I recently had occasion to re-read some Fantastic Four comics originally published in 1981. Clunky dialogue and crude printing aside, they really were some beautifully drawn and very entertaining stories, but the thing that really struck me this time around was the writer’s approach to the comics as individual, self-contained stories. Each issue was a complete story with a conclusion (barring the odd two-part story), but at some point there would be a little one or two page scene setting up next issue’s tale. This accomplished two important things very well: readers would (hopefully) be intrigued enough to buy the next issue of the series, yet the book would provide a satisfying, complete story for first time or irregular readers.
Currently, the comic book market is almost entirely driven by the trade paperback. Usually a collected volume reprinting groups of single issues (or “floppies,” as they are starting to be called), trade paperbacks emerged in the mid-1980s as a way to get popular comics material into the coveted book store market, as well as make out of print material available to new readers.
Two of the most successful trade paperbacks of all time are without a doubt Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen, and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, partly because they were new and much talked about series at the time when comics were starting to hit the book stores, but mostly because in both cases the single issues were written as chapters of a larger work rather than individual stories. Before long, comics creators began planning their material in four to six issue story arcs, with the inevitable trade paperback firmly in mind.
For the most part, this development has been a positive one, allowing for more sophisticated and challenging material to be presented, and more importantly, giving comics a much longer shelf life than they had previously enjoyed on the newsstand, where last month’s issue would be taken off the shelves as soon as the new one came out, and if you missed it you were just out of luck.
The trade paperback has been so successful in transforming the comics industry that for several years now the future of the monthly comic book has been in serious doubt. More and more, comics fans will wait for the trade paperback rather than buy single issues – that way they get a complete story that fits neatly on a bookshelf, and avoid many of the headaches associated with collecting and storing comic books.
Many have argued that the future for monthly comics lies on the internet, but that’s only partially true. There is a thriving web comics community out there, but studies have shown that internet users are unwilling to read more than a few pages of material while sitting at their computers. For the most part web comics have taken their cues from newspaper strips, with comics, usually no more than a page long and frequently relying on a humorous punchline, casts of recurring characters, and revenue generated primarily from secondary merchandise such as t-shirts and coffee cups.
The iPhone, iPad, Kindle, and the inevitable slew of aftermarket imitations are currently changing the face of publishing in general, and comics publishers are taking their first timid steps into this new market. So far, they are using electronic delivery mainly as a way to promote their printed comics, but this is slowly changing as they realize that the potential to reach new readers is staggering.
While at present publishers are offering mainly electronic versions of previously printed material, it’s only a matter of time before writers and artists start approaching their work with the advantages and limitations of electronic publishing in mind. We are likely to see smaller pages with much simpler layouts, bolder and brighter artwork, scalable word balloons, and, believe it or not, shorter stories, paced to be read during a bus commute to work on a break between classes. Gimmicks like music, sound effects and animation are likely to come and go, as readers will ultimately find these things distracting to what will still essentially be the experience of reading a comic book.
– Jefferson Powers
A month ago I bought a Android Devour and one of the first apps I downloaded was, “Vintage Comics.”
It contains lots of different titles from the 30s, 40s and 50s. It’s great to have all of these at my fingertips but unfortunately the pages don’t fit on the screen so like Jefferson mentioned I don’t really read more than one page at a time. Because the whole page doesn’t fit on the screen this app would be better on one of the pads and not a phone but I’m really glad that it’s available.
I do enjoy sitting down with a graphic novel and read a whole story line in one shot but I hope the monthly issues keep rolling out forever because I like coming home with a stack of different titles and reading through them even more.
One thing that wasn’t mentioned in this article is motion comics. I’ve only watched the Spider Woman comics thanks to Hulu. I felt cheated because the motion is really only pans and zooms of the art from the comic. A lot of the detail was lost and the overall experience left me unfulfilled. I had a much better experience reading the book. I still like the smell of a new book and turning the pages over having the everything done for me.
I agree that motion comics seem overly gimmicky, a crude attempt to sell comics as animation. It’s great that archives of older comics are becoming available for e-readers, and I see that as a major part of the transition away from print – there is tons of pre-existing material that can be re-sold in the new electronic format, just as the majority of the trade paperback market consists of reprints of old material.
I think there are plenty of readers unwilling to give up print or the idea that they want a physical artifact when they buy a comic book, and only a few will switch away from print. The potential here is for new readers who don’t have the time or the energy to go into a comic book shop every week, and for former readers who quit reading comics because of the expense and hassle.