Quote Me on Writing Comics: Mike Collins

By John Freeman on May 14, 2013

Mike Collins in the 1980s

“On writing, I always put pen to lined paper first and always. The computer always comes last.

“I find when I write straight into the machine it results in ridiculous levels of verbosity, but if it’s all written long hand it hurts to waffle on and on…. I also find working longhand, I’m less precious about scrubbing out what I’ve just written…

“It always looks so finished on screen, so untouchable, which it shouldn’t be.

“When I started out (and although everyone’s forgotten, I was more a writer than an artist in them there distant early days) Steve Moore gave me the best bit of advice ever — write out your script and then cross out pretty much every second word. Hone the text to the minimum.

“The artist should be able to make the pictures dazzle and tell the story. On the odd Doctor Who’s I’ve written, I’ve given myself scope to do some insane dramatic no-BBC-budget-could-afford- this visuals.

“Too often as artists, we get scripts from writers who though fine and talented don’t think in pictures. That’s why writer/artists at their finest make the best comics… Gibbons, Miller, Eisner… all storytellers who make the medium all it can be.”

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.