Short Comic Arcs VS Long Comic Arcs; Benefits of Both

         I talked to many comic books stores owners and even more comic book fans and it seems their is no common consensus of which is the best. Some perfer short 6 issue arcs like what Benis is currently doing with the Avengers, and some perfer longer more planned out stories like what Hickman do with most of his writing(S.H.I.E.L.D, FF, Secret Warriors). After the jump I discuss the benefits of both short term and long term stories and leave it up to you to decide which one is the best.

        First off, short arcs; the most obvious benefit is it easy for anybody to jump in. For example, Benis Avengers run; If you didnt collect the first 6 issues(The story with Kang and the Next Avengers) you could easily jump in at issue 7 and be okay. There is little connection between that story and the next. This could bring in new readers who want to get into comics without the comic book going and restarting at number 1 again just to invite new readers in(because we all hate that). This also make it easy for those comic fans who just want to collect good stories and not worried about getting every issue . They can simply choose to stop at six if they take no interest in the next arc and jump back in at 13 if they choose to. Its also easier to collect in trades. Im sure most of us has brought a trade of an ongoing and when your done reading feel incomplete because that story havent finshed in the trade and forces you to get the next trade to complete the story. A 6 issue arc corrects that, you have a beginning middle and end, it could stand on it own without the other issue of the ongoing.

       Hickman is a fantastic writer(dont mind the pun), it take a great amount of talent to plan out a good long term story that keep readers interest and have a progressing plot from issue to issue. If you read his Fantastic four run, and is currently following his FF run then you already know the benefits of a long term story arc. Long term stories is like a rollercoster, filled with up and downs twist and turns and have you wondering what coming next. By the end of it you remember everything you experienced, everything you read and you just have to take a deep breath and say WOW, that was really epic. These arent the stories you can just jump in at and understand everything that going on but these are the stories you tell someone to read who doesnt think comic book matches up to novels. Although Hickman S.H.I.E.L.D series is still going on, you could easily predict that it going to be one of those stories that will go down in history as a great. Currently its underappreciated if you havent read or not collecting I advise you to buy the first trade to catch up because this have all the signs to be a long term story that blow everything out the water.
             So to sum it up, Short arc is great because its easily assessable to everyone and provide many jumping on points to someone interested. Long term stories are great because its a ride and when it finshed you feel fulfilled and realized you was swoop in and held for the long story and usually it will be a positive experience. There much more i could say about each but these are the main points, now it up to you to decide which you perfer. For me the long term stories to have more reread value and i enjoy them much more than the short one. So leave your comment below and come back weekly for new articles.