The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **US Agent** » Tue May 01, 2012 11:00 am

This is why I still like picking up books by older writers like GIJoe ARAH written by Larry Hama.

He hasn't changed. He still writes the books the way he did back in the 80's so you still get a lot of story for the money.

This decompression / writing for the trade is a big reason why I'll either wait for the trade, or skip the new comics all together.

by **AaronW** » Tue May 01, 2012 11:57 am

nietoperz wrote:
I've always maintained that too little happens in monthlies these days and that stories are strung out too long. One issue of a 70s or 80s DC or Marvel book normally contained about as much story as three or four issues nowadays. It's not even writing for the trade, it's stringing things out needlessly. That's decompression, as far as I understand the term.

Equally, artists seemed able to fit far more into single panels than the current crop, and had a far better understanding of dynamics to boot.

by **DMM** » Tue May 01, 2012 12:28 pm

nietoperz wrote:
I've always maintained that too little happens in monthlies these days and that stories are strung out too long. One issue of a 70s or 80s DC or Marvel book normally contained about as much story as three or four issues nowadays. It's not even writing for the trade, it's stringing things out needlessly. That's decompression, as far as I understand the term.

Equally, artists seemed able to fit far more into single panels than the current crop, and had a far better understanding of dynamics to boot.

Yup.

by **SilverPhoenix** » Tue May 01, 2012 1:06 pm

Drcharles wrote:Ive noticed for a long time that certain comics are having fewer words in them, and the new crop of DC comics are the worst examples of this, especially the ones that Geoff Johns is working on.
So really as it come to this? There’s virtually no story to read any more, and someone like Johns is doing so many comics that he simply does not have the time to actually write stories for the comics.
Well DC comics have started their Universe off again, and I can understand why, but I feel the old order is slowly going now, and if this is how comics are going to be in the future then I’m not going to be a part of it anymore.

You're not the only one that shares this grievance. Even when I became serious reader again back in 2008, one of the things that was always a sticking point was the lack of meaningful story beats that many books possessed, something that began to really bother me with the explosion of $3.99 books out there.

Today, what you're talking about seems extremely wide spread. Even books that I've enjoyed over the past 8 months we're totally dragged out to the point where I'm pretty soured on the whole entire concept. Justice League and AvX have this bothersome way of being big and loud without saying anything of substance on a narrative level.

As I look at my pull list for May 2nd, I find myself asking "Do I really need to buy this comic?" to a lot of my Big 2 offerings and even some of my smaller major press offerings. When that happens, something needs to change.

by **DMM** » Tue May 01, 2012 1:26 pm

I find myself spending more and more money and time on completing my back issue library and re-reading all my old runs than I do on new comics. I enjoy the hunt and actually reading those old comics more, too.

by **spidertour02** » Tue May 01, 2012 1:35 pm

Timbales wrote:Don't writers describe the action for the artist to draw?

The blocking of the action is the biggest problem, though. A fight that was two pages in 1965 is an entire issue in 2012.

by **sdsichero** » Tue May 01, 2012 1:41 pm

US Agent wrote:This is why I still like picking up books by older writers like GIJoe ARAH written by Larry Hama.

This "all pictures" stuff is actually Hama's fault!

[Reveal] Spoiler: Click to Expand

it's a joke.

by **Timbales** » Tue May 01, 2012 1:48 pm

If the art doesn't pull me in, I have a hard time with the book.

by **Ntikrst** » Tue May 01, 2012 1:52 pm

nietoperz wrote:
I've always maintained that too little happens in monthlies these days and that stories are strung out too long. One issue of a 70s or 80s DC or Marvel book normally contained about as much story as three or four issues nowadays. It's not even writing for the trade, it's stringing things out needlessly. That's decompression, as far as I understand the term.

Equally, artists seemed able to fit far more into single panels than the current crop, and had a far better understanding of dynamics to boot.

It's a damn shame too. I took a five year break from comics and this is trend has only gotten worse with time.

by **SuperginraiX** » Tue May 01, 2012 4:46 pm

I had little problem with decompression when it started because comics were 2.25- 2.99 and it was a new thing so it had a shininess to it that let me ignore the flaws.

It's been ten years now. Comics have gone up in price to 3.99 or dropped pages to keep a lower price. The shininess is gone and now the writers who CAN'T write a good decompressed comic WELL outnumber those that can. Feeling out a scene has turned into "let's only put two panels on each page." Character moments are way down, useless posturing and posing is way up. Re-reading through my old X-Men Essentials is just opening my eyes to what's missing in modern comics and it's a sad, sad tale.

Or maybe I'm just reading too many event comics. That could also be the problem. Still! Those tie-in books should still be readable, interesting books.