Comics and graphic novels are powerful and popular forms of storytelling. They fuel blockbuster media phenomena and entertain millions worldwide. Spider-Man, The X-Men, and Sin City are just a few properties that first appeared in graphic-narrative formats. But how does one get started in this exciting and lucrative field? Danny Fingeroth, veteran Marvel Comics writer and editor will be teaching the upcoming Comics and Graphic Novel Writing Workshop. He shares some tips about characterization: if you want to learn more, sign up for the class!

Who are your characters? Why should anybody care about them? These are the challenges you face when writing a story.

Creating a character can seem deceptively simple. Pick a hair color, a body type, maybe a nifty superpower, a romantic interest, and a car-style, and you have a character, right? Well, a very shallow character. One who people have no real reason to care about. You need to give your character CHARACTER. You can call this personality, if you like.

As with the other elements of story-making, character can work on several levels. A hero who claims to be dedicated to pursuing justice can have a certain interest for your readers, especially when pitted against a villain who champions evil.

But what if your hero has a bad temper and accidentally kills an adversary who was shoplifting a pack of gum? What if your villain gives all the proceeds from his crimes to cancer research? Wouldn't that make them more interesting? Wouldn't that make them more like people you meet in daily life-flawed humans whose actions are often at odds with their stated intentions, or whose actions are a mixed bag of good and bad?

That's what characterization is about. And that's the difference between surface characterization and deep characterization.

Surface characterization is when a character seems to be about what they say they're about. In a Superman story intended for younger readers, Superman is about doing the right thing, and doggone it, he always does the right thing.

Deep characterization is what it sounds like. A character has more complex motives. Superman, in a story for an older audience, may sometimes question why he does what he does. "Is it worth it to do the right thing when people keep committing crimes no matter how often I do the right thing? Maybe I should retire to a desert island." The struggle to keep doing the right thing even when it's not appreciated or when it's hard to know what the right thing is, is a story that involves deeper characterization.

Another way of looking at deep characterization is as the real motivations a character has. This is often the opposite of, or contradicts, what a character says are his or her motivations. Face it, in real life, we don't even know our own motivations much of the time.

How complex do you want your characters to be? If a hero is too complex, do they run the danger of being unlikable? Spider-Man is just flawed enough for people to relate to him and feel good about it. A reader feeling: "he screwed up in that situation just like I would have," is one of the keys to Spidey's longtime success. If Spider-Man intentionally treated his loved ones badly, he'd be more complex, but we wouldn't like him as much, would we?

Generally, your main characters should have the most complex characterizations. Supporting characters are just that. They exist to reflect qualities of the protagonist(s). Commissioner Gordon may now and then have a story focused on him, but generally, he's there to tell us more about Batman's relationship with society.
Incidental characters need the least depth of all. They exist solely to move the story along. The guy who runs the newsstand exists only to sell the newspaper to the hero. "Mid-50s, gruff, needs a shave," may be all the characterization he needs.

Copyright © 2005 Danny Fingeroth. All rights reserved.