For my money, the master of dialogue is David Mamet. I had an English teacher in high school who assigned “American Buffalo” and I was amazed by Mamet’s writing. He writes ultra-naturalistic dialogue that frequently consists of the sort of sentence fragments, incomplete thoughts, and one or two word answers that people actually employ in daily conversation. It can be maddening when reading a script because real conversation relies so much on non-verbal elements to communicate meaning, but it lends itself perfectly to performance because of the visual element.

Mamet’s style would work wonderfully for comics and aspiring creators could learn a thing or two from it.

Great points on the “di” art of dialogue, and I totally agree, and it is sometimes easier to single out great monologues as general “dialogue” mistakenly. We did mention Ellis, but skipped over it since we threw in kind of a blanket statement about how great he can be, and Moore is a given.

I should also add MY favorite dialogue (I blanked on the question, and cut out a rambly answer) comes a lot from the Hellboy comics, which admittedly might fall more into the monologue-ish category you were talking about. I’m also a big fan of Craig Thompson’s writing in Blankets, with the ending line:

“How satisfying it is to leve a mark on a blank surface, to make a map of my movement, no matter how temporary”

Which again, is narration, not dialogue. But still moves me deeply whenever I read it.

So there you go, a minor thesis for a minor thesis. Thanks for the constructive comments, and hope you stay tuned. Like I said, the topics and structure will only get tighter (hopefully).

And of course, maybe you guys do have one, and I’ve ended up sounding like an ass. Sorry

Here’s my main sticking point about dialogue. I totally agree with Chris and Caitlin about some of the great lines in comics. But something that I personally think sets great dialogue apart from good dialogue is…well, the “di” part. Great dialogue is when characters really feel like they’re talking to each other. I love Quentin Tarantino and Frank Miller to death, and I’ll agree they come up with great lines and great monologues, but great dialogue is something that they rarely actually give. That’s part of the style of their writing, having characters so independent and badass that it’s great to just hear them “think aloud”.

But that’s why I always give Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, and my personal master example, Garth Ennis, the edge when it comes to this. When Tommy Monaghan sits in a bar moaning about his internal conflicts in Hitman, you actually get the sense that he’s unburdening himself, and that he really wants to hear what his pals have to say, and it is indeed always great to hear them respond. For all that Ennis is known for writing smug arseholes, he writes characters who really share their insights and feelings when they talk to each other, learning from each other to the point that it feels like payoff when they get to agreeing. Few things for me top the “Laurel and Hardy” exchange between Jesse and Cassidy in Preacher’s second volume.

Minor thesis there, but I still loved the podcast and hearing all the thoughts on dialogue, guys. Rocket on! (/bad dialogue)

And Cartilage Head, truly unsettling.

Also, thank you for including my very, very important question. While she seems pretty darn awesome, I can safely say I will not be among the fans proposing marriage to her, due to her choosing B.A. over Howling Mad Murdock.