Hello ALL WIP Readers.
This will be my first article as I gear up for Dragon-Con in Atlanta on Labor Day weekend. If you don’t know what Dragon-Con is, it is a convention for sci-fi fantasy, comics, manga, anime and all things that are awesome. I will be filling you in on the convention after I have attended. Because I will mostly be spending my time in the comics area of the convention I thought I would touch on what makes a good fight scene in comics. More specifically what I feel the artist needs to do make a good action scene. Take a look at some of my favorite action pages, below.
Pacing: When I see an action scene, to me there is nothing worse than a fight that is not paced well. Sometimes an artist crams so much action into the page that the scene is over before it starts. Or on the other hand the artist stretches every single movement out so that scene drags on and on. It is important the artist captures the important points of the fight and is able to convey the emotions in the fight. That is what is most important in pacing a fight scene.
Movement: Because comics are done in pictures it is important that speed lines and other additions are added to each panel so the action is easy to follow.
Background: Background is important because it brings clarity to the fight, if people are jumping around or moving in a scene then the background should adjust. Often the background does not vary enough, so it looks the entire fight takes place within 8 square feet.
Those are the three things that I feel are most important when making a fight scene.
Madison Hawthorne is a comic enthusiast and writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. Madison’s comic “King of Sweden” is available at Amazon.com
