This one comes from Martin Lund…
I was wondering if there was a "standard introduction package" for creative talent, recently assigned to a new comic book property, to help them get to know about said property. Say, if for some reason, an artist was familiar with the look of Batman and knew how to draw him, but was unfamiliar with the 85+ years of lore and needed a brush-up (i.e., always remember that Bruce Wayne is now blonde and cross-eyed without his cowl, after that incident with the Joker that must not be mentioned…). Or a writer gets assigned to a new Forbush Man title, but has no idea who that character is — at all (egads)!
Any insights on this to share? Have you even been assigned characters for a comic book that you weren't familiar with, and if so, how did you go about researching and/or learning about them? I could imagine that if we were talking TV shows or maybe even movies, that there would be a show bible. Does that exists for comic books as well?
Almost never. Basically, what you're talking about is within the job description of the editor. When New Talent (writer and/or artist) is assigned to a new book, it's up to the editor to brief them about what they want kept consistent with previous issues…and also what they might want changed. In addition to such instructions, they might supply certain past issues to use as reference — or even tell the new guy not to read certain past issues.
We have had occasional instances where a new person came onto a comic, changed things and readers were irate that he or she had not followed what had been done before. And what the irate folks didn't realize was that the new person's orders were to change the comic and they might even have been told not to read earlier issues.
But generally, the editor tells them everything they need to know and gives them the necessary reference material. Or at least, that's what the editor is supposed to do.
