Writers today...

...dont seem to crank out the volume of work they did back in the day.

I recently purchased a nice run of Avengers reading copies from my LCS from like issue 180 to 220. Ive been adding these in to the mix of current books for my reading pleasure and I noticed something. There is a lot more to read with the older books.

I trashed my back earlier tonight rolling up a hose in the backyard so Ive been resigned to the couch for the duration of the night. This has allowed me to get caught up on some of my reading and I just finished Indestructible Hulk 2 and Avengers 193. Hulk being the modern book of course, and The Avengers was from 1979. Since Im stuck on the couch anyway I decided to count the number of words in each issue to see how they compared because the older books just feel like they take so much longer to read. I know I lost count a few times so its not completely accurate but it will give you an idea...The Avengers had roughly 1,993 words in 17 pages while the Hulk had about 1,222 in 20 pages.

I was surprised it was even this close to be honest, but still thats quite a difference. In the end we are left with less of the story told today with words and more with artwork. This isnt a bad thing mind you as Im a big fan of great art, but if Im honest I really miss the extra reading when its a great writer. There are some modern books that take like 10 minutes to read and then Im left wondering what the heck, I just spent 4 bucks for 10 minutes of entertainment? Personally I want to have my cake and eat it too...give me the great art with the splash pages AND the substance of added writing. For what we pay, I dont think this is an unreasonable request.

Til next time...

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