Could the Mighty Marvel Method Work Today?

While there's no question that the Might Marvel Method worked, there is a question if it would work in today's comic book industry.

Marvel Comics developed a new way of doing comics in the 1960s that they kept until the 1980s. This method helped them revolutionize comics at the time, making them more visual; backed by luminaries like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, and others, this style allowed Marvel to overtake DC and become the House of Ideas. Combined with the importance of family relationships and soap opera plotting, the Marvel Method became something well worth exploring; there is the question of whether or not it would work today.

The Basic Process

The Marvel Method was far more simple than the one in use today: The writer and artist would discuss the story, the artist would draw the story, and then the writer would provide the dialogue. This played to the big battle scenes in most comics at the time while allowing for more tender moments; it also made creating comics a little faster. Editors loved it because making changes was relatively simple. Since few artists at the time were really pushing boundaries and this system made doing so less interesting, at least in the mainstream comics, it also made enforcing the Comics Code Authority really easy.

Some writers, especially Stan Lee, loved the method because it allowed one writer to create entire universes, especially in a system where the company owned all of the characters. One writer could work with a half-dozen artists far easier since most comics were created with just a conversation. The writer could cover any minor issues with a bit of dialogue or caption. It also ensured that writer and artist pairings would last longer because of the familiarity of each other's style and thus the shorthand developed between the pair.

In short, it put the artist in charge of the comic, allowing them to push the style of the art even as they were limited in which subjects they could portray and allowed writers to worry more about the Big Strokes while adding some really nice flourishes.

The Problems

The biggest problem was putting the artist in charge. While it did allow the artist to develop their own style and have some fun, which in turn allowed for the development of some really solid art styles, it did put limiters on the story: The writer was limited to big stories that weren't dependent on dialogue. While the process did encourage monologues and dialogue geared towards combat, little stories (plots more dependent on dialogue and out-of-battle interaction) were discouraged. While Marvel comics did lead the way in creating more three-dimensional characters, they were still limited to relatively standard one-/two-dimensional stories.

It also encouraged companies to create binding contracts with few rights for creators. Since the writer/artist relationship was key to how the Marvel Method worked, it was hard to work with others; the pairs were given precedence unless there was a good reason (such as the premiere of a new character or an anniversary issue) to pair the person with someone else.

The creators were also not given automatic copyright on their creations; creator ownership limited the ability of writers to use the character in question since you need to pay royalties whenever the character is used, even in other media (such as movies or television); it just better sense for the company to keep the rights so that any writer could use any character for any story without having to worry about paying a royalty. This meant that there was no incentive to create new characters, or at least good original ones.

How Well Would It Work Now?

Today, the flow has been almost inverted: Editorial determines the story to be told, the writer then writes it, and then the artist draws it. Given that readers stick around once they're invested in the story, the emphasis on story over art seems to be working better than books with an emphasis on art. There's also the issue of creator rights; today, creators enjoy a number of rights, including control over the character, that they simply wouldn't enjoy under the Marvel Method.

So while the system may have worked then, it just wouldn't work now. While it may enjoy some resurgence every so often, usually by an artist who wants to spotlight their work, it just wouldn't like work as well in today's industry.