What Makes A Comic Book Bad? 7 Comic Book Writing Sins || Weekly One Shot

What is a bad comic book? The story doesn't connect, the dialog is odd, or any number of things can derail an enjoyable story. Lets look at the 7 sins of comic book writing.
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When it comes to bad comic books, other than art, the biggest issues typically come from the writing of the book. The script lays the foundation for the story and can impact how enjoyable it is. Since every comic book story starts when a writer puts pen to paper, lets take a look at 7 comic book writing sins that can ruin your favorite stories.
Continuity - This can easily be described as the backstory or history for a character, team or storyline. The death of a family member, or a tragic accident in the past is an important part of what builds a character. However, issues pop up when you don't pay attention to those defining moments, or things get bogged down when you focus on them too much. Continuity is a fine line that needs to be walked, showing respect to what came before you, without limiting your ability to create something new.
Exposition - This is also called an "info dumb" where one of two characters (or the narrator) proceed to explain at length what is going on and why it is important. This can last a few panels, or go on for pages, but one thing is for sure. If you need to use heavy exposition to make sure your reader is up to speed, somewhere in your previous story you have failed to communicate properly via the art or other important lines of dialogue or narration.
Jargon/Inside Baseball - It is great that you know everything about a given world, and can speak the language of your universe fluently. However, relying too much on terms that aren't commonly used (which can happen in indie books) with previously giving the reader context can make stories unaccessible. Every comic is someones first, so bring your reader into things slowly, and use the jargon sparingly.
Unrelatable - When a reader cannot connect with a character, it makes them unrelatable and readers find themselves becoming uninterested in what happens to them. A character can be outlandish, like a billionaire vigilante, but they still need a hook that allows a ready to identify with them and participate in their character journey.
Verisimilitude - The perception that something is real or true, which makes the surroundings believable. Though comics are based in a fantasy world in most cases, the actions of the characters, the world and the environment need to make sense enough to feel real to the reader.
The Mary Sue - This is an idealized, or seemingly perfect character, which makes them boring.
Isolationism - The world of comic books are rich environments where something is always happening. Writing inside a bubble and ignoring what is going on within your own universe causes confusion among the readers and can lead to them abandoning one, if not both titles.
Weekly One Shot is a once a week show where we tackle a bigger topic regarding comics. From crossover events to cancelations to movie adaptations, it will go over anything in comics.

[@gonzalot.605]

As an aspiring comic-book artist and writer, I find this list really accurate and insightful.

[@lumpystilskin5367]

Another sin: making it woke

[@RubeusArchos]

Marvel has broken these rules big time with their movies and tv shows . Part this has do with rights to characters but there are other factor driving this too. Money is big factor. The Iron fist Tv show is one example of this. Little respect to comic book history and I can not relate to character. The supporting characters are more interesting than him.And there is night mare that is inhumans Tv.

[@nyakopharr1201]

You Lose when you start following the "What-Worked-For-Me" rules. The reason Comics are failing so badly is because everyone is trying to follow the paths of people who already made it. Once you start following others you lose your own path along with your own sense of creative leadership. The creativity that you have, had or are gaining is based on your own imagination. YOUR imagination. Once you start listening to others, mentally tracing art, you lose creativeness. Put the Pencil to the Paper and Draw. Dont TRY to do something, DO IT! The best Ideas and Creations come from doodling (accident). If you have an idea about something, put it into play. If nothing else, If you fail, noone can tell you that you did it wrong because you did it your way. Also, Practice is the ONLY way to Master something. Keep messing around with something long enough and eventually youll get it right. On Your Own.

[@RubeusArchos]

I enjoyed this very much so. all 7 of theses makes comics but also applies to video games movies and shows. i wish people would think more about this rather than wanting to make a fast buck.

[@DanHeroPhantom]

I almost punched my screen when I saw that red devil.

[@nightlypalmtree]

The comic book industry is like trying to impress an old person that's never imagined such a thing as a comic. Repeatedly over and over again. It's always like a super powered hero that must have muscles. If you have magical abilities, you probably won't need muscles.

[@henrybeasley9295]

the analogy on the Hulk story was spot on. They had Hulk fans were hopeful, but quickly dashed.

[@riiddisbuk2496]

When you said

[@johnedelmann6711]

A tip: take a breather between sentences so we can ingest your information better.

[@CoLeMaWeSoMe]

1) Don’t retcon, don’t over indulge in character history. Stay consistent.

[@kurtoogle4576]

For me, breaking "continuity of character" is the biggest sin (characters act out of character through overly emotional & idiotic decisions to serve a story arc). This includes large leaps of logic & forgiving or forgetting serious conflicts.

[@likedvidsz]

My definition of a good comic story

[@rosstamon]

Continuity is the biggest sin, in my opinion, especially if it's written by the same writer for a character, tone, and world they are building. If something doesn't make sense within their own rules they've laid out, that writer has lost me as a reader, however the enjoyment or fun of the book (for me) usually trumps most flaws.

[@MGComics]

This confirms my mistakes on my own comic XD Thank you for sharing, I learn valuable stuff this way <3

[@BonafideShaunDent]

You either make a character relatable or you make them desirable.

[@popesuavecitoxii2379]

I'm writing a comic and these tips are great to keep in mind as I outline. Thanks for posting this video!

[@ComicBookBlackBelt]

great video - brilliant insight and so useful to have these elements listed out and explained clearly!

[@gabriel_14179]

I didn't understand most of your comic references, but the advice was good, thanks

[@NerdyHotTakes]

Thank you for this🙏 I’m writing my own comic with my own character and origin etc. And this helped a lot so now I know how to make my comic better