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A review by caitcoy
Words for Pictures: The Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels by Brian Michael Bendis
4.0
I've been reading graphic novels for years but for the most part didn't bother to learn the business or process behind it. This is one of the best books I've read about the genre and easily the best on how writer and artists collaborate, the ways to get into the business and the mistakes to avoid if you want to break into the industry.
Despite being a regular reader and reviewer of graphic novels, I have to admit that prior to reading Words for Pictures, I had only a vague idea of the process. After having seen the deluxe editions of books like Arkham Asylum and Kingdom Come, I was aware that the writer wrote a script and that they worked with artists to create the story. The exact details of that collaboration and in particular the differences between penciller, letterer and colorist were completely foreign to me. Words for Pictures does an excellent job of bringing the ambitious down to earth in terms of understanding how the graphic novel/comics industry works and how difficult it can be to break into. Bendis doesn't discourage potential artists and writers from doing so, just cautions them to be resilient to rejection and realistic. He also really emphasizes the necessary collaboration between artist(s) and writer(s) (when they aren't one and the same) and what to do (and what not to do) for your artist if you want to write comic books.
In addition to Bendis' own insight as a well-known author in the industry, he also brings in the opinions of other giants in the industry like Ed Brubaker and Walt Simonson (among many others). What I found particularly valuable were the Q and A segments with a number of different artists in the industry. It was eye opening to see what they liked and didn't like about working in the industry and what worked well for them versus what didn't. I think this book could seriously be a bible for those wanting to break into the industry as it even covers what editors are looking for and mistakes not to make when submitting work to them. I tended to skip the latter segments just because I was more interested in learning the process and the industry than in breaking into it. Because of Bendis' past work, it's heavily dominated by information on Marvel rather than DC and some of the independent publishers but it's still a great introduction and overview of the industry and how to get into it.
After having read Words for Pictures, I feel like I have a much better idea of the comics industry and the collaboration that goes into making the books that I enjoy so much. If you want to break into the industry, Words for Pictures would be a must-read!
Despite being a regular reader and reviewer of graphic novels, I have to admit that prior to reading Words for Pictures, I had only a vague idea of the process. After having seen the deluxe editions of books like Arkham Asylum and Kingdom Come, I was aware that the writer wrote a script and that they worked with artists to create the story. The exact details of that collaboration and in particular the differences between penciller, letterer and colorist were completely foreign to me. Words for Pictures does an excellent job of bringing the ambitious down to earth in terms of understanding how the graphic novel/comics industry works and how difficult it can be to break into. Bendis doesn't discourage potential artists and writers from doing so, just cautions them to be resilient to rejection and realistic. He also really emphasizes the necessary collaboration between artist(s) and writer(s) (when they aren't one and the same) and what to do (and what not to do) for your artist if you want to write comic books.
In addition to Bendis' own insight as a well-known author in the industry, he also brings in the opinions of other giants in the industry like Ed Brubaker and Walt Simonson (among many others). What I found particularly valuable were the Q and A segments with a number of different artists in the industry. It was eye opening to see what they liked and didn't like about working in the industry and what worked well for them versus what didn't. I think this book could seriously be a bible for those wanting to break into the industry as it even covers what editors are looking for and mistakes not to make when submitting work to them. I tended to skip the latter segments just because I was more interested in learning the process and the industry than in breaking into it. Because of Bendis' past work, it's heavily dominated by information on Marvel rather than DC and some of the independent publishers but it's still a great introduction and overview of the industry and how to get into it.
After having read Words for Pictures, I feel like I have a much better idea of the comics industry and the collaboration that goes into making the books that I enjoy so much. If you want to break into the industry, Words for Pictures would be a must-read!