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Topic: Twice-monthly shipping doesn’t keep readers buying DC Comics Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Robbie Parry
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Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: 18 August 2017 at 9:02am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

You know, I cannot help but see a parallel with wrestling at times (WWE).

Decades ago, one could enjoy WWE because, well, less was more. There were four PPV events a year. Then five. And a few weekly shows, all of them an hour in length (and you didn't need to watch them all as a lot of them repeated stuff or featured promos). Then came MONDAY NIGHT RAW, which began as an hour-long show, then went to two hours - and is now three hours long. Far too much.

I don't have the energy to watch all of WWE now. Not with countless shows, monthly PPV events, etc. I mean, who really has an appetite for three hours of RAW every Monday? Even when you take out adverts, that's still, what, two and a half hours? I pine for the days of an hour-long RAW.

Less is more with comics, too. I'd prefer fewer books for a character. Although I was not obligated to buy them all back in the day, I shook my head in 1995 when SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF TOMORROW was created, meaning there'd be a book on the shelves every week of the year (THE MAN OF TOMORROW was a quarterly "skip week" book). And when one of the Spider-Man titles became a twice-a-month book (around a decade or so ago), I just thought to myself, 'Go fuck yourself, Marvel.' Less really is more.

I enjoyed THE INCREDIBLE HULK many years ago. He had one monthly book - and occasional guest appearances or one-shots. But had there been 4-5 Hulk books on the shelves in the early 80s, I doubt I'd have been interested.
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Eric Sofer
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Joined: 31 January 2014
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Posted: 18 August 2017 at 10:13am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Twice monthly seems to me to be an opportunity to throw twice as much crap at the wall and hope that twice as much sticks to the wall.

And if it's crap, it doesn't matter if it comes out weekly. And if it's a gem, it doesn't matter if it comes out bi-monthly.

Eric J.: Regarding fast talent, certainly messrs. Buscema and Swan. I seem to recall hearing that lesser lights such as Greg LaRocque, Mark Bagley, and Ron Lim are also lightning fast pencillers. That doesn't mean they're better - but it does mean that they're among the few who could handle a semi-monthly schedule. And I like all of their work (which isn't any mark of quality either, of course. :)
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Craig Bogart
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Joined: 18 June 2008
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Posted: 18 August 2017 at 11:26am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

In the books I've checked out, it seems they maintain the twice-monthly schedule by juggling creators around different story arcs.  The big benefit I've noticed is that in order to make sure a new story is on schedule, there have been a LOT of single issue, self-contained stories before they start a new multi-part story.  I'm happy to see that.
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Bill Collins
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Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11245
Posted: 18 August 2017 at 12:49pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

One thing that puts me off twice monthly books is the
practice of using different artists to adhere to the
schedule,i find it jarring and would prefer the same
artist for each arc.Robbie is right,too much is too
much.I think the powers that be have never heard the
saying `Familiarity breeds contempt`
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