Approaching Infinity
How long of a story arc is too long? In the comic book world ongoing story lines are a given. Sometimes as is the case with DCs original Crisis on Infinite Earths and the newer Infinite Crisis as well as Marvel's House of M arcs can go on for more than a year. A long serialized story can be much more rewarding to fans and regular readers, but the more intricate and large an arc becomes, the harder it gets for new adopters to jump on board.
I recall my first mega-arc was the original Death of Superman back in the early 90s. I was a young lad of 13 and had just enough cash in my pocket to buy each issue of Reign of the Supermen (but not all the back issues leading up to the death of Superman). I had to settle for the TPB to see the actual demise of Superman. The "Reign Arc" was the longest ongoing story I had ever read at that time, and I still have it in storage today.
Can you all think of a really long story arc that you really liked, or one that you really hated?
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Infinite Crisis, Crisis on Infinite Earths, House of M, The Death of Superman, The Return of Superman, Reign of the Supermen
I remember Fall of the Mutants. Even then I thumbed my nose at some of the crossover comics. I stuck to the basic X-titles.
I mean, I'm not buying Power Pack!
You have to admit that it's an excellent marketing tool for the comic book companies. In today's entertainment landscape it's so hard to capture a significant portion of the audience that a lot of great shows, comics, and movies either tank or never make it to print.
I actually like that Graphic novel idea Stefan, one thing I haven't cared much for is the lack of a sense of closure in the current DC meta arc (and to a smaller extent Marvel). We had Identity Crisis, which led into the four mini-series before Infinite Crisis, going into 52, Now we have Countdown which takes us to Final Crisis.While not the same series per say, It sure does seem like you need it all to get the "complete" story.
I think putting out year long stories over multiple series is a bad idea.
Instead it would be cool if marvel and DC had nexus points. So every year or two they could drop a large graphic novel. Every series could effected in some way by what happens in that one graphic novel and then lead up to the next one.
I think this would let hard core readers follow their favorite series while still being involved in the greater universe.
thoughts?
Knightfall was pretty crazy too, and if I remember right was running at the same time as Death of Superman, or right after. It was very intense, and probably one of the better DC events.
But the Clone Saga was probably the longest event ever. It ran for 3 or 4 years, longer depending who you talk to.
http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/
I say as long as you KNOW exactly what your story's beginning, middle, and end are then there's really no limit to how long you can make it. But if its a massive cross-over event then you have a responsibility to limit it to a year. Since Spider-Man was basically limiting it to the Spider-Man titles, then it really didnt matter too much how long it went on though. Most of those books needed some sort of continuity help anyway.
I hated house of M, which I bought almost everything of. The wierd thing is that the only reason I hate it is because they took away mutants, I enjoyed as an alternate universe story with no lasting effects except for how characters see themselves. as for a mega-arch I loved i guess i'll go with infinite crisis and its multiple tie ins. i don't know if that counts.
I see what you mean. Good insights. It's a real tough job the comic book companies have in stretching their libraries and characters in new and meaningful ways.