Having only read comics since the mid-80’s, the most drastic change in comics books over that period has been story decompression, otherwise known as “writing for trade”. This phenomena has gotten much worse recently, now that almost every comic is a candidate for a trade version of their title. In the U.S a comic book runs between and average of $3.00 to $4.00 an issue, it is an upside down concept to be stretching a story idea over more issues, but this is common.
This isn’t done everywhere. Morrison’s All Star Superman, Waid’s Empire, and Dini’s Detective comics tell very dense, rich tales in a short space. 52 managed to do it in a weekly soap opera kind of way. These are the exceptions.
The rule is more like New Avengers #50, where the characters give pages upon pages of exposition, and battle scenes are pages of cutaways to the protagonists for more expositions. An extra sized comic that, plot-wise, could have been told in a regular sized issue with room left over. (Sorry, but this was a recent and strong example).
DC’s Trinity is not a story without merit, but this year-long Elseworld story overstayed its welcome due to the sheer amount of information given about this alternate universe. Was there really enough story in the recent Tangent mini for that many issues? Just look at how many first issues of a series are so much explanation and setup, with a quick cliffhanger nearly tacked on to the end.
I’m not picking on just the titles above, this problem is common throughout the industry. Not being an insider at any comic book company, I cannot say for sure why this is done, but what follows are my theories:
1. Comics are their own medium – Comic books don’t need large establishing shots, lots of personal dialogue, long conventional fight scenes or detailed explanations. Some writers seem to be adapting a screenplay style to their comic work, forgetting that just as comics don’t often translate well directly to a live-action medium like movies or television, that the same holds in the opposite direction. Movie style pacing is often too slow, and a lot of the detail that has to be explicit in a movie can be implicit through the combination of written and artistic storytelling. Which leads to…
2. Show, don’t tell – Comic book readers have imaginations, and are generally clever folk. Watchmen is the poster child for this. The details in the background of the story tell the reader things that never have to be said directly by the characters. They add depth without slowing the story. As long as Watchmen is, the story moves. On the other hand, New Avengers #50 is mostly tell, and little show.
3. It is easier – If a story that used to take issues is now taking four, the scripting is probably not taking as long as building the story. Dini’s run on Detective comics, with episodic stories building into a larger arc had to harder to write than a couple of multi-part stories. Why spend so much time coming up with more stories and develop more ideas when you can just pace them more slowly and people will still buy them.
4. More Art – Slowing down the pace of the story lets the art take over the comic a little more. Comic books are certainly a visual medium, and an artist can make or brake a title, but I doubt there are many artists that will balk at the opportunity to do more splash pages (which sometimes slows the release of the comic a little more but I digress).
5. We keep buying them – If writers, especially popular ones, can stretch their stories, sell their trades and still get the weekly addicts to support the advance marketing and hype that the monthlies provide, why change? Publishers get more titles from the authors, the authors get paid more, many of the folks reading trades don’t really know better (and being able to read a half a years of comics in one setting can blind you from that).
The only way I know to fix it is to keep bringing it up in reviews, so I’m apologizing in perpetuity for when that happens. Maybe online delivery, with its formless form will make the idea of a trade obsolete. Until then I’ll be longing for the days of buying a comic and getting a whole story, not just what feels like the first commercial break in an hour long tv drama.
I’m sure this makes me a crotchety old comic book reader. So be it. I don’t want them to make comic books exactly like they used to, but they could apply modern storytelling techniques to more reasonably paced stories. I listed some exceptions above. It needs to become the rule.
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6 thoughts on “FWIW: Revolution #1: Decompression”
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Shawn, this was a good post. I’m glad that you decided to talk about decompression. It’s an important trend that deserves to be discussed.
Decompression, if used correctly, can really add to the story. Good writers know the importance of showing rather than telling, and the unique medium of comics adds new meaning to the writer’s showing. A good writer can write less and use the art in a scene to illustrate the tension of a situation and add subtleties to characters through the art.
However, I will agree that it has become overused, and is turning into somewhat of a cheap trick. Like all tools, it must be used with discretion, or otherwise, it ends up becoming a parody of itself.
If we’re expected to dish out four bucks per comic in the near future, this decompression business needs to STOP. And it’s not just the main title: how many stories lately spent six issues of the main title, crossed over with some one-shots (which you had to get to understand the story), and/or wrapped up with an oversized special?
As much as I loved the recent JSA “Gog” storyline, I can’t afford to be spending that kind of money that often. To be honest, though? I missed an issue in the middle and I really didn’t lose out on the plot. That’s a MAJOR problem with decompression: not every issue is a “must-have.” Think about it: not counting the first and last parts of a story, could you lose one issue in the middle and it’s perfectly okay? Is that okay?
And I’m sorry, but Final Crisis was a JOKE. Can we finally, FINALLY bury this “deconstruction of the superhero myth” crap now that they’ve made a Watchmen movie? Can we have heroes being heroes?
The best comics, the classic stories, are all a bunch of self-contained stories that promote the larger story arc…the “harder” way of writing that you talk about. 52 worked as standalone issues AND in the trades for that exact reason. Perhaps a weekly comic is the only format that can support decompression, but put that story up against Countdown or Trinity and aren’t some glaring weaknesses in decompression exposed?
The larger problem, I think, is that too many editors think they are “executive producers.” Warner Brothers and Marvel Films are different entities for a reason, folks. Too many writers want to write “widescreen.” Too many artists depend on computer enhancements. And FAR too many people are employed right now that don’t want to write comic books.
Even here at the Revolution, I hear the same names over and over. How do these people keep getting work, while actual comic book writers are unemployed? Why is it “edgy” when X-Men becomes a poor man’s late-night Cinemax? Wasn’t the “edgy” supposed to be mutants as civil rights allegory? Gwen Stacy having twins with Norman Osborn? Seriously?
Mass market superhero comics will die out because for decades, they were designed with children in mind. Hey, if the first girl that you ever fell in love with was Gwen Stacy in the late 60s, great, who am I to judge? Of course, it’s 2009…why would your grandchild give a rip? Hey, I was born in `74! I got into comics literally months before Spidey got married!
What’s more is that we adults are being priced out, let alone some 11-year-old. The days of comic store clubs with percentages off seem to be long gone. Sometimes I see the guy in front of me with a big stack of new comics–$100 or more–and I wonder what he does for a living (especially when he says “see you next week”). After that, I long for the days when I could buy a stack of comics, AND that there were a stack of interesting comics to be had in the first place.
Maybe we’re heading to a point where comics will become like fanfilms. It will be up to the talented and motivated fan to keep the art form alive. And it is an artform. Guys like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and John Byrne and Chris Claremont and the Romitas and George Perez and Walt Simonson aren’t just hacks that got lucky. They know what they’re doing, and throwing away What Has Gone Before just because some nu-writer wants to be the Steven Spielberg of comics is disrespectful, crass, and shortsighted.
People will still be reading “The Dark Phoenix Saga” decades from now. Can we say the same about Civil War?
I would say that decompression for the most part isn’t a bad thing. I like that stories unfold over time- when they have repercussions in the character’s lives. The problem with most comics, is the 1 issue, wham-bang story thats self contained but doesnt add to the overall universe.
I liked the JSA run, I like the GL run. Its a great way to let a great story go on longer, and give us more detail.
I dont like the price though. Give us lower quality old school newsprint, and drop the prices. If its going to be serial, make it serial- $.99 a pop. It can be done…
I like the post, but I think there is another way to stop the decompression problem. It is not just to always complain in reviews, although I think that is important. The way to stop the problem is to stop buying trades. As long as trades make good money the comic industry will continue to plot issues with the trade in mind. Until the monthly rag takes its rightful place as the most important thing, continue to expect decompression to the extreme.
what an interesting debate. For myself, I started noticing the “writing for the trade” syndrome and decompression problem first with Marvel Comics. I was displeased with titles like “New Avengers” and to some extent Spiderman where nothing really seemed to happen for issues on end. It seemed as though team books with a lot of cinematic talking heads with a break for some fisticuffs were becoming the norm. I agree with whoever said one way to stop the trend is not to buy trades. I only buy trades of comics I really liked and they make nice additions to my library but I usually have the monthly rags as well in cardboard boxes as I am sure most of you do as well.
Decompressed stories killed comics for me. I used to buy 20 books a month. Now I buy less than 4.