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Darcey McLaughlin - Geek World

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Last week I talked about how the comic book world is beginning to move away from monthly serial comics (floppies) to collected editions (trade paperbacks) and graphic novels.

The increased popularity and mainstream acceptance of graphic novels has been good for the comic book industry. They represent a new source of revenue and a new way to attract readers to comics. But they also represent a major change to the comic industry as a whole.

Continuity be gone

As I mentioned last week there is now a trend in comics called "writing for the trade." Most monthly titles now have story arcs.

While there is no hard and fast rule, generally a five or six issue run is the norm. After being released they are almost immediately collected in a single bound edition with the issues acting as chapters. In fact, many trades are now advertised before the story arc is complete in the monthly book.

This move to set story arcs that can serve as chapters of a graphic novel has had another consequence and that is the ever-changing creative team. Once a writer and artist team would spend years working on a title. Now on many book, a creative team is brought in for a story arc and leave when it's completed.

In these cases the teams don't play strict attention to what was written the month before their arc began. They often want to present their own version of a character without worrying about continuity.

The switch from one arc to another can be jarring.

An example is the 2002-03 Batman: Hush arc by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee.

The 12-part story was a huge success, making Batman to top selling comic in the world. After the story concluded the team left the book and the next issue began: Broken City by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso.

The new arc was complete different in look and tone and ignored the Hush arc entirely. And it's a trend we are seeing more and more on books.

So what am I getting at? Well, if the floppy goes the way of the dodo, it is likely continuity will likely follow. Rather than a serialized book we will see characters in one self-contained story after another.

Creators will have no reason to honour what was written in another graphic novel — they will be free to present their own version of whatever character they are writing.

The plus side of this is it will be easier for readers to pick up a Superman or Spider-Man book and enjoy a tale without worrying about 50 years of history. On the downside, instead of characters that grow and evolve with each passing issue, characters will become storytelling devices with no history save the one created for that particular story.

Where to buy

The other big change likely to be brought about if floppies leave the market will be felt in comic book shops.

In the 70s and 80s the comic book shops were seen as the last great hope for the comic book industry. As newsstands got rid of comics, these specialty stores provided variety and guaranteed access to comics. The companies had a place to sell and fans had a place to buy (and hang out).

But it also resulted in comics being removed from places were new readers shopped. Why would anyone go into a comic book shop if they weren't already a comic book fan? As a result, comic began to see fewer and fewer new readers entering the industry.

For the last decade the industry has debated way to attract new readers. The graphic novel is one such way. Stores like Chapters in Canada or Barnes & Noble in the U.S. carry graphic novels. The have a higher price point than floppies, the can stay on the shelves for years and they are easy to display and look after.

People who are not die hard fans are increasingly buying graphic novels at book stores and reading them as self contained stories without worrying about what happens in their monthly titles.

Industry experts say the sale of graphic novels at book stores is equal to sales at comic book shops. That's amazing when you think about it. At the same time floppies are still sold in much higher quantities at comic shops.

These stores are not huge money makers to begin with. With floppies on their way out and more and more fans bypassing the shops in favour of chain book stores, many wonder if the comic book shop can survive.

In order to survive, stores are turning themselves in to pop culture stores offering a variety of merchandise licensed not just from comics but TV and movies as well. T-shirts, posters, toys — you name it, they have it. Free Comic Book day also works to bring readers into the shops and these stores often carry a wider variety of graphic novels.

Still, without their bread and butter product many stores are going to go under.

Bound edition

That's it for me — if you have some thoughts you'd like to put together in a single collection, feel free to send them to me at mclaughlin.darcey@miramichileader.com.