Talk:Demon (comics)

Latest comment: 1 month ago by Reidgreg in topic Plot summary length
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
March 20, 2024Guild of Copy EditorsCopyedited
Did You Know
A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on November 7, 2021.
The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that the original release of Jason Shiga's comic Demon included a four-page issue, a sixty-page issue, and an issue in which all the panels were black?

Page creation edit

This page was created following a request to do so on Wikipedia:WikiProject Webcomics/Requests. The requester also mentioned a number of other sources which I haven't incorporated into the article yet. The full list of sources provided is:

HenryCrun15 (talk) 02:55, 2 January 2020 (UTC)Reply

Requested move 6 January 2020 edit

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: page moved. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 05:24, 7 January 2020 (UTC)Reply


moved Anthony Appleyard (talk) 05:23, 7 January 2020 (UTC)Reply

Demon (comic)Demon (comics) – per WP:NCC Oornery (talk) 22:10, 6 January 2020 (UTC)Reply

This is a contested technical request (permalink). Anthony Appleyard (talk) 22:47, 6 January 2020 (UTC)Reply

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Did you know nomination edit

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Theleekycauldron (talk) 05:15, 1 November 2021 (UTC)Reply

5x expanded by Reidgreg (talk) and HenryCrun15 (talk). Nominated by Reidgreg (talk) at 16:20, 10 September 2021 (UTC).Reply

General: Article is new enough and long enough
Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
  • Cited:  
  • Interesting:  
QPQ: Done.

Overall:   Going with the default hook since that's more clearly worded. Everything checks out here. Cat's Tuxedo (talk) 08:10, 15 September 2021 (UTC)Reply

ALT0 to T:DYK/P5

Plot summary length edit

@The Rambling Man: Thanks for your attention to the article. I also had some concerns about the length of the plot summary when writing that section. (My first decent draft was around 1600 words; it's now under 900.) I did not find specific plot size recommendations for comics or graphic novels. Demon is considered an epic work at 720 pages and has a complicated plot. For a rough idea of what was acceptable, I took a look at graphic novels listed at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Writing about fiction § List of exemplary articles (all of these passed FAC about 13 years ago, so consensus may have changed). Watchmen is a good example for a complex graphic novel, with over 1000 words of plot synopsis (830 of plot summary) summarizing about 450 pages of material. Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards is also complex, and has about 700 words of plot summary for 165 pages of material. "Sinestro Corps War" has about 660 words of plot summary for 336 pages of source material. (The other FA examples are for long series which are more difficult to compare.)

They seem to be holding at 700 words as a general figure, but I felt at the time that the complexity and length of Demon placed it closer to Watchmen. It could certainly be rewritten, but I don't really want to work toward an arbitrary figure just to have someone come along with a different figure and retag it. What do you think? Is there a guideline I missed? – Reidgreg (talk) 16:44, 7 November 2021 (UTC)Reply

Well yes, MOS:PLOT suggests 700 words as the ceiling, so that's what I would aim to achieve. This applies to all fictional plot sections regardless of the size of the source material. The Rambling Man (Keep wearing the mask...) 16:48, 7 November 2021 (UTC)Reply
MOS:PLOT does not give a general guideline for wordcount. It suggests plot sections be balanced with the length of other sections and with the story itself, and defers to subject-specific guidelines such as 400–700 words for films (MOS:FILM#Plot). I've taken the plot down from 895 words to 780, a little over one word per page of the graphic novel. – Reidgreg (talk) 19:17, 20 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

This has languished for a while so I've requested a copyedit at WP:GOCER. For the copyeditor who responds: Plot sections should summarize the overall plot to give readers a general sense of it and allow the rest of the article to be understandable. They should not cover every scene and for comics issue-by-issue summaries are frowned upon. Here, the plot is somewhat complex, the author having designed it as a series of puzzles to be solved, and some of it is non-linear (ie: not in strict chronological order). I'd appreciate an opinion on the length (though from the FA examples above, I feel this is fine), and any help or advice on making the plot section more clearly understandable. Thanks. – Reidgreg (talk) 17:40, 26 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

As part of the requested copy edit, I trimmed a bit of detail from the plot summary and expanded it in a few places to help explain the story to someone who has not read it. If I got any of the facts wrong, please correct my errors. I think the word count is just over 750 words now, and it seems about right in terms of details.
In an unrelated note, it would be nice to have a publication history section like the one at Owly#Publication history. As a reader of collected comics printed in book form, it can sometimes be challenging to figure out how many volumes have been printed and what they are called, so that I can find them at my library or bookseller. A section like that helps a lot. – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:09, 21 March 2024 (UTC)Reply
@Jonesey95: Looks good, thanks a lot! I added a table for the collected volumes with sources. – Reidgreg (talk) 05:20, 21 March 2024 (UTC)Reply