One thing from the article with which I definitely agree with: that the tale is incredibly short yet feels anything but small.
Right! So much happened in two issues!
Something happened to the pace in comics for sure.
And I'm currently reading the whole Stan Lee/Jack Kirby run on Fantastic Four: the Inhumans, Galactus, the Black Panther... everything happened in what? 6 issues?
One way to judge my contribution to DoFP is the compactness of the tale. I used to grumble to Chris that he would come up with “three part” stories that had a “non-generative middle part”.*
Basically, it would be Part One, vamp for an issue, then what should have been Part Two. When I did the bulk of the plotting, two parts were two parts. Humph!
(There is a degree of irony in the fact that Shooter, who complained about multi-part stories, forced Dazzler into the Kitty Pryde intro and turned a two parter into three.)
Chris had a kind of tick in which he simply could not let the X-Men have a clean, clear win no matter what I drew. . The “incestuous lesbian kiss”, as it immediately came to be called around the Office, was a typical example.
What was supposed to happen—and what I drew—was Kate disappearing out of Kitty as if she’d never been there. No chance for any “interaction”. As Chris scripted it, it looked as if I’d drawn it wrong. And violated the “show don’t tell” rule at the same time.
(Another shadow was cast out of DoFP by Chris’ scripting. One of my lesser reasons for introducing Kitty was to remind everyone that Nightcrawler was a monster. Chris and Dave—especially Dave—let that aspect slip away, as Kurt quickly became a discount Hank McCoy. So I wanted Kitty to feel uncomfortable around Kurt. But once they hugged in DoFP, Chris abandoned that subplot.)
There was a caption in the story that introduced Caliban that Kitty remarked how she had treated Kurt poorly and resolved to do better. I think that was the closest to a resolution for the Kitty being afraid of Kurt subplot.
Sound is one of the hardest things to portray in comics. Oh, sure, we can go far with sound effects, but someone singing or dancing? All too often we’re likely to end up with someone seeming to be having severe convulsions.
As an adult I live for these tales of the creative process around the genesis of these beloved stories, but I'm also amusingly reminded of my naivete at the time as a kid when first reading them and seeing the credits of "co-plotter" or "co-written" and thinking, "wait, you can do that?" (No knowledge of the Marvel Method obviously)
Roughly happened at the same time the artist on Daredevil had the audacity to start writing it too :)
Who were these audacious overachievers who thought they could do it all? And take away other people's jobs? :)
Writers tend to decide what goes in the credits, and many—most?—of them want to retain the Awe and Mystery of Being a Writer. That it is they alone who must Face the Blank Page.
It works, too. Many’s the time I’ve encountered civilians who were more impressed that I write than that I draw. (This is specific to the situation. Taking me as an artist alone, they’re impressed. “Why, I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler!” But once I’m “partnered” with a writer I’m “demoted” and my contribution is seen as somehow less significant.)
But, as I’ve said, nobody ever saw a new comic on the rack and thought “Wow! That looks well written!”
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