Ron Marz talks about his inspiration and what goes into the creation of a comic book

Marz is an American comic book writer who has worked for major publications like Marvel, DC Comics, Dark Horse, CrossGreen and Top Cow Productions. He is well known for his work in Green Lantern (DC Comics), Silver Surfer (Marvel Comics) and the Marvel vs DC crossover. 

“As a child, I always had stories in my head,” says writer Ron Marz. “I loved comics, I loved art in general, I realised that you could do storytelling through art, and it is unlike any other methods of storytelling.”

Ron is an American comic book writer who has worked for major publications such as Marvel, DC Comics, Dark Horse, CrossGen and Top Cow publications. He is well known for his work in Green Lantern (DC Comics), Silver Surfer (Marvel Comics) and the Marvel vs DC crossover. 

Ron, who was recently in Bengaluru for the 12th Comic Con festival spoke about what goes into creating a comic book, the idea behind his legendary character Kyle Rayner, and what keeps him inspired.  

“I try to tell a story that I would be interested in reading. While writing a character, I try not to worry about the audience too much. I try to make sure I am my first audience because I know my taste, the kind of stuff that I want to read and the kind of stories I want to experience,” says Ron. 

While reading a comic book is fun, the process behind creating one is long and tedious and requires the collaboration of both the writer and the artist. “You start with a germ of an idea, sometimes it’s an image or a whole scene in your head, then you start building out from there...the next part is what we call a beat sheet where we break the story down into pages. It is a very malleable process where what you might have wanted for page seven takes up both seven and eight.” 

Once you have figured out the pacing, Ron says, you return to page one and start breaking it down into panels, which are individual boxes in a comic book page. “Then we figure out how the story is going to work visually.”

Once a writer has written the script, that is when the artist comes into play to help visualise the characters. “My script is a long letter to the artist of what I am thinking. What I do with the artist is a collaboration. The artist is your co-author in a comic because when they draw the story, it is filtered through their imagination.”