What monthly comics are worth the investment? Which ones actually seem to be complete entertainments, even if they’re part of an ongoing arc? I’ve been wondering about this as the number of titles that pull this off seems to shrink.
It’s not that I think the quality of corporate comics is drastically on the decline (which isn’t to say that it’s spectacularly high, either). It just seems like “writing for the trade” is having more of a negative impact on the integrity of the individual monthlies. Very often, it’s like a publisher has taken an arc, divided pages by 20, and put out the pamphlets accordingly, whether or not those 20 pages constitute a satisfying product.
This was highlighted for me over the weekend as I read the third collection of DC’s much-loved Starman. Writer James Robinson seemed to master the art of making each issue a satisfying story on its own merits, while still composing multi-issue arcs that would read beautifully in one sitting. I started reading the series about halfway through its run, and I’ve filled in the gaps in my collection with trades. It’s equally strong in either format. (I’m also wondering if it might not be worth it to sit down sometime and read the whole damned thing in sequence, because it seems like it would stand up to that magnificently.)
So who’s accomplishing this now? Because I’m clearly obsessed, She-Hulk comes immediately to mind. Writer Dan Slott leans towards shorter arcs and stand-alone stories, but each issue is still entertaining in its own right. Joss Whedon, one of the “real writers” discussed by Paul O’Brien in the latest Article 10, comes pretty close in Astonishing X-Men. It’s not surprising, as he’s always had a handle on pacing. One could view the individual episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as single issues in longer story arcs.
Ed Brubaker seems to have a solid handle on this technique as well. I’m getting a bit impatient with Sleeper, but I’ve read parts in both collection and monthlies, and he strikes a nice balance. Better still is his work on Gotham Central, along with co-writer Greg Rucka. Brubaker’s first issue of Captain America passed the value test, too.
The same goes for Andy Diggle, who’s been doing a bang-up job with Adam Strange. Diggle should get extra points for going to this extra effort in a limited series, a breed of books which seem destined for collections from the outset. (As a counter-example, I thought the first issue of Marvel’s Ultimate Nightmare was the most malnourished single comic I’ve ever read and never bothered with the second.) I’m a little unenthusiastic about the current storyline in Losers, but Diggle still makes sure each issue is a satisfying whole.
I’m not wild about many of his choices in terms of storytelling, particularly tone, but comics by Geoff Johns invariably seem like whole comics. Say what you will about JSA, Teen Titans, or Flash, but I don’t think you can criticize them for a shortage of content or for ignoring their monthly format. (Feel free to say whatever you like about the quality of that content. Lord knows I do.) I am wild about most of her choices in terms of storytelling, and I think you can pay the same compliment to Gail Simone of DC’s Birds of Prey. She hasn’t been one hundred percent successful (I thought the bi-weekly cult arc from this summer was padded), but she has an excellent track record overall.
I wish I could come up with more indie or small-press examples, but the pamphlets I like (Street Angel, Amelia Rules!) have a somewhat erratic publishing schedule, so it’s hard to categorize them in the same way. I have to appreciate Oni’s increasing number of original graphic novels; if a story works best in a given format, why use the industry fallback position out of habit? Why publish something in monthly chapters if it doesn’t suit it, if it’s arbitrary and artificial to the story being told?
(Edited to pound myself in the head for forgetting to include Peter David’s Fallen Angel. Johanna Draper Carlson has a terrific review of the latest issue here.)