Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Comics, jms, superman earth one, the twelve

JMS Talks To Bleeding Cool About The Move To Graphic Novels – And The Future Of The Twelve

Published Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:51:00 -0600

Last updated Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:45:37 -0600

DC have just announced the sequel to Superman Earth One, and confirmed earlier Bleeding Cool reports that Joe Michael Straczynski will be stepping back from the monthly Superman and Wonder Woman series to concentrate on it increasing the frequency of the graphic novel series.

Joe told Bleeding Cool about his attraction to the graphic novel format, the opportunity granted to him by DC – and that he will also be completing The Twelve with Chris Weston for Marvel.

This is the best time, and the best opportunity, to step back from writing monthlies entirely so that I can focus on graphic novels and minis. While I feel I've done well as a writer in monthlies, the books for which I'm most known and which have had the best reaction are the limited series and GNs like Midnight Nation, Rising Stars, Silver Surfer Requiem, to an extent, Supreme Power, which I treated as a mini as I was writing it, and The Twelve (where Chris has now caught up with the script, and now it falls to me to do the last bit and bring this thing in for a landing). With books like these, I can take the time it takes to get the script absolutely right before it's ever even announced.

So for me, yes, GNs are the future because they will allow me to tell better stories. It ain't about the money. In stepping away from writing monthlies for the next 1-5 years, and doing instead only one or two limited series/GNs per year, I'm taking a 75% pay cut in comics so that I can focus on telling better stories.

Many have theorised that the graphic novel format could take over the monthly serial and find a new home and a business model through bookstores. Few have taken this opportunity on an ongoing basis – Bryan O'Malley, Larry Marder and Chris Ware are among them. But at DC or Marvel this is… well… unique.

Who's next?

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