CBR: Shelf Life - Feb 10, 2011

[CBR News]

Ron reflects on the words and wisdom of his all time favorite editor, Archie Goodwin, as he looks at current industry trends when it comes to editorial edicts versus allowing creators to simply tell their stories.


Full article here.

[glennsim]

I'd be curious to hear more about those situations where the writer was left alone and that wound up being a bad thing, particularly if there's some indication that there was an attempt to stop them, and what the desired plan was.

[Sijo]

I agree, to a degree. Yes, usually, when you give a writer freedom to create, they come up with their best material. Two things, however: first, this isn't always true, or the creator-owner comics market would be a collection of treasures, which despite what some people would like to believe simply isn't true.

Second: Most writers are freelancers, meaning (in most cases) that their commitment is temporary; but it is the editor's *job* to make sure a title sells. Have you noticed that when a comic is a hit, the writer tends to be given the credit, but if something goes wrong, it was due to "executive meddling?" For better or worse, the editor is the one with the responsibility to handle things, and that includes approving the stuff that gets written even if they let the writer come up with it.While we should laud writers for their creativity, unless they are publishing their own comics, the credit for a good comic series should go first to the company that publishes it.

And let's not forget that, for better or worse, most comics are set in shared universes, but writers tend to focus mostly on the characters at hand. That's normal, and tends to lead to good stories- but it also leads to continuity or logic errors that many fans resent.That's another reason to have an editor- you need to have someone who sees the big picture, who steps in when needed to say "you need to adjust that" or even simply "sorry, that story won't do."

[King Nonentity]

Green Lantern as a woman? I would love to see an established character like that switch gender. Too bad.

Mr Marz. In comparison to Witchblade and Hal, which project did you have most freedom? Any ideas for Witchblade get shot down that you would like to share?

[Ron Marz]

Mr Marz. In comparison to Witchblade and Hal, which project did you have most freedom? Any ideas for Witchblade get shot down that you would like to share?

I really didn't write Hal very much, and even less as GL (rather than Parallax). If you mean GL in general, I quite a bit of freedom writing Kyle, though there were regular crossovers, guest appearances, etc. that we had to take part in. There were a few larger storylines for GL that were turned down, including a planet that would've been a re-creation of the Silver Age.

That said, I have more freedom with Witchblade. I've only had one storyline turned down in almost 70 issues, and that was more due to the art style I wanted to employ on it.

[King Nonentity]

I really didn't write Hal very much, and even less as GL (rather than Parallax). If you mean GL in general, I quite a bit of freedom writing Kyle, though there were regular crossovers, guest appearances, etc. that we had to take part in. There were a few larger storylines for GL that were turned down, including a planet that would've been a re-creation of the Silver Age.

That said, I have more freedom with Witchblade. I've only had one storyline turned down in almost 70 issues, and that was more due to the art style I wanted to employ on it.

Interesting. I wonder what it was to be declined. Thanks for the response.

Freelance editing huh. I'm pretty excited for that, can't wait to see what it's all about.

Feel free to drop us some Shinku info if you can!