Do other people wish there were more 1 and 2 issue storylines these days?

General Discussion Comic Books
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So in these days most comic book writers as we all know tend to “write for the trade”. Meaning that for the most part storylines now are at least 4 issues and often 6 or more issues long. Yeah one shot or two part stories are not gone completely, but they happen less and less.

But honestly, while I get given the state and economics of comics at the time why they do this, I do feel we miss out. I love 1 and 2 issue storylines. Some of my favorite and most memorable stories of when I was younger were short stories. They had a style of storytelling that is a lot harder to do with longer stories.

I also feel that we miss out on a lot with longer stories being almost expected now. Character pieces are not as common now as a story that would mostly be Batman and Robin talking for example can’t be dragged out for six issues. There is less chance for writers to expirement in the same way they can with a shorter story, and some of the lower tier villains don’t get as much chance to shine. For example Kite Man has gotten more of a following due to Harley Quinn. But not like they can capitalize on it, since it is unlikely they could make him a threat for six issues.

I also feel older comics when stories were often shorter got more movement with supporting cast and sub plots. Since for example is Superman is doing a storyline Lois or Jimmy Olson don’t really fit into they are mostly gone for half the year in that book due to that. Probably a bad example since there are so many Superman books out to counter them specifically but supporting characters in say Green Lantern get less chance of that.

I am not saying none of this can happen, or that there are not advantages to longer stories. But I wish they would mix it up more, and not make everything always have to be so grand to fulfill such long stories.

I get that the real money is in the trades, but would they really not sell as well if trades were a mix of multiple shorter stories?

I don’t know, maybe I am just not changing fast enough with the times. BUt I really miss the great shorter stories that seem to be more and more of a rarity these days.

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One thing I love about Hickman’s X-Men is that most stories are one issue!

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Yes!

I love long stories, but sometimes I don’t only want to get to see a villain when its going to be a 12 issue arc. There are so many benefits to the occasional one shot story, especially being easy for anyone to pick up. It would probably be good for the industry. Now its just “Okay its been a few years… Need to get people to buy again… REBOOT!”

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If we’re really going to keep issuing out monthly periodicals with these characters, then we certainly need more single-issue stories. That said, the monthly model may be itself outdated.

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One or 2 issue stories would be great. At the least, they could have a one issue main story with an ongoing subplot that would be resolved in later issues.

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I definitely think if people went to buy a comic after seeing a movie or TV show and wanting to check it out, they might benefit from the shop owner not having to say “Well here is The Flash’s current issue but it is part 4 of a story… we don’t have part 2. But you can pay 20 bucks for this trade.”

That sounds cool. Another idea I think might be worth trying. Since most comic writers sign on for a year or two. Do a trades worth of one and two issue stories. Then after that do a 6-9 issue larger story. Would still more or less write for the trades but make their initial run be more accessible.

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