With technology scattering pop culture like never before... 1 1

[vodou]

I think there is still going to be key, impactful and sought after modern OA work, but they are very few and far between. You can probably count on both hands the work that people will care about in the future.

Hasn't the 'modern' version of sequential storytelling been around long enough for some to rise to the top? What's hot in comics, in OA from fifteen years ago that's 'modern' in form? I'm asking because I don't know and am curious! (And maybe looking for something good to read in tpb anyway that isn't Big Two same old same old.)

[NinjaSealed]

I think there is still going to be key, impactful and sought after modern OA work, but they are very few and far between. You can probably count on both hands the work that people will care about in the future.

Hasn't the 'modern' version of sequential storytelling been around long enough for some to rise to the top? What's hot in comics, in OA from fifteen years ago that's 'modern' in form? I'm asking because I don't know and am curious! (And maybe looking for something good to read in tpb anyway that isn't Big Two same old same old.)

 

Closest non big two I can think of at the moment that isn't TWD is Planetary I think?

Cassaday Art, great Warren Ellis Story. Pretty much dead at this point, but A level panel pages are probably around $1k. Purely driven by fans of the series.

[delekkerste]

Hasn't the 'modern' version of sequential storytelling been around long enough for some to rise to the top? What's hot in comics, in OA from fifteen years ago that's 'modern' in form? I'm asking because I don't know and am curious! (And maybe looking for something good to read in tpb anyway that isn't Big Two same old same old.)

 

There's been a ton of great comics published over the past 15 years, including from the Big Two. I mean, to me, Ed Brubaker's Captain America run was the GOAT. The Bendis/Maleev and Brubaker/Lark Daredevil runs were both very close to the best ever IMO. Not being a big Hulk fan, I actually liked Bruce Jones' very different take on the title from the early 2000s better than any other. There have been some terrific Batman stories written during this period as well that I've enjoyed, just to name a few.

 

That said, they may all be great reads, BUT, I've never been more than slightly tempted to buy any of the OA (granted, I don't think a lot of the DD art exists in physical form). The closest I've gotten is bidding on some of the Cap covers, as that title did a better job than most of using relevant images on its covers. But, as for interiors, as great as the Brubaker stories were, guess what - you don't get any of the dialogue on the OA! And decompression means that there a lot more pages of not much happening than there used to be - people standing around talking and such...and on the art you don't even get the words. All of which means that, with decompressed storytelling, it's hard to visualize that killer representative page that you'd want, because, generally speaking, there aren't any/many - it's just page after page of moving the story along.

 

It may be great for the reader - I've actually come around to enjoying decompressed storytelling a lot more in recent years, even though I think comics have lost some of what made them unique, as they look/flow more like movies these days - but, from an OA collector perspective, it blows. And, as nice as a lot of the art is drawn, with no dialogue and less happening on each page, there is very much a "same-y" quality/feeling about the pages. They not only don't stand out from each other, but they don't stand out from other Modern pages for the most part.

[Bronty]

It may be great for the reader - I've actually come around to enjoying decompressed storytelling a lot more in recent years, even though I think comics have lost some of what made them unique, as they look/flow more like movies these days - but, from an OA collector perspective, it blows. And, as nice as a lot of the art is drawn, with no dialogue and less happening on each page, there is very much a "same-y" quality/feeling about the pages. They not only don't stand out from each other, but they don't stand out from other Modern pages for the most part.

 

Oleg pays a premium for decompressed pages

[Nexus]

Let me add this.

 

The argument MYNAMEISLEGION makes regarding continuity assumes we are all talking about Marvel and DC, and ignores that the modern comic market and audience has fractured greatly. A surging demographic today among creators and audiences is towards creator owned books thorough alternative imprints. Whether it’s Dark Horse, or Image, or even one of the dozens (hundreds) of smaller publishers and indies out there. Didn't Image just pass DC numbers recently?

 

The reason I bring this up, is that MYNAMEISLEGION argument regarding continuity really only applies to the big guys that I am aware of. Many, if not most comic stories via these other publishers these days, don’t do that. Most of them have singular stories to tell. Either in a finite way as shorter run series, or in a long form way, like Walking Dead. Or even in the case of Mignola’s books, very long interweaving stories, that all follow one long continuity.

 

It’s a bit short-sighted to think that because Marvel and DC have turned the reboot into such a normal activity and are killing off interest, that other new comics follow that trend. There is a reason so many modern readers are a different demographic, have different interest, and are reading different books, and that the market shares are shifting.

 

Creators are doing exactly what we all said should have been done for Kirby, Siegel and Shuster. They are taking their ideas elsewhere. Image, as a publisher has seen a massive revival in the number and variety of books they are publishing, and it stems from the fact that their creators own their material. Simple as that. The quality of the material reflects the effort put into it, because it all rides on the creator’s efforts. These creators don’t have (or want) the history and characters to fall back on and bank on. They are plowing their own rows, and reaping their own rewards.

 

What does all this have to do with the topic at hand?

 

Aside from refuting the idea that continuity reboots will eventually kill off comic art interest, I’d proffer that these new collectors will just come in a different door. Their interests will be adjusted to what are their norms. And us old guys will badmouth their style of collecting just like their music or their taste in clothing.

 

As Gene has said often, collectors of the future need some connection to comics in their past, in order to buy OA as an earning adult. I’m suggesting that their norms for what is acceptable in OA will be different then ours. They may fall in love with OA from a modern book, and only buy one or two pages in their lean, just-out-of-school years, but double back later on. That there will be some that migrate into collecting older material even. I severely doubt that they’ll prop up the market in any way shape or form, as we’ve come to know it anyway.

 

It will be a different market. And there will be OA collectors. Maybe it’ll go back in a way, more towards those early years where there were far fewer people seeking out the stuff, and the prices will take a hefty correction. Or mess will hit the fan globally, and no one will give a rats about OA, or guitars, or vintage cars, or paintings, or whatever, while we're all hung up on gas or water or other essentials? Anything can happen.

 

But the way I see the current trajectory, I’d see the market shrinking, but not entirely dying off. And I don’t see modern OA as soulless. Just different. And some people will continue to keep up with it, like old guys listening to Mass Gothic, or Sheer Mag vs. sticking with Led Zeppelin and Nirvana.

 

 

FWIW, I think we're all talking about different shades of the same thing. Just through slightly different viewpoints, with differing nuances.

 

-e.

 

FYI: I had to Google for the first 2. Heh!

 

Yeah, this all day long.

 

Most of us here are of a certain age. It's showing.

 

We all bring our own biases, but it does appear to me that some here are approaching this discussion from the standpoint of their own personal nostalgia, without considering that others may not have the same nostalgia (or any at all).

[Nexus]

Let me add this.

 

The argument MYNAMEISLEGION makes regarding continuity assumes we are all talking about Marvel and DC, and ignores that the modern comic market and audience has fractured greatly. A surging demographic today among creators and audiences is towards creator owned books thorough alternative imprints. Whether it’s Dark Horse, or Image, or even one of the dozens (hundreds) of smaller publishers and indies out there. Didn't Image just pass DC numbers recently?

 

The reason I bring this up, is that MYNAMEISLEGION argument regarding continuity really only applies to the big guys that I am aware of. Many, if not most comic stories via these other publishers these days, don’t do that. Most of them have singular stories to tell. Either in a finite way as shorter run series, or in a long form way, like Walking Dead. Or even in the case of Mignola’s books, very long interweaving stories, that all follow one long continuity.

 

It’s a bit short-sighted to think that because Marvel and DC have turned the reboot into such a normal activity and are killing off interest, that other new comics follow that trend. There is a reason so many modern readers are a different demographic, have different interest, and are reading different books, and that the market shares are shifting.

 

Creators are doing exactly what we all said should have been done for Kirby, Siegel and Shuster. They are taking their ideas elsewhere. Image, as a publisher has seen a massive revival in the number and variety of books they are publishing, and it stems from the fact that their creators own their material. Simple as that. The quality of the material reflects the effort put into it, because it all rides on the creator’s efforts. These creators don’t have (or want) the history and characters to fall back on and bank on. They are plowing their own rows, and reaping their own rewards.

 

What does all this have to do with the topic at hand?

 

Aside from refuting the idea that continuity reboots will eventually kill off comic art interest, I’d proffer that these new collectors will just come in a different door. Their interests will be adjusted to what are their norms. And us old guys will badmouth their style of collecting just like their music or their taste in clothing.

 

As Gene has said often, collectors of the future need some connection to comics in their past, in order to buy OA as an earning adult. I’m suggesting that their norms for what is acceptable in OA will be different then ours. They may fall in love with OA from a modern book, and only buy one or two pages in their lean, just-out-of-school years, but double back later on. That there will be some that migrate into collecting older material even. I severely doubt that they’ll prop up the market in any way shape or form, as we’ve come to know it anyway.

 

It will be a different market. And there will be OA collectors. Maybe it’ll go back in a way, more towards those early years where there were far fewer people seeking out the stuff, and the prices will take a hefty correction. Or mess will hit the fan globally, and no one will give a rats about OA, or guitars, or vintage cars, or paintings, or whatever, while we're all hung up on gas or water or other essentials? Anything can happen.

 

But the way I see the current trajectory, I’d see the market shrinking, but not entirely dying off. And I don’t see modern OA as soulless. Just different. And some people will continue to keep up with it, like old guys listening to Mass Gothic, or Sheer Mag vs. sticking with Led Zeppelin and Nirvana.

 

FWIW, I think we're all talking about different shades of the same thing. Just through slightly different viewpoints, with differing nuances.

 

-e.

 

FYI: I had to Google for the first 2. Heh!

 

 

yeah, pretty much, we're just quibbling over the details of a gradual extinction of a hobby as it stands today. It had a good run 60-70 years, but its morphed into something else. Perhaps that's good, depends on your perspective, and I think that may in fact owe some of it's current lifeline to the very technology this thread was originally premised on: Movies. Our ability to make movies and other tantalizing spectacles out of these funny book ideas is what's keeping the medium on life-support. Contrast that with newspaper strips. Dead and buried. No Hi and Lois movies, Blondie and Dagood TV show. No Hagar the Horrible cartoons. Dead. No conventions, no cosplay, no halloween costumes. Dead. No OA either. Bloom County is back, and it's all digital. Dead. Some great art was produced, and if you have vintage Peanuts or Alex Raymond Flash Gordon, they will command a princely sum, but they are the exception, and in a generation, prices will flatline there too. Hobby's have a lifespan, that lifespan is determined by the medium and the culture it intersects with. As they evolve, natural selection takes over in the marketplace and they make it or they don't, but nothing lasts forever. Just look at comicstrips, pulps, stamps, sports cards, and, while not a hobby, the Greatest Show on Earth.

 

 

Bolded the portion that you appear to have missed the first time.

 

Be fair and read it. Eric took time to write it. Don't expect you to change your mind, but all valid points worth considering.

[Nexus]

I will also continue to beat this one dead horse however, because it's the most relevant detail in this entire discussion IMO. Modern OA as compared to older OA. The page you saw as a kid in that comic cannot be experienced in the same was as it once was by purchasing the OA. I have sequential pages of multiple books, and I can pretty much read the entire story just from the OA, just like reading a Marvel Essential or a DC Showcase in B&W.

 

Try doing that with Modern OA. Do you collect the pencils, with the inked blue line, and then xerox a page from the comics to see WTF was going one? Not to mention the digital color effects that were added, so most of the backgrounds in the OA are blank? That's what I mean by soulless. It's just . Let's not mince words. It's a novelty at best. Maybe some 25 year old will drop 200 bucks on a page or two, but they are never going to amass the sorts of collections some of us have, because they didn't start with collecting boxes and boxes of comics. They are consumers of content, not collectors. They read them on their phone. It's disposable entertainment. Fleeting, like Gene's bad Chinese food.

 

 

 

My goodness, it's a wonder *any* modern art sells at all!

 

It's not for you. We get it.

 

But not everyone collects for the same reasons you do. I don't buy OA so I can read the story in a larger format (which appears to be very important to you). Sequences are nice, but I've never collected soley so I could put together multiple consecutive pages.

 

Not all modern art is how you describe it, either.

 

It may still be to you, but sorry to say, the majority of comics is . The majority of everything is . I find it somewhat amusing that '70s Marvel/DC OA is placed on a pedestal, because the page has word balloons and the action isn't decompressed. Which, in the vast majority of cases, just means there's more hacky writing, and more editorially-mandated superhero wheel-spinning, to endure in the art.

 

I suspect this is mostly coming from someone who hasn't read many new comics in the last 20 years, and overall, is mostly limited to Big 2 fare. Nothing wrong with that. But it's an incomplete picture of comics. And not enough experience to make these sort of blanket statements.

[Bronty]

Omg thank you. It's hard to break past the "this 70s hack (artist or writer) was a genius because I am familiar with him mindset".

 

Lots of high value art isn't that great when you strip away context so discussing the art's collectibility solely on its artistic merits or storytelling style misses the point.

[Nexus]

I dunno...I know Modern collectors are OK with Modern art (otherwise, they wouldn't be collecting it), but, if Modern art had physical inking & lettering and old school compressed storytelling, wouldn't the vast majority of them like the physical OA even more? I mean, let's assume that you could have the original art to a complete story to a modern book. Right now, you're usually getting 1/5th or 1/6th of a storyline with no words, whereas you could be getting a whole story (or maybe 1/2 of one) with all the lettering so you can read it just like the actual comic book. Doesn't the latter offer an inherently superior visual & ownership experience?

 

If OA needed lettering to enjoy it, someone better tell the owner of the complete G.I. JOE #21!

 

I do understand where you're coming from. But I'll take 1/5 or 1/6 of a storyline I LIKE over 1/1 of a story I'm "eh" about.

 

As it is, I've sold over 30 complete issues of various indie titles in the last couple of years. No complaints yet!

 

I feel like people collect Modern OA in spite of its limitations, because they like the books themselves better than the older material, not because they link the OA itself presents better without word balloons and such.

 

Yes, that's it. But also, the "limitations" really are mostly (maybe only?) perceived by us older collectors, who know the difference. For the new fan, all that matters is that it's the art to a book they like. We can all point to older art that looks "better" because of this or that, but if that art isn't something they know or care about, then why would they care?

 

[Nexus]

What proof does anyone even have that younger people don't prefer decompressed art if they were raised on decompressed art? This seems like one of those "if they were offered x, they wouldn't want their y" stories.

 

It's a guess that gets repeated pretty often. I'd hazard many may not even know what the concept means.

 

Exactly. They only know what they know. Or what they care to know.

[Nexus]

What proof does anyone even have that younger people don't prefer decompressed art if they were raised on decompressed art? This seems like one of those "if they were offered x, they wouldn't want their y" stories.

 

It's a guess that gets repeated pretty often. I'd hazard many may not even know what the concept means.

 

I can totally believe that large numbers of today's comic book readers prefer decompressed storytelling to old-school storytelling - I'm definitely not arguing otherwise. Not everybody likes to read shorter storylines with more words in them. I love reading decompressed stories - you can read hundreds of pages in a fraction of the time it used to take. Again, I think it's very much like Chinese food - quick, easy and tasty, though not necessarily more satisfying over the long run.

 

I don't know if anyone has done a poll on what that means for the art, but, to me, while many may prefer decompressed storytelling, from an OA-centric point of view, it means that a smaller % of the story is happening on any given page of art. That's just simple math. As such, are there "key pages" anymore? Instead of 32 pages or whatever from the Death of Elektra storyline, now it takes 132 pages to tell the same story and so singular pages are simply not as impactful as they used to be. Also, often what is so memorable about those older pages is the dialogue! If Daredevil #181 was redone today, it would take an extra 100 pages and the art would be missing classic lines like "You're pretty good, toots. But, me, I'm magic." The pages just wouldn't be as special, IMO, and I think most would agree.

 

"Death of Elektra" was impactful because of the era. You tell the same story now, in the same 32 pages, with the same dialogue, and it's nowhere near the same. For all the reasons everyone's listed.

 

Forget "Death of Elektra"...Sal Buscema Cap pages and Dave Cockrum second-run X-MEN pages are considered iconic to those who grew up on it.

 

When there are no more kids reading comics, that sort of thing won't get repeated. But it does seem in this thread that some believe that older comics (story and art) were better because they made a bigger impression...when that's the case because readers were younger and more impressionable!

 

Sorry to say, most of what we loved as kids don't hold up well. I buy a lot of stuff I'm nostalgic about from my childhood, but I do try to be somewhat objective about their relative qualities.

[Nexus]

Kidding and poking fun, but serious too... if we are going to use the old metrics then it's worth mentioning that even with the dialogue and trade dress taken away, modern covers are often the 'perfect shot' that yesterday's collector would want.

 

Yes, if we are strictly evaluating the art on aesthetics alone. But so much more to consider, including nostalgia...which, in the thread, is the greatest variable of all. I'm just not sure how many realize it, or will admit it?

[Nexus]

By this logic... more pages overall, fewer pages with key happenings... doesn't that simply make the few key pages more desirable?

 

Relative to the mass of other Modern pages, for sure. But that's where the greater desirability stops, for all the reasons already discussed.

 

Rehashed discussion points for the bored:

 

 

Key happenings generally take place over more pages nowadays, so there is not always "one" page featuring that key event (decompression). Everybody can remember key panels or key pages from vintage issues. People can remember what every cover looked like from their favorite runs. What about their modern counterparts? One of my favorite runs of the Modern era was the Brubaker Captain America run. Of course, we know that Cap "dies" for a while. How many people remember what issue # he died in? How many remember what the cover looked like? How many remember what the page he actually died on looks like? And that was a huge event by Modern standards. Now try to remember a significant event from Ultimate Spider-Man and what the cover looked like for that issue, let alone the interiors. Cannot be done unless you have a photographic memory.

 

The lack of dialogue is huge. Much of the desirability of older art was also getting the crucial/memorable dialogue as well as just the drawn art. Imagine if the art to the last page of ASM #42 just had Mary Jane looking at Peter instead of her telling him he hit the jackpot. Or Wolverine showing up on the last page of Hulk #180 without him announcing his arrival. Or Phoenix sacrificing herself in UXM #137 without reading what she told Scott before she did it. This isn't just "get off my lawn" stuff. People don't collect modern OA because they hate word balloons and like their OA better with no dialogue - they collect it in spite of that, because they're fans of the current material and that's the only way the art is available.

 

Also again - much smaller audience. Not only circulation-wise, but, comparing, say, ASM #117 to ASM #639 (just picking a random number), a ton of people read ASM #117 through Marvel Tales, HCs/TPBs, back issues, Marvel Unlimited, etc. over the years so there's a much larger built-in audience for it. Fewer important pages isn't going to make them anywhere nearly as desirable as the older material because the built-in audience is so much smaller.

 

I agree with this (spoiler portion). Actually, I agree with just about everything in this thread...as it relates to Marvel and DC.

 

There are more to comics than Marvel and DC, though.

[Hekla]

 

If OA needed lettering to enjoy it, someone better tell the owner of the complete G.I. JOE #21!

 

 

I was thinking of GIJ 21 when reading previous comments too. Coincidentally, I was catching up on reading this weekend and read East of West #22 and thought 'this is GI Joe 21... I want this OA!'

[delekkerste]

If OA needed lettering to enjoy it, someone better tell the owner of the complete G.I. JOE #21!

 

I do understand where you're coming from. But I'll take 1/5 or 1/6 of a storyline I LIKE over 1/1 of a story I'm "eh" about.

 

As it is, I've sold over 30 complete issues of various indie titles in the last couple of years. No complaints yet!

 

Yes, that's it. But also, the "limitations" really are mostly (maybe only?) perceived by us older collectors, who know the difference. For the new fan, all that matters is that it's the art to a book they like. We can all point to older art that looks "better" because of this or that, but if that art isn't something they know or care about, then why would they care?

 

There's a difference between a story designed to be told without words, and just zapping all the narration & dialogue out of a story! Yes, older collectors have biases', but I think it's being a bit overblown here. The reality is that Modern OA is simply less complete than vintage in portraying the finished product. Comics are words + pictures, not just pictures. Can you imagine if strip art OA was missing the dialogue because it was lettered digitally? I don't think one has to be steeped in older OA to miss the absence of narration and dialogue on the Modern OA board and recognize that it is a limitation on its appeal. Anyone who reads a modern comic is going to see that the art is missing a lot of vital components from the published material. Sure, if you love the source material enough, it won't matter - definitely not disputing that. But, I do think it limits the appeal, because not everyone will fully accept the limitations.

 

Also, I'm not surprised that you've sold so many complete Modern indie books. I feel that fact actually bolsters my argument! Yes, when you buy a complete Modern story, you're still missing the words, but, over the course of 22 pages, you have something that feels more substantial and is easier to both present and contextualize. I was looking over the Paper Girls art you posted the other day (someone gave me the first TPB as a Christmas gift). I'm sure there are many younger fans, and those who don't have lots of money to spend on this hobby, who would just like the best piece of the series that they can afford. But, I consider myself to be a reasonably serious OA collector - if I just want to get one example from a particular run or series, I want something that presents well, is very representative, works well as a standalone, something I can be happy with as a "one-and-done" example. It is simply very hard to find that in Modern OA interiors due to the nature of decompressed storytelling, and I think the Chiang art you posted was not an exception. Which is why I think owning a complete book helps alleviate a lot of that problem - while it may be hard to find one page that encapsulates everything you'd want in an example of a Modern title, owning a whole book usually does the trick!

[Hekla]

There are more to comics than Marvel and DC, though.

 

Some of the best work today is not coming from the big two. I have about 50 modern pages and only 3 are from the big two and all 3 are splashes. But I have a number of modern panel pages from memorable stories I liked (e.g. Y the Last Man, Chew, etc.)

 

Edited January 17, 2017 by Hekla

[delekkerste]

There are more to comics than Marvel and DC, though.

 

Some of the best work today is not coming from the big two. I have about 50 modern pages and only 3 are from the big two and all 3 are splashes.

 

Modern splashes work better than wordless panels, because the art does more of the talking and it's easier to meet more of the criteria I outlined in my previous post about getting a representative, standalone, presentable example.

[Nexus]

I think there is still going to be key, impactful and sought after modern OA work, but they are very few and far between. You can probably count on both hands the work that people will care about in the future.

Hasn't the 'modern' version of sequential storytelling been around long enough for some to rise to the top? What's hot in comics, in OA from fifteen years ago that's 'modern' in form? I'm asking because I don't know and am curious! (And maybe looking for something good to read in tpb anyway that isn't Big Two same old same old.)

 

The Definitive “Best Comics of the Decade” (2000-2009) Master List.

 

THE DETAILS:

• Compiled from over 60 “Best of the Decade” lists.

• Only those books that made at least 5 lists are included on the master list. Organized by number of mentions.

• Limited to comics books and graphic novels released between 2000-2009. 38 comics in all.

 

THE LIST:

 

https://hudsonphillips.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/best-comics-of-the-decade/

[Nexus]

I think there is still going to be key, impactful and sought after modern OA work, but they are very few and far between. You can probably count on both hands the work that people will care about in the future.

Hasn't the 'modern' version of sequential storytelling been around long enough for some to rise to the top? What's hot in comics, in OA from fifteen years ago that's 'modern' in form? I'm asking because I don't know and am curious! (And maybe looking for something good to read in tpb anyway that isn't Big Two same old same old.)

 

The Definitive “Best Comics of the Decade” (2000-2009) Master List.

 

THE DETAILS:

• Compiled from over 60 “Best of the Decade” lists.

• Only those books that made at least 5 lists are included on the master list. Organized by number of mentions.

• Limited to comics books and graphic novels released between 2000-2009. 38 comics in all.

 

THE LIST:

 

https://hudsonphillips.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/best-comics-of-the-decade/

 

I'll point out that of the 38 comics on the list, only 10 are Big 2 superhero books.

[MyNameIsLegion]

Kidding and poking fun, but serious too... if we are going to use the old metrics then it's worth mentioning that even with the dialogue and trade dress taken away, modern covers are often the 'perfect shot' that yesterday's collector would want.

 

Yes, if we are strictly evaluating the art on aesthetics alone. But so much more to consider, including nostalgia...which, in the thread, is the greatest variable of all. I'm just not sure how many realize it, or will admit it?

 

 

I absolutely acknowledge nostalgia, in fact it's the basis of my argument- because the physical object has changed, and the storytelling style has changed, and the method of telling and selling the stories has changed - all those factors combined with the point of this thread (technology fragmenting pop culture) result in Modern OA, more so than any previous era of comic collecting) NOT producing the same potential nostalgia quotient that would make a 12 year old in 2005 now covet that issue and remember it fondly and seek out the art in 2025, because that "art" will not resonate on a fundamental level in the same manner or degree as a 12 yr old kid looking at a comic in 1995, 1985, 1975, 1965, 1955, or 1945 would have.

 

This isn't about my particular set of rose colored glasses that think modern OA is . I also thought most GA art was from a purely aesthetic POV. I think modern OA is because of the object itself and how it is produced. You are completely sidestepping that reality, choosing the wear your own rose colored glasses. If modern OA was penciled and inked much like it was the last 50 years I would buy it (and I have bought some, and I have lots of art without word balloons, look at my gallery, much of the Marvel Magazine art has the type on an overlay) My point about consecutive pages with lettering was simply to make a point- you can read the damn thing. Give me an entire issue of OA for a modern book and I can't tell WTF is going on- mostly people standing around looking constipated or concerned.

 

And for the record, I've read a decent amount of modern comics, and having recently processed a 30,000 issue comic collection from late 50's to 2015 I've seen it all. Aesthetically, modern OA is far superior to the average art produced in the early to mid- 90s, especially by the big 2. I think DC now has the most consistent and stable content and standards, but man, did it drift every which way for 10 years. Comics are far most sophisticated now. Nevertheless, that does not mean a kid will drop 5k on a panel page in 25 years. The odds are against it. Odds are they wouldn't even recognize it if you held it six inches from their face.

 

now get off my lawn!

Edited January 17, 2017 by MYNAMEISLEGION