When I was growing up, the great comics just had good story-telling. Characters were developed, they had a history, and the stories were usually character-driven.

Somewhere along the way, it evolved into 'we have to blow the reader away every month.' Huge changes must occur to shock the reader so they'll come back for more next month.

Eventually, the character is either changed too much or written into a new corner so we have to have a BIG event that will either erase what was just done or moves them into another direction.

So question:

Which do you prefer: a) simple storytelling that is character driven or based on the character's past or b) every month is 'blow you away with huge changes'?