Brian Wood, is there anything that guy can’t do?
Maybe you know him from the critically acclaimed “Demo”, or perhaps from his covers to Global Frequency. Maybe you’re a fan of Vertigo’s DMZ…maybe you read the very awesome 3 issue “Supermarket”– Or you recently picked up his new series Northlanders…
If your answer was “none of the above”, I bet you’ve still seen his work for Rockstar games (GTA, Max Payne, etc)…the point is: If you aren’t already, Brian Wood is a guy you should be reading.
Process Junkies are gonna love his scripts too– Take a look at any piece of his art and you’ll find stunning design. I mean, check it out:
Looking at Brian’s scripts, it’s clear that he brings his design principal to the written page. They’re clean and extremely easy to read.
It’s interesting to note that he keeps his page design and layout in mind when writing as well. Take a look at the script for Northlanders #17– where Brian suggests a grid layout for inserts within the “widescreen” look they are going for. What I find fascinating about this is how he’s implying the movement of time within the page…That’s Jedi Master-level comic book writing.
Additionally, I really like his usage of visual references scattered throughout the scripts. Let’s face it, most artists are reading pages off a computer monitor, it probably saves them a ton of time going back and forth in the design phase. Don’t forget, a picture isworth a thousand words.
And just on a personal note, you really should pick up the first Northlanders trade. 200 pages for 9 bucks. It’s a steal. I picked it up on a whim and was blown away–
Right then, Scripts!
Demo #10
DMZ #1 (read the issue as a PDF here)
DMZ #29
Local #5
Northlanders #11
Northlanders #17
Also, a BIG thanks to Brian Wood for providing these scripts!