Will comics...

[Dustin Neal]

...ever catch up with how today's society is? Everything is instant. Waiting a month for a short read is pretty tough for non-comic readers to undertake, I would think. I'm not sure if JLA #1 will really pick up new readers if it takes six months or so to get the "origin" story out. Will we ever see a universal bi-weekly system in comics? Weekly would be way too much with how so many writers/artists work on multiple projects, but a month is so long to wait for the amount of story we do get now.

[FHIZ]

How much time do you think it takes to plot, write, pencil, ink, color, letter and proof an issue?

[Dustin Neal]

How much time do you think it takes to plot, write, pencil, ink, color, letter and proof an issue?

Honestly, I don't know.

[FHIZ]

Well, a while. I mean, art is usually what takes the longest, and there are some artists that either ink their own stuff or do it digitally, taking out a step, but still, there's a reason why they're monthlies. I don't think that there is any artist out there that could produce a full issue every two weeks by themselves, because it's not like they'even have a full two weeks to do it. They've got to get it to the colorist, letterer, editorial, and finally have time for it to print.

[Hopeful]

I don't think they can really.

I suppose there could be a few series that work like the majority of webcomics, just a constant stream of pages online every few days or so, perhaps paid for with an subscription.

But overall it just can't be done, unless these bi-weekly comics are black and white and only ten pages long...which may or may not be so bad.

[Let's Kill Hitler]

The thing is monthly comic books don't stop to have breaks. I sometimes wonder if comic books work better if they had series like TV shows; there are, say, 16 comic books each released weekly then series 1 is over and we wait several months for the next one. Gives the artists enough time to create enough comics to release them weekly.

[phantom1592]

Closest you would ever get would be the Web-comics like Dr.Mcninja. That's one page 3 days a week...

for a full 32 page book? I don't see it happening.

[Blue Blazes]

Well, a while. I mean, art is usually what takes the longest, and there are some artists that either ink their own stuff or do it digitally, taking out a step, but still, there's a reason why they're monthlies. I don't think that there is any artist out there that could produce a full issue every two weeks by themselves, because it's not like they'even have a full two weeks to do it. They've got to get it to the colorist, letterer, editorial, and finally have time for it to print.

talking to steven butler at a signing, most recently did sonic the hedgehog comics said he could do about 2 pages a day (varies depending on exact page, but average). so thats a full 22 page comic in 11 days. then letterer, inking, color, editorial (which may mean redraws), etc. And sonic is not one of the more detailed comics, has a good amount but not like some others. and often they try to get the "current issue" completed about 6 months prior to release. He did the free comic book day sonic (may 2011) and said his art was done in december. so that gives an idea about the process.

[Ebon]

How much time do you think it takes to plot, write, pencil, ink, color, letter and proof an issue?

Honestly, I don't know.

A good rule of thumb I've seen is that a good, fast artist produces about a page a day under optimal conditions. A 20-page comic therefore takes a bare minimum of 20 days to make, not really accounting for mistakes, misunderstandings, color, lettering, and all the post-production stuff.

Deadline crunches are one of the reasons, I think, we've seen such a large increase in splash pages over the last several years. They don't take as long to draw.

Here is an excellent breakdown of the work by a DC artist. He's producing roughly 2 pages a day (if he's counting a 'week' as five days). No color, no lettering, etc. From what I've read in other places, he's also working with a writer that's able to provide him with details instead of that first description simply being 'An old office building downtown'.

He's making full use of digital tools as well. I think most artists these days don't have the option of not doing so.

Amazing how we could get longer issues bang on time every month 'back in the old days' when artists still worked only on paper, with brushes and pens, and had to snail-mail art around.

[TheVampire]

for what i know the average speed for artists is 1 page a day (i follow a lot artists blogs and interviews). That, counting 5 days a week of work, means that the 20 pages of an issue are made in 4 weeks\1 month. And the inker\colorist usually work on the previous pages while the artist works on the new ones.

And.. i can't agree too much about the problem of making people wait one month for a comic in a world where everything is instant. Guys wait 12 months for each new Assassin's Creed episode that they will complete in a week-end. In France comics are mainly published with annual deadlines. And what about movie sequels like Harry Potter ones?
I think that if someone (even a modern teenager) really likes a story (a movie, a videogame, a comic series) he\she will wait for the next chapter, even one year.
He\she can always read\watch\play something else while waiting for it. :)

[Hopeful]

Closest you would ever get would be the Web-comics like Dr.Mcninja. That's one page 3 days a week...

for a full 32 page book? I don't see it happening.

Yeah, Warren's FreakAngels managed 6 pages a week I think, plus the odd week off, I think thats the very best that can be done.

[CyberCoyote]

The only way you can do a weekly comic BOOK is to have.. what.. four rotating teams MAYBE? At least for art production. Is Spider-Man still 3 times a month? The drawback is you have completely inconsistent art on the book. I picked up one issue, LOVED it, the next issue was painful on my retinas.

You do raise a good point, though. We're in the 'give it to me right now!' era of entertainment. I think the idea of bursts of issues followed by breaks isn't profitable because folks tend to forget about what's not right in front of them. If Nightwing goes on hiatus every few months then when it comes back folks have set their attention on something else and don't come back as surely as a regular release schedule.

I do think DC's day-digital will change some reading habits in the long run, though. If I'm a new reader that catches an issue of Superman in October of 2013, I may have to wait a month to get the NEXT issue, but the entire series will be readily available back to September of 2011 in the very least. Same thing for maybe even a regular reader who nabs Swamp Thing sometime in the future because he'd never read it but his buddy is talking about it. If he's enamored with what he sees he can get that modern day instant gratification by back collecting the entire story arc or series to #1 without a hassle.

So comics may never get a weekly or daily release schedule, but the digital progression of which a foundation is being developed now will provide a version of that in the near future.

[Munkiman]

...ever catch up with how today's society is? Everything is instant. Waiting a month for a short read is pretty tough for non-comic readers to undertake, I would think. I'm not sure if JLA #1 will really pick up new readers if it takes six months or so to get the "origin" story out. Will we ever see a universal bi-weekly system in comics? Weekly would be way too much with how so many writers/artists work on multiple projects, but a month is so long to wait for the amount of story we do get now.

Everything is instant? What about the wait between episodes of TV (usually a week, but then with long breaks between seasons or even between parts of seasons)? What about all the years it takes to make a movie? Or to make a video game? Modern technology had sped some things up but it's mainly just distribution that has been made easier, the actual thing still takes a while to do. You'll notice that Brightest Day, which was bi-weekly, had like five different artists working on it at a time. You can't just make an artist suddenly cut their production time in half.

Yeah, Warren's FreakAngels managed 6 pages a week I think, plus the odd week off, I think thats the very best that can be done.

You would think Freakangels was better than a normal comic because it was 24 pages a month, but there was a skip week basically every other week. And frequently three out of the six pages of an episode were big two- or one-panel pages of scenery. It was ridiculously decompressed. I still loved it, but at no point did I think that you could do any comic this way.

[DaveEB]

Why don't you try making a comic yourself and see how long it takes?

I'm serious.

[T Hedge Coke]

...ever catch up with how today's society is? Everything is instant. Waiting a month for a short read is pretty tough for non-comic readers to undertake, I would think. I'm not sure if JLA #1 will really pick up new readers if it takes six months or so to get the "origin" story out. Will we ever see a universal bi-weekly system in comics? Weekly would be way too much with how so many writers/artists work on multiple projects, but a month is so long to wait for the amount of story we do get now.

Everything?

Then, I want six new Elmore Leonard books, two Jonathan Lethems, a new season of Torchwood on DVD this instant, and an Alan Parker film. Yesterday.

Seriously, I think the current serialization methods are outdated and not helping, but it's not because everything is available instantly and serialization is bad. People still watch TV shows that are on a weekly schedule, and when a season is over, they don't decide to never watch again because there's a break happening before new episodes.