Batman: Death and the Maidens

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I've read all three issues of this mini-series so far, and I must say... I'm really digging it. After 2 years of police procederal and hard-boiled stuff, the focus seems to be coming back to more traditionally "super-hero" type stories (Broken City excluded) though if any story in recent memory cried out for an omniscent narrator, and thought baloons it's this one. Nyssa is beginning to take shape as a villain, Ra's is becoming rapidly sympathetic due to his plight, and Batman is giving a truly thought-provoking moral dilemma. And this is all in the first 3 issues. Jump on board guys, Jannson's art is as good as it gets, and Rucka is Jim Starlin 2.0 when it comes to Bats. With Arkham Asylum: Living Hell over, it's great to see another great bat-story forming.

[Steviekick 0]

What I've heard about this series is pretty good, and I think i'll get the TPB once it's out.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

What I've heard about this series is pretty good, and I think i'll get the TPB once it's out.

It's thinking like that that creates situations like the one going on in ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN and the BATMAN monthly: where we can't get anything less then a six-part story-line because of TPBs. Fuck that shit, I won't spend 20 bucks for something I'm not even sure I like, and if I do know I'd like it, I support it not "wait for TPB" that's BS.

[Steviekick 0]

TPB's are the way to go. When you preorder, they are much cheaper then buying each issue. I'm all in favor of producing comics in mind for trades. It gets better rotation of talent onto titles. My best example of this is with Incredible Hulk. In the last year or so, the only time I've picked up the title was for the arcs where Mike Deodato was drawing. That's the only reason I picked up the damn series. I don't know if it's just me, but another thing I've noticed is since most of the stuff is now written under the assumption that it will be colelcted into a 5 issue volume that stories are much tighter and don't seem to wander all over the place.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

TPB's are the way to go. When you preorder, they are much cheaper then buying each issue. I'm all in favor of producing comics in mind for trades. It gets better rotation of talent onto titles. My best example of this is with Incredible Hulk. In the last year or so, the only time I've picked up the title was for the arcs where Mike Deodato was drawing. That's the only reason I picked up the damn series. I don't know if it's just me, but another thing I've noticed is since most of the stuff is now written under the assumption that it will be colelcted into a 5 issue volume that stories are much tighter and don't seem to wander all over the place.

Actually, the story arcs are really pretty damaging to creative flow of a book. For example, look at the Denny O'Neil stuff on 'TEC in the 70's. Stand-Alones and two-parters blended together seamlessly, and while they told different stories they created consistant characters. Characters who would remember and reference their previous defeats. It felt more real, and things like exposition were handled quickly because of space constraints. Sure it was a pain sometimes, but 99% of the best comic fiction ever was written that way. Now, instead of writing a story that happens to warrant a TPB, they do it intentionally. They stretch out stories that creators of old could have wrapped up in 3 out to 6 or 7. And there's no flow. No sense of episodic continuity. It's like a movie franchise (especially the Ultimate line) where every 6 issues kinda sorta futhers the storylines and gives us a villain for the hero to beat. When you look at this in comparison to stuff like Miller's work on DD, or Starlin's on BATMAN there IS NO COMPARISON. Plus, with everyone doing it's making storytelling in the comic world predictable.

[Steviekick 0]

tighter and don't seem to wander all over the place.

Actually, the story arcs are really pretty damaging to creative flow of a book. For example, look at the Denny O'Neil stuff on 'TEC in the 70's. Stand-Alones and two-parters blended together seamlessly, and while they told different stories they created consistant characters. Characters who would remember and reference their previous defeats. It felt more real, and things like exposition were handled quickly because of space constraints. Sure it was a pain sometimes, but 99% of the best comic fiction ever was written that way. Now, instead of writing a story that happens to warrant a TPB, they do it intentionally. They stretch out stories that creators of old could have wrapped up in 3 out to 6 or 7. And there's no flow. No sense of episodic continuity. It's like a movie franchise (especially the Ultimate line) where every 6 issues kinda sorta futhers the storylines and gives us a villain for the hero to beat. When you look at this in comparison to stuff like Miller's work on DD, or Starlin's on BATMAN there IS NO COMPARISON. Plus, with everyone doing it's making storytelling in the comic world predictable.

It can be done and it works, especially when the writer doesn't change. Just change the artist up, since usually the art takes longer to do than the actual script. Mark Waid's current run on Fantastic Four is a great example of how this can be done right. All of the arcs can stand alone by themselves, yet still hav continuity from arc to arc.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

tighter and don't seem to wander all over the place.

Actually, the story arcs are really pretty damaging to creative flow of a book. For example, look at the Denny O'Neil stuff on 'TEC in the 70's. Stand-Alones and two-parters blended together seamlessly, and while they told different stories they created consistant characters. Characters who would remember and reference their previous defeats. It felt more real, and things like exposition were handled quickly because of space constraints. Sure it was a pain sometimes, but 99% of the best comic fiction ever was written that way. Now, instead of writing a story that happens to warrant a TPB, they do it intentionally. They stretch out stories that creators of old could have wrapped up in 3 out to 6 or 7. And there's no flow. No sense of episodic continuity. It's like a movie franchise (especially the Ultimate line) where every 6 issues kinda sorta futhers the storylines and gives us a villain for the hero to beat. When you look at this in comparison to stuff like Miller's work on DD, or Starlin's on BATMAN there IS NO COMPARISON. Plus, with everyone doing it's making storytelling in the comic world predictable.

It can be done and it works, especially when the writer doesn't change. Just change the artist up, since usually the art takes longer to do than the actual script. Mark Waid's current run on Fantastic Four is a great example of how this can be done right. All of the arcs can stand alone by themselves, yet still hav continuity from arc to arc.

Why should the artist change every 6 months? I'd rather a team comes on and has a long run. The truly great comic runs only happened when given lots of time and creative liberty. That doesn't happen when the artist is going in and out.

 

From a creative standpoint the classical style is so much better then the "made for TPB style" especially with Batman or Spider-Man where it feels incredibly forced to see them taking six issues to fight the same guys they've already beaten in one issue before.