The first rule of business is: give your customers value for money. Old comics used to be great value for money.
Modern comics are terrible value for money. Hour for hour, modern comics are one of the most expensive forms of non-live entertainment you can buy. From an economic perspective, you have to be crazy to buy a modern comic. But it was so different years ago, back then they were amazing value, you'd have to be crazy not to buy them!
I'll look at modern comics on another page. This page is about the good old days, when comics were great value. My favorite American comic is the Fantastic Four. Back in the early 1960s, sales rocketed upwards in a way that has never been equalled. let's have a look at those issues, shall we?
Issue 3: five chapters: a new villain, a complete multi-part battle, new costumes, a new vehicle, the Torch quits... a packed issue! These early issues also found space for extra feature pages explaining how the super powers worked. No wonder they sold so well.
How comic value declined (stage 1)
In the late 1960s there is a noticeable reduction in the detail in comics.
"By the late ‘60s, Kirby had largely switched over to a looser, more action-oriented style, incorporating more full-page panels and three- to four-panel pages. Rumor has it he asked for a raise, was refused, and Stan told him to draw fewer panels instead. Another possible factor: In the mid-‘60s, the American comics industry switched to a smaller standard original art size. Before, artists had usually drawn at roughly twice printed size; the new standard was only about 1 1/2 times printed size. This led to less detailed pages but encouraged a more intimate look -- and fewer panels. ... Stan Lee printed a few complaints about this change of pace -- or, rather, pacing -- in the FF letter columns of the time. But for the most part, fans liked it because Kirby’s storytelling abilities were at their peak." - from "A THOUSAND FLOWERS: Comics, Pop Culture, and the World Outside," Installment 27, by Stuart Moore, 09-23-2003 on Newsarama.com
Also, until 1967 Marvel's distribution contract only allowed it to distribute eight books. So care was lavished on each one. After 1967 the best talent was spread ever thinner. This is often the case in later years as well: fewer titles means higher quality. Take Spider-Man for example:
"It's funny, because looking back at how I have evaluated each of the spider-writers, there seems to be a consistent thread. In the time periods in which there is only one, or two main Spider-Man titles, the writing is definitely of higher quality. As the spider-verse expands, AND the crossover and other event driven gimmicks take over – the quality drops precipitously."
1968 (roughly) is also when Marvel Time began. Marvel decided to reduce the detail, reduce the pace of change, and generally slow everything down. And predictably, sales stopped rising.
Fans noticed. They didn't like it. They complained. The complaints were acknowledged in the pages of the Fantastic Four, issue 61, 1968. A couple of years later the complaints became so loud that Stan devoted a soapbox to a radical promise: no more multi-part stories! But this was easier said than done, and nothing changed.
A page is a lot of space!
If you think the old Fantastic Four comics were good value, you should read Ken Reid's Jonah, a single page strip in the Beano in the 1950s. This is one of the all-time classics of British comics. It was reprinted in the 1980s in Buddy comic, and the second time around it was given large white margins for some reason, so the printed area was exactly the same as a page of an American comic.
Imagine if American comics had this level of detail. An entire chapter would fit on a single page. A 22 page comic book wouldn't be a book, it would be a multi-part epic!
Issue 9: five chapters: the FF become bankrupt, they become movie stars, they battle the sub mariner, and Ben briefly becomes human again. Any one of these would today be expanded into a whole issue, or even a multi-issue arc.
Issue 11: two complete stories! The first features a new character (indeed, a new planet and a new race who appear in later stories), complete with origin story, battles and resolution. The second story covers a ton of interesting featured demanded by the readers themselves!
Issue 17: the cover says it all! Five different scenarios; and a first for comics: the heroes are defeated! (But only for a while). Plus we see world leaders in their various locations, the hunt for doom, the battle, and the whole thing is wrapped up nicely by the end. It is rightly described as "an epic tale." And all within a single issue.
Issue 1 had two stories (the second one in two parts): the origin, the first major battles, a new villain (complete with origin story), we see all the FF in action several times, we discover the underground world... so much packed into so few pages!
Issue 2: four chapters: a new galactic race is discovered and defeated, the FF are declared enemies of the state, the kinds of events that are today reserved for a multi-title cross-over event. And all for ten cents!
Issue 4: five chapters: we learn more about the FF, the Torch returns, they rediscover the Sub Mariner, he attacks, they go after him, the story has a climax and resolution... each of these chapters would be at least a whole issue today.
Issue 5: five chapters: the first appearance of Doctor Doom, they travel to Latveria, they have adventures back in time, the whole story wraps up... fantastic value for money!
Issue 10: five chapters, featuring a complete multi part battle with Doom, a major character change that has been used to great effect in later years (Doom learns to mind swap), and Stan and Jack appear on the cover! A gem.
Issue 8: five chapters, a complete story including the introduction of two major characters who would feature prominently thereafter
Issue 7: five chapters: the FF are outlawed, they travel to the stars, they save a world, and we have more drama and tragedy than today we see in a whole year!
Issue 6: five chapters: the first and greatest team up between their two greatest (and most interesting) foes. Often copied, never equaled.
Issue 15: "A book length saga!" A major new villain, developments in the private lives of the FF, plans, battles, this one has it all, and it's all neatly wrapped up at the end of the book. A classic! Plus another pinup page for added value. Stan and Jack really give you your money's worth and more.
Issue 14: one chapter - it starts with the label "part 1" but then events move so fast that they don't have space to insert "part 2"! Two old villains return, Reed has a period of introspection, we see the results of fame, the FF travel from up in space to under the sea, we have battles, and more! This is the first story that is not broken into chapters, and it works because it's a novelty.
Issue 13: four chapters: the origin and first appearance of the Red Ghost and his super apes; the first appearance of the Watcher; the FF travel to the moon; and we even have space for a bonus feature page! A whole trade paperback origins collection in one issue. Such value!
Issue 12: four chapters: "A book length epic! Need we say more?" This was the first major cross-over story. The cover screamed "At last!" because the readers had been waiting eleven long issues for this. Back then, eleven issues was a very long time. Readers expected a lot, and they got it. Note that a in-continuity crossover was a new idea fr comics. These issues were exciting because the ideas were new! Since then, comics have played safe by copying the old formulas, and nobody cares any more.
Issue 16: this one is so packed that it needs a whole splash page just to describe what is to come: the FF journey to the micro world! They team up with Ant Man! Dr Doom Returns! "22 pulse pounding pages" A satisfying epic. Even though Dr Doom returns the next issue, this issue has a proper ending. Nobody is left feeling they only bought half a story. In contrast, today's comics give you "part 3 of 6" and you have to fork out a fistful of dollars and wait half a year to see what happens. back then the writers respected the readers and knew who was boss.
Issue 18: the return of some old villains, a new "all powerful" villain, a lengthy battle (one of the longest yet), and all within one issue.
Issue 19: a new villain, complete with origin story; they travel to Latveria, then back in time, they battle, they lose their powers, the are enslaved, they regain their powers, more fighting, the story wraps up.... by this point the magazine has long dispensed with the chapter numbers, but just as much happens in each issue.
Issue 20: another new villain! And another complete tale! These issues were so popular that every one of these villains has appeared again and again in later years, often with enhanced powers or with their own series.
Issue 21: "a book-length bombshell!" Back in those days, the editors were proud to give their valued readers a complete book-length epic every issue. This one features a new villain, a major guest-star, social issues, infighting, and so much more for just 12 cents!
And so it goes on! Each issue is packed full of story, or soap opera developments, of new characters, of action, with a complete "book length" novel for just a few cents. no wonder the readers kept coming back for more! Back then a comic book was a real book.
Comics used to be good value for money
Now compare a modern, uncompressed comic
I picked up a modern comic and scanned the first page it opened at. This is from "Fantastic Four: The End" by Alan Davis. Ironically, the "decompressed" story is more cluttered and harder to follow than the "compressed" story! (And I could have chosen far worse examples.)
Steranko shows how to do it right
Maybe you think I'm being unfair, comparing a humor comic to a more serious comic? Here's a page by Jim Steranko from a horror comic (Tower of Shadows). It has even more frames than the Jonah example, yet has a slow pace and lots of space. Note how the language is modern and sparse. Sure, it's not perfectly naturalistic, but then neither is the Alan Davis example above. It also uses cheaper printing which brings the price of the comic down. Bottom line: it's a great story, and great value for money.
It's not hard. Any good storyteller can do it.
There is no reason to waste space in a comic. Any good writer can tell a good story in a small space. Newspaper strips do it all the time. And they're read by a whole lot more people than read comics in book form.
Here's just one example. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against full page pictures. But a full page picture should be an event, something rare and amazing, something to take your breath away. Something you will examine for minutes and remember for years. Not just a way for the artist to finish the book more quickly.
How comic value declined (stage 2)
Full blown decompressed stories did not come along until the 1990s. The first stage in the late 1960s stopped the rising sales. The second stage in the 1990s drove Marvel into bankruptcy. Elsewhere on this site I've also tied those events to the rise of Marvel Time and the destruction of the Marvel Universe, but really they are part of the same process: simple economics. If you give the readers less value then they buy fewer comics. The 1990s went further, and tricked readers with empty gimmicks, while continually raising the cover price. But in this web site I'm more concerned with the story content. For more about decompression, click here.
