It’s always interesting when comic fans start to discuss what makes a good or bad product. While there is rarely actual agreement, there’s a lot of interesting discussion about various storytelling tricks. One recent topic has been storyline decompression.
Point:
The Absorbascon’s Scipio declares war on decompression.
Excerpt:
Decompression, by the way, makes comic book myth very opaque to new readers; too little information is conveyed about who’s who and what’s what. Decompression is only possible if you rely on the reader to know a lot of information you aren’t willing to stop to explain (What is that purple starfish? Who are Felix Faust, Prof. Ivo, and T.O. Morrow? Who the heck is Trident? Geez, I don’t even know who Trident is). Decompression is the enemy of comic books because it’s the enemy of new readers.
Counterpoint:
Blogger Mallet explains his support of decompressed stories.
Excerpt:
Out of all that a few titles stuck out, most prominently Daredevil, the poster child of decompression. I guess the whole reason was that I had to drive over a hour and a half to get to my LCS, and I wanted a reason to go. I wanted serialized content that actually carried to the next issue.
I want Soap Opera Comics.
Is decompression a good thing or not? What do you think?
May 18th, 2007 at 8:11 am
If you want a poster child on a book that spits in the eye of decompression, all you need to to read is Tad Williams’ excellent Aquaman. More happened in his first issue (#50) than Busiek’s whole run. Its fast, gets to the point, builds characters, builds lore, creates drama, and has plenty enough action. Its everything superhero comics should be nowadays, meaningful characters in arger than life circumstances. I mean, just check out “The Babe Squad” and their new admirer. WTF?!
May 18th, 2007 at 8:55 am
I like both compressed and decompressed stories; it just depends. Whether or not I buy or like a comic has nothing to do with whether or not I think a new reader will understand it, though. I read them for myself; I leave the business aspect to the publishers. Besides, I think new readers may be more likely to be introduced to comics through trades nowadays, and decompression in trades just makes them paced like more familiar media.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:00 am
It’s a false argument, if you ask me.
Decompression, in the general discussion, stands for plot elements being spread out over more pages than they were in the past.
In the hands of a good writer, that means getting subtleties you couldn’t get before, getting more characters moments and more setting up of the mood, etc. In the hands of a bad writer, that means slow, boring stories.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:02 am
The question of whether or not decompression is a good thing is a faulty question. It’s roughly akin to asking whether crosshatching is a good thing or a bad thing. Decompressed storytelling is a tool that creators can use to good effect or bad effect. The best writers know how to move a story forward even while exploring the moments in detail. The worst writers succeed only in writing six issues where nothing really happens.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:30 am
I want serialized, soap opera comics too, sure, but not the sort that decompression gets us. Decompression is almost totally tied to the 6-issue trade, with an almost contained story within said six issues.
And that kills one of the elements of great serialized comics melodrama right off the bat. The subplots go bye-bye.
What I want is something where you have an endless serialization (or at least 60 issues, with a beginning middle and end of a large major arc), where stories don’t fit well and neatly into 6 issue arcs, where they’re often stretched unnaturally to fit the trade.
I don’t always want Done-in-Ones, but I definitely don’t awnt One-stretched-to-sixes either.
May 18th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Niels van Eekelen:
“Decompression, in the general discussion, stands for plot elements being spread out over more pages than they were in the past.
In the hands of a good writer, that means getting subtleties you couldn’t get before, getting more characters moments and more setting up of the mood, etc. In the hands of a bad writer, that means slow, boring stories.”
Yeah, but looking at the number of badly written decompressed stories out there, I wonder if it’s just too difficult for most writers to pull off successfully, at least within the confines of a comic book story. Other formats like the novel are far more forgiving and have more space than comics.
Decompression is just a tool like any other, but I wish fewer writers used it as a first resort.