Why are Italian Comics (Sergio Bonelli Editore and the like) so much better than most other Western ones?
For example, look at the following characters:
Zagor, Dylan Dog, Tex, Mister No, Nathan Never, Lazarus Ledd, Martin Mystere.. all of them started their stories some 50 years ago. Some are older, some are younger.
But the gist of it is that every month, you get a few (ranging from 1 to 4) of a specific character's story, each approximately 100 pages long.
They don't have random arcs that start off in 2013 and end in 2013 after 9 issues where one staple character was killed off and another got a major visual rehaul.
They don't include year long crossovers where they all team up and weirdly get scaled down or up so as to not make any of the others feel too weak or too strong.
The numbers of their issues are all in the high hundreds and thousands now, but you can get into the lore and characters very quickly at any point, provided you are not reading the second number of a three comics long story.
Their character traits have remained not unchanged throughout the years, but consistent. They learn from what has happened, they apply knowledge, they let their emotions carry them at points...
This is even somewhat reflected in their sales numbers. Dylan Dog, who is not even head honcho in terms of money making, sells more copies on a monthly basis worldwide than fucking Spiderman.
Yet despite all this, the general populace doesn't really know these heroes. They're known here and there and by fans who liked the Golden Era - and very much enjoyed it not ending abruptly.
Why?
For example, look at the following characters:
Zagor, Dylan Dog, Tex, Mister No, Nathan Never, Lazarus Ledd, Martin Mystere.. all of them started their stories some 50 years ago. Some are older, some are younger.
But the gist of it is that every month, you get a few (ranging from 1 to 4) of a specific character's story, each approximately 100 pages long.
They don't have random arcs that start off in 2013 and end in 2013 after 9 issues where one staple character was killed off and another got a major visual rehaul.
They don't include year long crossovers where they all team up and weirdly get scaled down or up so as to not make any of the others feel too weak or too strong.
The numbers of their issues are all in the high hundreds and thousands now, but you can get into the lore and characters very quickly at any point, provided you are not reading the second number of a three comics long story.
Their character traits have remained not unchanged throughout the years, but consistent. They learn from what has happened, they apply knowledge, they let their emotions carry them at points...
This is even somewhat reflected in their sales numbers. Dylan Dog, who is not even head honcho in terms of money making, sells more copies on a monthly basis worldwide than fucking Spiderman.
Yet despite all this, the general populace doesn't really know these heroes. They're known here and there and by fans who liked the Golden Era - and very much enjoyed it not ending abruptly.
Why?
