Conversation at a con about silver age stories made me rethink modern comics

I was standing in line at a booth at Motor City Comic Con last Saturday, just waiting to grab a sketch. This guy behind me, probably in his 70s, started talking about how he used to read the Lee and Kirby Fantastic Four issues in the 60s. He said something that stuck with me: 'Back then, every issue felt like a complete adventure, not just a chapter for the trade.' I thought about all the decompressed stories I've been buying, where five issues barely cover what used to happen in one. He wasn't even being mean about it, just honest about how the pacing is different now. It hit me because I realized I actually agree with him, a lot of my pulls are books that read better in a stack than month to month. Makes me wonder if anyone else has had that chat with an older collector that made you look at your own shelf different.

2 comments

2 Comments

loganhart12d ago

Wait, did the old guy really just drop that line like it was nothing? Because that hits way harder than any con panel I've sat through on modern storytelling. I've had a few older collectors tell me similar stuff, and it always makes me stop and flip through my books with fresh eyes. Like, they're not wrong - some of those silver age issues pack more plot and character in 22 pages than a whole event series does now. Kinda makes you wonder how we got so used to paying for stories that feel like they're just stretching time until the trade comes out.

hugo_ellis12d ago

Have you tried splitting your pull list into two piles, one for monthly floppies and one for trades? I did that a few years back after a similar talk with an old timer. Stuff like Immortal Hulk or the current Moon Knight I read in trades now because they clearly build to something. But I keep books like the new Thor or World's Finest on my monthly list because each issue has a beginning, middle, and end. It costs the same either way but my Wednesdays feel way more satisfying when I'm not chasing a six month payoff every single time.