Thursday, February 10, 2022

Boring -- The Unforgivable Sin

by Gail Simone

I have some pretty stern ideas about what makes a good superhero comic, but the one felony, the one unforgivable sin, regardless of style or talent level,  is being boring.

If you can make two superheroes getting coffee fascinating swell, go do that. But a lot fewer people can do that than the number who THINK they can. 

However, the same thing applies to your giant fight scene. It’s not automatically fascinating just because two dudes with laser punches or atomic jockstraps are smacking each other around. The onus is still on the creative team to put some jam in that sandwich. And again, thinking and doing are different matters entirely.

The greats out there, the lasting pros that I admire most, they make it look easy, so we extrapolate that it IS easy, and then we realize that X-Factor, that thing they bring, is not exactly automatic.

Shoot for the three point, shoot from mid-court. You may not swish it, but it’s a hell of a lot more fun to watch. 

That’s my advice as a writer, but even more importantly, it’s what I want as a READER.

If you’re writing comics, bring some hot sauce, for Pete’s sake. No one ever looked back on their superhero comics and said, “I wish I’d made them more boring.”

Used by permission of the author. 

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