Marvel Method

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The Marvel Method, pioneered by and exemplified in the works of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko is a method of comic book creation wherein the author (in this case, Stan Lee) would plot out the rough outline of a story, and the artist (Kirby), while drawing it, would help fill in minor plot points, dialogue, and even characters. The writer would then polish and complete the dialogue.

In the early days of Marvel Comics, this helped the prodigious Lee write multiple books at one time, churning out plots for several series in a shorter amount of time than would usually be possible. Another major example of this kind of work was the Claremont/Byrne run on The Uncanny X-Men (issues #108 to #143), during which artist John Byrne was also given credit as "co-plotter" until creative tensions with writer Chris Claremont ended their collaboration.

This method has more or less fallen into disuse, although it is still more used at Marvel Comics than at rival DC. Most comic writers prefer to write full script, but it is still occasionally used, especially when the artist is a co-plotter (for example the comics Kingdom Come and Marvels, both painted by Alex Ross, were created this way). A similar method is also used by creator Keith Giffen, who creates plots and rough art for comics, leaving the dialogue to writers such as Alan Grant and J. M. DeMatteis.