A Critic’s Eye for the Comic Guy - Aug 29, 2007 - 01:49pm
I agree with kgatchel. For any artist in any medium, it's highly presumptive to think a first draft is the best. Only in rare instances of capturing lightning in a bottle is this the case. Especially with any written medium, multiple revisions are to be expected. However, I don't think the weekly or monthly deadlines are at issue. Consider the journalist, who writes a column a day, and often may not be aware of the latest news to base on article on until hours prior to a deadline, yet they are expected to be witty and introspective and articulate, and to always give their best by the time the Edition is printed. Besides (also as kgatchel mentioned), a good writer should be expected to lay out an outline and timeline for their future script and plotlines -- not to full detail, but they should have a pretty good idea where their characters are going and where the story arc is taking them -- the impending deadline should not impact that creative planning process. I guess my biggest fear in Kurt's argument is the same thing that made the 90's boom/bust the most distasteful to me -- the (lack of) schedule. When Image et al broke out with the stylized artists and writers professing the need for greater creative control -- it all seemed great and many early issues (Savage Dragon, Spawn, Shadowhawk, etc.) seemed promising and really drew me in. However, very shortly after, it was a continuous litany of excuses from almost all of them about being behind and missing deadlines. The typical defense was "Don't you want the best quality issue you can get ? Then you should be able to wait, right ? Be patient...". This defense wore pretty thin pretty quick, and I'm glad we aren't faced with that paradigm any longer. A good writer should be prepared, and a good story should involve some forethought and revision, well prior to the time of final editing and printing to meet deadlines for monthly publication. IMHO.

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