How to Plot Your Comic Book Story - Comics 101 Plotting
Comic Book School founder and Marvel Comics writer is joined by 3-Time Emmy Award winning television writer Mike Fasolo. They will discuss the very basics of plotting your story pages to fit the standard 20-page comic book script format.
If you want to learn more about breaking down and plotting pages for an issue or a full series, this is the educational show you need. We will show you how to plot and write a comic book major publishers will expect, including Marvel Comics and DC Comics.
Comics 101: Part 2 – The Plot Breakdown!
DATE: 8/13/2024
TIME: 8:00 PM EST
HOST: Buddy Scalera
CO-HOST: Mike Fasolo
Help new comics writers to learn the process of plotting a standard mainstream superhero comic book for publishers like Marvel Comics and DC Comics.
Join Buddy Scalera and Mike Fasolo as they move beyond the page outline and into the crucial step of plotting your story. This episode is a deep, real-time look at how professional writers structure a narrative to build tension, manage pacing, and ensure a gripping cliffhanger on every single issue.
Using a wild, audience-suggested hypothetical: "Batman is sent back six months before his parents' murder," Buddy and Mike collaborate on a live plot breakdown. They demonstrate how to pace a limited three-issue series, introduce subplots (like a younger Commissioner Gordon), and navigate the tricky philosophical and narrative hurdles of a time-travel story.
This is indispensable advice for aspiring writers who want to move beyond a simple idea and turn it into a professional, structured comic script.
In this episode, you'll discover:
Plotting vs. Pantsing: The hosts define the two primary writing styles, weighing the pros and cons of structured plotting against the spontaneous energy of pantsing.
The Three-Act Structure for Comics: Learn how to break down a limited series into distinct acts, focusing on rising action and cliffhangers (or dénouement).
Live Plot Breakdown: See a real-time plot created for a hypothetical Batman story, mapping out the events across 20 pages, from the inciting incident to the final issue's cliffhanger.
Pacing for Page Turns: A review of the critical rule from Part 1: using the bottom-right corner of each page for a mini-cliffhanger to compel the reader to turn.
Subplot Integration: Learn how to weave a B-Plot (such as Commissioner Gordon's early career dilemma) into the main narrative to enrich the story without wasting pages.
Time Travel Problems: The hosts debate how to handle the Grandfather Paradox and create high stakes when dealing with a hero's most foundational origin.