As part of my education as an aspiring comic book writer, I have made it a point to find time to listen to the creative process of other writers. It is a mandate has also made me more open to the idea of reading books that fall outside the Marvel and DC Comics spectrum.[i] This will be the first of many posts where I’ll try to pass on what I’ve learned about the creative writing process or maybe something about comics in general.
The difference between single issues and trade paperbacks
In one particular interview featuring writer Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Kill or Be Killed), someone asked if the essays located in the backspace[ii] of several issues of Fatale[iii] would ever be compiled into a trade paperback or featured as additional material in future editions of Fatale.
Brubaker’s response was simple: No.
He reasoned that it was a complicated process as there were many authors who had contributed essays throughout Fatale’s 24-issue run. These were published as one-offs–meaning that any subsequent publishing would require consent from the aforementioned authors.
Therefore, the essay material would then remain exclusively in the single issues and serve–at least in my mind–as an added incentive to get them.[iv]
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (The non-spoiler edition)
Was with the Fam yesterday and we were able to catch the 9:00 pm advance showing of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
What do I think?
Well, its a great movie to take your whole family too. It pays homage to relics, television shows, arcade games, etc. from the 1980’s. People of that generation would absolutely love it. People not of that generation would be equally entertained.
Funny story: Star-Lord’s 1979 TPS-L2 Sony Walkman, a character in its own right, makes an onscreen appearance in the film. My 5 year-old son, who is sitting on my lap with both of his arms comfortably behind head, turns and asks me:
“What’s that?”
“It’s a Walkman”
“What”
“A Walkman”
“Huh?”
“An iPod”
“Ooooh”
The generation gap is blinding right?
It hits you like Kryptonite…only that much stronger.
_________________________________________________________________
[i] One of the best decisions that I have ever made to date!
[ii] Backspace – The pages immediately following the issue’s story. For older fans this would be the pages containing the soap box specials or the letters from the fans.
[iii] A noir series that Brubaker did for with Image Comics from 2012-2014.
[iv] I’ve done some research on the digital editions of Fatale over at comixology.com. Turns out that the site is only offering the graphic novels. Sorry guys, if you want to read the essays, you’ll have to buy them or pull out your issues from storage.
