Ultimate Counterbalancing Coalition

I'm a "wait for the trade paper" kind of guy, so I only recently managed to complete the Ultimates 2 series when the second collection came out. I feel like this book continues to put the other mainstream superhero titles to shame with awesome art and compelling storylines. One keeps hearing complaints about the irregular publishing schedule, but I feel like that should probably be read the other way 'round -- it turns out (no surprise) that one can do much better work if one doesn't slavishly adhere to schedule and, instead, turns out a new story if and only if the new story is actually done in a satisfactory manner.

The financial rationale for regular publication of issues seems clear enough, but I wonder if we aren't moving to a point in time when that may change and it makes more sense to drop the whole "issues" concept and just publish complete storylines as trade paperbacks if and when an entire story is done. More to the point, the book also illustrates key liberal views about international relations, namely about the importance of doing nuclear non-proliferation policy through legitimate international institutions rather than coalitions of the willing and/or random superhero teams.

Comments

it turns out (no surprise) that one can do much better work if one doesn't slavishly adhere to schedule and, instead, turns out a new story if and only if the new story is actually done in a satisfactory manner.

That's true, as long as you don't turn into fucking Image comics. There is an upper limit to that sort of thing. Particularly because comics are a serial form; it's not like Terrence Malick taking twenty years to make a movie. The story has to proceed with at least some semblance of speed.

Posted by Freddie | August 13, 2007 1:44 PM

Issues remain a valuable part of the revenue stream, particularly with the way the infrastructure of the industry (ie, specialty shops) has been set up, and the expectations of the audience that stories will be serial in nature. We are moving much more to TPBs and GNs as a force in the medium-- remember, even a decade ago, most things simply weren't released in a collected format at any point and those that were did not usually retain long print life. We may see a full transition at some point, but I don't really think we're there yet.

Posted by Anthony Damiani | August 13, 2007 1:58 PM

Incredibly impressed to see an Ultimates comment on a political blog, along with comments that make it clear you actually know what you're talking about in terms of the financial model of comics. Way to go, even if issues are here to stay for the time being.

That being said... read The Authority - the Ellis and Millar runs - for some equally (if not more) interesting political commentary through the superhero lens. Also very pretty art.

Posted by Eric Messinger | August 13, 2007 2:07 PM

The financial rationale for regular publication of issues seems clear enough, but I wonder if we aren't moving to a point in time when that may change and it makes more sense to drop the whole "issues" concept and just publish complete storylines as trade paperbacks if and when an entire story is done.

They're doing both right now. If you don't like reading per issue, you can wait till the trade paperback comes out. In any case, for comics it's pretty well know in the industry for the comic business to stay financially afloat, they have to expand the readership - in particular girls/women. Right now females are reading comics, but they're usually mangas. And the fanboy writers/artists working in the comic biz don't know how to attract more women to read their comics.

Posted by Dan the Man | August 13, 2007 2:22 PM

And exactly how long do you think it would take to complete something like ULTIMATES 2 without the demand for monthly issues? You don't really buy the excuse that "quality takes more time", do you? I'm not going to bash the quality of ULTIMATES 2, but it's not like the book is really exceptional. We're not talking about WATCHMEN here, a work in a completely different narrative league than most other comics.

It seems like there's a conceit developing that today's good comics (especially the ones that aren't really as good as people think) are better than the comics of the past. That is just bunk. Today's comics are different. Comics of the past weren't as cinematically visual and didn't dwell much on certain dramatic elements like atmosphere or "clever" dialog. However, comics of yesteryear were (IMHO) better plotted than comics today, less self-important and offered a lot more reading bang for your buck.

Mike

Posted by MBunge | August 13, 2007 2:24 PM

Authority didn't have politics early on, and later in the series it descended into stupidity. It was pitched as proactive heroes, but the basics of the series early on was to be an action movie with superheroes.

Realism and supers don't mix well, because any amount of realistic use of the superheroes results in a rapid divergence from the base reality that they're being spun from.

Posted by Alex | August 13, 2007 2:30 PM

I almost fell out of my chair when I saw a post about mainstream comics here. What a nice surprise - and it even prompted my first-ever comment (I think).

Anyway, Mike, I think you're certainly right about the fact that comics were better plotted in the past - largely because there was no trade market and no in-built structural reasons to make every story last six issues. Done-in-one is a model that can work very well (see, for instance, Morrison's All-Star Superman work, which is nothing if not throwback to the style of yore with more modern/post-modern substance). That said, I think the comics that are truly good "nowadays" (which I'm taking to be a period beginning with the Moore/Miller work in the 80s) are much much better than the best comics of, say, the Silver Age. It shouldn't really be surprising that a medium gets better as it matures, I wouldn't think.

Matt: more comics-blogging, please. This is great.

Posted by Ryan Bonneville | August 13, 2007 2:35 PM

The only thing I've read of THE AUTHORITY is the first trade, and I was massively underwhelmed. Maybe it helps to have read the stuff before or maybe it gets better later on, but THE AUTHORITY of that first trade is little more than an R rated version of the Super Friends.

Mike

Posted by MBunge | August 13, 2007 2:36 PM

we live in a magival time when real geniuses are doing brilliant and extraordinary work. Chris Ware, Jim Woodring, Kevin Huizenga, David B., Marjane Satrapi, Ivan Brunetti, Baru, Clowes, and so many many more great artists creating really powerful stuff. and then there is the juvenile materials published by Marvel/DC/Image. alas

But I guess some folks just need the cotton candy put out by Drek Comics and Marvelous Mouthwash Comics. My question is why read Boone's Farm when you can read Piper Heisdick for roughly the same cost? No accounting for taste, I guess, especially with comics.

Posted by mrs. ibrahim al-jafaari | August 13, 2007 2:43 PM

Speaking of international relations comics, any fans of Checkmate out there? The current setup is a team monitoring super-heroics and such that reports to the Security Council.

I'm a longstanding Amanda Waller fan, dating back to when Ostrander developed her for suicide squad. She tends to be fairly villainous and I hardly endorse her politics, but she's a fun political character.

I haven't read Ultimates, maybe I'll check it out sometime.

Posted by Greg Sanders | August 13, 2007 2:47 PM

hey i'm as big a jim woodring fan as you're gonna meet [without question the biggest talent to enter the field in the last decade] but ultimates 2 was excellent work.
by the way millar and hitch are gonna try a monthly book when they take over the fantastic four next year. let's see how the deadlines work out for that one. [and yes, i'll be waiting for the trade.]
rusty

Posted by rusty | August 13, 2007 2:49 PM

"That said, I think the comics that are truly good "nowadays" (which I'm taking to be a period beginning with the Moore/Miller work in the 80s) are much much better than the best comics of, say, the Silver Age. It shouldn't really be surprising that a medium gets better as it matures, I wouldn't think."

I think that depends on how you define Silver Age. If that terms applies to DC Super-Hero books of the 60s and early 70s or Marvel's pre-FF output, you might be right. What Stan and company did with super-heroes, however, was revolutionary and just as cutting edge as anything being done today. They were different as books aimed at a general audience compared to today's books that target a fairly well-defined niche market. And once you get into the 70s, there's stuff like Howard the Duck that was clearly aiming for a more "adult" type of reading experience.

Today's comics are certainly better at some things, but it's hard to compare quality in a meaningful way when one product was intended for a mass audience (8 to 80 years old) and the other is focused quite intently on a particular demographic slice.

Mike

Posted by MBunge | August 13, 2007 2:50 PM

You want worth the wait? Try Warren Ellis' PLANETARY. He started that bugger back in the 90's and he's just finishing it up now, with only 27 issues plus a few crossovers.

And it's been worth every second of delay.

And in terms of storytelling AND artworks it stomps all over almost everything you can think of.

I'll be buying the TBP's when they finally come out, if only because my single issues don't last very well (I've never gotten into the whole hermetically-sealed thing. I want to READ these suckers, not resell them). I have to wonder if TPB's would be as popular without the single issues, however, if only because it might be difficult to generate enough buzz to ensure decent sales, since you're shelling out usually $20-25 at once for a TPB instead of $2 for a single issue.

P.S. for some pretty good political superhero comix, try Ellis' old StormWatch run, the precursor to Authority. It's all a bit dated now, but still quality work.

Posted by jonathan | August 13, 2007 2:56 PM

But I guess some folks just need the cotton candy put out by Drek Comics and Marvelous Mouthwash Comics. My question is why read Boone's Farm when you can read Piper Heisdick for roughly the same cost?

Ms. Jafaari will be performing at the Funny Bone this weekend....

Posted by Freddie | August 13, 2007 3:38 PM

Greg,

Checkmate and Suicide Squad: oh yes, although I really didn't enjoy the recent post-Infinite Crisis Checkmate.
The early days of Checkmate (a bit more cartoon-y than it should have been) along with the Ostrander-written Suicide Squad, was the golden age of governmentally-run heroes, in my opinion, and the Janus Directive, which pulled most of them together, was a blast, including the Bush cameo at the end of the cross-over.

Posted by torrentprime | August 13, 2007 3:50 PM

Greg,

Checkmate and Suicide Squad: oh yes, although I really didn't enjoy the recent post-Infinite Crisis Checkmate.
The early days of Checkmate (a bit more cartoon-y than it should have been) along with the Ostrander-written Suicide Squad, was the golden age of governmentally-run heroes, in my opinion, and the Janus Directive, which pulled most of them together, was a blast, including the Bush cameo at the end of the cross-over.

Posted by torrentprime | August 13, 2007 3:50 PM

"I wonder if we aren't moving to a point in time when that may change and it makes more sense to drop the whole "issues" concept and just publish complete storylines as trade paperbacks if and when an entire story is done."

The sooner, the better. Individual comics are too short and too flimsy to buy or keep. Trade paperbacks are a reasonable (if still short) read and easier to keep intact.

Posted by Richard Campbell | August 13, 2007 3:52 PM

Used to read Checkmate and Suicide Squad, too.

Mostly because all my heroes are superVILLAINS: Doctor Doom and Thanos are my two role models in life. (Makes sense of a lot of things about me, doesn't it?)

Try reading the old "Doom:2099" series. The rest of the "2099" titles were garbage. But the guys writing "Doom" had a political agenda. What other comic had the supervillain quoting Noam Chomsky and Bakunin, invading the United States and killing off the real corporate rulers?

It was sheer genius. One of the best comics ever done (at least during that story arc toward the end of the comic's existence - it was probably killed because of the politics.)

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | August 13, 2007 6:04 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_2099

Written by John Francis Moore and later, Warren Ellis. Ellis I knew about.

Posted by jonathan | August 13, 2007 6:18 PM

Consider PLANETARY seconded. Ellis' new series BLACK SUMMER (in which the leader of the world's superhumans takes it upon himself to murder the President in the name of 'justice') might also make for some interesting reading.

Posted by Matt | August 13, 2007 10:35 PM