Comic series structure question

Why do series traditionally last 6 issues? Why aren't there epic mega series, such as a 12 issue series? Or a connected trilogy of 6 issue series, like the Thrawn Trilogy adaptation?

 

You mean story arcs? I mean..the series Republic and Empire both lasted much longer than six issues, as will Legacy. As for story arcs, I'm surprised that the number you see most often is 6. I'm more used to four part arcs.

 

It's that size for much the same reason there are three films in a SW trilogy. A single megafilm would be 6-8 hours long and wouldn't sell to the theater owners. The real source of profit for the comic book companies these days is not the individual issue but the Trade paperback (TPB) that gathers four to six (sometimes seven) issues of a comic. The number of pages in the TPB helps determine the price and that price point helps decide how many issues of the TPB are ordered by a given store and then bought by the reader. Less than four issues usually doesn't provide enough pages to justify the printing and more than seven (while it CAN occur) gives too many pages for a viable price point.

See? it's just economics. You may have been hoping for an artistic reason but it's just pragmatic ol' business.

-- John

 

Interesting. I always figured there was some element of the story you wanted to tell versus the space you had available to tell it in per issue. Like why the trilogy is so appealing as opposed to the duology or the quadrilogy.

 

There are some much longer comics, just not by Dark Horse. For example, From Hell is (I believe) around the equivalent of 20 DH single issues.

 

Of course, IIRC it's also in black and white, which seriously helps the price point.

 

It's also one, unified story, as opposed to an on going comic series.

 

That is what I was trying to get at. Why aren't there more unified stories, but yet last longer than say 6 issues.

I now understand the economic reasons, but yes, the example of 'From Hell' does prove that this works (yes, FH was originally released in individual issues as well, if I recall correctly).

 

The medium (short bursts of intense story) tends to lend itself better to small arcs than long, long ones. The month long waits between issues would seem pointless. People would lose interest. From Hell, IIRC, was never released one issue at a time, readers waiting a month for the next installment of the 520 page long story, but was rather serialized as part of another compilation comic book, then continued in big fat chunks periodically for a few years. No one really paid a ton of attention 'till it was collected into one book.

Notice, though, that the framing of stories in four to seven issue arcs isn't really indicative of much more than framing into "chapters." Usually, each arc is merely a continuation of the last, building on what's come before it.

 

Here's another bit of structure that I juggle.

I'm aware that the books are 22 pages long. But I'm also aware that the TPB really is the "final" form for the story and that iIwant it to read seamlessly, so that the break every 22 pages is not so noticeable to the person who has read ONLY the TPB. In addition, I'm aware these days that the first four pages of each issue are probably going to be a preview. That preview should entice readers, whet their appetite, but not reveal crucuial storypoints because we want that saved for the book -- if possible. rach individual issue needs some story element that is significant or completes the issue so that the issues individually are also satisfying AND also end in such a way that the reader wants that next issue RIGHT NOW.

No ONE of these elements predominates but ALL are factors as I work on the story. Plus we want action, characterization, and to drive this story arc AND the overall series forward with each issue -- indeed, with each scene and actually every panel.

And i need to do it monthly and on a deadline.

WHEEEEEE!

-- John

 

When I did my historical Western from DC, THE KENTS, the overall length was 12 issues and, when republished as a TPB, had 12 issues. Those twelve issues were subdivided into three 4 issue arcs.

There's lots of different ways of doing it but SW seems to work best with arcs of 4-6 issues. That said, we continue subplots and overall arcs into other story arcs. The story doesn't STOP with the end of a given arc. We'll be pursuing remaifications and repercussions of BROKEN in the upcoming arcs that we're doing in LEGACY.

And, going back to the economic reasons, when you're printing a color book, the number of pages beyond that 4-6 issue equivalent will raise the price beyond what the market is generally willing to pay. They know because they've checked.

-- John