Script (comics)

A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay.

In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost always followed by page sketches drawn by a comics artist and inked, succeeded by the coloring and lettering stages. There are no prescribed forms of comic scripts, but there are two dominant styles in the mainstream comics industry, the full script (commonly known as "DC style") and the plot script (or "Marvel house style").^[1]

The creator of a script is known as a comics writer.^[a]

^ Jones, Steven Philip. "On Writing Comics", Accessed Nov. 28, 2008.^{[dead link‍]}
^ M. Keith Booker (ed.), Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2014, pp. 174 and 867.
^ Randy Duncan, Matthew J. Smith (eds.), Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2013, p. 755.
^ Randy Duncan, Matthew J. Smith (eds.), Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2013, p. 539.
^ Brian Michael Bendis, Words for Pictures: The Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels, Jinxworld, Inc., 2014: "If you are a graphic novel writer, only a handful of people in the entire world will ever see your script".
^ Harry Bingham, Writers' and Artists' Yearbook Guide to Getting Published: The Essential Guide for Authors, A&C Black, 2010, p. 84.
^ Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 195, Gale, 2005, p. 167: "(Full name Neil Richard Gaiman) English graphic novelist".
^ Ambiguity may arise with the term "graphic novelist" because it is also used to refer to the person who is both a comics writer and a comics artist; cf. M. Keith Booker (ed.), Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2010, p. 172: "William Erwin Eisner was a comic book creator, graphic novelist, teacher, entrepreneur, and advocate of comics".

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[jones-1] Jones, Steven Philip. "On Writing Comics", Accessed Nov. 28, 2008.^{[dead link‍]}

[2] M. Keith Booker (ed.), Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2014, pp. 174 and 867.

[3] Randy Duncan, Matthew J. Smith (eds.), Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2013, p. 755.

[4] Randy Duncan, Matthew J. Smith (eds.), Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2013, p. 539.

[5] Brian Michael Bendis, Words for Pictures: The Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels, Jinxworld, Inc., 2014: "If you are a graphic novel writer, only a handful of people in the entire world will ever see your script".

[6] Harry Bingham, Writers' and Artists' Yearbook Guide to Getting Published: The Essential Guide for Authors, A&C Black, 2010, p. 84.

[7] Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 195, Gale, 2005, p. 167: "(Full name Neil Richard Gaiman) English graphic novelist".

[8] Ambiguity may arise with the term "graphic novelist" because it is also used to refer to the person who is both a comics writer and a comics artist; cf. M. Keith Booker (ed.), Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2010, p. 172: "William Erwin Eisner was a comic book creator, graphic novelist, teacher, entrepreneur, and advocate of comics".

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