#10: Creating Great Characters Part I (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
Wolverine has had a busy summer. He’s starred in a summer blockbuster that’s grossed $180 million, ensuring a sequel. He’s got a new ongoing series written by Marvel rising star Jason Aaron, in addition to his other solo books. He’s been mixing it up with Ultimate Hulk in the comics and on DVD. A new Wolvie video game is letting gamers get their berserker rage on. And all this is in addition to his regular duties as a part of the X-Men, X-Force, New Avengers and Lord knows how many other teams. In short, Wolverine is everywhere. But why?
Welcome
back to Creating Comics! The next two articles will deal with the all important
topic of characters. Creating characters that readers will care about is the
hardest task you have as a writer. This goes for comics especially. And for
good reason. Think about what you're asking of the reader for a moment. Whether
you are writing comedy, drama, action or suspense, as a writer you are trying to
evoke an emotional reaction from your reader. You want to make them care.
Guess what?
Making your readers care is not easy. Think about it, how many times have you
listened to a real friend tell you about real problems and thought to yourself,
“Meh. You think that’s bad? I once had a hangnail that…” Of course, you’d
never voice your feelings and probably feigned interest and empathy. That's what
friends are for, right? But truthfully, you weren't that interested. And these
were REAL PEOPLE. With REAL PROBLEMS. As a writer, your challenge is to make
readers empathize with your characters, who are MAKE-BELIEVE PEOPLE, with
MAKE-BELIEVE PROBLEMS. You have your work cut out for you.
So, how do we do this? How do we go about creating characters that will elicit
the emotional responses we want from our readers? First, just acknowledge that
there are no guarantees. Not all of your characters are going to resonate with
everyone. But there are some things you can do to increase the chances that
readers will give a damn about your story people. My thesis here is that the
main reason Wolverine is everywhere is that he’s just one hell of a character.
And when it comes to comics, character is king.
To help structure this article, I'm going to borrow copiously from Scott
McCloud. Scott’s done more thinking about the art form of comics than
practically anyone living, and I think he covered characters exceptionally well
in his book
Making Comics. According to Scott
(and ME!) a good comic book character contains the following traits:
1. An Inner Life
2. Visual Distinction
3. Expressive Traits
Let's take a look at each one of these traits, and apply them to arguably Marvel's most popular and ubiquitous character over the past 20 years, Wolverine. In Part 1, I’m going to talk about the first two. Next week, I’ll cover “Expressive Traits” and also discuss “The Character Grid,” a valuable tool for thinking about the many characters in your stories.
1.
An Inner Life- By an inner life, McCloud (and ME!) mean that your
character should have a unique life history that shapes the character's world
view, determines his desires, and colors her actions. An inner life is more
than just "personality." It's not enough to say your protagonist is a "tough
guy" or "the girl next door." There needs to be a unifying purpose behind your
character, a reason for being. You need to create factors or events in your
characters' lives that give reason for everything they do. This will help you
predict how your character will respond to conflicts and action, and is how
they'll start "writing themselves." The best way to flesh out an inner life is
to ask and answer a whole lot of questions about your characters. Who were
their parents? Where were they born? What's the best and worst thing that's
ever happened to them? What secrets do they hold? The more questions you can
answer about your character, the more real they'll become.
Does Wolverine aka Logan have an inner life? Bet your ass he does, Bub. Behind
his rough exterior hides a man with so rich a secret past, even he doesn't know
it all. Wolverine is a mutant who possesses animal-keen senses, enhanced
physical abilities, retracting bone claws and a healing factor that allows him
to recover from any wound (I believe he was tossed into the sun at one point and
barely ended up with a sunburn.) He was used by a government program Weapon X,
where an indestructable metal was bonded to his skeleton and claws and he was
made into a supersoldier. As a parting gift, they also wiped his memory.
That's just scratching the surface of Wolverine's 30+ year history in comics, tv,
and film, but here is a character with an inner life. And it pays off in the
story telling. Tyra Banks' closet couldn't fit all the skeletons Logan has in
his, and his history often comes into play in his adventures. For example,
abuse at the hands of a shady government organization makes Wolverine especially
protective of mutant children who are being used and abused. A strong inner
life makes Wolverine a character that we can empathize with, and root for when
the claws come out.
2.
Visual Distinction - In movies, visual distinction for your
characters is important, but not as much as in comics. Sure, Jack Sparrow
wouldn't be half as fun if Johnny Depp and the costume design team didn't go
full on Keith Richards pirate with him. But there are plenty of movies where
all you need is an unshaven Bruce Willis' scowling mug or Jessica Alba in tights
to draw a crowd. But in comics, you're not casting A-list actors who have a
history with their audience. You're creating something new. Comics is a visual
medium, and your characters NEED to stand out visually. On the practical, you
need to give your characters a unique look so that they stand out from each
other.
Think of the most popular comic book characters out there. How many of them could you still identify with nothing but a silhouette? A whole bunch, and Wolverine certainly. (Hint: There’s a test for your character designs- black them out. Can you still pick your character out of a lineup? If so, you’re probably heading in the right direction.)
There are plenty of popular artists working in comics today whose male
protagonists all look the same. If it wasn't for costume or color, we'd be
clueless who was who. Don't make that mistake. When designing a character, pay
attention to their weight and build and their fashion sense. It also helps if
their attire or costume is a visual reminder of their personality. Throw a "Got
MILF?" t-shirt on a character in your comic, and it'll be pretty easy for your
audience to recognize, "Hey, that must be the comic relief, Stiffler-guy."
While Wolverine's backstory and compelling inner life make him a fun character
to write, he wouldn't be showing up in 20 different Marvel books every month if
it wasn't for this simple fact...He's damn fun to draw, too! Whether it's the
claws, or the costume, or the muscles, or the sneers, Wolverine just looks cool.
And looking cool can take you a long way with a character. Not the whole way,
but a long way. Just ask Hugh Jackman, whose career was launched because
he bore a strong resemblance to the character and played him well.
Alright, we’ll continue to discuss the shared qualities of great characters, and
Wolverine in particular. In the meantime, think about some of your favorite
characters. Do they in fact have an active and detailed inner life? And are
they visually distinct? Then think about the characters you are creating. How
can you can you make them even better?
NEXT: Creating Great Characters Part II (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
Tyler James is the writer of Interrogation Control Element, a political action thriller COMPETING RIGHT NOW at Zuda Comics! Help Ty out by heading over to Zuda and giving ICE your VOTE, make it a FAVORITE, rate it 5 STARS, and leave a COMMENT.
Tyler also writes and draws Over, a romantic comedy online graphic novel updating every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. His comic Super Seed, the story of the world's first super powered fertility clinic, was featured at Zuda Comics. On Tuesday, Tyler debuts Tears of the Dragon, an epic fantasy tale. He also teaches a series of workshops on creating comics for adults and children. When not making comics, Tyler works as a game designer and content producer for a software company, and currently resides in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Contact Tyler directly at tylerjamescomics@gmail.com, keep up with him at his blog, or follow him on Twitter.
Previous Columns
1: Big Goals
2: Resolutions
3: The Great Idea
4: Research Part I
5: Research Part II
6: The Killer Pitch Part I - The High Concept
7: The Killer Pitch Part II - The Synopsis
8: Pay Your Artists
9: Zuda Comics - A Tale of Five Submissions
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