THE FLASH #207
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Comicscape - September 21, 2005

"1990's boom, take one ACTION!"

The comics of the 1990s boom had action in spades. Big guns, big breasts, kneepads, and ass-kicking ruled the racks at the thousands of comic shops across the country. There were certainly exceptions, but guess what? I don't want you to e-mail me about them! I'm talking about overall industry trends, and that requires generalizing. Just because you can name exceptions doesn't mean the industry didn't specialize in the comic equivalent of Mountain Dew: Code Red during the '90s. Anyway, following the '90s bust, like Sisyphus, the comic industry began to push the damn rock back up the hill toward the success it enjoys today. It isn't quite what it used to be, but beggars can't be choosers, and at least we've got the movies. But on the way back up the hill, the trend shifted from storylines like "What if the cyborg werewolf guy fought the hot chick that uses magic?" to more involved, character driven yarns, like Bendis's run on DAREDEVIL.

As much as I love a good superhero beat-down, the main publishers released dumbed down titles during the 1990's boom, sold on either character name value (WOLVERINE, for instance) or scantily clad girls on the cover. I constantly defend comics as a legitimate form of art and media, and the industry doesn't help when it only sells simplistic action titles. Fortunately, the pendulum has swung the other direction. Some would argue that it has swung too far.

"Our house, in the middle of the street."

The reverse of non-stop, balls-to-the-wall action is the talking head phenomenon. "Talking heads" refers to characters talking with no action, mostly with headshots (and not the kind that snipers look for). For better or worse, Brian Michael Bendis epitomizes the decompression phenomenon. Bendis lays on the dialogue like a motherfker. At his best, he provides compelling character pieces with realistic dialogue bursting with nuance and detail. At his worst, you get pages with nothing but faces, each panel devoted to a couple of balloons, like:

Panel A
Tom: Well, what do you think?

Panel B
Mary: I don't God, I just

Panel C
Tom: Yeah.

Panel D
Mary: Can't we just...sh-t, no.

Panel E
Tom: I know. It's hard.

Heavy dialogue can serve the story well, because it allows the characters room to breathe and we get an arguably more intimate understanding than we do from watching them beat up ninjas. Some ideas and stories can be conveyed more effectively with heavy dialogue, like a courtroom scene without it, you'd be reduced to images of lawyers pointing and witnesses crying. However, certain ideas or actions can be conveyed clearly enough through action alone. If a character takes a briefcase full of money in one panel, drives away in a car in the next one, and then shoots someone in the final scene, you can easily understand what happened. But, that limits the reader to the most obvious interpretation in this case, that someone paid the guy to shoot the victim. However, with dialogue you can have this:

Panel A
Bob takes briefcase full of money.
Bob: This inheritance will really help out. Thanks, Grandma!

Panel B
Car drives away.
Bob: I've never stolen a car before!

Panel C
Bob shoots someone.
Bob: I saw you on America's Most Wanted! Take that!

Thus, dialogue opens a world of possibilities and variations. Of course, comics remain a visual medium. Will Eisner called dialogue balloons "desperation devices" because it meant the writer couldn't convey something visually. Comics work by creating the illusion of time and motion with sequential art. So, countless pages with nothing but a bunch of talking heads really move away from the very definition of comics. They become more like stories with pictures. Some comics make this leap with no misgivings, like some of David Mack's work or those novellas serialized as monthly comics (like ELEKTRA AND WOLVERINE: THE REDEEMER).

"What do you mean 'full run'!?"

Comics started with single issue stories and gradually expanded. When people mostly bought comics at a newsstand, they were more disposable entertainment. Just because you bought an issue of THE FLASH to read on bus didn't mean you were going to get the next ten issues. Even in the 1970s, the story arcs spanned no more than two or three issues, because the titles needed to be "user friendly" to attract new readers. Now, I rarely pick up a new series I haven't read from the beginning. If I do, I try to grab the trades or the back issues to catch up to the current story. No one wants to start PREACHER or TRANSMETROPOLITAN in the middle of the series. Arcs span more issues and offer more complex stories than ever before. Worse, some of them span more issues than they really require. The talking heads thing is part of the problem. Some writers inflate the story with longer conversations than necessary, as well as forgoing an economy of images. Al's GHOST RIDER issue comes to mind immediately. I liked it, but the entire issue could've been boiled down to about half the size and left room for more story. The Batman WAR GAMES crossover took 25 issues, when it could've been done in twelve. Decompression can allow for involved, carefully constructed stories, but it can also be the result of lazy writing. Sometimes, you don't need three panels for what can be conveyed with one. I'm not saying that I don't like ongoing stories, but there's something to be said for a good self-contained issue. Sometimes a story simply doesn't need to be as long as the writer initially thought.

Warren Ellis's FELL is a perfect example of image economy. Within 16 mostly nine-panel pages, he tells a thorough, complete story that leaves you wanting more. In the afterward, Ellis laments some of the problems of the modern comic business namely the cost and continuity. As I mentioned earlier, most readers are reluctant to pick up a new series if they haven't read it from the first issue. FELL #1 costs $1.99 and feels a lot longer than many 22-page comics. A writer can cram a lot of story into 22 pages if he consolidates images.

Now, I want to hear what you think. Do you enjoy fast-paced, high-action stories, or do you like the more measured, restrained chatty books that have become more prominent in the past few years? At what pace do you like your stories? With both action and dialogue, how much is too much? Let me know.

DARK HORSE

Goon #14 $2.99

Samurai Executioner Vol 5 TP 10 Fingers 1 Life (MR) $9.95

DC COMICS

Batgirl #68 $2.50

Batman Gotham Knights #69 $2.50

Batman Jekyll And Hyde #6 (of 6) $2.99

Batman War Games Act Three TP $14.99
Every WAR GAMES project is a swift kick in my nuts.

Birds Of Prey #86 $2.50

Books Of Magick Life During Wartime #14 (MR) $2.75

Green Lantern Corps Recharge #1 (of 6) $3.50
With Kilowog! That dude's awesome.

Hellblazer #212 (MR) $2.75

Human Race #7 (of 7) $2.99

Identity Crisis HC Bookmarket Version $24.99

Identity Crisis HC Direct Market Version $24.99
Insert your variant cover joke here.

Invisibles TP #5 Counting To None $19.95

JSA Classified #2 Second Ptg $2.50

JSA Classified #3 $2.50
Al: More of Power Girl's boobs origin!
Kurt: Power Girl does pull quite a milk wagon, doesn't she?

JSA Vol 5 Stealing Thunder TP $14.95

Lucifer #66 (MR) $2.75

Manhunter #14 $2.50

Plastic Man #18 $2.99
Al: I don't get it.
Kurt: He's a guy made of plastic! What's not to get!?

Powerpuff Girls #66 $2.25
Some comic geeks drool over Rogue and Psylocke. Al has his Powerpuff Girls. May they never age.

Robin #142 $2.50
Al: Robin's in love with a dead chick!
Kurt: So's Al! She lives under his bed!

Seven Soldiers Mister Miracle #1 (of 4) $2.99
Described as "a cross between David Blaine and Puff Daddy". I am fairly sure those words didn't come from Grant Morrison.

Sleeper Vol 4 The Long Way Home TP (MR) $14.99

Superman In The Fifties TP New Ptg $19.99

Superman Secret Identity TP New Ptg $19.99

Top Ten Beyond The Farthest Precinct #2 (of 5) $2.99

Wonder Woman Vol 3 Beauty And The Beasts TP $19.95

IMAGE

Black Forest Vol 2 Castle Of Shadows GN $6.99

Girls #5 (MR) $2.99
Al: Will we start figuring out what the hell's going on soon? Eh, probably not. But will the Chicks Of Death stay naked? Good chance.
Kurt: Mmm...naked Goth girls...mmm.

Godland #3 $2.99
The mixture of old-school style and modern humor in this book is (in my opinion) a complete failure. But hey, don't let me stop you.

Mage The Hero Defined Vol 1 TP $9.95

MARVEL

Black Panther #8 $2.99

Captain America #10 $2.99
HOUSE OF M tie-in, starring Old Fart Cap.

Daredevil Father #3 (of 5) $2.99
All right, wake up! The dream's over. Time to get up for work.

Essential Ghost Rider Vol 1 TP $16.99
I'd like to thank Marvel for cranking out the Bronze Age horror collections. Yes, I am actually praising Marvel for an editorial decision. Savor it.

Exiles #70 $2.99

Exiles Vol 11 Time Breakers TP $17.99

Hulk Visionaries Peter David Vol 2 TP $19.99

Machine Teen #5 (of 5) $2.99

Marvel 1602 New World #3 (of 5) $3.50
Al: Y'know what bugs me about the 1602 series? They've changed all the names to, like, the Fey Variant. Peter Parker has become Parqaugh and Steve Rogers has become Rojhaz, and it all just sounds really dumb. I mean...Parqaugh? It sounds like the noise a chicken makes while you're molesting it. Or, y'know, that's what I've heard.
Kurt: I'd like everyone to know that I purchased a DVD of the AL BROWN CHICKEN INCIDENT from an E-Bay seller out of Hong Kong. It's out there, but you'll have to look for it.

Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #4 $2.50

Marvel Masterworks Captain Marvel Vol 1 HC Variant ED $54.99

Marvel Masterworks Captain Marvel Vol 1 New ED HC $49.99

Marvel Milestones Ghost Rider Black Widow & Iceman $3.99
This seems completely random, but they were all founding members of the short-lived CHAMPIONS. Not that that makes this any more interesting.

Marvel Select Flip Magazine #4 $3.99

New Avengers #10 $2.50
Al: Wake me when the ninjas show up.
Kurt: Hey, they're here. Oh, wait you said ninjas, not N.A.M.B.L.A. friends.

New Avengers Sal Buscema Variant #10 (PP #681) $2.50

Rogue Forget Me Not TP $14.99
Believe me, sugah, I won't.

Runaways #8 $2.99

Spider-Man The Other Poster $5.99
As opposed to Spider-Man This Poster Right Here, which is actually better.

Supreme Power Hyperion #1 (of 5) (MR) $2.99
God, I love SUPREME POWER. It kicks all ass. Last week's NIGHTHAWK limited series got off to an awesome start; the DOCTOR SUPREME series from earlier this year completely blew; we'll see how this one goes.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #23 $2.50
Al: The conclusion of the zombie arc. I'm still trying to figure out whether this was really funny or incredibly lame.
Kurt: Dude, zombies always rule. I think it's a law somewhere or something.

Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #1 $3.99

Ultimates 2 #8 $2.99

Wolverine #32 $2.50
Mark Millar's encore issue, featuring Wolverine in WWII and apparently co-written by Will Eisner from beyond the grave. No, I have no idea what's going on.

Wolverine Black & White Variant #32 (PP #683) $2.50
So yeah, I hate variants and everything, but this actually sounds kind of cool.

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at comicscape@cinescape.com.