DCML Digest Issue 26

Don Rosa donrosa at iglou.com
Sat Aug 21 15:16:03 CEST 2004


> From: "Lars Jensen" <lpj at forfatter.dk>
> Subject: That special spark
> I'm not sure I understand that remark.
> Don, are you saying that comics such as The Spirit, Modesty Blaise,
> Watchmen, most of Asterix, most of Tintin and anything from Alan Moore,
> Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison are by definition incapable of catching
> that "special spark"?

Yes, I am. Because that "special spark" I refer to is the spark of a single
individual's creative ability. Two people can never equal one person.  No
matter how good they are, those comics can never be the single vision of a
single mind. That's magical.

> Would you prefer reading a title from a
> writer/artist such as, say, Todd McFarlane to one from a writer/artist
> team such as Goscinny and Uderzo? (Just to pick some names.)

I never said I always preferred single-person comics. But I maintain they
are, by obvious definition, something extra special. I am never particularly
proud of my writing. And I actually don't think I draw well. But I am
*intensely* proud that I do *both*... together that gives my work a sparkle
that surpasses any collaborative effort, even though it might not be as
enjoyable on another level.

> There are a number of artists out there who, after a few years, begin to
> write their own stories. Sometimes they can pull it off, most times they
> can't. Result: A lot of comic books with good artwork and bad writing.
> Why is that a good thing?

It's hard to explain. Maybe it's sorta like a really gorgeous plastic
houseplant compared to a really ordinary LIVE houseplant with blemishes and
a few dead leaves. The live houseplant might not be what some people want,
and might not be what anybody wants all the time -- but it has that special
magic, that inner sparkle merely because it's *alive*. But... this is a
philosophical matter that I would need a writer to help me explain (and then
the team-explanation, no matter how compelling, would not have that
sparkle).

> Why factionalize the comic book industry by dividing its members into
> "creators who both write and draw their stories" and "people whose
> stories don't have that special spark"?

Why? For one thing, because it's a simple mathematical fact. Back in
engineering college I would have written it as 2 =/ 1. (Move the / over on
top of the =). I absolutely separate comics into those created by teams and
those created by single individuals. Is that factionalizing? I factionalize.

> I'd rather read a good story made by two or more people, than a bad
> story made by one person.

So would I! Many of my favorite comics are by teams. The best comic books
ever produced were the ECs.
And yet... on a certain profound level, no team-produced comics can compare
with Barks' DUCKS, Eisner's SPIRIT, Cole's PLASTIC MAN, Kelly's POGO,
Foster's VALIANT, Segar's POPEYE, Herge's TINTIN, Capp's ABNER, Raymond's
GORDON, Hamlin's OOP, Herriman's KAT, Watterson's HOBBS, etc., etc.... Well,
it's almost unfair to compare comic books to comic strips -- when you get
into newspaper strips, almost everything was created by a single mind. I
wonder why comic books are different in that respect? Maybe comic books were
born and evolved from studios of writers & artists formed by publishers
trying to mass produce loads of stuff to flood the new market with in the
late 30's and early 40's. Comic books were created by editors & publishers
while newspaper strips were created by individuals.. even though I prefer
comic books' longer stories (as attested by my "vault" filled with over
40,000 of 'em), I know that newspaper comic strips are superior in that
regard.
To me, it's the difference between a very enjoyable comic, and a comic with
indefinable cosmic magic.
People often tell me I'm too modest and self-deprecating when giving
interviews and such.  But I know that they just need to ask me the right
questions to see what I'm really proud of. I never think so highly of my own
writing. I am always embarrassed by my own art. But the ability to do both
is *very rare* in comic books! Put my writing *and* my drawing together, and
I *know* that my stories sparkle with cosmic magic!  And *that's* the reason
I keep doing this year after year. Sparkling cosmically with magic is fun!




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