Issuu

INSIDE: KURT BUSIEK ON BREAKING INTO COMICS!

In the USA

M AG A ZI N E

August 2006

X-MEN 3 SCREENWRITER TELLS ALL! ADAPTING MANGA NOVEL WRITING SECRETS

695

M AG AZ I N E Issue #13

August 2006

Read Now! Message from the Editor-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2

From XXX to X3 Interview with Simon Kinberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3

Breaking in Without Rules: One Writer’s Possibly Instructive Journey by Kurt Busiek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 17

Screenplay to Novel: Batman Begins Interview with Dennis O’Neil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 29

Don’t Fear the Research Novelist Bill McCay explains how doing research for your writing is necessary and can even be fun! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 57

Secret: Agent Man Mike Friedrich explains the realities of agents in the world of comics . . page 65

And Don’t Forget to Buy My Novel Marc Bilgrey talks about how he got his novel, And Don’t Forget to Rescue the Princess, published . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 69

Feedback Letters from Write Now! ’s Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 72

Nuts & Bolts Department Script to Pencils: UNCANNY X-MEN #475 Pages from “The Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire: Plan B,” by Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan

. . . . . . . . . . page 10

Synopsis to Script to Pencils to Inks: MYSTERY IN SPACE #3 Pages from “The Weird: Enlightenment!” by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 39

Adapting Manga Manga writer and editor Stephen Pakula tells how the original stories are translated for English-speaking readers . . . . . . . page 45

Script to Finished Comic: PAT NOVAK FOR HIRE Pages from the graphic novel by Steven Grant and Tom Mandrake . . . page 51

Proposal: (CODENAME) STRYKEFORCE Pages from the miniseries proposal by Jay Faerber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 61

Conceived by DANNY FINGEROTH Editor-in-Chief Cover art by RON LIM & AL MILGROM Assistant Editor LIZ GEHRLEIN Marketing Guru BOB BRODSKY Designers DAVID GREENAWALT with RICH J. FOWLKS Transcriber STEVEN TICE Publisher JOHN MORROW

Special Thanks To: PAUL BENJAMIN ALISON BLAIRE KURT BUSIEK BOB BRODSKY KIA CROSS RICH J. FOWLKS LIZ GEHRLEIN JOE GENTILE STEVEN GRANT MIKE MARTS AL MILGROM BRANDON MONTCLARE ERIC NOLENWEATHINGTON ADAM PHILIPS CHRIS POWELL BEN REILLY BOB SCHRECK ALEX SEGURA ALEX SIMMONS JIM STARLIN VARDA STEINHARDT

Danny Fingeroth’s Write Now! is published 4 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614 USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Fax: (919) 449-0327. Danny Fingeroth, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Write Now! E-mail address: WriteNowDF@aol.com. Single issues: $9 Postpaid in the US ($11 elsewhere). Four-issue subscriptions: $24 US ($44 Canada, $48 elsewhere). Order online at: www.twomorrows.com or e-mail to: twomorrow@aol.com All characters are TM & © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © the respective authors. Editorial package is ©2006 Danny Fingeroth and TwoMorrows Publishing. All rights reserved. Write Now! is a shared trademark of Danny Fingeroth and TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

READ Now!

Message from Danny Fingeroth, Editor-in-Chief he theme of this issue is adaptation. And we’ve got the experts to tell you all about how it’s done!

We start out running with an incredible interview with X-Men: The Last Stand screenwriter Simon Kinberg! Simon also wrote such movies as Mr. and Mrs. Smith and XXX, and worked on the Fantastic Four movie! You have to hear what he says about putting comics up on the big screen! Then, Dennis O’Neil talks to Eric Fein about how he adapted last summer’s blockbuster Batman Begins screenplay into novel form. Since Mr. O is an expert in both Batman and superhero novels—among a dozen other things—you know what he’s got to say is worth reading (and re-reading)! And, still on the adapting theme, manga writer and editor Stephen Pakula talks about how manga are translated so English speakers can read ’em. It’s not as simple as you might think—and there may be ways you can make some bucks doing it, too! You say you want more? You got it: • Kurt Busiek tells you about the realities of breaking into comics! • Mike Friedrich explains the role (or lack thereof) of agents in comics! • Bill McCay talks about the importance of research to writing! • Marc Bilgrey relates the true story of how his novel got published! And if it’s how-to Nuts and Bolts you want, then you came to the right place! This issue has: • Ed Brubaker script and Billy Tan pencil art from Uncanny X-Men #475! • Jim Starlin’s script and pencils and Al Milgrom’s inks for “The Weird” in Mystery in Space! • Steven Grant’s script and Tom Mandrake’s art from their noir graphic novel Pat Novak for Hire! • And Jay Faerber’s proposal for his 2004 Top Cow Strykeforce miniseries! Next issue? I’m glad you asked. It all starts with an hilarious caricature-cover of Brian Bendis by his longtime Daredevil collaborator Alex Maleev! Behind that cover is an in-depth interview with Brian. He’s been one of the top—and most prolific—writers in comics for a long while now. Find out how he got there—and how he stays there! And then we’ve got a star-studded Spider-Man Writers Roundtable where people who’ve written the web-slinger’s adventures talk about the creative challenges involved in dealing with an icon. Participating will be Spider-Man co-creator Stan

2 | WRITE NOW

Lee, as well as Todd McFarlane, J.M. Straczynski, Tom DeFalco, J.M. DeMatteis, Roger Stern, Peter David, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Louise Simonson, Gerry Conway, Howard Mackie, and yours truly (who edited and wrote Spidey). But that’s not all. WN #14 will also have: • Mark Millar script and Steve McNiven pencils from the red-hot Marvel Civil War #1! • Jim Starlin talking about—and showing art from—his new Captain Comet feature (and more “The Weird”) in Mystery in Space! • Lee Nordling on adapting your comic for Hollywood! • Another great writing lesson from John Ostrander! • Fred Van Lente on how to write non-fiction comics! • And, of course, eye-opening Nuts and Bolts writing tips!

Write Now! #14 is gonna be a party you don’t want to miss! SHAMELESS PLUG DEPARTMENT: • HOW TO CREATE COMICS FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT (the trade paperback collection of the Write Now!-Draw! crossover that showed how a new character is created from initial idea to finished comic) is available now! It’s got 30 NEW PAGES OF WRITING AND DRAWING TIPS! We really worked our tails off to make this a special book, and we think you’ll enjoy it and learn a lot from it! (Of course, the super-popular How To Draw Comics From Script to Print DVD (based on the crossover) is still available, too!) • My HarperKids YA novelization of X-Men: The Last Stand is still on sale! And my book Superman On the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society (from Continuum) is in a third printing, so there are plenty of copies to go around! • For those in the New York area, I’ll be teaching an intensive one-week comics writing course at NYU this summer. In the fall, Denny O’Neil and I will be coteaching an evening course there (www.scps.nyu.edu/). I’ll also be teaching in the fall at the Media Bistro (www.mediabistro.com) and at The New School, in the undergraduate Lang division (www.lang.newschool.edu/). Okay, that’s all from me. Now, read the mag and get the info! Write Away!

FROM XXX TO X3

THE SIMON KINBERG INTERVIEW

Conducted by Danny Fingeroth via e-mail March and April 2006 Copy-edited by Simon Kinberg and Danny Fingeroth

imon Kinberg was born in London, England. He was raised in Los Angeles, and went to college at Brown University, where he studied film and literature. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude in 1995. He entered Columbia University’s Film School in 1998. In his first year, he sold a screenplay to producers Ira Deutchman and Peter Newman (Smoke, Squid and the Whale). Deutchman was Simon’s professor. That same year, in another class, Simon sold a pitch to producer Edward Pressman (Wall Street). While at Columbia, Simon received the school’s highest screenwriting award, the Zaki Gordon Fellowship. While still in film school, Simon sold his original pitch Ghost Town to Warner Brothers, and worked on scripts for Disney, Sony, and Dreamworks, working with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Jonathan Mostow, McG and Stephen Sommers. His final thesis project for his MFA was the original screenplay Mr. and Mrs. Smith. He pitched the concept to Academy-Award winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, who became the producer (and Simon’s mentor). The film went into production with Doug Liman directing Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2004, as Simon was graduating from film school. Simon spent almost every day on set, working closely with the director, producers, and actors (and even acting in one scene). Mr. and Mrs. Smith was released in June of 2005. It grossed over fifty million dollars on its opening weekend, and has gone on to gross over $475 million worldwide, making it one of the fifty most successful films of all time. It has also garnered several People’s Choice Awards and Teen Choice Awards. That same summer, Simon had two more films in wide release: XXX: State of the Union, directed by Lee Tamahori, starring Samuel Jackson, Ice Cube, and Willem Dafoe; and Fantastic Four, which he rewrote throughout production. In 2005, Simon was named by Premiere Magazine as “New Power” Screenwriter of the Year, and given Movieline Magazine’s “Breakthrough Award” for screenwriting. Simon (with Zak Penn) wrote the blockbuster X-Men 3: The Last Stand, which was released May 26, 2006. He is also writing and producing Doug Liman’s next feature Jumper for Regency and Twentieth Century Fox. He is writing an original script for Nicole Kidman to star in and produce at Fox, and he is writing and executive-producing a Mr. and Mrs. Smith TV show for ABC. In the fall, he will adapt Robert Ludlum’s best-selling novel Osterman Weekend to write and direct. He also has the script Merlin at Paramount, and Jason and the Argonauts at Dreamworks. In addition, Simon has set up a number of projects as a

producer, including Salem at Sony Pictures, and Invasion at Universal. He also has a TV-deal with Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Brothers Television. I first “met”—if you can actually be said to meet somebody via e-mail—Simon when I was writing the YA novelization of X-Men: The Last Stand for HarperKids books and he was kind enough to answer my voluminous questions about the screenplay. Now that the movie (and its secrets) is out, I thought it would be informative to talk to one of the men who wrote it. Simon, as you can see from reading his bio above, is one busy guy. But he made the time to answer yet another set of my voluminous questions for this interview. I think you’ll find his answers insightful and entertaining whether or not you’ve ever harbored thoughts of being a screenwriter. (Yeah—like the thought never crossed your mind.) —DF SIMON KINBERG | 3

To go along with the X-Men lead feature and cover this issue, we’re pleased to present some of Ed Brubaker’s script and Billy Tan’s pencil art for Uncanny X-Men #475.

UNCANNY X-MEN #475 SCRIPT AND PENCIL ART

To bring you up to speed on what’s going on in the pages, this background from Marvel: “Beginning in Uncanny X-Men #475, a new team led by Professor X takes off to the other end of the universe to stop a revenge-hungry Vulcan. It's up to the team comprised of Nightcrawler, Marvel Girl, Warpath, Havok, Polaris, and a surprise member to save the Shi'ar empire from his wrath. “Spinning out of the pages of X-Men: Deadly Genesis comes “The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire,” a year-long story of revenge and redemption starting in Uncanny X-Men #475.”

l Characters, In

c.]

aracters, Inc.] ED BRUBAKER | 11

aracters, Inc.]

For an interesting exercise, why not try writing your own dialogue for these pages? You could take an entirely different approach. For instance, you could tell the story from the point of view of one of the characters, using a lot of narrative captions. Or you could make up an entirely different story using the same images. These types of exercises are great ways to learn to use words and pictures together.

aracters, Inc.]

THE END

Breaking In Without Rules:

One Writer's Possibly-Instructive Journey

by Kurt Busiek

urt Busiek is one of the most knowledgeable and respected writers on the comics scene today. From Marvels to Kurt Busiek’s Astro City, to the current Superman and Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis he has, for over 20 years, produced a large quantity of high-quality work for many companies. He’s been the struggling newcomer, the hotshot superstar and the accomplished professional. Like everyone else who’s successful in the business, he’s always being asked, “how do I break into comics?” [Like you’d tell someone how they could get your job!] Here, Kurt gives his take on how you can figure out how to do it yourself. It may not be the answer you want to hear—but it’s the right answer. Read on…

—DF

spend a fair amount of time on the Internet, reading and posting to message boards, Usenet newsgroups, mailing lists and the like. Possibly too much time. My editors think so, at least. My wife definitely thinks so. But I do it anyway—I like the feedback. I like to see what fans are thinking, whether it’s reviews of the latest issue of whatever I’m writing, or concerns about future developments, wishes for the return of such-and-such a character, and so on.

One question that comes up a lot, in e-mails and message board posts, gets phrased a lot of different ways, but boils down to “How do I break in?” There are a lot of comics readers out there who’d like to be comics writers (for which the editor and publisher of this magazine are grateful!), and they’re not sure how to go about making the transition. They have a lot of questions—Who do I submit stuff to? What should I submit? What format should it be in? How do you organize a pitch? Do I need an artist? I followed the publisher’s submissions guidelines, and never heard back. Shouldn’t there be a better system? Why do they hire people from TV and movies, but won’t give the rest of us a chance? And so on. But the impression I often get is that what a lot of these would-be writers are really asking for is a set of rules, a map, a procedure that anyone can follow, and it’ll

guide them right up to the door of their favorite comics publisher, and usher them inside. The trouble is, there is no such thing. There never has been. And it makes no sense to complain that there should be one. The fact is, there isn’t, so the people who actually do break in are the people who recognize that fact and work around it, while the people who are waiting for the clear and easyto-follow map to their chosen destination are still waiting. Sure, there are submissions guidelines—most companies have them, and you can find them at most publishers’ websites—but let me tell you a secret: Those guidelines aren’t there to make it easier for you to get in. They’re there to make it easier for the publisher to reject you, and get back to work. It automates the process, makes it easier for one lowly-placed assistant editor in a KURT BUSIEK | 17

Does that suck, that editors are looking to fill their needs and not yours? That they’re not out beating the bushes for the next Alan Moore? Maybe so, but it’s how things work, and complaining that it sucks won’t get you any closer to where you want to be. For that matter, they weren’t out beating the bushes for the first Alan Moore either. Alan did what he could, and found, finagled or made opportunities, and one thing led to another, and now he’s ALAN MOORE, and there’re thousands of would-be creators who want to get that break writing Marvelman or Swamp Thing—but they’re not out doing Maxwell the Magic Cat first. Alan did, because it was the door that was open at the time, and that’s the kind of thing that got him the next opportunity, or the practice to take advantage of the next opportunity when it showed up. Doug Moench wrote text for porn pictorials. Bill Mantlo did production work. Neil Gaiman wrote a book about— what, Duran Duran? None of them had a map, because there isn’t one. You don’t need one either. You already have access to more information and examples that most of the people working in comics had when they broke in, whether it’s magazines like this one, books like Nat Gertler’s Panel One: Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers, Lurene Haines’s Writer’s Guide to the Business of Comics, Denny O’Neil’s The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics, an embarrassment of creator websites, and more. What you need is to figure out what you can do from where you are. Don’t dwell on what someone else did and why you can’t do it—they had plenty of things they couldn’t do either, so they didn’t do them. They figured out what they could do, instead.

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That’s the secret. Think for yourself, and try what you think of, until something works. Don’t ask someone whether you need a penciler and an inker, or someone who can do both. Use your judgment. Craft is nothing without judgment. Careers can’t be maintained without judgment. So start practicing it now. And good luck with it.

THE END

SCREENPLAY TO NOVEL: BATMAN BEGINS

INTERVIEW WITH DENNIS O’NEIL

Conducted via telephone by Eric Fein in August, 2005 Transcribed by Steven Tice Copyedited by Liz Gehrlein, Dennis O’Neil, Eric Fein and Danny Fingeroth

n this case, the cliché is true: Dennis O’Neil is one of the most highly acclaimed writers and editors in the comic book industry. For more than 40 years, he has crafted groundbreaking stories for both Marvel and DC Comics. At DC Comics, he had some of his greatest successes. He wrote the groundbreaking Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories, illustrated by Neal Adams. Also with Adams and editor Julie Schwartz, Denny helped to bring Batman back to his essence as a “Dark Knight detective” and creature of the night. During this time, he helped create one of the most important villains to be introduced into Batman’s Rogues Gallery in the last 40 years, Ra’s Al Ghul. It is Ra’s Al Ghul who plays a pivotal role in Batman Begins, the movie that in 2005 successfully relaunched the cinematic life of Batman. Appropriately, Denny—whose previous DC novelizations include Batman: Knightfall and Green Lantern: Hero’s Quest— landed the assignment to turn Begins into a prose novel. Eric Fein caught up with Denny recently to speak with him about his work on the novelization (published by Del Rey) and to get his thoughts on the movie as well as on what it takes to write a novel. —DF Eric Fein: How did you get the assignment to turn Batman Begins into a novel, Denny?

Denny O’Neil: When I heard from somebody at DC Comics that the movie was being done and that a character I had created would be featured in it, I sent a short e-mail to [DC Comics President and Publisher] Paul Levitz indicating that I’d be happy to be involved in some way. And, if not, how about just letting me read the script? He got back to me a couple of days later with an offer to do the novelization and to work as a consultant on the videogame. EF: That’s great. Did you enjoy the process? DO: Yeah. I went into it a little trepidatiously because I had no idea what kind of script this would be. It is possible, if you are of an uncharitable cast of mind, to say that not all the Batman movies have been cinematic masterpieces. But as I read this, I said to myself several times throughout the process of reading it, “Wow, why didn’t I think of this?” They [director/writer Christopher Nolan and screenwriter David Goyer] really understood the character. They

especially understood the whole Batman mythos. There was a lot of emphasis on story values. I thought that they did just an absolutely nifty job of doing the adaptation— making it a movie, of course, but capturing the spirit of what I think of as the best of Batman comics. EF: Their love of Batman and his world certainly came through. DO: Yeah, they really got it. And when I say the best, it’s not only of my stuff, but going back to Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Just the best takes on that character that there have been. EF: They really understood what people love about the character. When you started the project, did they give you a word or a page count for the manuscript? DO: You almost always have a ballpark figure. They wanted it to be somewhere in the 70 to 75 thousandword neighborhood. I don’t actually know what the final DENNY O’NEIL | 29

For the full story on how Jim writes Mystery in Space, and more about “Captain Comet” and “The Weird” (featuring more Starlin script and art, as well as “Captain Comet” art by Shane Davis), be here next issue! [© 2006 DC Comics.]

THE END 44 | WRITE NOW

ADAPTING MANGA! I

by Stephen Pakula

t’s no secret that manga is hot. Just walk into any Barnes & Noble or Borders and you’ll see row after row of manga paperbacks, many of them published by Central Park Media. Stephen Pakula worked for CPM for five years, adapting many of the volumes you see on the shelves. He’s here now to share some important insights into the mangaverse, including how you might be able to become part of this fascinating world. —DF

MY STORY: In early 2000, if you had asked me what manga was, I would have looked you in the eye and given you an answer that only a well-educated and culturally knowledgeable person such as myself could have given: “Huh?” But I had to quickly familiarize myself with it when I was fortunate enough, fresh out of college, to land a job at Central Park Media, a New York-based distributor of anime and manga. Like so many other people in the industry, I’ve been a comic book lover since I was kid. And when I graduated college I was faced with a cold, hard reality that many graduates know so well: I needed a job. But not just any job. I needed the right job. At first I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I had a pretty good idea of what I didn’t want to do. I didn’t want to do the temp thing, floating from job to job every few weeks, and I certainly didn’t want to work anywhere boring. After seriously thinking this over, I decided that I wanted to work in comics. “Why not?” I thought. I’ve always loved them, I knew a lot about them, and I majored in English in college. I am a laughably poor artist (although my stick figures will knock your socks off), but I knew that I could do something on the editorial side. Ultimately, I knew that what I really wanted to do was write comics. So I sent my resume to a number of comic publishers in New York to see if they had any job opportunities. Some (Marvel and DC) were obvious. Some (like Central Park Media) I’d never heard of. And it was this company that actually called me back. The job was for an internship in the comics department. Before the interview I did as much research as I could about the company and the comics they published. It was then that I first encountered manga.

read? How come they’re not in color? Why were the characters’ eyes so big? And wait, you’re supposed to read some of them backwards?! I’ll be honest, I grew up reading nothing but superhero comics. I was all capes and secret identities back then, and I was not the least impressed with the manga that I was being introduced to, but I figured that working with unfamiliar comics was better than not working in comics at all, so I eagerly went for my interview.

My first thought was, “What the h*ll is this?” I learned that manga were Japanese comics translated into English. But why did they look so different from the comics that I

Now, before I actually did it, I used to think that script adaptation was about the most uncreative thing I could be doing, and not at all what I really wanted to do, which

I didn’t get the internship. But I did manage to get a full-time job in the sales department as an assistant. I figured that I would work in sales for a bit, learn what I could, and then somehow move into the comics division. Eventually, that is exactly what happened, and some years later I found myself as the Production Manager/Editor for CPM Manga, the publishing arm of Central Park Media. The job entailed many different responsibilities, but ultimately everything was done with one goal in mind: to take Japanese (and eventually Korean) comics and adapt them for American readers. One of the most creative and fun parts of this process was—believe it or not—adapting the script.

STEPHEN PAKULA | 45

On this, and the next two pages, are Steven’s comments about the story, from an interview with Lori G on the Moonstone website. “I thought about doing a story set in the Novak stomping grounds of the radio show, which would have put it in the late ’40s. But way too many crime stories in comics these days are set in the ’30s and ’40s, which is getting a bit remote from us, it’s mainly a way for writers to layer on familiar clichés from movies and play against them. At the same time, I didn’t think simply taking the Novak character and transferring him to modern times was the right way to go; a ’40s style wisecracking pseudo-P.I. would just be too much of an anachronism. [©2006 Moonstone.]

SMITTY 9 Right. Hey, girl came arou

nd, lookin’ for Pat. ‘bout

MALONE 10 Were her eyes deep blue pools

your age, I’d say. Prett

of deceit a man could

drown in? 5. Malone's mood chan ges out what the hell she mea dourly, and Smitty glances over at her in confu sion, like he can’t figur ns. SMITTY 11 Uh… dunno. She was

wearing sunglasses.

SMITTY 12 She asked if Pat was still in

business. I think she’s

MALONE 13 She shows up again, tell her he

got a job for him.

moved to Michigan. Okay ? 6. Malone’s mood has chan She’s now a bit annoyed, ged as she takes a paper bag (with the sand wiches in it) from Smit stern. Smitty looks mildl ty. bag sullenly, like he'd y embarrassed, but chee look at some lowlife beat rful. Pat glowers at the ing a woman. MALONE 14 What’s the damage on the sandwiches? SMITTY 15 Hell, Malone. You know Nova PAT 16 I want a bacon cheesebu

52 | WRITE NOW

k eats free here, after

rger with onion rings.

all he did for my uncle

And a Pabst.

SMITTY 9 Right. Hey, girl came arou

nd, lookin’ for Pat. ‘bout

MALONE 10 Were her eyes deep blue pools

your age, I’d say. Prett

of deceit a man could

drown in? 5. Malone's mood chan ges out what the hell she mea dourly, and Smitty glances over at her in confu sion, like he can’t figur ns. SMITTY 11 Uh… dunno. She was

wearing sunglasses.

SMITTY 12 She asked if Pat was still in

business. I think she’s

MALONE 13 She shows up again, tell her he

got a job for him.

k eats free here, after

rger with onion rings.

all he did for my uncle

“Then I got the idea of Novak as a man in his ’70s —I was thinking Kirk Douglas as he got older but could still project that image of a tough guy—living in modern times but still behaving like it was the ’40s or ’50s. (I had to monkey a little with his timeframe to keep him from being too old.) [©2006 Moonstone.]

And a Pabst.

Prett SMITTY 9 ‘bout your age, I’d say. around, lookin’ for Pat. Right. Hey, girl came

MALONE 10 could drown in? pools of deceit a man e Were her eyes deep blue sion, like he can’t figur es over at her in confu glanc ty ges dourly, and Smit 5. Malone's mood chan ns. mea out what the hell she SMITTY 11 wearing sunglasses. Uh… dunno. She was SMITTY 12 she’s got a job for him. still in business. I think She asked if Pat was MALONE 13 igan. Okay? tell her he moved to Mich She shows up again, Smitty. sandwiches in it) from a paper bag (with the takes glowers at the she as ged chan sed, but cheerful. Pat arras emb y 6. Malone’s mood has mildl looks stern. Smitty She’s now a bit annoyed, ing a woman. look at some lowlife beat bag sullenly, like he'd MALONE 14 the sandwiches? What’s the damage on uncle SMITTY 15 after all he did for my Novak eats free here, Hell, Malone. You know PAT 16 And a Pabst. rger with onion rings. I want a bacon cheesebu

DON T FEAR T H E

RESEARCH

by Bill McCay

or a lot of writers, doing research is like homework— something that has to be done so you can get to the fun stuff. But research can make your work better, and can be enjoyable in and of itself. Acclaimed novelist Bill McCay stops by to give you his two cents on the subject and to show you why you, indeed, don’t need to fear the research.

—DF

tarting this past January, a University of Pennsylvania English course uses a comic as required reading—Alex Simmons’ graphic novel Blackjack: Blood and Honor. The press release explained the choice of the graphic novel this way: “the historical backdrop and references, coupled with the plot and characters, gained it favorable attention in the educational and entertainment marketplaces.” Alex is justly proud, and so am I, since I helped research the historical backdrop receiving such praise. Having Alex ask me to work as editor on Blackjack came as no surprise. We both worked for a small publisher producing dozens of book series, and I’d edited several novels he’d written. The reason Alex gave me was interesting, though—“Whenever a question of history or geography or weapons or mayhem came up, you either had the answer or knew where to get it.” In other words, research—and my ability to do it—got me a job. Reference is a way of life for comics artists. Some artists are only as good as their reference files, and whenever professionals get into shop talk, you hear stories of people who didn’t get jobs because they couldn’t draw horses, or pirate ships, or whatever. On the other hand, someone like John Severin, who knew his hardware, had the ability to draw accurately down to the rivets on a tank or the buttplate on a pistol, depicting the people using this stuff (and their horses!) in outstanding action. His realism could turn a so-so war or Western script into a story that popped off the page. So what does reference do on the writing side? Well, consider the advice every aspiring author receives: “Write what you know.” In the action/adventure field, that would mean getting previous experience in either the military or law-enforcement fields. Otherwise, you need research on weapons, how they’re used, combat techniques, training, tactics, strategy, perhaps a little history to get some perspective—and that’s just for a start. Movie watching may help with some visual research. Just remember to take the Hollywood version of anything with a grain of salt. Maybe the best use of films is to get a sense of place—

Bill McCay (standing) and his frequent creative collaborator, Alex Simmons. Photography by Louis Chisena.

although even there, Hollywood can be misleading. Folks who actually live in Forest Hills howled at the way Peter Parker seemed to step clear across neighborhoods in Spider-Man, sometimes in the same scene. At least the movie succeeded in conveying a sense of quiet outerborough New York life. Why is a sense of place important in writing? Some years ago, an Off-Broadway musical poked fun at a geographicallychallenged European songwriting team by having performers sing about “Chicago by the sea.” A little research can help keep your writing from being just as unintentionally funny— especially when you’re writing about places you haven’t been. My third book was a series novel set in Tokyo, somewhere I’d never visited, and the advance and deadline wouldn’t allow for a fact-finding mission. This wasn’t a research job that could be handled with a quick look at a Godzilla movie. I ransacked libraries and bookstores for tourist guides and travel books, especially ones with lots of photos. Then I tracked down anyone I could find who’d been to the city and asked lots of questions. As an editor I once had an author hand me a dreadful outline. The guy always wrote prize-winning prose, but at this point in his career, he had problems setting up a plot. This was another series book, a mystery set on South Padre Island in Texas. The basic storyline worked, but the plot development faltered about halfway through. That’s where my author put in a literal cliffhanger, with a hero dangling from a 50-foot sheer drop—a problem on a barrier island barely rising above sea level. I spent half a day in the library learning about the locale and figuring how to get the heroes

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