Todd McFarlane says it best

I don’t even understand how a comic book creator could think art isn’t harder lol. Why don’t you just write a regular novel if you truly believe the writing is the end all be all?

I’ll never understand why people say otherwise. Comics are a visual medium of course they take priority over writing it’s what makes comics comics lol

It’s mind blowing to me lmfao like what are we doing here

@krippledguy Just like with movies some people will attempt to devalue the visual aspect of the presentation because it is the most surface level aspect and they don't want to appear shallow or basic. It's a veneer of intellectualism masking insecurity.

@krippledguy Cook

Honestly i don't think it should even be a controversial take, this very app shows time and time again people are more willing to forgive mediocre writing if the art is good and less willing to engage with good writing if the art doesn't keep up.

Exactly! And I’m not trying to say writing doesn’t matter at all. It’s just the artwork is a bigger point to many people. It’s the whole reason we read comics over novels. Yes I still want story but we added art now, let’s make sure the art is top notch!

There’s a GI Joe comic that has zero dialogue. No words. But it’s still attracts collectors to this day because the comic format was perfect to visually present that comic issue. And early writer/editor/artist pulp collabs would start with very little direction before drawn art.

Is this an issue with little writing but great art? I’d be very interested to read it! People really undervalue how much storytelling the art does in a comic

He's wrong, though. We can argue about *how* wrong he is-- but I can say that I, personally, have never made a purchasing decision based on the art. I *have* done so based on the writer. Maybe I'm in the minority, but still.

Possibly the best selling writer/artist creative in all of comics history. Made his entire career off of godlike art and meh writing. Really wild to just say he’s flat out wrong. If it’s not applicable to you sure. But to say he’s wrong is just wild

He’s making a broad statement about more than just him, though. He says “I“, but he is using his experience to speak on the topic overall. He’s saying you can’t sell a comic with crap art, and I’m saying that part is flat out lol. Objectively, you can.

Please provide examples of someone’s mother (saying horrific art from someone completely out of touch with the source material) art in a comic that sold them. If he’s objectively wrong. You should have examples no?

When he says “your mom“ he just means somebody who doesn’t know how to draw. Unless there’s more context here that I don’t know about, which is totally possible. (Cont)

I can’t provide a lot of examples because, I don’t have a lot of IRL friends who read comics. So I can only speak for myself. Maybe I’m the *one*. Who knows. But it makes sense to me. To be clear, I don’t think one is more important than the other. You need both to make a comic.

You actually don’t need both to make a comic. Comics can have no words and still be told. One of the most moving Fantastic Four comics has pretty much none. You can’t have a comic without art however. That’s just a novel.

And I’m not trying to diminish writing. But for comics specifically the medium requires art.

Have a feeling this post is going to be bigger than I expected lol

Counterpoint:

Gravel has worse art than Spawn but it's waaay more fun to read than anything Todd McFarlane ever wrote and it's not even one of Warren Ellis' best books. Art can make your comic sell but it won't make it good

This artwork is fucking immaculate still tho. I don’t think it’s a great example.

I wouldn't say it's immaculate, but it's almost amateurish. The good thing is the artist can do storytelling and actually put a lot of effort in it (which is exactly what Todd did at the start of his career if not always) but this isn't an example of perfect comic art

Good comic art is a shot of espresso. It’s instantly stimulating. Good comic writing is a feast. It feeds you well over time. Both matter as much as the other, but one makes the first sale while the other has you coming back for the feast and keeps it selling. The Walking Dead changed artists midway and many felt he wasn’t as good as the original. But everyone kept buying it because we cared about the characters. We craved the feast.

I think the point he was trying to make was more that if you fuck up the story, dialogue, and lore, you're going to end up with a pretty pile of shit. I think One Punch Man is a good example of this in reverse.

This type of logic is why Spidey is where he is tho

This is the logic that got Spider-Man his best selling comic ever in 1990. Todd McFarlane hasn’t worked at marvel since that run And Wells run has very bleh art for a lot of it. I don’t think you know what you’re talking about homie.

I probably should’ve put a question mark cause I was moreso asking lol Cause all I keep seeing from recent Spidey is nothing but “wtf are they thinking with this?” Which I figured art can’t save?

Fairs haha. I mean I find art to be the most important but writing still matters as well too. The current ASM run isn’t even bad outside of the Norman Redemption. The arts godlike story is fun. Would like MJ of course but I don’t even trust them to write her well anymore

So Twitter is exaggerating then 😂 This why I been riding witchu homie

On one hand you get: All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder and the other hand: Mob Psycho 100

Isayama drew shit like this and still made one of the most beloved stories until he decided to throw it in the garbage bin for no particular reason But up until then this disproves that notion

Of course Todd thinks thinks this because he can’t write lol

Hollywood been trying that model for 10+ years and it's about to put movie theaters out of business, so I can't say I agree.

Hollywood is not the same as the comic industry. On top of that blockbuster movies look worse than they ever did. What are you talking about lmao

Not exactly but the one thing that all storytelling requires is captivating story. Aesthetics will always be second because they are only enough to bait initial interest, not maintain it.

He's right and note he never said one was better than the other. He only just highlighted how much comics is centred on visuals rather than anything else.

Ok why are people pitting Comic Writers against Comic Artists? Comics, as a medium, is a collaborative effort unless you have both talents 😒

That's the mentality that got entire western comicbook industry is outsold by a single manga.

Heres a fun example. I can assure you the mass majority didn't care about One Punch Man until Murata started drawing it and Madhouse was hired to animate it. It could've been the best damn manga that ONE made but ppl wouldn't have cared because masses care more about art first.

William Shakespeare is the highest selling author ever. Bad example

IMO the story is more important But art sells more Which is why people prefer cosmic garou to the masterclass that is the webcomic version of the fight

@matoSaw

100% of people who buy a comic look at the art...only a percentage of those people actually read it.

This isn’t addressing OP, what’s more important or appealing for a cómicbook to sell is obviously the visual part since people doesn’t need to be into the story to like an image and feel curiosity about buying it, but his take is about the effort to conceive it. Not importance.

He's talking about the industry, not the art. a book written by Shakespeare and drawn by his mom is gonna be better than a book written by a dog and drawn by Michelangelo.

this is what the highest grossing visual novel of all time looks like, developed and published by one man, eventually spanning into manga-, anime-, and movie franchises. skill issue, get to writing better bucko

This is how you underestimate One

I mean. Part of me wants to point to One Punch Man (webcomic) as an example of a Comic who's popularity was based on strength of premise and storytelling as apposed to "good art". The other part of me wants to bring up how Todd McFarlane marketed issues 8-11 on the writers.

@RoyalRoy79 Todd is the man! I'd buy anything with his name attached

Extremely hot take thats gonna get me in trouble but this is why originally I had a hard time getting through the first volume of Sandman. The story was good but I found the art so jarring. It also didn't help that they were colored in the fucking dark & only fixed years later.🤷‍♂️

Personally, I have a much easier time writing out the script for a comic than drawing up- Every. Single. Panel.