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Cronin Theory of Comics It Is a Lot Harder To Move From Another Media To Comics Than Is Given Credit

Cronin Theory of Comics It Is a Lot Harder To Move From Another Media To Comics Than Is Given Credit

I did a bit on this in 2004 before I started doing the "Theory of Comics" shtick, so I thought it would be nice to rewrite it as a "Theory of Comics" bit. In any event, , I believe that, if youre a good writer, youre just a good writer, no matter what the genre is. However, I think people totally underestimate the difficulties of moving from one medium to another. For instance, we do not automatically think each good screenwriter will be a good novelist, do we? Or vice-versa. Yet there seems to be this belief WITHIN THE INDUSTRY ITSELF that any good writer from another medium can just come in and write a good comic book.

Which I do not think is the case.

The inspiration for this particular version is the writing of Reginald Hudlin. His first few issues of Black Panther, I believe, were pretty poor. Forgetting his use of Black Panther continuity (as it would not be sporting to judge him on that level), the stories themselves just werent all that good. Not awful or anything, but not good. However, as he has progressed on the title, I believe that Hudlins writing has greatly improved. It reminds me of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who I think had a bit of a problem adjusting to comic writing, but developed into one of the better mainstream comic book writers.

This belief that being a good TV/Film/Play writer means you will be a good comic book writer is just so silly, and almost makes me think of it as a self-esteem issue (if hes good enough to write for TV, he MUST be good enough to write for comics!!) of the industry.

The big difference, really, is that TV/Film/Plays have actors, and therefore, the writer can always depend on the actors to deliver tone and feeling. In a comic, it is pretty much all on the writer (yes, the artst helps a good deal, but in terms of dialogue, it is alll writer).

There ARE those that dont have trouble making the transition, like Joss Whedon (who, even if you dislike his work, it is not for his inability to tell a story in comic format) Damon Lindelof and JMS, but for the most part, it seems to be a long transition before the writer is comfortable writing comics, and I guess Id just like to see an understanding of that besides the current approach of "if you can write for TV, you can write a comic book!" Because, from the perspective of the industry, it gives us too many bad comics as the writer adjusts and from the perspective of the readers, it gives too many writers a poor reputation in comics which I do not think is deserved, as when the adjustment period ends, most of the writers are pretty good (for instance, I think Ron Zimmermans last comic book project was really quite good, but by that point in time, he had already been written off as a comic writer because he was one of the biggest examples of not adjusting to the change in media).

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