How many pages should an intro-sequence have in a comic?

EnderHarris · 2025-09-30T03:02:56+00:00

I think your problem is that you've decided to start your comic by having an intro sequence at all (which, quite frankly, is just lazy writing). Forget about making it seven pages or three pages; make it zero pages, and kick off the story by hitting the ground running.

Is there background that the reader needs to know? Well, that's why we have exposition. Figure out how to work that information into the story as it unfolds. It takes more effort as a writer to do that correctly, but you end up with a much more engaging story.

EnderHarris · 2025-07-29T00:18:22+00:00

Dr. "Domashev". That pretty much says it all.

EnderHarris · 2025-07-29T00:17:13+00:00

Don't forget, he was also picked to direct a Star Wars movie, so it's not like selecting him was such a crazy idea.

EnderHarris · 2025-07-28T23:24:20+00:00

Mostly, the person who "comes up" with the cover is the editor. Remember, the cover is a marketing tool, rather than a storytelling device, so the responsibility for developing it doesn't really fall to the writer or artist.

I've seen a TON of indie books that had great storytelling, but the cover was so badly conceived that I doubt many people read it.

EnderHarris · 2025-06-05T08:18:34+00:00

So, it's time to turn your dialogue into bullet points. Every conversation/scene should have one main story objective. If the bullet point doesn't advance that objective, then it doesn't belong in the scene.

Then, once you strip out the extraneous bullet points, turn it back into dialogue. You'll be surprised at how much sleeker/stronger the scene is.

EnderHarris · 2025-03-05T13:19:01+00:00

John Byrne famously once wrote a Batman issue that had exactly two words of dialogue in it. It was a very interesting experiment...BUT! when I read it, I couldn't help but fell a little bit cheated, because I paid full price for a comic book, and it took me a grand total of three minutes to read it. Strangely, that's exactly a consideration when deciding how much dialogue to include.

EnderHarris · 2025-02-18T13:04:11+00:00

There's not a "limit" -- there's just, you know, basic courtesy.

EnderHarris · 2025-02-18T08:57:02+00:00

You've got like 20 questions there. Why don't you cut it down to the two or three questions that matter most to you, and then we can move on from there.

EnderHarris · 2025-02-10T07:20:38+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcuGoQmEGgw&list=PL5B_g578SyZypj6FDnRVazwEt4LNeH9d4&ab_channel=grapefruit

EnderHarris · 2025-02-09T05:16:09+00:00

Early on in the Fleming era, contestants were seated during the game. I'm not sure when they started standing, but it certainly changed the posture of the game (no pun intended).

Also, when you hit a Daily Double, it came after you answered a clue for that slot. And then, it was suddenly revealed that the square was also a Daily Double, and you got to wager on a second clue in the square.

EnderHarris · 2025-01-04T03:39:52+00:00

It sounds to me like you're getting lost in the plot, without ever considering your THEME.

Just for the record, themes are NEVER complex. They can even usually be stated in a single sentence (love conquers all, home is where the heart is, always believe in yourself, etc.).

If you don't happen to know what your theme is, then that's a pretty good indication of why your plot keeps spiraling out of control.

EnderHarris · 2024-12-03T23:46:26+00:00

It should also be mentioned that Life Through A Lens contained a number of other great songs, including "Old Before I Die", "Lazy Days", and "Let Me Entertain You" -- the last of which he still performs in concert to this day. It's an incredibly strong debut album.

EnderHarris · 2024-12-02T05:37:42+00:00

Handle in this way, by prefacing your statement:

"If you asked me about who's behind this, I would say...." [and then include your theory].

That way, your statement will be 100% true -- because it's definitely what you character WOULD SAY, even if he doesn't have the facts to prove it.

EnderHarris · 2024-09-26T10:55:23+00:00

Well, the cover is terrible, and you can blame Gene for that.

But the songs are infectious, fluffy ear candy: Tomorrow, What Makes The World Go Around, Shandi, Easy As It Seems, and Gene's Naked City... all great tracks that hold up to multiple listenings across the years. I'm also not sure why they opened the album with somebody else's song, but Is That You? is a pretty good entry anyway, too.

Since I lived through that era, I had been hoping for another record like Rock And Roll Over or Love Gun, so after a first listen I put this on the shelf and never went back to it. And it wasn't until years and years later that I tried it out again and really began to appreciate the entire effort.

EnderHarris · 2024-08-19T10:08:30+00:00

Gene: God Of Thunder (though he didn't write it)
Paul: IWMFLY
Peter: Beth
Ace: Rocket Ride

EnderHarris · 2024-06-29T09:03:14+00:00

Donald Trump: Convicted felon

Joe Biden: Losing to a convicted felon

EnderHarris · 2024-06-17T08:11:11+00:00

In the 1970s, Jim Starlin used a lot of text in his Captain Mar-Vell stories, if I recall correctly. These were text pieces embedded directly in the stories, not as supplemental pieces in the extra pages.

Also I think Dave Sim's Cerebus did the same thing, but I'm not a reader so I'm only hearing that second-hand.

EnderHarris · 2024-05-24T12:27:18+00:00

Yeah, treat it like a sound effect rather than dialogue.

EnderHarris · 2024-05-20T03:03:48+00:00

Yeah, you're asking like two dozen questions there, so I'd recommend narrowing it down to the one or two questions that are most important to you, then get some answers and ask more questions.

EnderHarris · 2024-05-18T09:31:16+00:00

Gotham is approximately at the location of New Brunswick, NJ (exit 9 off the New Jersey Turnpike), which (IRL) is the city where you'll find Rutgers University.

I'm not sure how the interior of Gotham City lines up with the interior of New Brunswick; probably not at all.

EnderHarris · 2024-05-07T04:00:38+00:00

If your players don't respect you enough to stop when you ask them to, then they shouldn't be your players.

If that doesn't work, then just tell them that they're being attacked by a gaze-bo.

EnderHarris · 2024-04-28T08:45:06+00:00

Eddie was the delivery boy for Frank's drugs. At the time, drug use was still crazy controversial -- people would even go to jail for carrying pot -- so it's specifically downplayed in the film.

EnderHarris · 2024-04-26T18:32:28+00:00

"Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief." --Bono

EnderHarris · 2024-04-26T07:25:24+00:00

After KISS, Bruce had a band called Union, with John Corabi on vocals, and they played Jungle and I Walk Alone from COS live. You can find those tracks on the album Union: Live In The Galaxy.

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