Comic scripts aren't for your readers
An a-ha moment, which deeply influenced how I write Swán
Swán is my first comic. I’ve never written a script, so I’m certain to be doing dishonor to the conventions I assume must exist that convey artistic direction, dialogue, pacing, …. It’s vulgar, but in that old meaning: like a farmer preaching in some language other than Latin. I’m a fan of the medium, I just don’t know what I’m doing.
After Isabela (
) and I bumped fists and did our secret handshake that sealed the hey-we’re-really-doing-this deal, it occurred to me that I’m not quite writing a story insofar as writing assembly instructions for an artist.I don’t know how to write those instructions for a panel where Plague Rat first sees Caledoran on the horizon, because I don’t have a vocabulary to translate the big vibes I want to convey into brushes (?) or whatever witchery Isabela relies on to Do Art, and I’m almost positive that “make this look really cool” doesn’t help.
Even if I could, it wouldn’t be enough. You can’t just rely on the panels alone to do all the work. Great art weirdly organized does not a good comic make.
Panels are part of a river. One illustration flows into the other and that transference is a big part of the success or the failure of the ride.
So much of that is out of my hands. What I’m writing - you won’t see. A speech bubble here and there, sure, but let’s be honest: Isabela’s the storyteller. You’re not here for the words but for the positioning, the lines, the colors.
The a-ha moment, then, was that the experience readers enjoy is through her.
I am not telling you a story insofar as I’m telling her a story, then asking her to keep you in the loop.
Join Isabela and me over the next year as we usher our first comic to a successful launch. We’re going to share with you what we’ve learned, what we’re learning, our gaffes, and our a-ha moments. I think you’ll find this interesting.
Your pal,
Michael