This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: Short or Standalone Stories

I wanted to expand upon the core subject behind last week’s Underrated today – that of self contained or standalone stories – because it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for awhile as the length of story arcs being published by comic companies within their ongoing series these days seems to be lengthening with every passing year.

This may turn into a bit of an angry rant, so buckle up folks.

I’m aware of the irony of using an older comic for a to be continued image.

Do you remember a time when you decided you wanted to check out a new series, and so you went into your LCS (or newsstand) and picked up the first issue you saw and because it was probably either a one shot story, a two-parter, or a standalone issue of some kind? Honestly, neither do I. I do remember waiting for a new arc and trying to jump on board then only to realize that the Part One that the comic is supposed to be is actually Part Seven in a much longer story that and is nigh on impossible for a new reader to pick up, and subsequently not giving a shit about reading the next issue – that’s part of the reason that I write Graphic Policy’s Rebirth Recap and Review so that those who want to jump into a series have an idea as to whether they’re able to do so with ease or not (although there are some comics that I wish I didn’t have to read for that feature… but that’s neither here nor there).

So why is this week’s Underrated about short or standalone stories specifically?

Because more often than not those are the stories that will help a publisher sink their hooks into fans. While the multi-part epics do have their place, when you’re just getting off the ground in comics they can be pretty intimidating place to start, not to mention a huge money sink if you think you need to get everything related to the story to understand it (and while that proves to be a short term gain for the publisher, it sucks for the new reader). Indeed lately I’ve found myself reading older comics, those from the 70’s to mid 90’s as I find them at flea markets and yard sales, and I realized that much of what I had been reading was either a one issue and done story, or at most a two-parter, which got me thinking; was the prevalence of shorter stories a sign of the times where publishers expected fans to only buy an issue or two or was it the result of the proliferation of comics on the newsstands where a person could never be sure to find any series in sequence?

Or, in other words, with the rise of specialty stores have we also seen the rise in multipart epics? Although that’d be an interesting question to explore, that’s not what we’re here to look at today – and I’ve already taken too long to get to my point.

The reason I love short or standalone stories, whether that’s in the form of a one or two issue comic story or graphic novel (which, I’m aware, may be pushing the “short” aspect but is still self contained) is that you get a full story in one chunk without having to wait almost a year to finish it if you’re reading in single issues. There’s also something impressive in a writer being able to tell a complete story in a single comic that gives you a solid snapshot of the character in a single issue. An example of this is Wolverine Vol 2 #113. Although there is clearly more to the story than we find out in the issue, Larry Hama effectively tells a complete story in a single comic (granted this is basically a series of fight scenes with nods to Wolverine’s at-the-time mysterious past, but it’s still largely self contained). That doesn’t mean you have to wrap up every loose end,  but don’t end on an arbitrary cliffhanger just to convince me to come back for the next issue.

If the writing is good enough or the art captures my imagination, then I’ll be coming back with or without a cliffhanger.

Turns out this wasn’t as angry as I expected.

Unless the comics industry ceases any and all publication look for a future installment of Underrated to cover something else comic book related next week.