The art is there to enhance the writing.
I completely agree, @Pow-Pow! There is no saving a bad story, no matter how good the art. It’s surprising how often it seems the opposite, considering that the writing comes first in the process!
Michael Bay style comics with big fighty splash pages that would be all but incomprehensible without the art generally feels like a wasted issue in my book.
Excellent quote!
HUGE Jim Aparo fan!
Oh, and by the way, there was a time when you didn’t know who the writer was. DC was not in the habit of listing creator credits until the mid-sixties for the most part. Often you had to peruse the letter pages to garner the names of the writers and artists. And most of the time that information was supplied by sharped-eyed readers of the day. Artists were easier to discern than writers, but still, it was a fun exercise trying to peg a particular writer of an issue. John Broome was the easiest because his plots (Flash in particular) were so outlandish or his seamless character moments (usually employed in Green Lantern) marked his style as unmistakable. Gardner Fox and Edmond Hamilton liberally sprinkled their plots with pseudo science. Leo Dorfman wrote more “character driven” stories, and Jim Shooter leaned heavy on the action.
Wow! So cool, @baseballmaniac01.45870! I love that! It speaks volumes about the comic fans during that time as well. Such amazing facts. Thank you for taking the time to detail this for me! I’ve been digging more into the history of comics and these anecdotes are a wonderful bonus to my research.
I’m also a gamer and it reminds me of when you had to work with friends (or the Nintendo Magazine) to beat the more challenging puzzles. It was a fun scavenger hunt and so gratifying once you had figured out the solution.
I know it’s referred to as the Silver Age, but when it comes to the written word these master story-tellers were writing in a “golden age”.
Beautifully written! Anyone who has spent time with the writing from that era seems to feel that way too. It was a special moment for comics and the people who loved them. 
That’s quite the reading list, @TurokSonOfStone1950! We have the first Shazam 2018 book but haven’t started reading yet because it seemed to replay the events in the movie, which we also own.
What do you think of the layout and writing style of those 2018 books?
Like all other mediums it is not easy to compare one era to another.
I love 50’s horror movies. I have friend 14 years younger than me and he cannot watch them…”they’re in Black and white dammit.”
I completely understand. My preferences have a wide span. I just know what I like when I read/see it. There’s nothing wrong with B&W! 
I can get the gist of the stories by looking at them with our comic reader.
Doomsday clock because it emulates Watchmen which has a constant grid is the easiest for me to look at at the art and read the text of each individual panel in.Portrait view
The greater the swich I have to do from Portrait to Landscape view the more frustrating it is for me. To have to go to Zoom.is more daunting. I would have to look.at each title to see the varirety of portrait landscape full page or double page occurs in.them which probay varies from issue to issue.
Until you brought this topic up I thought each panel was that way because of the story. Now I am not sure of that at all.
Mainly I care about how the writer shapes the story. Is it clrar?.With the two current Batman titles half the time it might be a hallucination. A lot of times it is hard to get tbrough the complexity of Morrison. Or the bad plotting of Bendis. One issue he had five different groups or Individuals just happening to be in a small area within the vast universe
The villian
Zod from the Phantom Zone
some Hawkman world people
Jorel and Superboy
And Superman
Next come the characters. Are they acting like themselves?. Again with Bendis Lois goes off with 10 year old Jon with a known crazy person Jor ell.and then leaves Jon with the pycho for some reason.and then does not go back to her husband for some time
WHY because Bendis is not interested in the grrat stories about the kent family that Tomasi.wrote. And he has to age Jon.so he can join.the Legion of Superheroes which is no longer required because of the final issue of Doomsfay Clock.which he certainly knew about.
Art is only.a negative to me. I.like the clean style of John Byrne, George Perez, Wally Wood, Joe Staton and Jim Aparo. Bizarre Art like that on.Martian Manhuntet is very offputting
Comixology show me the whole page first so I have some idea how each page looks visually
You mentionef wanting to know more about the history.of comics.
I suggest you spend an hour and a half watching
Secret Origin The History of DC Comics
In.an hour and a half the Golden Silver and Bronze Ages are covered up to the British writers Moore Morrison.and Gaiman.
Over in Essential Reading at the bottom right of Community when first entered
I did two topics for DC Univetse
if you want to learn significant events in super hero genre history
if you want to learn how Superman Batman.and Wonder Woman were created
I’m a really big fan of the nine-panel grid format, like what you would see in Watchmen, as well as any derivatives of that sort of layout. I think it allows for a healthy balance between art and text.
That said, if I had to pick, I’d go with more text, less art than less text, more art. Take The Dark Knight Returns for example. I’m not a huge fan of Miller’s art, but I’m willing to put up with it because the pages are loaded with text. On top of that, I feel like if the art overpowers the text in a comic, I end up just sitting there admiring the artwork and I forget whatever it was that I just read 
This might sound weirdly judgmental, but I tend to respect a comic with less words more, as I feel strongly that comics are a visual medium and that storytelling should be done, to the highest possible degree, through the art. But, really, for me to enjoy a comic, there can be as much text as the writer needs, to the extent that I never feel like I’m slogging through it. Sometimes I open a book I’ve been super excited to read, and the first page is just a one page spread with like 50 paragraphs in caption boxes, and it feels like driving into a brick wall at 100 mph.
I’m a really big fan of the nine-panel grid format, like what you would see in Watchmen, as well as any derivatives of that sort of layout. I think it allows for a healthy balance between art and text.
When I open a comic and it’s in nine-panel grid form, I know that I can just relax and enjoy the comic. The balance is usually right between text and imagery and it allows me to focus entirely on the story, with the complementing art - a nice flow. They’re a classic for a reason!
I feel like if the art overpowers the text in a comic, I end up just sitting there admiring the artwork and I forget whatever it was that I just read
Great observation, @Batman0803! This has happened to me so many times! I love the art and if it’s really good, I’ll sit and admire it for far too long.
I tend to respect a comic with less words more, as I feel strongly that comics are a visual medium and that storytelling should be done, to the highest possible degree, through the art.
@Batwing52, speaking to my heart. Well worded! I couldn’t agree more! There are definitely variations to this and often the words take priority but there is something truly special about a book with stunning art leading a clean, simple story. The art is typically what initially draws me in. I haven’t seen anyone on this thread convey it quite like this. Thank you for weighing in!
But, really, for me to enjoy a comic, there can be as much text as the writer needs, to the extent that I never feel like I’m slogging through it. Sometimes I open a book I’ve been super excited to read, and the first page is just a one page spread with like 50 paragraphs in caption boxes, and it feels like driving into a brick wall at 100 mph.
So true! We were just discussing this yesterday in our house and mentioned skipping a few pages because the panels were so heavily worded. That’s not good comic design, if the readers are turned off by the amount of unnecessary dialogue. Tagging it as unnecessary even proves the point that it wasn’t needed to keep things moving.
In honor of telling stories through pictures:
Thanks for thinking of me @KeyFamily. Well my preferred reading method is the Guided View on Comixology (really wish DC Universe offered that option too) so I’d probably say a healthy balance of texts/images. Although I do love when creative panel layouts on a splash page tell a story themselves which usually involves very few words.
Starting about 9 years ago I set out on a mission to read every major Bat-character comic series in publication order. So I started with Detective #27 1939 and I just recently got about halfway through The New 52 titles (of which Batman is my clear favorite). While I loved many elements of this adventure, the Golden and Silver age of Batman could be a major slog because the wording was just so so so dense. I think ever since then I appreciate the “less is more” approach to comic text. I especially prefer dialogue over narration or thought bubbles.
You’re so welcome, @AustinMace! I’m glad you could join the conversation!
Starting about 9 years ago I set out on a mission to read every major Bat-character comic series in publication order. So I started with Detective #27 1939 and I just recently got about halfway through The New 52 titles (of which Batman is my clear favorite). While I loved many elements of this adventure, the Golden and Silver age of Batman could be a major slog because the wording was just so so so dense. I think ever since then I appreciate the “less is more” approach to comic text. I especially prefer dialogue over narration or thought bubbles.
That is so cool! I’ve considered doing that myself (also a BIG Batman fan) and just couldn’t push through the older representations of Batman. I love the artwork but the dialogue is so heavy and doesn’t seem like the character I know and love. I’m open to most versions but that one was tough.
I agree, most of the time I prefer a “less is more” approach, as it tends to allow the art to shine and not get surpassed by the story. It’s such a balancing act for comics! I really enjoyed Batman & Robin. It has a nice dark contrast that seamlessly guided the art into the dialogue for a super smooth read.
What is your favorite Batman series?
I can’t help but agree with that. An overwhelming amount of writing can seriously detract from a story. Just recently, I started going through George Perez’s Wonder Woman run, and the eighth issue is loaded with text. I get what he was trying to accomplish within the context of the story, but the issue took forever to get through and ultimately I could have done without it.
Wow, @Batman0803! George Perez’s Wonder Woman #8 is a perfect depiction of @Batwing52’s thoughts!
Here is one page
followed by this monstrosity…
There are quite a few similarly laid out spreads in this book too! It seems like this story should be in a standard book form/graphic novel versus a comic. Do you agree?
While that first page is just abysmal, I weirdly don’t mind it so much when there are full-on prose pages with illustrations. A comic I absolutely love called Strangers in Paradise does this frequently in the early part of its run. Here’s an example:
Good point, @Batwing52. I’ll have to check out Strangers in Paradise!
I think that if you know what to expect, it’s not really a problem. But if a book is under the guise of being a comic and you were looking forward to reading that style of story, it can be jarring and frustrating.
On the subject of Perez, I should note that the script in the early issues was actually done by Len Wein, who was very much an example of the older, wordier writing style some others have been talking about. Perez’s writing is, by and large, substantially more concise.
On a separate note, while I tend to be able to forgive a well-written issue for bad art more easily than I forgive a well-drawn issue for bad writing, I think that, the pacing, and the actual ratio of page space devoted to dialogue vs. art are three different subjects and some people here have been conflating them. For example, check out Batman #433. It’s very well-paced and very well-written. It also has exactly two words of dialogue in the entire issue.
Completely agree. I struggled with this all through Dark Knights Metal whenever the Batman who laughs was talking. Still do for that matter.
