Dialogue Artists: Search and Destroy

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CROSSING OVER FROM THE PULSE-POUNDING EVENTS of (52 new answers) , who gives good quote (as j'lists sometimes say) and who has probably never talked to real people (not that I WANT comics characters to talk like real people--i.e., recent dinner table discussion at my folks' house: my brother: "I like Elmore Leonard because he writes dialogue that's really how people speak." my dad: "I like Elmore Leonard because he writes dialogue that's really how people WISH THEY SPOKE.")

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 26 June 2006 14:47 (nineteen years ago)

Did he really say that?

― Ray (Ray), Monday, 26 June 2006 14:54 (nineteen years ago)

Paraphrased, but yeah.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 26 June 2006 14:56 (nineteen years ago)

Okay, to get rolling, perfunctory J.M. DeMatteis shout out for Justice League, which was the talkiest superhero comic until the BMB-era.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:00 (nineteen years ago)

X-Post

So it wasn't some "Everything I say is a lie" thing then...

― Ray (Ray), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:00 (nineteen years ago)

Peter Milligan writes all the lines I wish I'd thought of, whether when writing or in conversation - I find myself stealing lines from Lenny to this day.

― Richard Baez (Johnny Logic), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:02 (nineteen years ago)

You think my dad is the Question?
xpost

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:03 (nineteen years ago)

Have you seen them in the same room?
Did he make you read Rand?

― Ray (Ray), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:08 (nineteen years ago)

It's A! Mr. A, that is.

― David R. (popshots75`), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:11 (nineteen years ago)

J M DeMatteis does that "From the BEGINNINGLESS BEGINNING to... the ENDLESS END... oh it's all LOVE!!" stuff when he gets his own way. So points lost. What of Robert Loren Fleming?

― Vic F (Vic Fluro), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:23 (nineteen years ago)

A hardcore second on Milligan. When he's on his game, he makes dialogue sing. Like a canary. Tweet tweet. Los Bros Hernandez stand pretty high above the pack.

Brubaker seems pretty solid in this regard. Bendis is getting much better. The little bit of recent Slott that I've read flows well. Peter David, when he's on.

Pretty outrageously stylized for the most part, but Stan Lee had his moments back in the day. At the very least, it was a good complement to Kirby's more outrageous stuff.

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

outrageously stylized is good!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:26 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, DeMatteis really needs a co-writer to put a bridle on his excesses. At any rate, I'd say he's a better plotter than dialogue-er. Well, no. I'd say he's a better storyteller. Even when everything else that's going on in a DeMatteis comic is thoroughly cringeworthy, the man knows how to make the story flow smoothly through the page.

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:29 (nineteen years ago)

I agree, s1ocki!

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:30 (nineteen years ago)

yeah kirby dialogue (esp. on the new gods) = so memorable!

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:31 (nineteen years ago)

I agree, Deric!
xpost

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:31 (nineteen years ago)

also george herriman, walt kelly and ec segar to thread

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

I agree, Ward!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

it's nice when we all agree

on ILC

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:35 (nineteen years ago)

Rucka when he's ON: Detective Comics (good Batman/Gordon interplay, good cop shop talk---MAYBE THE PROBLEM with Rucka is that he's only good at doing people when they're at work?), Gotham Central, Q&C, some Wonder Woman

If we're gonna go for outrageously stylized, Bob Haney for his 60s Teens Titans!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:35 (nineteen years ago)

"From the BEGINNINGLESS BEGINNING to... the ENDLESS END... oh it's all LOVE!!"

If this JMM character really writes like this, then he's on obvious classik.

― c(''c) (Leee), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:37 (nineteen years ago)

If we're gonna go for outrageously stylized, Bob Haney for his 60s Teens Titans!

Don't you dare forget Metamorpho!

― Richard Baez (Johnny Logic), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:38 (nineteen years ago)

Oh yeah, Haney deserves one of those French medals of honour for Java's dialogue alone!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:40 (nineteen years ago)

Don McGregor!

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:43 (nineteen years ago)

MAYBE THE PROBLEM with Rucka is that he's only good at doing people when they're at work?

Maybe. That's one reason that I'm kind of glad that there's not a whole lot of intimate personal non-work stuff on The Wire. Those guys are superb at writing about the "cops and crime and politics and corruption" stuff because they were mired in that world. There's nothing wrong with recognizing your limits and sticking to your strengths, Rucka.

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:44 (nineteen years ago)

See also, Law & Order, the classic years.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:46 (nineteen years ago)

DAVE SIM, PEOPLE.

― the eunuchs, Cassim and Mustafa, who guarded Abdur Ali's harem (orion), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:52 (nineteen years ago)

It's true: Sim was AMAZING at dialogue. I like Jaime Hernandez, too. And goddammit I like Bendis's dialogue--always have.

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 26 June 2006 16:37 (nineteen years ago)

I forgot the "destroy" part. One writer that I will condemn without hesitation is Nancy Collins, for her abortion of a run on Swamp Thing. The plot was the very model of decompression before its time (you can easily read her multiple-year run in one sitting and marvel at the lack of anything of real significance that transpires). On top of that, very hamfisted social commentary was wedged in left and right. But the dialogue was the worst shit ever. Very reflective of someone who paid no attention to the way people really speak. And every sentence ended in an exclamation mark! Every one! All of the characters were so emphatic! All the time!

And just to head people off before they get any lame ideas: there are plenty of women writers whose work I admire and enjoy. Collins just happens to be one of the worst writers I've encountered, male or female.

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

s: Paul Chadwick d" Neil Gaiman

― ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ (chaki), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:13 (nineteen years ago)

Part of Sim's genius is the way he renders body language as well as the actual words he writes. His characters all have a unique set of movements and little visual tics, it's extraordinary.

Morrison can be decent when he's in a less self-concious and post modern mood.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:41 (nineteen years ago)

I'd say Morrison's at his best with dialogue when he's clearly being self-conscious - KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND, for example, or various issues of THE INVISIBLES, where he manages a very capable wit. Certainly, he's not a writer who aims for realism - at his worst w/r/t dialogue (JLA, I'd say), it qualifies as decent but all around functional.

― Richard Baez (Johnny Logic), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:51 (nineteen years ago)

I'd say his wit isn't naturalistic, but have you read any of the man's interviews? He really speaks that way!

― Richard Baez (Johnny Logic), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:55 (nineteen years ago)

No-one writes a NOOOOOOOOOO! like Vic F.

(or should that be NOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOONE writes a NOOOOOOOOO! like Vic FlurOOOOOOOOOOO!)

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:57 (nineteen years ago)

I always enjoyed the more conversational scenes in the Invisibles - moments where he seemed to be allowing the characters to say what they wanted rather than placing situationist slogans in their mouths.

Some of his dialogue now is pretty strange. I've scratched my head a few times wondering if the letterer has missed out part of a sentence by mistake.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:59 (nineteen years ago)

Whenever I write NOOOOOOOOO they refuse to print it.

― Vic F (Vic Fluro), Monday, 26 June 2006 18:09 (nineteen years ago)

I've scratched my head a few times wondering if the letterer has missed out part of a sentence by mistake.

That's actually happened at least a few times (most notably during The Invisibles).

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Monday, 26 June 2006 19:02 (nineteen years ago)

I like old Stan Lee dialogue a lot.

For example:

Mary Jane: Petey-O, you're right from GROOVESVILLE! I never thought that a tiger who wore his hair so short could be so dreamy! And you've got a bouncin' bike, too! Dad, you're the END! What say we give the BOOB TUBE a whirl? You can fill me in on your life story during the station breaks!

Peter: It's a deal, Mary Jane!... Tell me about yourself, Mary Jane! How come I've never run into you before? What do you do with yourself when you're not driving helpless males out of their minds?

Mary Jane: Mmmm! You come on STRONG, son! And all this time I was afraid you'd be the SHY type! Anyway, I spend most of my time taking DRAMA lessons!

Peter: Oh! You plan to be an actress?

Mary Jane: Correction, Clyde! I AM an actress! It's just a matter of TIME till this big, blind, bouncy world DISCOVERS that fabulous fact!

― Matthew Perpetua! (Matthew Perpetua!), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:21 (nineteen years ago)

I maintain that only a genius can write dialogue like that.

― Matthew Perpetua! (Matthew Perpetua!), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:23 (nineteen years ago)

Harry Osborn had to start taking drugs to keep up.

― Vic F (Vic Fluro), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:29 (nineteen years ago)

However mannered and stylised Stan's dialogue was, he certainly had a great, manic, infectious glee in the rhythms of language.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:33 (nineteen years ago)

Ugh, you guys are tripping. The only dialogue worse than Stan's was Roy Thomas's. That shit ruins old Marvels for me.

― I will commence to drop a knowledge bomb. (Rock Hardy), Monday, 26 June 2006 22:53 (nineteen years ago)

Whatever, fun hater!

― Matthew Perpetua! (Matthew Perpetua!), Monday, 26 June 2006 23:10 (nineteen years ago)

I understand why early Marvel stuff was so popular among the college-age set back in the day. Especially w/r/t Lee & Kirby. So much of that stuff is so damn abstract, in its way, that I can see where it might not appeal as much to younger kids. Depending upon what you're used to or what you've grown up with (particular if what you grew up with was dark n' gritty "realistic" comics), it can be a little off-putting. I know it was to me for the longest time. Then at some point, it just clicked. Like how I used to think Kirby kind of sucked when I was a kid. The me-of-today now thinks me-as-a-kid is completely insane.

To be fair, though, not all silver-age Lee is "in the groove", and some of it is downright poopy.

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Monday, 26 June 2006 23:13 (nineteen years ago)

Roy Thomas' stuff was okay, but there was SO MUCH of it. Every character had to be shouting something, preferably about old continuity from the Timely era.

― Vic F (Vic Fluro), Monday, 26 June 2006 23:56 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, but Deric, keep in mind that the dude wrote a bazillion comics!

When he was on he had this sort of joycore poetry to his words that is unlike anyone else ever.

― Matthew Perpetua! (Matthew Perpetua!), Monday, 26 June 2006 23:57 (nineteen years ago)

Grant Morrison's dialogue CAN be great - I'm particularly thinking of 'Doom Patrol', usually conversations involving down-to-earth-and-mind-boggled Cliff Steele trying to work out what the hell is going on.

― James Morrison (JRSM), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 01:01 (nineteen years ago)

He wrote some amazing dialogue in New X-Men too.

― Matthew Perpetua! (Matthew Perpetua!), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 01:03 (nineteen years ago)

will ILC ever have a thread about something that comic book writers do well where grant morrison doesn't come up?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 01:32 (nineteen years ago)

his dialogue is really not that hot.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 01:33 (nineteen years ago)

matthew can you give me an example from NXM because i don't remember ANY of the dialogue from his run!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 01:33 (nineteen years ago)

Can I get back to you? I don't really have time to pull the books out and I don't exactly have it commited to memory.

There's just lots of awesome bits all around - I remember lots of good lines from Emma, Cassandra, Beak, Beast, Quentin Quire, Xorn. Jean says some cool stuff.

― Matthew Perpetua! (Matthew Perpetua!), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 03:08 (nineteen years ago)

The one line that always stuck out for me is the Emma Frost "we must be nothing less than fabulous" thing.

Also semi-memorable (tho I can't quote it): the Cyclops / Wolverine back & forth from Return to Weapon X, and some of Bishop's hard-boiling while investigating Emma's murder (and rebooting Sage).

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 03:19 (nineteen years ago)

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