Artist John Romita Jr. discussed his affinity for the "Marvel Method" of comic book storytelling, which allows the artists a greater opportunity to help shape the narrative as they work in conjuncture with the writer -- a process he used with his Superman: Year One collaborator Frank Miller.
In an interview with CBR, Romita Jr. reflected on how he and Miller were "indoctrinated" into the storytelling business via the Marvel Method, noting how well the two work together in creating engaging stories because of how they leverage their individual talents to great effect. The duo has previously teamed up on numerous titles including a run on Daredevil: Man Without Fear. This work on Daredevil "set a tone," leading Romita Jr. to want to work with Miller on a regular basis as he was given the freedom as an artist to tell the story as opposed to the mindset of "just pencil a story handed to me."
He credits this creative collaboration, and Miller's own artistic background, in helping them to develop a solid working relationship, sharing how Miller could hand him a paragraph scrawled on a napkin and he would be able to deliver 150 pages of art. He also added how it's the process the two have curated that allows them to get along so well on projects.
When asked if this collaborative freedom has helped their work to flourish, often receiving positive critical reception, Romita Jr. said, "Absolutely. And interestingly enough, the reversal of the Marvel and the DC procedure is beyond ironic, because "Marvel's method" is what people like I am at my age, having had experienced learning how to tell stories through Marvel's process, and now it's reversed where DC is interested."
"And we've had meetings, and they've had summits to discuss the need for the input of the artists instead of relying on a concrete script," he continued. "There's nothing wrong with what the writer is giving the artist as long as the artist can adapt and play with what is given to them. And that's why the experience I've garnered over the years allows me to tell a story from a very small amount, or even a script. And I think that it should be set in stone that artists should have their hand in the cookie jar, so to speak, or in the cooking process to be able to help stir the sauce. You need the artist's input. It can't just be the writer, who has visual imagery in their head. The artist has to have writing imagery and storytelling imagery in their head while doing the artwork."
All three issues of Superman: Year One, by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr., are now on sale from DC.