BARRY
WINDSOR-SMITH: STORYTELLER (1995 - 1997)
During the decade following his return to comics in 1984, BWS created
a wide variety of works for a host of publishers. In late 1995 the accomplished
artist and writer decided to explore a new paradigm for the American
comics form. He had been working on ideas for several original, creator-owned
series,
and
formulated a plan to publish three of these titles - The FREEBOOTERS, Young
GODS and The PARADOXMAN in serialized
installments in a monthly omnibus comics magazine to be called Barry
Windsor Smith:STORYTELLER.
Windsor-Smith's goal for STORYTELLER was to create comics
that would appeal to a sophisticated adult audience. The writing
and graphic storytelling on the new series were characterized by a naturalistic,
organic flow
of
dialog
and
pacing,
reflecting
all
that BWS had learned over the span of his career.
BWS was also determined to make the new magazine physically distinctive
by making it noticeably larger than the standard 6 1/2” x 10” pamphlet-like
size of virtually every comic book being published. The reason was
that Windsor-Smith hoped, with his new book, to attract a wider, more
mature and mainstream audience than was being targeted by modern American
comic books. The larger size was intended to allow STORYTELLER to fit in,
or rather stand out, in the primary marketplace it was intended for - the
newsstand. |