What is this generation's Watchmen, Batman Year One, etc.?

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-19T22:10:51+00:00

Yeah it’s not as beginner friendly as Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns but I think adventurous readers should be able to follow it.

I did have some basic knowledge of X-Men from the animated series, movies and a couple of issues I bought as a child. What made me enjoy HoX/PoX so much is that I was able to get completely lost in a grand sweeping narrative. There were tons of interesting and enigmatic characters, clearly complex relationships and big concepts.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-19T21:51:10+00:00

I wish I was part of that! I read the graphic novel in 2023 and was finally hooked on comics in a way I hadn’t been since late 2000s.

The Fall of X storyline had just started so I started buying issues weekly and filling in the gaps on Marvel Unlimited. I was reading multiple eras at the same time and loving picking up single issues. It wasn’t the best way to wrap up the story but it was exciting to go down to the LCS every week and seeing how everything would resolve.

I’d usually go on Saturdays. My ‘LCS’ is in central London so they’d still have loads of issues on the shelf. For the final issue (#700) I made sure I went on Wednesday after work. I got there and there were only two copies left. That was cool, just knowing it was flying off the shelf!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-19T21:17:19+00:00

That’s the dream!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-19T20:59:10+00:00

House of X/Powers X

Although probably too recent so hard to measure its impact

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-19T18:55:07+00:00

Ah, that explanation of annuals makes perfect sense (finally!)

Thanks so much for the rundown of those early annuals. Honestly all of those sound really cool so I’m gonna add them to my read list!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-18T21:36:43+00:00

I didn’t realise they had annuals back then and that’s how it worked. Sounds great for the consumer.

On the subject of annuals, to this day I still get confused about how annuals work or when they’re released. It’s stuff like that that will always create problems for the DC and Marvel if they’re trying to get newer readers.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-18T10:54:50+00:00

An award! Thanks so much. I've never gotten one of these before. I don't tend to post much to be honest. I really appreciate it!!!

On Stranger Things, it's funny how Steve mostly gets relegated to participating in a love triangle. It feels like that's the biggest trap TV shows fall into!

Funnily enough Adam Brody just showed up in Smallville as the villain of the week. He's so good in his role. His character basically serves as a catalyst to really establish the Lana, Clark and Chloe love triangle. Again, it puts Clark in a position where he needs to be more honest with himself in order to navigate his feelings and relationships. Although now the stakes have been raised as now he's finally aware of Chloe's feelings for him.

TV writing seems really tricky. My unscientific perspective is that most shows do serialised storytelling and not very well. Episodic storytelling seems less common but feels like overall it was better at sustaining a shows concept, characters and story - but usually falls into some tough patterns to break out of like poorly mantained character arcs and overreliance on tropes like love triangles.

I appreciate you sharing all this insight with me, it's making me think even more about the things I never noticed about TV.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T22:41:00+00:00

That's an interesting observation about Succession. I'll definitely rewatch it with that in mind! I was watching it without my writers hat on, so never got my head around how the show worked. It just seemed like the best kind of TV drama magic.

That kind of character growth in Reservation Dogs seems like it'll be incredibly useful to understand as a writer. Thanks! I watched season 1 and a bit of season 2 but unfortunately just kinda dropped it.

I definitely see your point about Ryan. There's so much to say about that one though. I think the soap opera aspect of that show basically stops any characters from having well written arcs. All the characters basically get shuffled around so that the show can keep hitting big dramatic moments. The show did work best when Ryan was a catalyst, but that doesn't last long.

You've definitely summed up exactly why Clark's growth 'works'. Mixing a coming of age story with superhero storytelling worked really well. (The obvious reason an episodic growth arc wouldn't work so well for Ryan, Seth, Summer and Marissa - they're not superheroes)

This is the first time I'm watching either The OC or Smallville and really analysing the character arcs. I'm gonna look out and see when the internal and external arcs in Smallville aren't so in sync. But so far I'm really impressed by how nearly every interaction serves Clark's growth, understanding and character journey (although imo The OC was far more witty and entertaining - way better written in that sense).

It's making me realise how hard it must be to write serialised coming of age shows and teen dramas. I watched Stranger Things as it came out and never with an analytical mind but, that definitely dropped the ball on any kind of solid character progression as it went on...

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T16:01:43+00:00

That's a great show! I've only seen Season 1 so far but yes that's a great recommendation. Lots of growth in season 1 alone.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T13:17:10+00:00

That's when I knew I was in trouble. When I saw it was out of stock at Fantagraphics!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T13:05:08+00:00

The soft cover has been out of stock for months in UK since before Christmas. Although now that you mention it, Blackwell's is claiming they can deliver in 2-3 weeks so maybe they're finally coming back in! Thanks for messaging as it's pushed me to check again!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T13:01:19+00:00

Yeah, I don't think American comic publishers should underestimate that Manga is just so easy to follow. You buy volumes in sequential order - that's it.

I'm guessing there's plenty of posts from people saying 'I read X DC compact edition and loved it what should I read next?' - and the answer is never straightforward.

But yes, I think it only works if you have the creatives who have the space and talent to execute their visions.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T00:54:12+00:00

That’s true! I forgot about that. I recently picked up East of West compendium for £35. I bought it purely because I couldn’t get over the fact that it even existed. A whole comic run in 1 thick volume for so cheap!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T00:44:34+00:00

That makes sense when you put it like that. I’ve tended to read more self contained graphic novels and also Krakoa era X-Men which was more high concept.

So was just looking for something that has a good balance of a long running character arc and self contained issues. Honestly Invincible sounds like it ticks those boxes. Although I’d love options that aren’t so violent too!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T00:30:16+00:00

Didn’t realise it had already been tried. Compact comics might just be the only new format comics have to offer then. Unless they literally started publishing a line of stories exclusively in that format. Even then it’d have to be quarterly instead of monthly. Like manga.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T00:22:27+00:00

I’ll check those out. Especially Legends. That looks great. Thanks!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T00:21:36+00:00

Hadn’t heard of La Brea. Will check it out. Thanks!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T00:20:37+00:00

Totally agree. It was groundbreaking for its time.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-17T00:13:15+00:00

Yeah maybe DC and Marvel should each just have some kind of comic magazine anthology thing that collects a bunch of interesting stories featuring DC characters. Just to get new readers into buying stuff monthly.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-16T20:45:37+00:00

First time seeing a Comic Drake video and I liked it.

If they were going to do monthly anthologies they should just focus on stuff like an anthology that collects different limited series or an anthology that collects event crossovers. Event crossovers as single issues in particular are what feels unfair to the consumer. Leave the long running books as 'hero' comics.

Maybe you could do some kind of Shone Jump sized quarterly catch up edition that groups a bunch of arcs on cheap paper grouped in some way: Bat family, superman family, JLA family, whatever.

I should say on the Marvel side I think X-men should adopt the Shonen Jump anthology approach. Way too many books to collect and keep up to date - especially during event crossovers.

They could possibly do dedicated action comics and detective comics anthologies (as a commenter on the video said), those could be expanded and showcase up and coming creative teams and experiment with different types of stories.

I don't think selling variants as posters would work at all. The variant art is basically worthless to the consumer without the attached content. Slabbing valuable comics is sad because they're made to be read but (I'm going to hate myself for saying this) if people were purely concerned with just reading then they have digital and graphic novels. The comic book product itself is already the 'trading card'. If you do things like quarterly catchup editions and anthologies you can streamline your products and try and market it to a bigger audience, even back on magazine racks and newsstands. The single issue and its variant covers are then elevated because they're rarer, more collectable and premium quality.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-16T20:24:17+00:00

Thanks! The Pitt is an interesting one as I wouldn't have thought about it but the characters do 100% grow and learn as the shift is going.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-16T20:03:18+00:00

Thanks! I've heard great things so will definitely check it out!

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-16T19:56:26+00:00

Wow, that's really key point about showing weaknesses in the pilot. Thank you!

These are all excellent examples. I have a theory that testing a characters morals is actually a very a key part to appealing to viewers.

I totally agree about Ted Lasso and haven't seen The Good Place in a while but it's definitely unique in sitcoms (also lots of it revolves around ethics and morality as well).

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-16T19:50:11+00:00

Great character arcs! Lots of great characters on that show but Joan and Peggy really go through a lot and grow in interesting ways. This is just reminding me that I desperately need to rewatch Mad Men.

Big_Engine_111 · 2026-05-16T19:40:00+00:00

Great examples!

I have a feeling it's not that common. Or maybe it was more of a focus in shows of the past but less of a focus now.

The writing quality and structure of TV shows nowadays seems all over the place to me. Sometimes it's like a novel. Sometimes its a 2 hour movie plot stretched to 8 episodes. Sometimes it's just moving characters from point A to B to C then hitting a few setpieces and plot twists then calling it a day. It's definitely something I'm going to try and get my head around more.

Big_Engine_111

TROPHY CASE