Why Writers Should Read Comic Books

If you are a writer and you are not reading comic books, you are doing a disservice to yourself. 

Ok, that may be a little harsh and I may be a little biased, as I have been reading and collecting comics for many, many years. I have to admit, there is something exhilarating about walking into a comic book store and being almost overwhelmed by the idea of collecting as many as I can. Even more exhilarating is the number of stories and possibilities held within those sleeves and boxes. My imagination can’t help but wander and create new stories of my own. 

Besides the need to collect as many comic books as you can, there are some amazing benefits that will boost your writing capabilities and have you consider picking some up yourself.

Supporting Another Medium

Comic books aren’t seen by the public eyes like they used to be. What used to be uncool is now super cool. Oh boy, I sounded like the classic uncool parent there.

At one point in its life, they were seen as a form of media only suitable for “children”, “outcasts”, and “nerds”. This has now thankfully changed, not fully, but a good shift has been made in this way of thinking. Not only was this a cruel and unjust social popularity contest that many seemed to have followed, but it was stifling a brilliant and endless creative outlet. Well, over the years, humans have been emerging and proudly owning their talents and skills. You go, you! 

I can’t even count the amount of times I have revealed to others there are more than a few jobs associated with comic books, and that it is so much more than just a writer and an artist. While the artist and writer are two categories, it breaks down to many more talents involved in creating a comic book.

• Penciler
• Inker
• Colorist
• Letterer
• Writer
• Editor
• Producer
• And even Director. 

These are a just handful of the jobs involved in making sure there is a finished story ready to print. This doesn’t include the publishing side, distribution, sales, marketing, and everything else that comes with publishing a book. 

When you read comic books, you are not supporting just a couple of individuals, but an entire team of careers and art mediums. It is pretty cool to think that buying a comic has all the hard work and incredible talents encased in a single issue. Of course, there are comic books out there that are completed from front to back by only one or two people. Many comic books and smaller companies start this way. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come to mind. 

Dialogue With No Fluff

But as a writer, why should you be reading them? Simple, it involves little space, little time, and lots of emotions. 

This is where a writer can really benefit from reading comics. Every writer struggles with dialogue, it’s just the nature of learning the craft. Anything from too many adjectives and filler to the classic stiff and robotic voices. No writer will ever master this aspect of writing. Dialogue and speech patterns are constantly evolving and changing over the years. How we spoke fifty years ago no longer is 100% applicable to how we speak today. A good example is reading something like Ian Flemming’s James Bond, it no longer sits right. This is a good thing though, it means we are evolving as humans and given the chance to evolve as creators. Allowing us to learn something new and face a new challenge. 

When you are trying to understand how dialogue works and need a different perspective, comic books can come to the rescue. Comic book writers have limited space and time to work with, so it is only natural for them to fit everything they can in a short amount of time. With this, the art has done such an amazing job of helping convey the emotions, the details, and the plot all within a few sentences. 

Take the next sentence. An example of what the hero may say during a fight sequence in a comic book:

“I know your every move,” 

Novel writers would usually tell something a little more detailed, painting the picture like the example below:

“As the thug swung his right arm, ready to knock the hero out, the hero anticipated the swing and blocked with his left. He then counter-attacked and jabbed with his right, knocking the thug back and causing him to stumble.”

Now, I know that the reason comics can get away with this is due to the descriptive nature of pictures. However, how many times have we all been told we need to cool it with our adjectives? Or seem to struggle with dialogue tag vs action beats? Studying comic books can bring out some cool and creative ways that can translate well to a novel. In fact, you can use comic books as great practice to write the dialogue in reverse. Take what the comic book writer has written, and write a descriptive sentence explaining the scene. 

Writing is all about practice, and comic books provide a great outlet for dialogue and scene setting. 

Feast For The Eyes

Images in books are a brilliant way to tell a story. 

It has been ingrained in us since middle school that if you read a book with pictures, you aren’t reading a book, or that it is easier to read and doesn’t really count. Then again, maybe I had a different experience. Either way, images in books are great. Images in comic books are bloody brilliant!

I love to read, but I didn’t always like to read. I was a very late bloomer and didn’t appreciate reading until I was out of college, and now I am always reading. However, my brain, just like many other humans, becomes just as tired, overworked, or even bored when I read. Enter comic books. 

Sometimes I don’t want a great amount of dialogue, but still want the adventure. Sometimes I am overstimulated by the word count and need a little break. Comic books help provide this release of pressure. When you read a comic, you of course are not only reading some dialogue but allowing yourself to be told a story through images. Incredibly beautiful images that don’t seem possible for someone to draw. 

There is another advantage to having images in your reading, a way to visualize your writing. When writers write, we are picturing it all in our heads as we write. From the hairstyle of our protagonist to the mountainscape in chapter thirteen. Even as fiction writers, we picture our writing in our imaginations. Something as simple as two people having a deep dialogue about our topic helps us put words to paper. 

Comic book imagery provides another tool to clarify and elevate your writing. 

New Writing Style

We can all use some more practice in our writing styles.

Whether you are a fiction writer, non-fiction, poetry, or anything else in between, exploring other forms of writing styles is a great way to harness one’s craft. Working in other genres and styles can greatly influence your favorite form of writing and make it more noticeable among others. Just because you classify yourself as a fantasy writer, doesn’t mean you can’t dabble in poetry and understand the craft. To be honest, if you went to school for creative writing or an English degree, you were most likely assigned to experiment with many forms of writing. 

Comic books are just another medium to exercise your skills. I am always truly fulfilled in my sense of progress and accomplishment when I write comic book storylines. It challenges me to focus on getting a story completed within a predetermined amount of time. It gets me out of that comfort zone and stretches my writing muscles.

Writing is just like working out. If you do the same exercise day in and day out, you will stop seeing results. Adding some new exercises to your routine will most certainly help build a stronger foundation.

Collaborations 

Many humans can often use a few more friends.

Being a writer is often a lonely profession. Locking ourselves away in our rooms, not to be disturbed for fear of not capturing the next greatest novel this world needs. Well, isolation isn’t always a great idea. Don’t get me wrong, I love the time I spend writing by myself, but there is something special about collaborating with another party to create beautiful art. 

It allows you as a writer to open yourselves up, see the perspective in real-time from another participant, and achieve the social connection we all crave and need as humans. We are a social species that feed and bounce ideas off of each other. Don’t push that trait down, embrace it and build upon it. 

Plus, there is the bonus of maybe learning a new skill from a fellow artist such as drawing or inking. The world is filled with creative people, and creative people tend to share. 

Unlimited Choices

Like a kid in a candy store, the hardest choice is which one to read today. 

Again, it doesn’t matter your background, style, beliefs, or interests, because there is going to be a comic for you. They are more to the stories that we see on the big screen. Fantasy, realism, post-war and pre-war (whichever war you are thinking), ones that tackle today’s social issues, comedy, and or drama, there is going to be a comic that you like. It may take a little digging, but no different from finding a new novel to read, and when you do find it, it can be life-changing. 

The great thing is, if you don’t see a story that is what you are looking for, it provides an opening for you to write it. After all, as writers, this is what we do, we create. 

Now go out there, explore, elevate yourself, and have some fun. 

In the immortal words of Stan Lee, “Excelsior!”