How to Study a Comic Book Script

The first step in writing any comic is an idea that can be disagreed with. For the purposes of this discussion, lets say it's studying a comic book. Scripts are just the first step; nothing tells you how to tell a basic comic story like a published work. Each publisher has a different way of writing a script, but if you're just starting out, you have no chance of getting work into DC or Marvel, but that may come into time. There are many smaller publishers - like Dark Horse and Antarctic Press - that do accept submissions.

Still, studying a comic from one of the major publishers isn't bad and, one day, you might be able to get published there.

See which publisher fits with your idea - and hopefully you have at least an idea - and study the biggest hits that came of the publisher. Some publishers like Dark Horse, have specific guidelines set, so print out a copy of this, and pattern your story on it. It's unlikely you'll get a response on your first try unless it's a very small publisher, so keep in mind other publishers, and their scripting requirements, when writing your script.

Beyond just looking at the script guidelines, it's important to have an understanding of what a comic should have in it, whether it be the action of Superman or solving mysteries of Batman.

Each writer, each comic, will be different. Many follow the same rules of novels or plays, broken up into acts, having things like flashbacks, but the comic book medium has its own inherent advantages and disadvantages.

Some stories will require a full script - about a page of your writing for every page of the comic - others require a lot less.