Cooking Recipes! A recipe and cooking site offering free cooking recipes , articles on entertaining and menu planning, helpful cooking tips and charts, a cooking dictionary. Cooking Recipes are used in Cooking to learn to craft consumables | In order to convert psd to html , you need to be conversant with support commands, web designing and web developing dimensions. The PSD to HTML transition calls for a specialist approach, best left to the professionals...

by Chuck Dixon

A popular, established comic artists but fledling comics writer asked my advice on the topic of fill-in issues as new writers are often offered that kind of assignments. I thought his questions were good ones and the would-be comics writers who visit this site might want to see the exchange.

 

1. How do you approach a one-shot or a fill-in story differently then say a regular series?

The most obvious thing is that a one-shot or fill-in isn't going to continue. So space becomes a factor. You have to have a story with a beginning, middle and end and it's all got to wrap up nice and neat in 22 pages. One-shots are tough. But they're IMPOSSIBLE without a good central idea.

 

2. Do you incorporate some form of "The Hero's Journey" in the comics you write? If so in what ways?

That "hero's journey" stuff is lost on me. Everyone raves about Campbell's books. I tried to read one and just kept nodding my head and saying "uh huh. And your point is..?" It all seems so obvious to me. Maybe it comes from devouring every myhthology book I could get my hands on as a kid.

 

3. When writing a fill-in story how do you keep it from feeling to much like a fill-in?

Actually, I do everything I can to MAKE it seem like a fill-in. If you get a shot at an inventory issue of a regular monthly then it's your chance to shine as a writer for a whole new audience that's never read your work before. You have to impress them in 22 pages to look for your name again. Wowing editors is never a bad idea either. Pull out the stops.

 

Go for tragedy, comedy, pathos and use every clever storytelling gimmick you can think of. Make this issue a stand out. Then, if they're eventually looking for a new regular writer for the series your name should pop up. Some of my most successful stories have been one issue. Birds of Prey #8, Nightwing 25, The 'Nam #66. I poured everything I had into them.

4. If you are working on a fill-in and you are not given a beat sheet, how many plot lines do you try to run with?

One or two at the most. Don't try to advance the regular writer's subplots. If you have to you can "visit" them. Stick with one strong central theme. A perfect model is an issue of LEGENDS OF THE DCU. Kelly Puckett wrote this amazing one issue story of the Dick Grayson Robin meeting Superman. It had action and a strong central theme that was character driven.

 

5. What are you usually trying to accomplish in a one-shot that you can't do in a regular series?

As I said before, knock 'em dead. A fill-in is an audition for further work. You come out blasting and hit them with everything in your bag of tricks. Don't run with anything less than the best idea you have. You can't "save" anything for later because you're not writing the next issue.