Art or Writing?

[Pinsir]

I've endured a lot of books with good writing and bad art than the opposite. In fact I can't stand the opposite.

[Uncanny Mutie]

Both writing and art are equally important to me, but if I just HAD to pick one, I guess I would say art. The reason I say that is because comic books are a VISUAL medium. So while good writing is initially what will help me enjoy the story the most the first time I read it, if the art sucks, chances are I am never going to pick the issue up and read it ever again if I know I won't enjoy flipping through it.

[Cipher]

Writing, narrowly, only in that it decides the tone and pace that the art must execute. That, and while a truly great book requires successful crafting on both fronts, I think a good book can be achieved through writing and sub-part art, whereas the opposite rarely holds true.

Both are incredibly important to a successful comic, though. Along with, if we're only talking about line-art, the coloring. A good script can only function with art that knows how to the tell the story, and can be broken just as easily when it doesn't.

Ideally, both should be up to the same standard - but at the end of the day comics are a visual medium. And bad art is more obvious than bad writing.

I just want to say I do not think that's true.

[napolid]

Oh god how does art get such a high percentage, what is wrong with you people. I'd rather read Johns and JRJR over Lobdell and Rocafort any day of the week.

[TheFearlessDefender89]

I voted for art, but I want to be clear: it's not that I don't care at all about the writing, but I'm just saying that it's more likely that I'm going to notice flaws in the art.

Or to put it another way, the typical writer hired by DC to write their books is generally OK by me.

This^^^ Beautiful and consistent artwork keeps me turning the pages.

[Vworp Vworp]

Oh god how does art get such a high percentage, what is wrong with you people. I'd rather read Johns and JRJR over Lobdell and Rocafort any day of the week.

As others have said, comics are a primarily visual medium. Good writing and bad art is like watching a well written, but badly acted and directed movie. The latter ruins the former. However, flip that around - a badly written movie, full of amazing performances and stunning direction - and the latter goes some way to compensate for the former.

Writing is important to me. I will (and have) dropped/not picked up a fair few books with bad writing and 'OK' artwork. But when the art is a true thing of beauty, frankly I could read any old tosh. However, when the artwork is bad, it doesn't matter how good the writing is. Indeed, it just makes it all the more frustrating that a good story has been ruined by inferior art.

[HunterX]

OK I keep changing my mind, If i had to choose one i guess its writing.

Though they are some artists I would read anything for.

[t hedge coke]

I don't like to try to separate them out, too much, because with most comics, I don't know whether the writer or artist chose, say, a particular pacing or panel/page breakdown, I don't know whether the writer or artist (colorist, et al) called for a style, the costuming, the foreground or background chosen, symbolism, visual echoes or or allusions, facial expressions, or tone. Writing is more than just story and dialogue, and penciling is more than just transcribing one-to-one a script's visual elements. Heck, something I love could come straight down to an editor or someone's assistant doing background art or spot colors, and unless I have the inside scoop, how would I ever know?

[Shinomune]

Great pencils/inks/colours with poor writing, in some cases, isn't a comic but lithographs/pin-ups put together for some reason.

And I know that it's the common to say art to the pencils/inks/colours, but heck, aren't the writers artists too?

[Dark-Flux]

I go writing. In so far as ill continue reading a comic with bad art if the story grabs me but its rare ill stick with a book just for the art. Id rather put the money towards an art book or a commission or something.

But ideally both. The best comics have art and writing that compliment each other.

[Enigmatic Undead]

The artwork is a means to facilitate the telling of the story therefore the art is not really separate from the writing.

[PyroSikTh]

To expand a bit, the art and the writing, in a comic, should go together like a song's music and lyrics. Obviously, the lyrics are very important (to songs that have them), but it's usually the melody and/or the beat, that first grabs your attention. And, at least for me, it's hard to sit through a song where the melody/beat is bad, no matter how good the actual lyrics might be.

This is single-handedly the best analogy that could be made on this subject.

And seeing as I don't even notice lyrics 90% of the time (I'm an instrumentalist through and through), it's the art of a comic book that means more to me. That's not to say writing doesn't matter of course, because Tony Daniel is a great artist, but a horrendous writer. I had to force myself to get through to the end of his first issue on Detective, even though the art was great. On the flipside of that though, if the art is awful, no amount of great writing will make up for it. As fantastic as Grant Morrison's Batman run is, I find it hard to get through The Clown at Midnight, Frank Quietly's highly stylised pages in Batman and Robin #16, and that pre-52 Incorporated issue in cyberspace.

[Crazy Diamond]

Both should be great, but bad writing annoys me a lot more.

[Nomads1]

Ideally, both should be great. However, I've found that a bad writer will keep me away from a title I love, even when the art is great. So far, the opposite hasn't happened. So, writing, I guess.

Peace

[CliffHanger2]

I voted art because comics is a visual medium and I've even bought comics just for the art. A bad writer will keep me away from a book though but most of the writers I don't like don't work with artists that I really like. Atleast not for any extended period of time. But bad art will turn me off to a book immediately.

That being said I still wouldn't buy a superhero book with people mostly standing around talking even if the art is beautiful or I'm not really into the character. Like batwoman or swamp thing really good/beautiful art just not into them like that.