Opinions on books coming out biweekly vs monthly?

[AbnormallyNormal]

So we have some data now that both BLUE and GOLD have reached issue 20 published biweekly after years and years and years of pure monthly releases.

Was it a success to you or a failure?

Do you attribute the quality of writing or art in the books to the faster scheduling or do you think it didn't really affect things?

[Maestroneto]

The publishing schedule is a success and it didn't affect the writing. Those were bad on their own merits.

[lurkerforyears]

I am ok with bi weekly. My main complaint is the time Blue has wasted with the Mojo crossover (inconsequential filler), and now with this Venom thing. We could have been done with the Mothervine plot months ago.

The problem of Gold is it's a bad book, the problem of Blue is the O5 (and Jimmy Hudson) are the least interesting part of the book. The schedule isn't a problem.

[Criticalfan]

The biweekly schedule recompresses the storyline, which is good for this reader, but the art suffers from fill-ins because one art team can't keep up. One step forward, one step back.

[Dthirds3]

I'm ok with biweekly, but they should be 2.99 insted of 3.99

[bigstupidjellyfish]

I would say Blue makes it work. The book is good, I'd say it's comparable to Tynion's Detective Comics, just with a controversial cast. Meanwhile, I think Guggenheim thinks he's doing "Tom King-level" work Gold, but obviously that's not the case. Plus the three issue story arc thing was meant as a way to avoid decompression, which is pretty much nonexistent in double shipping books, so Guggenheim just doesn't know what he's doing.

Also, while I know it means we'd get less of Asrar's artwork, I wish Red were double shipping.

[King_Thor13]

The biweekly schedule recompresses the storyline, which is good for this reader, but the art suffers from fill-ins because one art team can't keep up. One step forward, one step back.

Yeah, fill-in artists can be bothersome. You lose consistency and sometimes quality. I think it'd rely on having artists be given scripts even further in advance so there's sufficient time for them to complete the work.

I'm ok with biweekly, but they should be 2.99 instead of 3.99

I agree about the pricing aspect. It's great to have books we enjoy more often, but it does of course result in a further cost to the reader. The last few new comic book days have been more costly than usual, between No Surrender, Phoenix Ressurection and X-Men Blue.

Also, while I know it means we'd get less of Asrar's artwork, I wish Red were double shipping.

The monthly wait always kills me. It does make some books easier to read in trade too, as not all of us can remember the events of a comic from a month ago.


Maybe tri-weekly comics need to be a thing.

[bigstupidjellyfish]

Yeah, fill-in artists can be bothersome. You lose consistency and sometimes quality. I think it'd rely on having artists be given scripts even further in advance so there's sufficient time for them to complete the work.



I agree about the pricing aspect. It's great to have books we enjoy more often, but it does of course result in a further cost to the reader. The last few new comic book days have been more costly than usual, between No Surrender, Phoenix Ressurection and X-Men Blue.



The monthly wait always kills me. It does make some books easier to read in trade too, as not all of us can remember the events of a comic from a month ago.


Maybe tri-weekly comics need to be a thing.

Worked for Amazing Spider-Man!

As for the art, just pair up artists that look similar. This is easier for DC because of the house style, but I doubt people would mind so much if Silva and Cabal were helping out Asrar on Red, even if the styles don't match up perfectly.

[Disciple of Redd]

Peeps that don't like bi-weekly need to go ahead and get started on understanding that things will only get more rapid.

We will start to see more weekly, by-committee books. Essentially more crossovers. Things that can put out one huge story in a quicker fashion.

The story was garbage, but I loved having that Phoenix book coming out basically every week. And I think this consolidated Avengers weekly thing is having some success.

I imagine there is only going to be more weeklies moving forward...


Or perhaps we get a "solid chunks" model:

I think if the marketing team were to let readers know about it far enough in advance to financially plan for it, I think $30 120-page (5 bucks per 20 pages) "Uncanny X-Men: Super Huge Important Story" dropping in one installment would do better unit numbers than $24 Uncanny X-Men arc spread out over 6 issues and six months (4 bucks per issue). People will pay extra to have the new release be one complete story that drops all at once.


The monthly issue is gonna change, regardless, just not sure how, but I think each of the previous examples will be tested. We'll probably just see more of both.

[RAWRlrus]

I'm ok with biweekly, but they should be 2.99 insted of 3.99

I think the problem with that is the more popular books tend to cost more (because they'll sell more), and those are the ones they want to double ship as well.

[regg215]

I love the bi monthly books at DC because of the 2.99 price and the fact that the bi monthly books at dc continually feature above average writing and above average art and focused on top notch characters. With the x-books for 3.99 for bi monthly books, my expectations go up up and yet marvel is delivering sub par writing and sub par art and focused on lesser characters at the expense of the truly great x-characters (except for bunn on X-men blue, guy is an awesome writer). it just wasn't worth it for me on either one of these books to continue on reading, I love the x-men but 16 bucks a month for two pretty underwhelming books isn't worth it. I kinda feel like the entire recent X-book launch was a rushed, forced mess that I initially bought into because I was so happy that the x-characters were being pushed again but after about 10 issues of both books I realized that I was putting money into hollow books with little to no plot(X-men gold) and little to no characters that I cared about(x-men blue)

[Grey]

Biweekly publishing success Is separate topic from how good blue and gold are. The poll choices aren’t really relevant to the question you’re asking.

Anyway I prefer bi weekly shipping by far. I just find that after a month comes around I’ve lost (some) motivation to read the next issue. With biweekly my suspense is more fresh.

[RLAAMJR.]

I really prefer monthly because sales tend to be better but it's more exciting when the comics are released bi monthly. Prolly if the contract is 1 year then you can only get 12 issues but if you go bi monthly then the comics can reach 24 issues, which is better.

Like for examppe if the First ongoing Storm solo was released bimonthly, then it would have ended with either 22- 24 issues and not just 11

[King_Thor13]

Peeps that don't like bi-weekly need to go ahead and get started on understanding that things will only get more rapid.

We will start to see more weekly, by-committee books. Essentially more crossovers. Things that can put out one huge story in a quicker fashion.

The story was garbage, but I loved having that Phoenix book coming out basically every week. And I think this consolidated Avengers weekly thing is having some success.

Or perhaps we get a "solid chunks" model:

I think if the marketing team were to let readers know about it far enough in advance to financially plan for it, I think $30 120-page (5 bucks per 20 pages) "Uncanny X-Men: Super Huge Important Story" dropping in one installment would do better unit numbers than $24 Uncanny X-Men arc spread out over 6 issues and six months (4 bucks per issue). People will pay extra to have the new release be one complete story that drops all at once.

I suppose we should be thinking of it almost like a television series. Regular 'episodes' keep us invested in the story, and allow us to follow our favorite characters stories over a prolonged period of time. Even with breaks/intervals mid-season, or between seasons, true fans will stick with it. With the right creative team and sufficient planning, I'm sure this model could work for comics. As you say, it seemed to work for Phoenix Ressurection and No Surrender, which have done well in sales.

I also think the "solid chunks" model would be a great way of doing things. For select stories, it'd be more cohesive, and the narrative wouldn't be divvied up. Costing wouldn't be too much more given it's a one-off payment, in return for a good chunk of story. I'd quite happily go and drop $30 on 120 pages, knowing I've got a rounded story all at once. It'd be great for solo books like Doctor Strange, Moon Knight etc. Not to mention we're not waiting 3-4 months minimum to finish one story arc. In addition, this way of publishing would warrant interest from other writers, who can't necessarily write under the confines of the regular publishing schedule.

Biweekly publishing success Is separate topic from how good blue and gold are. The poll choices aren’t really relevant to the question you’re asking.

Anyway, I prefer bi-weekly shipping by far. I just find that after a month comes around I’ve lost (some) motivation to read the next issue. With biweekly my suspense is more fresh.

That's true. The flaws of Blue & Gold aren't necessarily a result of the shipping schedule.

And I agree bi-weekly shipping does keep me motivated to read the next issue. Otherwise, some series do lose traction, and a portion of the story is forgotten. With a more regular title, there's always something fresh and new. The formula has definitely worked for Avengers No Surrender, which has beautiful art and a great story so far. That was planned out well in advance though.

[Wiccan]

It's so painful having to wait like a whole month or more to read an issue. So I'll say biweekly.