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Comics as Text: "Prose" and Cons
by MV1 EiC Van Plexico
Just how viable a format for superhero adventures *is* the prose/text format? Does it "work," or are we all wasting our time and efforts?
Over the course of several years, I've written a number of FanFic stories set in everything from the Marvel Universe to the Star Trek Universe to a comics universe of my own creation. Every time I sit down to work on something, I get this nagging feeling at the back of my brain: "Is this really WORKING? Is doing this story as straight *text* successfully conveying the imagery, the feel, the sheer power I want to get across?
Let's face it: It's one thing to tell someone about Galactus when that person's never seen him. It's quite another to show him an Alex Ross painting of the Big G, the size of the Empire State Building, looming over Manhattan, destructive beams of energy lashing out at his foes as he constructs a device with which to devour the planet.
Troubled by these concerns, I've put more and more emphasis in recent months on vivid descriptive passages in my writing. Any fantasy or science fiction prose demands at least a decent ability to communicate often bizarre and otherworldly imagery to the reader; but comic book/superhero adventures, without the pictures, demand a particularly strong command of the ability to convey vivid imagery in words.
The text format does offer at least one major advantage over the comic book format: room. Room to expand on things; room to add lots of dialogue that simply wouldn't fit into a few panels of a comic. Room to develop plots and characterizations that would take months and years in a comic book. Room to stretch the literary legs a bit and draw the reader into the story through a taut narrative, without having to depend on the art to carry a lazy writer over the slow spots.
That's also a weakness, however. As the writer of superhero FanFic, you're all alone on the page. There's no Alex Ross or George Perez to fall back on when the words just don't seem to come out right. The responsibility of the FanFic writer is all-encompasing: he makes or breaks the story purely by his own merits, or lack thereof.
What do I recommend to the FanFic writer? Learn your craft. Learn to be the best writer you can be, but also learn the peculiar strengths-- and weaknesses-- of your particular field. You have the opportunity with this material to create not only a great story but a vivid *image* in the reader's mind. Seize the chance! Push the barriers! And give the readers something they'll feel-- and *see*-- long after they've finished reading.
