CBR: Splash Page: Wednesday Comics Week Six

[CBR News]

Each week, comic pundits Timothy Callahan and Chad Nevett discuss the style and substance of DC's "Wednesday Comics." The conversation continues this week with a chat about the amazing issue #6.


Full article here.

[Janissa]

Maybe we should just start calling this feature the splosh page.

I stayed with Wednesday Comics until Issue 3. It was so damn boring I dropped it after that.

It was an "ok" experiment that didn't pan out. I really don't see what's so Earth-Shatteringly "awesome" about it. These stories are completely mediocre.

[TimothyCallahan]

Are you reading the column or just commenting?

Because "boring" and "ok," aren't really helpful critical words to describe, well, anything.

And how can you say Wednesday Comics is an experiment that didn't pan out if you've only read three issues?

Issue #6 is pretty great, in case you didn't get the point of what Chad and I were saying this week. Maybe you should check it out -- the art alone is worth the $3.99.

And if you don't think it's great, tell us why. Don't just dismiss it and make comments that serve no purpose.

[Janissa]

Well, In total, Wednesday Comics will cost $48. Now before you say most of the other crap out there isn't worth the paper it's printed on - you're right, it's not - which is why I DON'T BUY IT.

The first three pages of Metamorpho were boring. Nothing actually happened. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL - but I'd rather have one whole issue of Metamorpho by Mike Allred for $4 than having to buy Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Teen Titans, and Green Lantern which I can't stand. Because of the format we don't really have an idea if the story will be good or not - but because it's Neil Gaiman there's a good chance that maybe it's a great Metamorpho story - only not in the first three pages.

The problem I have is with the format. I'd rather buy one issue that was entirely Metamorpho or Strange Adventures or Flash than having to buy serials that I don't give a rat's ass about.

Each week should have focused on only one character and people could have decided whether or not to pick it up.

[benday-dot]

I enjoy your Splash Page discussions (and Wednesday Comics!) Timothy, and look forward to them each week. I usually discuss at length, much as you do in your review column, my opinion of each issue elsewhere in the DC forums (see the threads below). It seems each week we have multiple discussion threads on Wednesday comics. I guess other folks just start their own before you get a chance to launch your detailed and well-thought out discussion.

As far as Janissa's complaint about the multiple strip format... While I too have favourites and those I don't particularly care for, I think the format is pretty much integral to the project. After all the retro/novel basis behind Wednesday comics was not to produce a bunch of one-shots, but to recapture the days of the full page colour Sunday funnies. This was an era when several strips would be gathered together weekly in the papers... a real wonder-cabinet of comics or pot pouri of pulp... okay I better quit. But the variety is not some mere aspect of the project it is the project.

[TimothyCallahan]

Right!

Complaining about "Wednesday Comics" because it's a collection of one-page strips is like complaining about meatloaf because it has meat in it.

Sorry, Janissa, but your criticism is foolish. You don't have to buy the comic, you don't have to like it, but you can't fault it for being what it is.