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Topic: Comic Writing = Plotting or Scripting? Post Reply | Post New Topic
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Greg McPhee
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 25 August 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 5064
Posted: 06 December 2022 at 9:20am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

great scripting can't really rescue a run-of-the-mill plot, whereas a great plot can overcome weaker dialogue.

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That is probably the case. I'm a big fan of The Rockford Files, and I saw separate interviews with co-creator Stephen Cannell and James Garner where they said that through the life of the show they had maybe 3 or 4 episodes where the plot just didn't come together, and even Garner found it hard to compensate even with the script / dialogue (mainly because Garner repsected writers and didn't like changing lines as it could be to the detriment of the show). 
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ron bailey
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Joined: 16 October 2016
Location: United States
Posts: 910
Posted: 06 December 2022 at 1:13pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

I've always been fascinated by the Lee/Kirby creative collaboration on Fantastic Four vs that of Byrne/Claremont on X-Men. 
I've often wondered if (though he likely wouldn't admit it) much of the post-plotting/post-penciling script contributions Claremont made that were so objectionable stemmed from his concern that Byrne's influence was too great, and he'd be seen as just the guy who told everybody what to say, "just the dialog guy". 
Pure speculation on my part of course.
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John Popa
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Joined: 20 March 2008
Posts: 4360
Posted: 06 December 2022 at 1:35pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

As Peter said there are plenty of arguments that can illustrate either side but my personal preference is for memorable dialogue and splashy captioning, even if the plot is somewhat mundane. A really intricate plot with less inspiring dialogue/wordplay is less likely to be my thing. 
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Jabari Lamar
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Joined: 18 October 2017
Location: United States
Posts: 351
Posted: 07 December 2022 at 5:08pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

I do feel the need to clarify the intent of my original statement, I deliberately used the phrase "bare bones plot" as I'm just speaking to the general concept of idea vs. execution. Where yeah anyone can come up with idea, doesn't mean they can execute that idea well. I don't want to imply "plotting is the easy part" when it comes to comics. I've seen various scripts in each style over the years, I know some plot-first writers are very detailed in the plots they turn in, sometimes including page breakdowns, and important dialog. While others write less, leaving more for the artist and/or scripter, to fill in. 
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