Length or duratiin of story arcs?

I'm going for 2-4 issues. I mean the early 90's had some great individual issues. A lot of them has stories that was only one issue and it was great. I don't like stories that are longer that 6 issues. I mean 13 issues is abit annoying. Even though X-Cuitoner Song, Age of Apocalypse and the Messiah saga were some of best stories I have red. I prefer 6 issues and not longer.

I voted doesn't matter. If a story is good, it's good, no matter what length it is. If a story feels too long, it's just not that good of a story to me.

5....If the writer can wrap it up quickly they should be able too, but sometimes bad stories (like say Trial of Jean Grey) can be improved upon by having an extra chapter or two to expand on details.

The 25 issues long Remender's recent story made me realize that length does matter...

I don't like the waiting, but I do understand that some stories can't be told in 2 issues.. I think that for a long arc, 6 is the perfect number.

Agree. But he's work is amazing... so he gets a free pass :D

@adamtrmm: @adamtrmm: @tomasmaclgh: @time: @hawk2916

6 is good BotA was too long and boring. Even 6 is to long but most are 10(messiah complex) or 12(avx). Marvel likes it long so its more money

Dark Phoenix Saga is between 10 and 13 issues (depending how you count) and Days of Future Past is 2 issues, and neither is too long or too short.

As a DC fan, I feel i should add to this discussion that the Forever Evil story arc has out stayed it's welcome and it's not do to the quality of writing but the fact that we've been inching along slowly since September. Imagine if Battle of the Atom was stretched out across 5 months or more, at some point the story itself would probably improve, but the length would bring its quality back down again in the eyes of the fans who got tired it.

Like Age of Apocalypse? People seem to think of that story as a classic now, but I couldn't wait for it to be over at the time. Avengers Vs. X-Men was even worse, but at least they were still putting out a few books that didn't tie into it so you could read those and ignore it.

Then again, there's some difference between a long story like like Dark Phoenix Saga (emphasis here on saga) that's just a long story and uses that length to develop the characters and themes of the story, and a long crossover event that's just long for the sake of including every character so more people will read it.

Well that's the thing

No matter how good the story is fans will get impatient. AvX was poorly put together and arguably a bad idea even in passing. The fact that it dragged so many books into it was even worst.But would quality have changed that? If were talking about a long story we can use Whedon's Astonishing X-Men or Bendis' (an i can already feel the backlash for comparing the two) Uncanny X-Men as an example. Where it can basically be said that they are long stories. But it's hard to argue the books quality when it takes anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to hear a conversation completed.

Uncanny Avengers is another example, where its around 25 issues and their still telling the same story. The quality is there, but the fatigue is setting in. I just don't know if theres a place for longer stories anymore, since people just want things resolved.

I voted doesn't matter. Remenders cap and Aarons thor both ran too long for thor first arc and it showed. but I wish the superior venom would have went longer. I don't like long story arcs when I want to stop buying a book. I hate dropping in the middle of a story so if I decide to read it later and like it im not missing any.

mm, well that sounds like a personal problem to me.

seriously though, I was actually going to use Uncanny Avengers as an example of a longer story that, for me, still doesn't feel too long. Sure, I'm anxious to see how the story resolves, but I'm still enjoying each individual chapter enough to more excited in the next chapter than the last chapter. It's a long story, but it's good; and it's not trying to rope me into other books or stories, which I really think makes a difference.

Bendis' Uncanny' serves as an example of this in that the weakest issues (12,13, and 18) have been the ones that brought us out of the story to be like hey remember this other book I'm doing? To compare that to Whedon's run (which, like UA, never did that), the actual issue to issue experience becomes more forgivable of weak issue when you're getting a new one every 2 or 3 weeks rather than every 2 or 3 months. But in the final analysis, I don't think either of them will feel too long read in their finished form as full trades.

Not that I think Bendis' run will be as good as Whedon's in the end (I think it's really more comparable to Morrison's: more original direction, but less consistent execution), just that neither of them are too long for what they are.

...or maybe I just have more patience because I'm an old fart in no hurry for the fun to end :P

2-4, since, unless the writer is very, very good, the comic may start to bore me(as for the latest "Sisterhood" arc of Wood's X-Men, or for the never ending Battle of the Atom). But I appreciate Remender's long arcs, both in Uncanny X-Force and Uncanny Avengers, since he builds a lot of tension and then resolves stuff in a very good way. For the same reason I loved Aaron's first arc of Thor.

Not every writer is good at writing long stories, so generally I prefer short arcs.

Lol do you really want to get there? Because his work stopped to be amazing a while ago - from most anticipated title, his completely unnecessary moralizing narrative and illogical wave of events to support this visions, turned this book into some form annoying. I am still interested to see where it all leads, but I'm prepared for a disappointment, just as I had with UXF, for all the same reasons.

@adamtrmm: I happen to think Remender has the best book out at the moment and would much rather read him than most others. Thats not to say that his characterization has been completely onpoint and the continuity issues are what they are but overall, he's done some interesting stuff with his story and its felt like more of an event than the pointless BOTA

I prefer shorter story arcs because if an arc goes on too long, then the quality of the story could go downhill because by that point, the writer would just be adding on random situations that has nothing to do with the story (just like AVX). But some long story lines like Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men and the Dark Phoenix Saga could be a good thing because then they could spend time on developing the characters and adding on tension for the stories if done right. So it all depends on what story you are trying to tell that decides whether or not the story arc should be long or not.

His in-universe explorations and pseudo-science are OK, the villains and their motivations as well, but that "magistral" narrative annoys me to death.

I really can't see how you weren't bothered by that Havok's speech and "Saint Wanda" portrayal. I felt like an idiot when I was reading it all.

@adamtrmm: Thats what I mean by characterizations being lacking somewhat but the plots and storytelling is awesome

To be honest, most segments of the main plot are bound by it, but I say let's save this discussion for the end of this arc :)

@adamtrmm: Yeah. You have to admit though, more seems to be happening in this arc than in Bendis two books combined. lol

totally agree with all of this. UA feels more like a cool event than any of the big events of the last several years, and it's doing it the right way, completely self-contained, like the Secret Wars or something.

well, Avengers stories should be a different style of storytelling than X-men stories, that's what makes each distinct.

But also, if you think of UA as like an event book, events with epic all-star casts are different kinds of stories than regular ongoing series that are trying to develop a new cast, too.

So, in both ways it's not really fair to compare.