Comic Book General Thread

[Reynard]

Although I get what you mean, I'm not sure I totally agree. I have quite a few 'collections of arcs' in HC sitting on my shelf that I did really enjoy. And I enjoyed reading them 'by the arc' (4 to 6 issues or so), instead of having to wait for a full month to get the next 22-page installment of the same story.

I was not clear:

The way stories were written changed once the TPB market got big. They stopped telling stories in the number of issues they took. They started telling stories in the number of issues that made for a good TPB (5 or 6 usually). That meant a lot of times stories were stretched out with filler. More rarely they were rushed. But it changed comics storytelling significantly, and not for the better.

 

[abazaba]

I was not clear:

I think you were, so perhaps it was me who did not make oneself clear.


I have quite a few HC/TPB collections on my shelf that I really enjoyed. And I guess you may not have enjoyed these same stories, for the reason you specify. Or perhaps we are both talking about a different time period: my TPB/HC collection is 'mostly' from early 2000's to about 2018 or so. Or perhaps I just somehow managed to get the few good stories published in that time-frame.

 

[gnarlygninja]

The 2000s are after decrompression became the norm in comic books. Compare anything from that time period to say, The Phoenix Saga in terms of pacing.

 

[jian]

Certainly one kind of story that doesn't suit TPBs terribly well is the kind of thing Chris Claremont does/did all the time, where you lay the seed about 12 issues earlier and then have occasional references and updates for a year before plunging into a major storyline for 2 issues, taking a break, and then coming back to it in a 3-issue miniseries or another parallel title a bit later, and then finally finishing it off with a finale of 2 issues in the main title a few months later. You can certainly do a TPB of the 7 issues where the main storyline happens, but it can feel quite disjointed and incomplete.

This sort of thing is better read in a Marvel Masterworks format which just collects all the stuff Claremont wrote every year over 1977-1983 or whatever so you can see it all laid out chronologically. I've read a lot of these for the X-men from the library recently and seen quite a few things I didn't read back in the day, such as the Magik limited series (which honestly mostly gave me the ick but it is a somewhat necessary part of Illyana's story).

 

[Reynard]

I think you were, so perhaps it was me who did not make oneself clear.


I have quite a few HC/TPB collections on my shelf that I really enjoyed. And I guess you may not have enjoyed these same stories, for the reason you specify. Or perhaps we are both talking about a different time period: my TPB/HC collection is 'mostly' from early 2000's to about 2018 or so. Or perhaps I just somehow managed to get the few good stories published in that time-frame.

I think stories (of any medium) are better when they are exactly the length they need to be. I am not saying there are no good 5 issue arcs in ongoing titles, but I maintain that IMO many of those 5 issue stories could have been 2 or 3 issues, and would have been better for it.

 

[abazaba]

The 2000s are after decrompression became the norm in comic books. Compare anything from that time period to say, The Phoenix Saga in terms of pacing.

Thanks for the clarification. But although I am fully aware of 'The Phoenix Saga', I have never actually read it myself (I was never much of a fan of the X-Men in general), so I cannot make any direct comparisons to that. So I guess I should compare it to stuff from the 70's and 80's ?. I did read a lot of comics then, but (unfortunately ?) the most of it was translated and re-packaged stuff in my native language (sorry, non-native English speaking person here) so I've had a hard time trying to find the equivalent original English publications. From that era, I've read a lot of Hulk and Spider-Man, some Defenders, and a lot of what appears to have been 'Marvel Team-Up' stories from around then.

 

[abazaba]

This sort of thing is better read in a Marvel Masterworks format

I am aware of the format, but it seemed really expensive at the time. I do have a few TPB's from the black & white 'Marvel Essential' series: at least some Marvel Team-Up and Defenders (and probably Spider-Man and Hulk, but I can't remember and they are in storage so I cannot easily find them right now.)

 

[jian]

I am aware of the format, but it seemed really expensive at the time. I do have a few TPB's from the black & white 'Marvel Essential' series: at least some Marvel Team-Up and Defenders (and probably Spider-Man and Hulk, but I can't remember and they are in storage so I cannot easily find them right now.)

Also, it’s not as if all writers or comics did this, even back then; I think a lot of classic stories work well as TPBs even though they didn’t plan it that way.

And yeah, Masterworks etc are pretty expensive - if you can read them via the library (Libby or similar apps help) then that’s a great saving. I’m not sure how well that works in your first language, though.

 

[abazaba]

Also, it’s not as if all writers or comics did this, even back then; I think a lot of classic stories work well as TPBs even though they didn’t plan it that way.

And yeah, Masterworks etc are pretty expensive - if you can read them via the library (Libby or similar apps help) then that’s a great saving. I’m not sure how well that works in your first language, though.

Well, the 'good part' here is that it does not have to be in my first language anymore today; I seem to have a decent grasp of the English language now. I was trying to say that in the 70's and early 80's (when I was about ten-ish or younger), (originally in English) comics were not easily available to me (even if I already understood the langue back then, can't remember), so I find it hard to find the original titles of the translated comics I read back then. I did not mean to say that I cannot read or write any English today. Hope this makes sense.

 

[jian]

Well, the 'good part' here is that it does not have to be in my first language anymore today; I seem to have a decent grasp of the English language now. I was trying to say that in the 70's and early 80's (when I was about ten-ish or younger), (originally in English) comics were not easily available to me (even if I already understood the langue back then, can't remember), so I find it hard to find the original titles of the translated comics I read back then. I did not mean to say that I cannot read or write any English today. Hope this makes sense.

In that case I guess it depends where you live and how easy it is to access a library with the comics you want to read in any language, at least digitally?