First comic written in the modern style.

[mathew101281]

Most old comics have this style where the dialogue just repeats what the art is showing. the dialogue is also very stilted. When did this change?

[charliehustle415]

Most old comics have this style where the dialogue just repeats what the art is showing. the dialogue is also very stilted. When did this change?

That's an interesting question, would it be Miller on Daredevil or Year One?

Also, I'm assuming by "modern" you mean books written after the Bronze Age which is around the 1980's and not "modern" as in now because if you mean now then I would definitely say Bendis on New Avengers.

Without Bendis we wouldn't have the quick witty writing style that is so prevalent now as opposed to the long winded stuff from the Legends like Claremont, Byrne, or Simonson(s)

[LifeIsILL]

I thought up until the 2000s comics were wordy with unnecessary dialogue.

Read the Iron Man or X-Men comics of that era, just a lot of unnecessary words and narration.

[j9ac9k]

That's an interesting question and I'm sure it was an evolutionary process, but I would suspect that it had something to do with the Frank Millers and the John Byrnes - when you'd get a writer/artist combo who understood visual storytelling enough that they didn't have to rely on the writing, since they were doing it themselves, as opposed to the old way where the plot writing happened first and they just jammed in a lot more story than an artist could depict, so the words were more important and the art highlighted events the writing described rather than letting the visuals carry the weight of the storytelling.

[Maxi]

I'm just sad that some people won't read comics previous to the 2000s/90s because of the dialogue. So many GREAT and genre-defining stories.

[Tzigone]

I very much like the extra dialog of the bronze age, and don't think of most of it as just saying what's shown. Now, it seems like there's so little text, and big splash pages, and less story per issue. Don't get many minutes of entertainment out of some issues, either.

[Factor]

I very much like the extra dialog of the bronze age, and don't think of most of it as just saying what's shown. Now, it seems like there's so little text, and big splash pages, and less story per issue. Don't get many minutes of entertainment out of some issues, either.

Exactly. If it weren't for the JLD back-up, most issues of Bendis' JL could be read in five minutes.
I dislike when there's too much redundant narration, but most comics now are far from satisfying reads, because we barely get any plot advancement in 20 pages of decompression.

[DrNewGod]

Would V for Vendetta represent an influence? It's one of the earliest I can remember that eschewed both dialogue and even sound effects.

[RobinGA]

Comics evolve over time, with different styles taking shape. There were certainly subjects
that just weren't being discussed in 20th century comics. I do tend to be more attracted
to the writing then the art. But then I am a writer. Growing up if I read a story about
Superman in the 1970s what interested me were the dialogue, descriptions, my mind would
skip quickly past the art. I am sure my way of looking at things is probably a minority.
But people have different interests that draw them in to these characters.

[Mike]

I really don't know.
I started quitting comics around 2003 or so.
So I'm guessing about then is when the "modern" approach started.

[Restingvoice]

Some of it already happened in the seventies, Batman To Kill a Legend, Joker's Five Ways Revenge, There is No Hope in Crime Alley for example has heavy narration in the first splash page, but once the story gets going, it's all character dialogue and thoughts, but then there are also later seventies or eighties book that goes all purple prose describing what's happening on panel... when was Nocturna, Night Thief and Jason Todd case again?

Wait no, I checked.
To Kill a Legend is 1981
No Hope in Crime Alley is 1976
Joker's Revenge is 1973
The Nocturna case was nearing Crisis on Infinite Earths, so 84-85

So the earliest I know in 1973 it's already gone, but when describing the scene they can still be detailed and poetic as far as 1984.

Speaking of 80s I remember Wonder Woman Gods and Mortals have heavy narration too when the characters are not speaking

[Kirby101]

I don't find older comics too wordy. The difference is a conversation that Stan and Kirby or Romita did in one or two pages in FF or Spider-Man now takes Bendis or King an entire issue. It's why a one or two issue story from then takes 12 issues today.

[charliehustle415]

Exactly. If it weren't for the JLD back-up, most issues of Bendis' JL could be read in five minutes.
I dislike when there's too much redundant narration, but most comics now are far from satisfying reads, because we barely get any plot advancement in 20 pages of decompression.

This is the biggest criticism of "modern" comics writing, I remember reading Ultimate Spidey and I would burn through issues so fast.

I felt like I would finish an 6 issue arc in like 20 minutes and now when I am trying to reread Claremont's X-Men it takes me like 20 minutes to get through a single issue (which is an issue in of itself)

[Buried Alien]

I find that it was in the Bronze Age era of the 1970s that characters began speaking more like actual people than as melodramatic comic book characters.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[DrNewGod]

I find that it was in the Bronze Age era of the 1970s that characters began speaking more like actual people than as melodramatic comic book characters.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

This is true.