Yeah and the 2-hour movie would also get a bonus for sound. The real reason I would compare comics to books is that they're both similar in the timing of storytelling, different from the "real time" qualities of TV, movies, and music. Comics are visual, but in a freeze-frame sort of way. There are things that go on between the panels that are understood and require the same bit of imagination that books do. A new value calculation is on my mind so I'll get to that later.
posted by Stephen at 10:04 PM

Although it's a bit late to post a rebuttal, I've got something to say about the 10/20/2000 post. (First, congratulations on the new car.) Leave it to Stephen to figure out the numbers. On the other hand, paperback novels are much more of a mainstream item than comics, still seen as a "fringe" culture. Trust me; when was the last time you impressed a date by being well-read in the DC universe? I thought so. Consequently, the demand for a paperback novel is much higher than that for a comic book, which drives the price up. Secondly, the major difference is that the comic is such a visual medium whereas a book really isn't. Cartoon cells -- a single frame of animation -- can sell for many hundreds of dollars (thanks, WB, for pricing them all out of my range). By comparison, I'd say that $2.50 for a comic book -- 22 pages of artwork -- is great.

Like I said, it's mainly a visual medium. The story is not told in words (which block the pictures), but in artwork. For example, words don't do justice to a superheroine with big... muscles. (Thanks, Al Rio!) It might make more sense to compare a comic book to the $7 or whatever you pay for a movie ticket. Both are more visual media, but the two-hour movie gets a bonus for motion. Apples to apples, Stephen.
posted by Mike at 3:14 PM

I'm not sure what to make of some of Marvel's recent moves. Replacing Bob Harras with Joe Quesada as editor in cheif, giving the X-MEN to Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis' Counter-X deal. These all seem like good things, yet I remain dubious. Why is this? Well, most likely is the fact that Marvel editorial seems to do more writing and plotting than the actual "writers", handing down plot mandates of what the readers want to see, usually the same thing that has been written before. Then Quesada may also change the face of Marvel editorial. Lots of odd things going on. We'll see what comes of it.
posted by Stephen at 4:53 PM

I'm a big loser. Except that I'm a big loser with a new car. This is the reason that I have not been posting here more regularly. Having just bought a car has left me poor and I have not ventured to the comic store in a couple of weeks. So this brings me to the subject of comic book prices. Comics are too expensive, really. In the past I have regularly spent $20-30 per week on the things and have seen people who spend much more.

If we break up comics and traditional text-only books into price per word, it's obvious that comics are a luxury item (though a Brian Bendis book would have a much greater value than most issues of the HULK). It's true that this is not a fair comparison since "a picture is worth a thousand words". Even if we agree that most comic art is that expressive, I doubt that comics are a good buy. Let's do a quick calculation: 9 panels/page x 22 pages x "1000 words" = 198000 "words" worth of pictures, which is very generous because it assumes a 9 panel grid in a world ruled by splash pages. Throw in another 2000 words for actual text, and a comic is worth about 200,000 words.

Doing the same calculation on the nearest handy book (Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon"): about 275 words on a typical page, with 454 pages leads to about 100,000 pages. Admittedly, I'm surprised it's not more and that the comic would therefore have about five times the value on a per theoretical word basis. ($2.50 comic vs. $8 paperback) I will say that "Red Dragon" has rather large type.

Re-thinking the comic calculation, I've realized I was WAY too generous. Based on a sampling of a dozen random pages from the "Transmetropolitan: Lust for Life" TPB (Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson), the average panels/page should be more like 5. And while Darick's art is great, I'm not sure that each and every picture is worth 1000 words, and based on what I've seen in other books, let's say we reduce the "word worth" of a picture to 100. This results in a comic being worth 13000 "words" (11000 image "words" and 2000 assumed text words), which I still think is pretty generous. This is 8 times lower in value than a book and, hence, about 3 times lower in value per unit. It's not as bad as I thought it would be, but this is my round about reasoning for not buying comics this month.
posted by Stephen at 12:16 PM

Seanbaby's Super Friends page
WOW. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Reviews of most of the characters are absolutely hilarious and, as much as I love 'em, right on. Enjoy!
posted by Mike at 9:25 AM

There have been various online debates that I've witnessed over buying trade paperbacks instead of the monthly "pamphlet" form. Now, in my opinion, TPB's have the advantage of collecting a cohesive body of work all together for a nice ad-free read without having to wait until the next issue comes out. Monthly issues have the advantage of giving you regular tastes and are (virtually) guaranteed to be there without fear that they'll be passed over for collection (ie Grant Morrison's Flex Mentallo). So take your pick. I prefer TPB's but still get plenty of monthlies.

That said, this week I purchased the stunning Inhumans TPB (Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee). For the love of God, everyone interested in comics should buy this. It's much better in TPB form, not to mention the fact that the above mentioned parties have done a tremendous job on this series. This is not a book to be missed. Jae Lee, of the long-absent Hellshock, has done some of his best work on this series, artful and expressive without going over the top. It perfectly compliments Jenkins' story, which is also masterfully done. Only marginally superhero-based, it spends a great deal of time developing a sense of mystery about the culture of the Inhumans as well as the burdens of their silent king, Black Bolt. Highly recommended.

(Also this week: The Authority 19, featuring the return of Frank Quitely, who I've greatly missed. Following in the enormous footsteps of Warren Ellis, Mark Millar is proving himself quite up to the task. His Authority draws much more from the origins penned in the miniseries Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority. Super team as dysfunctional family, plenty of bickering and clashing personalities, but there to get the job done. Also highly recommended.)
posted by Stephen at 3:56 PM

Oh and Mike...the Power Rangers and Godzilla are any less ridiculous how? ;)
posted by Stephen at 3:35 PM

In light of this blog format, I was highly amused at this YABS. Everyone should visit Comic Book Resources regularly. It's very good, funny a lot of the time, and has columns written by some of the top talent in the field. YABS (You'll All Be Sorry) is one of the best regular columns, providing a satirical view of current goings-on in the comic industry. This one takes a swipe at amateurish online comic-based pages, which basically takes a humorous swipe at us. Gail's got a great sense of humor and a keen eye for relevant targets. Plus, there are weekly columns by Steven Grant and Warren Ellis.
posted by Stephen at 5:56 PM