A while back, I was looking at a lot of my favorite comics writers - - Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, to name a few - - and realized they all had something in common. All of them cut their teeth in 2000 AD, which is the UK’s premier comics anthology (and home to likes of Judge Dredd.) So I picked up some trades - - my favorite being DREDD VS. DEATH - - and quickly found out why. The creators have to tell their stories in increments of eight pages or less, so there's a much greater onus on tight storytelling. That whole magazine's basically a textbook on pacing for comics. 

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of  HYBRID BASTARDS! &UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazonhere  & here.

Great article Tom!
I have noticed that a lot of aspiring comic book writers tend to follow a pattern of trying to be very much like those in Marvel and DC, but don't broaden their "Style" of writing, when there's so much creativity out there and there's new things that have yet to be told in comics...  I can't say from personal experience because my comic book reading limits itself to mostly Marvel and DC but some of my favorite series are out of those companies... and those horizons could even be broaden more if people were to take a look into the storytelling in chapter books

Dredd vs. Death huh. Cool, I've been looking to get into some Judge Dredd for a while.

I totally agree with you. 
As an aspiring comic book writer, i not only read comic books, but anything i could get my hands on. Be it Manga, newspapers, Biographys, scripts. Any kind of reading material you could think of.   
I think what youre talking about is researching. Researching IS writing. If a writer cant research, he isnt a writer. As a writer, you must learn flexibility. And fleixiility can only be learned from research,

I totally agree with you. This idea is partially what spurred me to start working my way through old issues of Heavy Metal Magazine - well, that and the dearth of space opera comics in the West, outside of licensed works and works in the Marvel & DC Universes.

Metabarons is one of the best comics ever!

The lack of restrictions and the seriousness that the international cats take is definitely are "teachable moments". LOL!!! 

great article!  I remember Alan Moore's stories about learning too write with short page counts.

I feel for you Americans because many of the best European comics come from France and don't get translated to English.

It really is a shame because Le Tendre & Loisel's "La quête de l'oiseau du temps" (The Quest of the Time Bird) would blow the mind of any fantasy fan.

Loisel's "Peter Pan" is simply the best version of the story bar none. His Tinkerbell is unforgettable, his settings and characters are suitably Dickensian and dark, yet without ever losing the playfulness and rambunctiousness of childhood.

Yslaire's "Sambre" is an artistic and narrative masterpiece and the best expression of Romanticism (the 19th c. artistic movement, not the sappy Hollywood definition) that you'll ever find in comic book form.

"Je suis Légion" by Fabien Nury and John Cassaday... and I could go on for ages.

These comics have the distinct advantage of having no editorial mandate weighing on them. The creators can do anything they want with the characters, they can tell the story they had in mind and then it's "the end", and heroes are much harder to come by. 

American, European, Japanese comics... it truly is a never-ending pleasure to be able to enjoy all of them.

And of course, if you are an aspiring comic book writer looking for inspiration, one of the first things you should do is search outside of comics. This goes for every artistic endeavour, really: you'd be doing yourself a great disservice by limiting yourself to the confines of your field.

So what is the best European comics out there?..Any recommendations?

Juan Solo by Alejandro Jodorowsky is a good read  and Red Ketchup(from Quebec) by Real Goubout and Pierre Fournier.

'SFunny, you know, reading comics is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman... 
 
I think it's odd that when you got to a comic book convention over here (Last one I went to was in Birmingham) It's mind blowing to see the variety of different types of comic that are presented. Surely, it's the same at some of the conventions in America, but the size and type of convention in Birmingham made it feel almost intimate. It wasn't a very big space, and there were more indie people there than anything else. I spent so much money on comics of all genre's it made my girlfriend's face drain of blood. 
 
Anyway, back on the task at hand - Comics from England, and Europe are *actually* amazing. There are so many beautifully scripted, and drawn and just perfectly crafted comics out there in France that it's hard to not come across one that you enjoy, or like, even if you can't speak French.  So, do yourself a favour, and if you're not reading something French, Italian, or Spanish, grab something undeniably British. You won't be disappointed.

I've enjoyed such titles as Metabarons, the Incal, and Heavy Metal magazine for years.  You can see that the creators of the movie the Fifth Element enjoyed these titles as well.  The comics industry does use outlandish ideas, but these are stail now.  european comics use outlandish ideas and twist them on their asses.  The only comics I've read from the states that were different were: swamp thing, planetary, the monarchy, hellblazer, and preacher. By the way, most of those titles were written by guys from across the pond.

I loved Storm (not the Marvel one) and The Trigan Empire.