These days,there's fewer "definitive" runs on characters for Marvel & DC as less than a handful of creators stay on a book longer than 6-12 issues.Personally I think this has contributed to my increasing apathy towards comics on a monthly basis and the growing excitement I get from looking at the new TPB solicits.
It got me to thinking "What pulled me into a title and kept me continuing with that book?" Most of the time,I have to go with,not who was on the book,but that those creators were there consistently on a monthly basis and if I liked the writing and the art,I stayed with it. This was apparent to me looking bcak to when I first started collecting.
For an example,let me use Detective Comics from 1988/89. Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle were the team.Breyfogle's art was unlike anything I had seen.....so distinctive and eye-catching.Grant's stories were 1-2 issues and had a darker tone but not grim-n-gritty.Month in and month out,I read entertaining,well-drawn stories.....then,they shifted to the main Batman title and Jim Aparo came on art chores(I forget who was writing then).I stuck with it for a bit but lost interest and soon stopped getting the book until Knightfall kicked in. Now,it seems the rabid collector(and I do know some)will continue to get a book even when they hate the team on it and don't even bother to read the book!! This,thankfully is more and more exception than the norm.
Back on point though,the run that matters is the run that a creative team on a book puts out solid,entertaining stories monthly that anyone can pick up,read and not fall under the weight of continuity or the previous hundred issues of understanding to know what's going on. The industry has lost sight of this with continuous "reboots",renumberings and relaunches.Now some of these...in the case of Superman for example have positive results.Fresh,new takes on the character and while keeping the most essential parts of his origin and story but changing everything else has paid off in sales but again.....exception,not norm.
The industry is showing that it's trying to keep afloat with these moves and surely it might work short-term.....but long term is the key to keeping comics going in the future.
