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Tardis:Comics and spoilers: Difference between revisions
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{{moss|Because comics are published over the course of months, there are special rules that apply to them.}}{{lock}} | {{moss|Because comics are published over the course of months, there are special rules that apply to them.}}{{lock}} | ||
{{sc|T:COMIC SPOIL}} | {{sc|T:COMIC SPOIL}} | ||
As compared with stories in other media, comic stories take ages to be fully published. So editors can start a page about that story from the [[T:OFF REL|official release]] of the very first instalment. | |||
== Keep story pages focused to released instalments only == | |||
When writing a comic story page, don't go beyond what has transpired in the story '''''as currently published''''' at the time you're editing it. | |||
== Writing about things within the story == | |||
It is often a safer course of action to wait until the story has been ''completely'' published before starting articles about the narrative elements, like characters, places or gizmos. | |||
But you're '''not prohibited''' from writing about things that have already appeared in a published instalment. | |||
*according to Character | |||
*in the opinion of Character | If you choose to start an article about a narrative element ''before the story is fully published'', it's a good idea to write about your subject without assuming that the story is telling you the full truth. Phrases like the following helps to protect against surprises when the next instalment is published: | ||
*at the time that such and such happened, Character C | * ''according to Character X ... | ||
* ''in the opinion of Character B ... | |||
* ''at the time that such and such happened, Character C said ... | |||
== Dealing with cliffhangers == | |||
Multi-issue comic stories are a [[serial]] narrative form. They therefore use [[cliffhanger]]s whose main purpose is to ''misdirect'' the reader. | |||
Taking early parts of a comic story at face value is often a very unwise idea, as comic writers delight in telling lies that will sell issues. You must be ''very'' careful. Think about most of the good televised cliffhangers. If this wiki had been going when ''[[The Caves of Androzani (TV story)|The Caves of Androzani]]'' premiered, we could potentially have written that the Fifth Doctor and Peri got shot by a firing squad — something that never actually happened. This sort of ''total'' misdirection happens at the conclusion of almost every instalment of modern comic stories. | Taking early parts of a comic story at face value is often a very unwise idea, as comic writers delight in telling lies that will sell issues. You must be ''very'' careful. Think about most of the good televised cliffhangers. If this wiki had been going when ''[[The Caves of Androzani (TV story)|The Caves of Androzani]]'' premiered, we could potentially have written that the Fifth Doctor and Peri got shot by a firing squad — something that never actually happened. This sort of ''total'' misdirection happens at the conclusion of almost every instalment of modern comic stories. | ||
For this reason, it's probably best if you do not ascribe ''any'' certainty to ''anything'' contained in a comic ''cliffhanger'' until the story is completely published. | For this reason, it's probably best if you do not ascribe ''any'' certainty to ''anything'' contained in a comic ''cliffhanger'' until the story is completely published. | ||
