Comments on: How Soon is Too Soon to Judge a Serialized Story?

By: papa zero

papa zero — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:53:39 +0000

Yeah, a pretty stale read. I dropped the book after #11.

Seriously though, I stand by my previous statement that it’s a writer’s responsibility to keep the reader engaged every issue. Given that Rebirth is set up as a mystery of sorts, much of it’s resolve will lean on the back half. The set up becomes paramount to establishing an effective resolve in a mystery – but we won’t know how well crafted the story is until we can see all the pieces. I haven’t been fond of the personality differences in Barry but regarding the story itself I’m willing to read the whole thing before I start yelling and decapitating Teen Titans.

Crisis is of course apples and oranges as you point out because of the weight of each issue and the unprecedented number of colorful costumes stacked in nearly every panel. I was mostly poking fun. But…… YES, I was incredibly frustrated watching worlds wiped out and characters erased, waiting six issues to get an inkling of what was going on, who was behind it, and why.

By: Kelson

Kelson — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:21:37 +0000

So you’re saying the only thing interesting in COIE was the Anti-Monitor? (Speaking as someone who *did* wait for each issue as it came out.)

By: Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:04:40 +0000

[...] Comics | How soon is too soon to judge a serialized comic? [Speed Force] [...]

By: Wally East

Wally East — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:39:29 +0000

There has to be *something* in the first issue that I like. A character. The art. Interesting plot thread. That said, I haven't dropped a book after the first issue. .-= Wally East’s latest blog post: Free Ice Cream =-.

By: papa zero

papa zero — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:48:41 +0000

You people would have gone bat-shit crazy waiting month by month for Crisis on Infinite Earths to reveal what in blue blazes was going on. We finally see Anti-Monitor on the last page of issue #5 if I recall correctly?

By: fastest

fastest — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:52:59 +0000

I have always wanted to be the kind of reader who waits for the trade. But I can never wait that long. The trades are beautiful, and they look awesome on my bookshelf, and I have too many longboxes in my house anyway. But if I can’t wait 30 days for the next little sliver of the story, there’s no way I’ll be able to last 6-9 months untill the story is traded.

But I wish I could.

By: fastest

fastest — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:49:15 +0000

I have, at times, dropped a series after the first issue or two. I do this because they fail to keep what little interest I had in them anyway. For instance, I have picked up Fantastic Four numerous times, at the beginning of an arc, only to have it be so bad, or unimpressive, that I drop it before the arc is over. I did the same with Dark Avengers and Mighty Avengers.

Most of the time, however, I realize that some stories need to be told in multiple parts. Right now, I’m attempting to read a few new books: Power Girl, Detective Comics, Red Robin, and Justice League by Robinson. I have differing opinions on each of them, but I know I can’t judge them completely untill each of their respective arcs are over. For instance, Justice League today, was barely the first part of a story. It felt like half of an issue. If I were the type of reader who needed more content per issue, I might take a hint and drop this book. But I know that I can’t really know what this story is all about, or if I like James Robinson on JLA, untill the whole arc is over.

The same thing is happening with Flash: Rebirth. The issues are very short (largely because I’m so excited about them I read them as fast as I can), but I think those readers who drop it now are going to be in for a major disappointment. This, like Justice League, is a story that needs to be told completely before it can be considered good or bad.

By: Neal Alhadeff

Neal Alhadeff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:49:09 +0000

If the publishers and creaters are planning to put a story out over several single issues, then they need to make sure the readers get something satisfying with each purchase. It doesn’t have to be big end-of-story caliber thrills, but it needs to be something. Otherwise, put the story in a single graphic novel and let it find its own pace.

On the other hand, I’ve found myself more and more frustrated with the pace length of story arcs these days and find myself becoming more of a “wait for the trade” buyer.

By: Kelson

Kelson — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:42:11 +0000

The story should dictate the format, not the other way around.

Oh, yeah, I definitely agree on that. (And posted a bit of a rant on the subject as it applied to Final Crisis.)

By: mattchee

mattchee — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:28:16 +0000

I think ONE issue should be the threshold. Otherwise its not being presented in the right format. If you have a book that sucks as individual issues, but reads great as a complete story (which, I’m hoping to God that is the case with ReBirth), then it should be presented as one complete story, not unsatisfactory chunks.

Like your analogy with The Illusionist. If it were a tv miniseries, it wouldn’t have succeeded. Unfortunately, we seem to be locked to idea that there is only one way to sell a comic book, so we end up with stories that may suffer because of it.

The story should dictate the format, not the other way around.