Iron Age. Not over yet?

[King Krypton]

2.50 is alot of cash to anyone of any age who is paying the equivalent to going to see 10 minutes of a movie and being told to come back next month to view the next 10 minutes.

The manga digests really have the right idea because however you might feel about manga, people get their moneys worth out of those. You get a nice huge chunk of story and art yet still leaving you eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Over on the DC MBs, there was a thread about which Superman book should be axed in order to simplify the line, and it was suggested that the whole line should just be pared down to one Superman book. (My mother, having seen me buying multiple Superman titles a month as a kid, feels exactly the same way.) Maybe DC should do that with Superman, converting it into digest format a la Shonen Jump as using that to keep the comics accessible?

Of course, you'd need first-rate creative talent to pull it off, and while DC's gotten into the habit of snagging top artists, they're pretty slow on the uptake when it comes to the writing end of things. You'd almost have to go for the big-gun creators to make this work.

[GeorgeKirk]

And what's with splitting a series arc now into 2 volumes of Graphic Novel i.e.Hush?  Are those Graphic Novellas?!

It'll be ridiculous if they do that with the Azzarello/Lee For Tomorrow arc, since it looks like nothing of consequence is going to happen until the last issue or two. I wonder what the DC promotional blurb for Volume 1 would say?

"Not a darn thing happens! Superman spends all his time brooding and talking to a priest, all while sporting a facial expression that makes him look like the Mexican food he had for lunch is talking back to him! If you believe this book is worth twenty bucks (thirty-five in Canada) then we've got some beachfront property in Nebraska to sell you!"

[King Krypton]

And what's with splitting a series arc now into 2 volumes of Graphic Novel i.e.Hush?  Are those Graphic Novellas?!

It'll be ridiculous if they do that with the Azzarello/Lee For Tomorrow arc, since it looks like nothing of consequence is going to happen until the last issue or two. I wonder what the DC promotional blurb for Volume 1 would say?

"Not a darn thing happens! Superman spends all his time brooding and talking to a priest, all while sporting a facial expression that makes him look like the Mexican food he had for lunch is talking back to him! If you believe this book is worth twenty bucks (thirty-five in Canada) then we've got some beachfront property in Nebraska to sell you!"

Actually, they are splitting it into two volumes. The first ships in May.

[Kuuga]

Well, for any of you who may have read DC Countdown no.1 I think it's pretty safe to say the Iron Age is still going strong and Deathdealer Comics won't be changing direction anytime soon.

[TELLE]

Maybe DC should do that with Superman, converting it into digest format a la Shonen Jump as using that to keep the comics accessible?

DC has tried the anthology route before.  Disastrously with the Action title in the 80s-90s and awesomely with Superman Family in the 70s (not to mention the 80 page giants!).  But Shonen is the way of the immediate future.

Splitting a story arc from a serialized adventure/superhero comic (short enough, compared to some "real" graphic novels and manga) into two separate volumes is insipid and ammounts to nothing more than a cash grab for Warner/DC.

[Super Monkey]

Nah, We are way past the Iron Age and well into the Dark Age of comics.

[ShinDangaioh]

DC has tried the anthology route before.  Disastrously with the Action title in the 80s-90s and awesomely with Superman Family in the 70s (not to mention the 80 page giants!).  But Shonen is the way of the immediate future.

Splitting a story arc from a serialized adventure/superhero comic (short enough, compared to some "real" graphic novels and manga) into two separate volumes is insipid and ammounts to nothing more than a cash grab for Warner/DC.

Yes, they did the antholgy route once before: Blue Ribbon Digest.
I have no idea why they stopped it.

Archie seems to still be doing okay with their digest books.

As to Action Comics Weekly.  What killed it was the bad writing and all the stepping on what went before(Byrne saying the Metal Men are nothing more than robots and are made out of plastic, not metal.  Katma Tui getting killed off panel by Star Sapphire, and so on)

If DC drops their archives in price to reasonable amounts, they'd do a lot better.

[ShinDangaioh]

Nah, We are way past the Iron Age and well into the Dark Age of comics.

For DC and Marvel? Yes

Other publishers?  Vary wildly.

Heroic Publishing?  I can do without the lesbian subtext in Flare, but the stories are enjoyable.  Alter Ego was quite a ride and had a Golden Age/Bronze Age feel

Dark Horse?  Go Girl! has the sense of fun that was part of the Silver and Golden age of comics.  Of couse Dark Horse also publishes one of the most blody translated manga.  A samurai has to kill 10,000 evil men before he is allowed to die.

Image?  Well, nevermind.  Started in Dark Age and went Sulpher and Brimstone Age  :lol:

If you search among the Indy titles, you'll find comics that should appeal to you