| Posted: 22 April 2017 at 9:13am | IP Logged | 7
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I agree with James Woodcock on this one. The art of modern comic-writing is the art of treading water. How padded can we make this? How many ancillary titles can we tack on or drag into this gigantic, ill-conceived storyline we're cramming down the readers' throats this next year and a half?
What got me into comics was the explosion of creativity to be found in each issue. So many concepts all happening at once, working together to create these fantastical worlds of absolute possibility and yet genuine consequence.
These days, not only are the concepts doled out by the teaspoon every few months or so, but you know, you KNOW, it's all going to be made Neverwas almost as soon as its done. You're investing in material that will not matter later on.
I could easily see this storyline as a 3-issue run of Cap during the DeMatteis era. Lots of bizarre, twisted notions all coming at the reader at once and very likely leaving them wanting more. Who knows? A character from the story might return in a mini-series, or the Nazi World within the Cube (and not the first one, either. What is it about Nazis and the Cube?) might show up again. The reader was left wanting more. And the return on the investment of cash would have been substantial.
Today..? Comics are freakin' expensive, and the writers and editors fancy themselves to be writing sequences from James Patterson novels (not even full chapters.) Eventually, the whole thing will coalesce, they're certain, into an experience for the reader like that of reading a gripping, suspense thriller...
Except it doesn't. It can't. It never has. Something always upsets the story flow. Some fan guesses what's about to happen and the whole thing gets "re-imagined." Or the concurrent tie-in mini-series goes awry and doesn't fit the mold. Or the next "big event" has to be groomed in the middle of this one. Whatever happens, its never anyone's fault, so the business model remains in place. The next novel will be the good one...
Another hitch in the gitalong is that by taking this approach, the reader's experience with the story dra-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-g-g-g-g-g-s-s-s-s on for-r-r-r-r-r-e-v-v-v-v-e-r-r-r-r... It is not possible for suspense to be maintained indefinitely when dispensed in a form that is over and done with in four minutes, tops, once a month. "Oh, well... Just buy the trade then..." you say? Why? I already know that the whole mess is going to be a compromised, overcooked waste of time at the outset. "Not this time! Give it a chance!!" As if "Fool Me Twice" were a shining badge of virtue for the modern fanboy.
Once upon a time, we were left wanting more. These days, we're as likely to be tired of what's given us before we're anywhere near the conclusion of it.
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