JVL
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styofa doing anything
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
AnasAbdin
izzy's playlists!
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almost home
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
Andulka
PR's Tumblrdome
ojovivo
dirt enthusiast
titsay
Today's Document
i don't do bad sauce passes
YOU ARE THE REASON
if i look back, i am lost
RMH
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@burritotoad
(WIP) "Unearthed Emotions: an ATLA fanfic comic"
ANDROIDS
Android 17 - me
Photo credit: itsjustalokay on IG & smoovecosplaya on IG
How Emma Frost and Sophia Sanduval found out Peter’s secret. Emma found out he was spider-man after he pushed them out of the way of debris earlier but didn’t know all the details
Spider-Man and Sophia Comic Dub
Have you ever heard of the Marvel character, Sophia Sanduval? What's that, you haven't? Great! I'm trying to fix that. I got this comic dub project up on Casting Call Club!
Sample lines and other role info is available on the CCC project I have linked. If you're a hobbyist, I encourage you to audition!
Deadline: Sun, May 03, 2026 11:30PM EDT (subject to an extension)
CCC Link: https://cstng.cc/projects/smoking-behind-the-supermarket-with-you-manga-fandub-copy
Chun-Li SFII
Another reason Chat is perfect for Peter Parker? She is a massive chaotic dumbass and so is Peter.
Huntrix when Golden wins the Oscar
CONGRATS TO THE KPDH TEAM AND SONY
I drew this up on New Year's Eve and posted it right before the deadline for the new Mega Man game's villain design contest. The prompt was essentially anything having the vacuum arm. I imagine it would've been better had I actually worked on it more and didn't procrastinate. Depending on the color, her arm is either a worm or (preferably) a snake.
Eden referring to the garden in the biblical book of Genesis
Characters I wanna see in Marvel Tokon
This draft is months old, but I'll probably make another one
A SCREENPLAY IS NOT A COMIC BOOK SCRIPT
I’m frustrated by writers who hire a comicbook artist then send a screenplay as their script. My first question to them is, “Are you hiring one of our writers to adapt this into a comic book script?” Usually they’ll respond, “No that’s the script to work from.”
But it’s not.
Word balloons aren’t broken out or numbered, SFX aren’t identified, the pacing is wrong, and most panel descriptions are missing, causing the artist and the editor to do twice as much work without a corresponding increase in pay.
Here’s a good article from Nick Macari about the differences –
I think you’d be hard pressed to find some work of fiction, some type of writing, that you could NOT turn into a comic. That is to say, you could create a comic from notes on bar napkins, a published novel, heck I bet you could even create a comic using nothing but a movie as the source material.
If you’re making a comic yourself, like literally by yourself, it doesn’t really matter how you do it… only the final product matters. If you have some crazy process that gets you a beautiful finished product, good on ya mate.
But for those writing spec scripts, trying to write for others, or trying to entice others to their project, it pays to create scripts that open doors instead of closing them.
In 2020, there are a million writers writing screenplays and pawning them off as comic scripts.
If you want to be one of those guys… as you were.
But if you actually want to write comics, if you want to be a comic book writer, you should learn how to write an actual comic book script, not how to sell some other script as one.
There are lot of useful technique comics can borrow from screenplays.
For the innocent novice writer, it’s understandable to see some technical execution confusion. But for working and professional writers, knowing what transfers over and what doesn’t separates the riff from the raff.
Before we get into it, let’s put to bed, once and for all, why a straight screenplay script is not a comic script. Here’s why;
Director Production Designer Art Director Costume Designer Cinematographer … Camera Assistant Director of Photography Scenic Artist Set Decorator Storyboard artist … Makeup artist Wardrobe stylist Assistant Director Production Assistant Production Coordinator Production Designer … Script Supervisor Sound Mixer Special Effects Coordinator
oh yeah, and actors.
These are a few of the people involved in a film.
Individual roles dedicated to a specific area of production. In essence, a screenplay can deliver fairly minimal information and it’s someone’s specific job to interpret that information, its context, and otherwise apply their knowledge, experience and skill, to turn that information into some tangible, successful element.
If you think it’s the artist’s job to fill all these roles, you’re crazy… and mean to artists.
Ok, you still here?
Good.
Let’s showcase some specific examples of why a screenplay doesn’t hold up for comics;
THE FRENCH CONNECTION
Drug Dealer I don’t…
Doyle Ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?
Drug Dealer What?
Doyle Did you ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?
Drug Dealer I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.
Doyle Were you ever in Poughkeepsie?
Drug Dealer No… yeah…
Doyle Did you ever sit on the edge of a bed, take off your socks and stick your fingers between your toes?
Drug Dealer Man, I’m clean.
Doyle You made three sales to your roaches back there. We had to chase you though all this shit and you tell me you’re clean?
Russo Who stuck up the laundromat?
Doyle How about that time you were picking your feet in Pougheepsie?
The drug dealers’ eyes go to Russo in panic, looking for the relief from the pressure of the inquisition.
Russo (in pain) You better give me the guy who got the old Jew or you better give me something or you’re just a memory in this town.
Drug Dealer That’s a lot o’ shit. I didn’t do nothin’.
14 dialogue exchanges, with for all intents and purposes not a single visual description (one minor one toward the end about the dealer’s eyes.). This is likely at least one page of comic with this volume of exchanges and dialogue, and there is literally, nothing cuing the artist as to how this should go down.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION
Mutchie
That’s right, he couldn’t fight legit. One night at the Garden about 1950, ’51—he fought either Jake LaMotta or Gus Lesnevish, I think it was—he took one o’those cream puff punches in the sixth—the laziest left you ever seen—missed him entirely. Down goes Blackjack without even workin’ up a sweat and the whole Garden gets up on its feet and I swear to Christ, everybody starts singin’ “Dance with Me Henry.”
75 words. Way too much for a single panel.
How many ways can you break the dialogue into how many panels?
Is one way to break it up more effective than the others?
Because if it is, and that’s NOT the method you write up, you’re producing a less effective script.
But ultimately, what works in film as a 30 second monologue (doesn’t work in comics), would be far more effective as caption narration over flashback action.
THE EXORCIST
EXTERIOR – IRAQ- NINEVEH- DAY
The old man arrives back at that dig site in a small jeep. As he pulls up two armed guards rush out. When they see who it is the old man gives them a wave and they slowly walk back to there quarters. The old man walks up the rocky mound and sees a huge statue of the demon Pazuzu, which has the head of the small rock he earlier found. He climbs to a higher point to get a closer look. When he reaches the highest point he looks at the statue dead on. He then turns his head as we hear rocks falling and sees a guard standing behind him. He then turns again when he hears two dogs savagely attacking each other. The noise is something of an evil nature. He looks again at the statue and we are then presented with a classic stand off side view of the old man and the statue as the noises rage on. We then fade to the sun slowly setting as the noises lower in volume.
Hey! this has some nice direction, this screenplay stuff is perfect for a comic.
NO.
Let’s break it down;
The old man arrives back at that dig site in a small jeep. As he pulls up two armed guards rush out. When they see who it is the old man gives them a wave and they slowly walk back to there quarters. The old man walks up the rocky mound and sees a huge statue of the demon Pazuzu, which has the head of the small rock he earlier found. He climbs to a higher point to get a closer look. When he reaches the highest point he looks at the statue dead on. He then turns his head as we hear rocks falling and sees a guard standing behind him. He then turns again when he hears two dogs savagely attacking each other. The noise is something of an evil nature. He looks again at the statue and we are then presented with a classic stand off side view of the old man and the statue as the noises rage on. We then fade to the sun slowly setting as the noises lower in volume.
This passage is 15 beats, give or take. One beat a panel, 3-5 panels per page, we’ve got 3-5 pages of comic in this passage alone.
Hang on we’re not done.
If you fill your page with this type of description (you shouldn’t, but let’s say you did), you could get almost double that amount of beats. So one page of screenplay delivering nearly 6-10 pages of comic content!
Tell me, when was the last time someone delivering a screenplay “comic script,” delivered a 2 page script for a complete issue? Never says I.
BONUS on this example:
Did y’all notice the soundtrack emphasis in this excerpt from the Exorcist script? Of course you can have sound effects in a comic, but no matter how you crack it, comics DO NOT have soundtracks. Relying on film soundtracks in a comic script is a sure fire way to deliver less effective scripts.
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
JACK Alright, where’s my truck, Wang? I’m outta here. And my money, too.
WANG Forget about your truck, Jack. You don’t wanna go back there. You’ll have to go through the Wing Kong to get it. It’s insured, right?
JACK Of course it is. But that’s not the point.
WANG The smart man comes back for it later…
JACK The smart man calls the cops!
WANG Cops have better things to do than get killed.
We showed the typical lack of visual description a screenplay gives in the first example. [Screenplays tend to focus on the scene setup, then briefly hit key actions of the scene.] Here we have another example of missing visual description, but I point it out for something more specific–LACK OF EMOTIONAL context.
As I point out in the Writer’s Guide, Emotional content is one of the essential elements of each and every comic panel. So not only do we not have visual cues to support the action in the screenplay, but how are the characters delivering these lines!?
JACK Alright, where’s my truck, Wang? I’m outta here. And my money, too.
How many ways can you say this line?
I can say it pissed. Irritated. Fearful. Sarcastically. Comically. Those are just a few that pop in my head… and I’m no actor.
Leaving emotional context open to interpretation undermines narrative control–in a big way.
A good, effective scene, could die a horrible misinterpreted death.
For the record, you can use parentheticals in a screenplay. This can give emotional context, like the one from Jack’s first line I omitted to make the example more effective
JACK (pissed off)
But where parentheticals do contain emotional context, you use them in a script sparingly. Just like you don’t tell the director how to do his job filling your screenplay with camera direction, you don’t try to tell the actors how to do theirs. (Remember, the answer to why Screenplays aren’t Comic Scripts, there’s a lot of people, hopefully professionals, bringing their expertise to the table.)
CASABLANCA
Ilsa Your secret will be safe with me. Ferrari is waiting for our answer.
At the bar Ferrari talks to a waiter.
Ferrari Not more than fifty francs though.
Ilsa and Laszlo walk up to him.
Laszlo We’ve decided, Signor Ferrari. For the president we’ll go on looking for two exit visas. Thank you very much.
Ferrari Well, good luck. But be careful. ( a flick of his eyes in the direction of the bazaar) You know you’re being shadowed.
Laszlo glances in the direction of the bazaar.
Screenplays live in movement. Unless you’ve got a static insert of a letter or photo or something, everything is in motion and there is constant change (even if subtle) from micro-second, to micro-second.
While comics work to capture movement (and there are some tricks), it is ultimately a static medium, locked into showcasing moments frozen in time.
What I explain in the “works in movies not in comics article” is that the constant movement and motion, supported (primarily) by actors, but by the lighting people, the art direction people, director, etc. all gives depth and purpose to every single second of a film.
With all these people doing their job, a screenplay can give super general stage direction, like what we see here in this Casablanca excerpt.
At the bar Ferrari talks to a waiter.
Ilsa and Laszlo walk up to him.
Laszlo glances in the direction of the bazaar.
These trivial actions carry no narrative. They work in film because of performance and motion, which steps in to create narrative.Without performance and motion, a single frame captured from core stage direction translates to ineffective comic panels.
By the way, all the examples I’m giving here, are from solid movies. The big pink elephant in the room when writers deliver “comic screenplay scripts,” is that they assume they know how to write a good screenplay in the first place. Trust me, novice writers rarely do.
There’s a lot of technique and skill in writing a solid screenplay. And if you think a good screenplay causes problems converting to a comic, wait till you try it from a shitty screenplay.
Still thinkin’ screenplay is synonymous with comic script? Well you’re wrong sunshine, but what do I know?
I’m just a non-famous full-time mercenary writer, writing almost exclusively in comics and games for a decade or so. :p
I’ve spent a few hours writing this article, but there are plenty of other examples I haven’t touched on.
I’ll come back and add some more as I think of them in my down time. Maybe eventually when the list is so long it takes you a couple hours to read this article, y’all get it through your noggins that comics are there own medium which demand the attention and respect of a unique format and writing approach. Something the comic book writers reading this, already know. #justsayin
About the Author — Nick Macari is a full-time freelance story consultant, developmental editor and writer, working primarily in the independent gaming and comic markets. His first published comic appeared on shelves via Diamond in the late 90’s. Today you can find his comic work on comixology, amazon and in select stores around the U.S. Visit NickMacari.com for social media contacts and news on his latest releases.
Huntrix when Golden wins the Oscar
Golden just hit a billion views, so this is also appropriate
Sonic sketch Redraw
Asuka doodle comm
Huntrix when Golden wins the Oscar
(WIP) "Unearthed Emotions: an ATLA fanfic comic"
Reblogging an old comic that I should probably finish
Can you draw samus and some of the cast of smash 4 welcolcoming the newcomers and shes acting kind of aloof but when she sees snake in the crowd she just freaks out and runs towards him crying and screaming his name and he catches her in his arms and swings her around in a tight embrace
I sure can.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Chun-Li
