Oct 09 2008
“Yet Another Comics Blog” argues against origin stories
Yet Another Comics Blog argues that origin stories are mostly a distraction from the real action.
The origin is not the interesting story; it’s background information. If the information in the origin is important to the story you’re telling, then you can go back later and fill in for the reader. But don’t start with an issues-long origin…
Think of all the good genre movies you’ve ever seen. How many begin with a long origin sequence? Did Raiders of the Lost Ark start with 45 minutes of young Indiana Jones getting his PhD in archaeology? Did Star Wars begin with the origin of Darth Vader?
I disagree. A character is usually the most human and relatable during his origin story. Additionally, for most superheroes they also provide an irreplaceable opportunity to introduce the audience to the character. For example, an author couldn’t explain who Spiderman is without showing why his uncle died.
Also, Star Wars did not begin with the origin of Darth Vader, but it did explain Luke’s origin at length. Over the course of three movies we saw a farmboy grow into the savior of the universe. It worked quite effectively. I’d also venture that the first Matrix movie benefitted from Neo’s origin story. If it had started with Neo after he had been released from the Matrix, it would have been horribly confusing.
The author praises Batman but criticizes Spiderman and Superman for spending too much time on origin. But these are exceptional cases. Usually, the audience is completely new to the backstory. If so, then explaining the character’s origin is probably essential to introducing the audience to the world and/or the character.
And Batman Begins is an orgin story.
i do agree that the orgin should come after storytelling, but the author should make an apropriate orgin later to show the reveal.
Origins are exceedingly unimportant and it has become a cliche that you must begin by explaining how a super hero got started. There’s no reason on earth that the origin can’t be revealed in full at a later time, or given in bits and pieces or hints and suggestions if one is clever enough to write that way.
The most important thing is NOT TO DRAG IT OUT. An origin isn’t a story, it’s background and should stay background. Get it out and done with, then GET TO THE STORY.
And “Batman Begins” sucked eggs.
This is totally dependant on the story you are trying to tell. With the Spider-man example, the story of the first film concentrated on Peter Parker become comfortable in the role of Spider-man. To do this it was important to show him before and after he gained his powers. Tim Burton’s Batman didn’t require this for the main character, and actually worked better with Batman being an established figure in Gotham. I think the problem is that with a lot of the characters, people are genuinely interested in their origins. Still using the example of movies, take the upcoming Green Lantern Movie. Sure you could jump straight in, have Hal Jordan as an established Green Lantern, but his origin story is actually very interesting.
That article confuses me with its examples. When I look at Spiderman swinging from some kind of white elastic material that seemingly comes from his wrists, I really want to know why. What is he? How did that happen? Where the hell is that stuff coming from? But when I look at Indiana Jones and see him teaching a room full of students, I don’t wonder how he got to be a teacher. Because its obvious.
The origin story is a crucial part of the super hero genre. Because if they’re super, then they are different from everybody else and there has to be a reason why. It can often have a large effect on their personalities, beliefs, morals, everyday lives.
When this comes in the story depends entirely on the style of the narrative, the plot, the length of the story, etc. But I feel it’s necessary.
“When I look at Spiderman swinging from some kind of white elastic material that seemingly comes from his wrists, I really want to know why. What is he? How did that happen?… But when I look at Indiana Jones and see him teaching a room full of students, I don’t wonder how he got to be a teacher. Because its obvious.” Yeah, I think that it’s important to spend more time describing unusual choices than usual ones. Becoming a superhero is a much more unusual choice than becoming a detective or soldier (or teacher), so I think it probably warrants more explanation.