Comic scraps

[abacus]

Comic stories set in the victorian age for some odd reason always seem to work well for me in comic books

Black/white photo stories such as used in Blue Jeans and some other comics I never found interesting.

There is much to applaud in todays comic art but why can't they create complete stories in a single comic book instead of creating part works.?

[philcom55]

Towards the end of the 1960s Marvel Comics did briefly revive the old policy of printing a complete story in each issue of their comic books. Unfortunately it didn't prove to be very popular with most readers so they quickly dropped the idea and went back to multi-issue mega-epics. Personally I don't mind continued storylines all that much as long as they have a proper beginning and end; the thing I hate about so many current American series is the way in which each six-issue arc invariably ends on an even bigger cliff-hanger - presumably so people will keep buying each new trade collection!

[Lew Stringer]

Comic stories set in the victorian age for some odd reason always seem to work well for me in comic books

Black/white photo stories such as used in Blue Jeans and some other comics I never found interesting.

There is much to applaud in todays comic art but why can't they create complete stories in a single comic book instead of creating part works.?

Most American comics (and UK comics done in that style, like Titan's output) are designed for the collected book now. I don't think some comics could survive without the additional revenue generated by the trade paperbacks. Personally, I find it's often counter-productive though, as some plots are so thin they don't merit a multi-part story so each issue feels very slight.

[abacus]

For older readers there has to be a comparison with the past and this is accentuated with now being able to read even older comics on the net.Complete stories with beginning middle and end were often told in less than a dozen pages.In my own younger days a comic book often contained two complete stories.Obviously we are now in different times and I can see that some new stories need to be played out in part works but I would have thought established characters can appear in one issue stories without losing fandom to buy more.

[Lew Stringer]

For older readers there has to be a comparison with the past and this is accentuated with now being able to read even older comics on the net.Complete stories with beginning middle and end were often told in less than a dozen pages.In my own younger days a comic book often contained two complete stories.Obviously we are now in different times and I can see that some new stories need to be played out in part works but I would have thought established characters can appear in one issue stories without losing fandom to buy more.

Yes, we live in good times for comics, in that not only do we have today's comics but also access to books that reprint material from decades ago. I'd recommend Yoe Books' hardcover collections of 1950s horror comics for example...
http://yoebooks.com/horror_books.php

All of Marvel's 1960s superhero material has been collected in book form over the years too.
http://www.marvelmasterworks.com/library.html

Most of those early Marvel Masterworks are out of print now, but they currently have the Epic Collection paperbacks which are good value. DC are reprinting 50s/60s/70s material again too.

...and of course Rebellion are joining in with their upcoming range of 1970s reprints of British strips.

In a way, it doesn't matter if modern comics don't appeal to older readers, because there's loads of old material back in print that we may not have read. Good times indeed.

[paw broon]

Being the awkward old sod I am, I have to say that the Marvel MW and DC Archives just don't appeal nearly as much as the originals. This is a nostalgia thing as I lovingly recall that newsprint feeling and look of the paper they were originally printed on. I believe from what some pros tell me that a lot if not all of the Marvel and DC colour collections were re-coloured.
These long multi-part storylines, and all the useless crossovers for that matter, are created, to bring the reader/fan back for more but, as Lew notes, "some plots are so thin they don't merit a multi-part story so each issue feels very slight." And I would tend to agree that, as Lew notes, it is "counter-productive". I don't think I'm your target audience for modern, mainstream American comics, although I do buy and read a few issues from time to time, but all the continued, crossover stuff puts me off. As has been said, at one time American comics, single character based or anthology books, featured single complete in one go stories. There was an extended storyline and a crossover in some Fawcett comics with Captain Marvel and their other heroes, but that's the exception. And they could often turn out high quality stories in a relatively few pages. You only have to take a look at Quality's output to find well crafted short stories with excellent art. And you can do that safely online as most all of it is pd.
Admission time again - I do tend to wait for the tpb of a series that has interested me. e.g., I bought the collection of the first parts of Future Quest, well, you just have to, it's got Space Ghost (if this were a Smilie it would say, HOORAY!) also the Alan Moore book, Providence and I have on order the collections of Batman 66 meets various folk.
One of the main villains for publishing "thin" issues is dynamite and while I'm a Red Sonja fan and actually quite like Dynamitebringing her to modern times, the 3 issues I've read don't get very far, imo and so, I'll now wait for a collection. Counter productive, as I and perhaps many more wont buy the floppies and will wait for collections, it might eventually mean no need for floppies. Good or bad?

[Lew Stringer]

Being the awkward old sod I am, I have to say that the Marvel MW and DC Archives just don't appeal nearly as much as the originals. This is a nostalgia thing as I lovingly recall that newsprint feeling and look of the paper they were originally printed on. I believe from what some pros tell me that a lot if not all of the Marvel and DC colour collections were re-coloured.

When the Masterworks line started in the 1990s they recoloured the strips, giving them a modern tone (which wasn't too popular with purists, naturally). In the second (or third) printings they were re-coloured to the same specifications of the original comics, which unfortunately makes them too garish on the high quality paper the books are printed on. (The 100% blues and suchlike were intended for newsprint.) However they seem to be a little more subtle in recent years than they used to be so they may be adjusting the colour percentages. One gets used to it anyway.

In some cases, such as the 1940s Marvel strips, the pages have even been "restored" (redrawn/traced) from the old comics, resulting in the dead-looking linework of such tracings by inferior hands, lacking the life of the original artist's line. However, I understand they've used a different technique in more recent times so more recent volumes look better.

Even with such flaws, it's still a good way to obtain the old stories.

In the case of Yoe Books, they scan the actual comics and meticulously adjust them for reprinting, retaining the original linework and colouring which looks more subtle (and accurate) than the garish recolouring that Marvel do.

[abacus]

I have found the DC millenium reprints excellent.

Usually swayed by the artwork when buying today's comics, this includes anything from the 90's onwards.
The only snag is I have sometimes failed to understand or follow the storyline.I would rate myself as having average intelligence sometimes bright , sometimes dull but some storylines seem beyond me.This never seemed to happen when reading comics of an earlier age.
When confronted with these type of comics that I don't enjoy and also thinking there might be others who may find them difficult I don't keep them as part of my collection.

I bought a U.K. printed version of MARVEL GHOST RIDER autumn special 1992 when on holiday a few weeks ago merely for the fact it contained two complete stories .I didn't think I would enjoy it that much but thankfully I was wrong and in this particular issue two memorable stories
one being for me a real favourite about a blind boy praying to santa claus for help and thinking Ghost Rider was santa when he came to his aid.

[abacus]

I note the following incident because it interested me at the time and gave me slight pause for thought.
Apologies for wandering off the normal forum script.
I was in a charity shop a few days ago when an elderly gentleman walked in and said he was looking for sci-fi books for his nephew.
He asked if there were any books by John Wyndham and when none were found asked then for Arthur C Clarke or Isaac Asimov but again with no luck.
Like many of you I was familiar with these writers and had read many of their works.
As he was leaving the shop he paused where I was sorting through DC and Marvel comics and said that he didn't know anything about comics but could I pick out a sci-fi comic for him.
What could I choose ? against the writers he had quoted earlier ,comics were a totally trivial entertainment art.
He seem to be in a slight hurry and when he spotted Robocop comic he said that would do and took it to the counter and yet I was thinking that if his nephew was a serious sci-fi reader he was going to be disappointed.

I know there are adult graphic novels but I would put comics more akin to movies than book reading.

Remember those old black and white movies that always ended with a short worded punchline well that's how I like my comics to end.
I have been catching up reading many of the comics I have bought recently some I have been disappointed in, some distinctly average, a few good ones and the occasional exceptional one which makes buying comics enjoyable.
DC's STARMAN father's day being for me one of the best of the bunch.

[stevezodiac]

Lew, are those yoebooks volumes in colour or black and white? It isn't mentioned on the website.