Spidey should have literally wipe the floor with
Cap. I was wondering if you could perhaps tell me why Cap
manage to give Spidey such a rough time and in your HONEST opinion
who do you think would win in a fight between Cap and Spidey?
The answer's
actually pretty simple. Although Cap has no super-powers, he's about
the best fighter there is. Also, he was trying to stop Spider-Man
(if memory serves, which it may not) and Spidey didn't want to harm
Cap. So Cap was fighting offensively while Spidey was fighting defensively.
In a straight on fight, of course Spidey could stop Cap - but not
before Cap got in his licks, he is that good - but this wasn't a
straight on fight. Okay?
From:
Jared Diem <tjdiem@brainerd.k12.mn.us
Hi, I am
a 29 year comic collector of about 13 years and I have a fan question.
What was your first pro work?
Not quite so
simple an answer. I co-wrote and co-drew (with Len Wein) the story
"The Conjuror And The Man Called Armageddon" that
appeared in CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN, a monster magazine of
the 1960s. I also lettered it. After that, I actually have two simultaneous
sales. I sold a plot for an issue of BLACKHAWK for DC Comics
(#171 I believe, but I could be wrong) at the same time I did a
dialogue job for a HOUSE OF MYSTERYstory called "The
Roots Of Evil." I forget who plotted it but editor Joe Orlando
asked me to do the dialogue. However, prior to any of that, I used
to publish fan magazines and wrote and drew a ton of stories.
From:
Ken Fox" <kenfox@familydynamics.net>
I’m
sure you get this question a lot, but – What is your favorite
Titans single issue you ever wrote, or at least one of your favorites.
There's actually
several and it's hard to choose between them. I love Titans #8,
"A Day In The Life." It was the first story George Peréz
and I did where we truly defined the group. It was also one of the
very first, if not first, comics to simply spend a non-action and
non-villain day with our heroes. Another favorite was the Doom Patrol
stories we did. "Who Is Donna Troy" is obviously a favorite
as is "The Judas Contract." I love "Shades of Gray,"
the story which featured the final conflict between Changeling and
Deathstroke because the two characters simply sat down and talked
through their problems. I loved the Donna Troy wedding issue, the
five-part Trigon epic, and some of "Titans Hunt." There's
others, but I'm simply not recalling them right now.
From:
Jerry Novick <thewritejerry@verizon.net>
Hi Marv,
You're always asking for questions to use in your column, so here's
one (with it's sub-questions):
What creative, marketing, packaging and editorial changes must comic
books undergo if the medium is to reach a wider audience (the audience
outside of comic shops and the handful of people who buy trade paperbacks
in the bookstore)? How can this art form raise itself to sales levels
where we would normally see it represented on bestseller lists?
What would it take to demystify (or in this case "un-geek")
comics so that they obtain readers across a larger demographic representation
of the population?
Great question!
I think the answer is actually very simple but difficult to achieve
because of funding and willingness to commit to a publishing program.
Comics need to be aimed at all audiences. We all know that. But
when we talk about such stuff we still talk about it in terms of
writing and drawing genre fiction. We need to do stories worthy
of book store distribution on subjects that people outside of comics
might be interested in reading. They can be histories, self-help,
etc. They can also be detective, romance, western and more, but
not written to a juvenile audience and not conforming to comic book
cliches. weneed to change the format and the look and understand
that people love the form; millions read comics ever day in the
newspapers, but they don't love the kind of material that fills
most comics.
Now, should
we stop doing what we're doing? The answer is no. Definitely no.
We need to expand to other audiences and other interests and then,
if the material actually is good, have a merchandising and publicity
campaign to fit it. We need the stories first before we can tel
everyone that comics can be for them. We can't tell people who don't
like the 32-page pamphlet we've been publishing since the early
50s that comics can be read by non-comics readers until we have
a large enough display for them to easily find.
Comics are a
great medium. We've only catered to a small audience til now. We
need to expand.
From
Ryan Grant <rag113@hotmail.com>
Mr. Wolfman,
after all these years, I still enjoy your work. And I have
a question for you. Have you ever read any philosophy books by Ayn
Rand, on Objectivism? If so, what do you think of the subject?
Like so many
others, I read Ayn Rand's books in college. My favorite was "Atlas
Shrugged" which I felt was actually a pretty good science fiction
story, if you eliminate the "John Gault Speaks" chapter.
My problem with her material is I don't believe everything is black
and white; I feel we all pretty much live in shades of gray. Not
everyone believes the same things, so what may be absolute to me
may not be so to you. If we're not talking about mathematics or
cold, hard physics, pretty much everything else is open to interpretation.
I have a great dislike for absolutes. Still, as a writer, Rand was
very good. I just disagree with her philsophy.
From:
Nearly Everyone
I
read in the Crisis On Infinite Earths collection that you didn't
want to kill Barry (The Flash) Allen and put in a loophole on how
to bring him back. Care to share that with us?
So many people
actually saw that comment I made in my forward and have asked me
how I'd bring back the Flash, that I've finally gotten tired of
explaining it. So that I don't ever have to explain it again, here
it is now, once and for all. Please remember, this is a very comic
booky answer and you can probably blow holes in it somehow (but
then nobody really complained how an anti-matter villain could co-exist
with a positive matter good guy, so maybe physics isn't anyone's
strong suit). This is what I proposed to DC back in 1985. Please
note that I didn't think it was a good idea to kill The Flash but
those were my marching orders, so I did the best I could to make
his death as moving as I could. Here is the given I worked from:
Much of the reason the people in charge didn't care for Barry Allen
was that he was considered dull. I felt if I could come up with
a way of making him vital again while keeping him alive, then perhaps
Barry would be given a second lease on life. I came up with the
idea of Flash moving back through time, flashing into our dimension
even as he was dying. So, thought I, what if Barry was plucked out
of the time stream at one of those moments he appeared? What if
that meant from this point on Barry knew that he was literally living
on borrowed time, that at any moment the time stream could close
in on him and take him to his inevitable death. What would this
mean to Barry? 1: from now on the fastest man alive would literally
be running for his life. 2: He knew he didn't have much time left
and believed (as Barry would) that he had to devote it to helping
others. 3: This meant Barry would become driven and desperate to
help others with each passing tick of the clock. I felt this new
revitalized attitude might be enough to make the formerly dull police
scientist into someone who now had to push himself as he never had
to before. I was hoping that this would make the character interesting
enough to live. Earlier, I said my explanation was comic booky.
In many ways it is because none of us knows when we are going to
die. But this knowledge would haunt a man like Barry Allen and change
him from an unassuming character into a driven hero. At least that
was the plan!
From:
Nearly Everyone
So,
considering how different it is from your series, what do you think
of the Teen Titans animated series?
I enjoy it,
and that's the truth. No, it's not the series George Perez and I
created, and I don't like all the episodes (I was sent the first
13 scripts to read), but the show has its own personality and its
own voice, and I appreciate that they tried to do something that
they cared about instead of just trying to mimic what George and
I had done. Also, beneath the anime center of the show, they are
actually faithful to the concepts of all our core characters. Robin
is the gung ho leader, Starfire, the naive alien, Raven, the dark
and somber child of Trigon, Cyborg, the man trying to become comfortable
in his own skin, and Changeling - oops - Beast Boy as comedy
relief, with real personal problems beneath the jokes. I really
enjoy the banter between Changeling - oops! - Beast Boy
and Raven. Raven is, in fact, hysterical. Also, I have to say the
theme song is absolutely infectious. The tapes I've been sent primarily
have the theme song in English, but one episode actually has it
in Japanese. If I knew how to digitize the theme song and put it
here on my website, I would.
From:
Gavin Dobson
1. How do
you feel about the upcoming Titans series? I'm really excited by
it. I'd rather it was with all of the titans I grew up with but
at least there is a buzz about the title again. But I'd like to
know your feelings.
People find
this strange to hear when I say this, but I never read any book
I've created once I leave it, so I have no views whatsoever about
the new Titans series. When I started The New Titans with
George Perez back in 1980 (click on the Titans Creation Page to
your right to see some of my first thoughts for that series) I went
out of my way not to think about the two Titans series that preceded
mine. I wanted to do something that was new and different, but more
importantly, I wanted to do something I believed in. I've told every
Titans writer who followed me who asked for my thoughts (and most
of them have, by the way) to ignore what George and I did and do
something that was important to them. Make it personal. Do something
that matters to you! Most of the writers have asked what I've thought
about their book, and since many are friends, and even those I don't
know are professionals, I'd rather not look at what they're doing
so I don't have to give an opinion, good or bad. Just be original.
Treat the characters - whichever ones they choose - with dignity.
And write what's in your heart. I wish all the writers the same
success I had with the Titans.
2.Gotta ask
it. How do you feel about Donna Troys 'death'? I'm not sure yet.
She was my favourite growing up but maybe with all of her slightly
muddled history it was for the best.
Since I didn't
read the story where Donna was killed, I can only go by what has
been told to me. Most people feel she is not dead. In that case
this recent death is just another plot device that will be changed
by another writer somewhere down the line. I do think that people
have tried to make sense of her origin one too many times. I have
always said that I hate continuity, and this is why. I think the
origin we gave in "Who Is Donna Troy" worked just fine,
thank you, and everyone, us included, should have left well enough
alone. The fans would make sense of the post-Crisis universe Donna
Troy and we didn't need to muddy up the waters.
3.Who was
your favourite Titan to write?
Without a doubt
- Raven.
