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Mark Salisbury
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Writers on Comics Scriptwriting Paperback – 14 May 1999

by Mark Salisbury (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 19 ratings
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The biggest names in comics scriptwriting talk candidly and frankly about their profession, their approach to writing and the comics industry as a whole. Through a series of interviews, these luminaries in the comics field reveal the mechanics of writing for comics and, in the process, a great deal about themselves. Packed with personal information, contentious views and humorous anecdotes, this is both an exploration of the writer's craft and a who's who of the hottest comics' talent around today, for fans, professionals, would-be writers and for anyone who's ever wondered exactly how the writer's mind works. Gathers together the best writers working in comics today, including Todd McFarlane (Spawn), Garth Ennis (Preacher), Frank Miller (Dark Knight Returns, Sin City), Grant Morrison (Invisibles, JLA) and Neil Gaiman (Sandman), with extracts from the writers' original scripts.
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  1. Book 1 of 2
    Writing Biography
  2. Print length
    256 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Titan Books Ltd
  5. Publication date
    14 May 1999
  6. Dimensions
    15.24 x 1.91 x 22.86 cm
  7. ISBN-10
    184023069X
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1840230697
  9. See all details
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Product description

Amazon Review

Bolstered by a stellar line-up of the comics industry 's most feted talents, this set of 14 interviews offers both a candid and entertaining insight into the process and experience of writing a comic book. Interviewer Salisbury has done well to assemble a set of interviewees that represent some of the industry's greatest successes (Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman), convention-challenging leaders (Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis) and pioneers of superhero comics (Dan Jurgens, Peter David, Chuck Dixon). Fans will immediately question the absence of the industry's biggest name: Alan Moore. However, Salisbury is quick to note that his absence was down to "sheer volume of work" (Hooray!). Besides, nearly every interviewee cites Moore's gargantuan influence, so he is hardly missing. Gaiman comes across as incredibly well read, while Morrison's approach is either spectacularly ambitious or just plain bonkers. Thanks to Salisbury's probing interview technique, we get an excellent behind the scenes look at the trials and tribulations of a craft that is both challenging and rewarding, in an industry that is not as open to creativity as you might think. As you would expect, there is no clear path to success, beyond the obvious aptitude. However, the most common thread is a rapacious love of the medium and sheer bloody-minded tenacity (often masquerading as bare-faced arrogance in Frank Miller's case!). Aspiring British writers will quickly notice that legendary Brit comic 2000 AD was the breeding ground for much of the current top talent and is the first stop for US talent scouts. Insightful for professionals, mouth-watering for fans and wonderfully inspirational for wannabe scribes, roll on Volume Two! --Danny Graydon

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Titan Books Ltd (14 May 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 184023069X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1840230697
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 1.91 x 22.86 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

About the author

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Mark Salisbury

Mark Salisbury

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Mark Salisbury is a New York Times best-selling author, journalist and screenwriter. A former editor of Empire magazine, he has written more than 20 books, including Being Bond: A Daniel Craig Retrospective, Burton On Burton, No Time To Die: The Making Of The Film, and The Insider’s Guide To Inside No.9.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
19 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book looking at top writers in comics
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 2018
Verified Purchase
Excellent book that seems to be out of print and therefore can be quite tricky to track down. A good book offering insights into the writings on comic book writers, well worth a read if you are interested in comics or a budding writer.
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Mr. N. Curran
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 January 2014
Writers on comics scriptwriting is one of those under rated books that sadly has went under the radar for some reason. Although 14/15 years old now at the time of writing this review I'm not surprised that it was quite hard to find a way to write comic scripts and how people do them during that era (for example when interviewed in the book some participants still used the marvel method of rough sketching a plot, getting the artist to draw it then fill in the panels after seeing the artwork which is pretty much NEVER used these days and was dying out even then I believe) So I'm wondering maybe it was big at the time because there were so few of these types of books (and this is the best one in my opinion) either way it's an informative, underrated book.

The book is full of interviews from the best comic writers of their era (and some who have continued to be the best) like Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis and at the time Frank Miller (he's crap nowadays). They each give their different styles and methods of how they script a comic or come up with an idea and examples of scripts are shown. They describe their work process's on how they do things, which widely vary which is a better learning tool for aspiring writers. The interviewer/writer deserves credit to getting insights from the writers in a very straightforward way. This book is very easy to read and I've read it over and over again through the years. If you're an aspiring comics writer or just curious as to how they are scripted (or how your favourite writers started out/had alien abduction experiences) this is the best book to buy on the subject
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Top reviews from other countries

Wes Locher
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative & Insightful
Reviewed in the United States on 15 March 2011
Verified Purchase
Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down and in a matter of three days, I was staring at the blank last page just wishing for more.

This would prove an enjoyable read for any comics fan or anyone who is interested in taking a peek behind the curtain of the industry. All of the writers interviewed here (most of which are practically house hold names) share a lot of about themselves, how they broke into the industry, their influences, and what they'd still like to accomplish somewhere down the road.

If you write in the sci-fi field, there's definitely something to be learned from these masters of the sequential storytelling craft.

I tip my hat to the author, Mark Salisbury, for asking some great, thought-provoking questions to the folks he interviewed. Everything was compiled very well and was very engaging. I thank him showing the readers another side of the comics industry.

I found the whole thing very fascinating and look forward to getting my hands on volume 2.
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woodrow locksley
5.0 out of 5 stars A look behind the curtain
Reviewed in the United States on 8 July 2011
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This is not just an excellent book for aspiring writers of comics but a grast look behind the curtain for comics fans like myself who have no interst in writing their own comics or comicswriting as a cearer.As in anyanthology some entries are more compelling than others but all are worth reading at least once.I wish the book were longer with more detailed interviews because the content is so good A must read for any serious fan of superhero mainstream comics.Now do a third volume featuring men like Crumb Clowes Ware Burns the Hernandez brothers and women like Lynda Barry and the artist behind Persopolis A great book this is also my review of Volume2 of the series
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Step into the world of the pros.
Reviewed in the United States on 26 July 2018
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This book is full of tips and guidelines for the beginner to the professional. I highly recommend.
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David Maloney
5.0 out of 5 stars learn greatness from the great ones
Reviewed in the United States on 29 June 2008
Verified Purchase
This book gives a direct window into what the top industry pros think about and the problems and solutions that come from being a writer. Truly inspirational and thought provoking. As comic book writers it is up to us to redeem this truly great and limitless medium and rescue it from it's misconceptions and stereotypes.
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Flying Twinkie
2.0 out of 5 stars Great for fans, not so great for scriptwriters.
Reviewed in the United States on 2 September 2014
Verified Purchase
This is a fan mag done by a fan for fans. The talent he interviews are amazing but sometimes the questions he asks are inane. If you are a fan then this is a worthwhile read but if you are a writer looking for nuts and bolts advice on the process of generating a comic script then you will be disappointed. You got to wade through a lot of pointless chatter to get those rare nuggets of wisdom. There are no complete examples of comic scripts only small one or two page excerpts. The talent he interviews is cool but this was not a worthwhile book.
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