Decompression

palmers · Forum Member Joined: Jun 07, 2002 Posts: 379

This is a simple one: when you pay $2.75 or whatever for a comic these days, does it take long enough to read? Are we happy with the big pictures and few words, or do we want more?

IMP.
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OrcaDesignStudios · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:54 pm Post subject: Re: Decompression

Christ, I wish a comic only cost $2.75. Despite the strength of the Canadian dollars, the SOBs still gouge the shit out of us -- Green Lantern and All-Star Supes cost me $4/issue and Conan is $4.25. If I'd bought Hulk: Nightmerica when it came out, it would have cost me $4.75/issue (instead I got all 6 as a package for $10).

So, yeah, the short version of my answer is that I generally feel that I should be getting more than I am.
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dlfurman · Forum Member Joined: Jun 18, 2002 Posts: 106

I'm old school. I dont want to buy trades.

I think DC is on the right track. I was listening to a podcast from DC comics and one of the things stated was that folks are coming into the stores every week, there should be something there that keeps them coming back. There should be a surprise each week. (The essence of that anyways.)

palmers · Forum Member Joined: Jun 07, 2002 Posts: 379

I don't know how Canadian dollars compare with American, but of course I buy in pounds sterling, so it's all foreign currency to me.

I have a theory that some of the decompression comes from the incursion in the last few years of writers from Hollywood, who think of a story arc of six issues or so as equivalent to a TV episode, when they should be thinking of each monthly issue as an episode. But I'm only guessing, and might be full of crap.

But I'm currently reading the Essential Moon Knight, and although Doug Moench isn't my favourite writer, if he can write a satisfying adventure in one issue which feels like - and as substantial as - a Seventies TV episode, then so can anyone else.

In all honesty, comics writing of average quality isn't very hard: I think some writers could manage more of it per issue, and perhaps their editors should require them to.

IMP.
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palmers · Forum Member Joined: Jun 07, 2002 Posts: 379

dlfurman's right, too. I'm in the LCS every week, and one reason I read so many reprints is that I often can't find a new comic which looks worth the money.

IMP.
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electranaut · Forum Member Joined: Jan 03, 2004 Posts: 91

I think it depends on a few different factors. Back when I was buying Unexpected, or HOM or any of those anthology-type comics, I was always astonished at just how many stories they could cram in an issue. The astonishing part was that they weren't awful and didn't suffer from having to tell a whole story in four or five pages. I think that was a sign of good, skilfull writing, where the compression was well-thought and deftly handled. In that respect, I thought they were good value for money.

By that same token, although I used to read 2000AD on and off, I thought it was a pretty poor amount of "bang for the buck." As I learned through my dealings with their sub-editors, the in-house style of 2000AD meant that the visual was all and words should be pared to a minimum. I never agreed with that as a blanket philosophy, since I think it depends entirely on what you're trying to say- I've seen stories that are almost entirely visual and it works for that story, and some where a few well-chosen images punctuating a dense stream of narrative also makes for an unforgettable experience (for a film equivalent of that, check out Chris Marker's "La Jetee," if you can get hold of it. It was the inspiration for Twelve Monkeys and consists of nothing but still photographs and narration and it's absolutely breathtaking; very moving and totally unforgettable).

A lot of Manga, it seems, is composed of a page with something like two frames on it, and every five or six pages you get a character that says "...!" which to me, is difficult to follow. If you buy this stuff in episodic form I consider it a bit pointless; at best it works as a whole story in collected form. Still, it's very popular so it must appeal to some.

Personally, I like a rather text-heavier comic. That could be through expositional captions or just thick dialogue- Apart from serving their purpose to move the story along, words can mean a prolonged reading experience or they can mean you have to re-examine the comic to absorb all that's being said. Sometimes- if the writing is uber-slick- you can see things years later you didn't pick up the first time. I find that to be added value; after all, it doesn't cost the comics company any more to print five hundred words on a page than it does to print five. A good artist can use these words to maximum effect too- what the writer misses out can be filled in by the art and vice versa. It's definitely a symbiotic relationship so far as the finished article is concerned.

All I know is that I was happier paying my cash for my once-monthly dose of the wordier Hellblazer than I was for my text-lite copy of 2000AD or 45 pages of AKIRA serialisation where no one spoke for 44 pages of it.