That’s right guys… it’s your time to shine. Or to fall on your faces, it’s ALL UP TO YOU. As we get closer to our launch date for BLACK CLOAK I find myself considering all our options before we commit to a path. As you guys know — I’ve talked about it quite a bit here and I know other comic creators with Substacks have as well — so much of what we’re doing here is an experiment. As the technology and demands change, so do we. We have both the gift and the curse of being some of the first comics to roll out on these platforms, and as such we want to be nimble and cater as much as possible to how people want to read it. After all, what we’re creating here is for all of us. And we have the ability to pivot and mold ourselves into almost anything we want. So let’s do just that, huh?
Zdarsky’s PUBLIC DOMAIN is great, and I have enjoyed the every-other-week-ness of it in little spurts, but when he dropped a full issue I realized I have been trained to gulp down (and enjoy) monthly pamphlets.
I think it would mostly depend on story beats. When I think of your average floppy comic issue, the idea of reading it in 2 or 4 chunks sounds terrible, as it's designed to be a discrete unit with a beginning and end. But if these stories are more webcomic-ish, designed to be doled out in small pieces, then that's perfectly fine. Whatever the answer is, I would want the installments to have some amount of satisfaction at their ending. If that means waiting a whole month for the whole thing, then that's fine! All things being equal however, and assuming it would result in satisfactory chunks, I think I would prefer C.
Jan 10, 2022·edited Jan 10, 2022Liked by Kelly Thompson
I'd vote B.
Would also add that I've liked something Chip Zdarsky's been doing with Kaptara and Public Domain on his Substack:
When an "issue's worth" of weekly/bi-weekly/monthly installments have been posted (as dictated by the story and the creative team), you collect the installments into an "issue", and make it available for downloading (he formats it as a .cbz file).
Speaking only for myself, I generally prefer to read the story in comics-like issues, or as an entire graphic novel, as opposed to shorter amounts. Not always -- Molly Ostertag's DARKEST NIGHT on her substack has me waiting impatiently for the next installment to drop; it just depends on the story.
However, whatever you want to do will be *fine*. Really looking forward to BLACK CLOAK!
My preference will depend on the kind of story it is. If the plot is dense and has a lot of detail to keep track of, I'm probably going to wait until it's done and read it all in long binge sessions. But if it's fairly breezy with mostly action and humor, 5-page chunks each week are ideal.
For me B is probably the best option, especially if each section comes with a pdf/cbr/cbz copy. Makes it all more manageable. But! I think weekly 5 pagers or every other week 10 pagers would work best if there aren't other comics/posts coming out in the off weeks. I think having one thing weekly is a good rate, even if that one thing isn't the same week to week.
Jan 10, 2022·edited Jan 10, 2022Liked by Kelly Thompson
B)
I tend to read comics at an irregular pace. and often binge, as opposed to reading on new comic day. To me, the backlog is less intimidating if I have 1 twenty page issue to read rather than 4 five page issues.
I prefer B. While I like the idea of "more stuff sooner" in theory, in practice I have a lot of things to keep track of and gravitate towards binging to minimize that. If we do have > 1/month, it needs to be REALLY REALLY easy for me to go back and figure out what the last thing I read was and catch up. If I have to track back over several posts/emails to find them, now it's WORK and I don't want more WORK, I want more FUN. So, I'm in favor of "less to keep track of" and however this works, making it easy to find those things so I can read them.
B for me. I can see that getting to be too tiny to be a chunk of the story, but I love cliffhangers. I also like the way Disney+ does their shows (weekly new episodes), as opposed to Neftlix (here's the whole season, there goes Saturday).
I will have a much easier time (personally) keeping up to date on the book in bi-weekly intervals. I get so so so behind on my comic reading that it becomes daunting sometimes.
A is short and sweet- but it would give me anxiety that it was coming to quick and if I missed it I’d be all disheveled (for no real reason, I know… but BRAIN!!)
C would be a fun read- but I would be afraid I would fall way behind on reading and when I fall too far behind I just give up. Probably an anxiety thing too. I’ll ask my doc. 🤣
I think B, I like a bit more to get my teeth into while still leaving me wanting more - I think weekly would just leave me frustrated but then again who knows!? It's all new! Though I'm still saying B 😁
Loved Captain Marvel and Black Widow last issues, top notch as ever! 👍👍 and Black Widow definitely dispels the "never judge a book by its cover" because seriously those covers! ❤️❤️🤯🔥🔥🔥
Jan 20, 2022·edited Jan 20, 2022Liked by Kelly Thompson
I am with the "whatever suits the story" voters. Because I read mostly monthlies, I'm accustomed to a 22-page story with a breath in between. But I just finished binging 2000AD's Brink serial, and it works gracefully in 5-page chunks. In the spirit of experimentation, I say: if working with a different pace is interesting/curious/fun, do that! If sticking with an American periodical format lets you scratch other creative itches without worrying too much about the pacing, do that!
B
And I don’t mind a little give or take each delivery to match up with story beats
Zdarsky’s PUBLIC DOMAIN is great, and I have enjoyed the every-other-week-ness of it in little spurts, but when he dropped a full issue I realized I have been trained to gulp down (and enjoy) monthly pamphlets.
B.
I think it would mostly depend on story beats. When I think of your average floppy comic issue, the idea of reading it in 2 or 4 chunks sounds terrible, as it's designed to be a discrete unit with a beginning and end. But if these stories are more webcomic-ish, designed to be doled out in small pieces, then that's perfectly fine. Whatever the answer is, I would want the installments to have some amount of satisfaction at their ending. If that means waiting a whole month for the whole thing, then that's fine! All things being equal however, and assuming it would result in satisfactory chunks, I think I would prefer C.
I'd vote B.
Would also add that I've liked something Chip Zdarsky's been doing with Kaptara and Public Domain on his Substack:
When an "issue's worth" of weekly/bi-weekly/monthly installments have been posted (as dictated by the story and the creative team), you collect the installments into an "issue", and make it available for downloading (he formats it as a .cbz file).
Speaking only for myself, I generally prefer to read the story in comics-like issues, or as an entire graphic novel, as opposed to shorter amounts. Not always -- Molly Ostertag's DARKEST NIGHT on her substack has me waiting impatiently for the next installment to drop; it just depends on the story.
However, whatever you want to do will be *fine*. Really looking forward to BLACK CLOAK!
My preference will depend on the kind of story it is. If the plot is dense and has a lot of detail to keep track of, I'm probably going to wait until it's done and read it all in long binge sessions. But if it's fairly breezy with mostly action and humor, 5-page chunks each week are ideal.
For me B is probably the best option, especially if each section comes with a pdf/cbr/cbz copy. Makes it all more manageable. But! I think weekly 5 pagers or every other week 10 pagers would work best if there aren't other comics/posts coming out in the off weeks. I think having one thing weekly is a good rate, even if that one thing isn't the same week to week.
B)
I tend to read comics at an irregular pace. and often binge, as opposed to reading on new comic day. To me, the backlog is less intimidating if I have 1 twenty page issue to read rather than 4 five page issues.
C) Let’s split the difference — twice a month — medium size installments (10-ish pages)
I prefer B. While I like the idea of "more stuff sooner" in theory, in practice I have a lot of things to keep track of and gravitate towards binging to minimize that. If we do have > 1/month, it needs to be REALLY REALLY easy for me to go back and figure out what the last thing I read was and catch up. If I have to track back over several posts/emails to find them, now it's WORK and I don't want more WORK, I want more FUN. So, I'm in favor of "less to keep track of" and however this works, making it easy to find those things so I can read them.
B for me. I can see that getting to be too tiny to be a chunk of the story, but I love cliffhangers. I also like the way Disney+ does their shows (weekly new episodes), as opposed to Neftlix (here's the whole season, there goes Saturday).
A for me.
I find I have a shorter attention span when reading digital formats.
B for me.
I will have a much easier time (personally) keeping up to date on the book in bi-weekly intervals. I get so so so behind on my comic reading that it becomes daunting sometimes.
A is short and sweet- but it would give me anxiety that it was coming to quick and if I missed it I’d be all disheveled (for no real reason, I know… but BRAIN!!)
C would be a fun read- but I would be afraid I would fall way behind on reading and when I fall too far behind I just give up. Probably an anxiety thing too. I’ll ask my doc. 🤣
A and B would work. but I like option to look at as a whole via one link at some point.
B for me
I think B, I like a bit more to get my teeth into while still leaving me wanting more - I think weekly would just leave me frustrated but then again who knows!? It's all new! Though I'm still saying B 😁
Loved Captain Marvel and Black Widow last issues, top notch as ever! 👍👍 and Black Widow definitely dispels the "never judge a book by its cover" because seriously those covers! ❤️❤️🤯🔥🔥🔥
I am with the "whatever suits the story" voters. Because I read mostly monthlies, I'm accustomed to a 22-page story with a breath in between. But I just finished binging 2000AD's Brink serial, and it works gracefully in 5-page chunks. In the spirit of experimentation, I say: if working with a different pace is interesting/curious/fun, do that! If sticking with an American periodical format lets you scratch other creative itches without worrying too much about the pacing, do that!
Happy to be along for the ride.