Marvel Method
Encyclopedia
The Marvel Method is a form of comic book
writer-artist collaboration in which the artist works from a story synopsis, rather than a full script, creating page-by-page plot details on his or her own. The technique takes its name from its widespread use at Marvel Comics
beginning in the 1960s, primarily under writer-editor Stan Lee
and artists Jack Kirby
, and Steve Ditko
.
The artist would then plot and pace the specific scenes, often adding secondary characters, and turn in the penciled pages, often with margin notes to help Lee follow the action. After approving the artwork and having either the artist or the production staff make any mandated editorial changes, Lee would then add dialog, captions and sound effects.
Comics historian Mark Evanier
writes that this "new means of collaboration ... was born of necessity — Stan was overburdened with work — and to make use of Jack's great skill with storylines. ... Sometimes Stan would type up a written plot outline for the artist. Sometimes, not."
It was in place with at least one artist by early 1961, as Lee described in 2009 when speaking of his and Ditko's "short, five-page filler strips ... placed in any of our comics that had a few extra pages to fill", most prominently in Amazing Fantasy
but even previously in Amazing Adventures
and other "pre-superhero Marvel" science-fiction/fantasy
anthology titles. For these "odd fantasy tales that I'd dream up with O. Henry
-type [twist] endings ... [a]ll I had to do was give Steve a one-line description of the plot and he'd be off and running. He'd take those skeleton outlines I had given him and turn them into classic little works of art that ended up being far cooler than I had any right to expect."
As comic-book writer-editor Dennis O'Neil
described, the Marvel Method, "perfected by Stan Lee and his early Marvel Comics collaborators, requires the writer to begin by writing out a plot and add[ing] words when the penciled artwork is finished. ... [I]n the mid-sixties, plots were seldom more than a typewritten page, and sometimes less," while writers in later times "might produce as many as twenty-five pages of plot for a twenty-two page story, and even include in them snatches of dialog. So a Marvel Method plot can run from a couple of paragraphs to something much longer and more elaborate".
and artist John Byrne.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer-artist collaboration in which the artist works from a story synopsis, rather than a full script, creating page-by-page plot details on his or her own. The technique takes its name from its widespread use at Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
beginning in the 1960s, primarily under writer-editor Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and artists Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, and Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
.
Creation and implementation
When Marvel Comics became popular and expanded in the early 1960s, Marvel's editor and chief writer, Stan Lee, needed to write several titles a month. So he gradually began to provide his primary artists, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, only with the essential beginning, middle and end of a story. Lee did that often in person or via telephone.The artist would then plot and pace the specific scenes, often adding secondary characters, and turn in the penciled pages, often with margin notes to help Lee follow the action. After approving the artwork and having either the artist or the production staff make any mandated editorial changes, Lee would then add dialog, captions and sound effects.
Comics historian Mark Evanier
Mark Evanier
Mark Stephen Evanier is an American comic book and television writer, particularly known for his humor work. He is also known for his columns and blogs, and for his work as a historian and biographer of the comics industry, in particular his award-winning Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of...
writes that this "new means of collaboration ... was born of necessity — Stan was overburdened with work — and to make use of Jack's great skill with storylines. ... Sometimes Stan would type up a written plot outline for the artist. Sometimes, not."
It was in place with at least one artist by early 1961, as Lee described in 2009 when speaking of his and Ditko's "short, five-page filler strips ... placed in any of our comics that had a few extra pages to fill", most prominently in Amazing Fantasy
Amazing Fantasy
Amazing Fantasy is an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics from 1961 through 1962, and revived in 1995 and in the 2000s. It is best known as the title that introduced the popular superhero character Spider-Man in 1962...
but even previously in Amazing Adventures
Amazing Adventures
Amazing Adventures is the name of several anthology comic book series, all but one published by Marvel Comics.The earliest Marvel series of that name introduced the company's first superhero of the late-1950s to early-1960s period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books...
and other "pre-superhero Marvel" science-fiction/fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
anthology titles. For these "odd fantasy tales that I'd dream up with O. Henry
O. Henry
O. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...
-type [twist] endings ... [a]ll I had to do was give Steve a one-line description of the plot and he'd be off and running. He'd take those skeleton outlines I had given him and turn them into classic little works of art that ended up being far cooler than I had any right to expect."
As comic-book writer-editor Dennis O'Neil
Dennis O'Neil
Dennis J. "Denny" O'Neil is an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of books until his retirement....
described, the Marvel Method, "perfected by Stan Lee and his early Marvel Comics collaborators, requires the writer to begin by writing out a plot and add[ing] words when the penciled artwork is finished. ... [I]n the mid-sixties, plots were seldom more than a typewritten page, and sometimes less," while writers in later times "might produce as many as twenty-five pages of plot for a twenty-two page story, and even include in them snatches of dialog. So a Marvel Method plot can run from a couple of paragraphs to something much longer and more elaborate".
Later adaptations
By the 1970s, the artist was sometimes given formal co-plotter credit, as with The Uncanny X-Men #108-143, by writer Chris ClaremontChris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
and artist John Byrne.