Longer Is Not Always Better

Amazing X-Men #13

I'm a little behind in reading my Amazing X-Men comics, so I just finished issue #13 last night.  All I can say is...WOW.  It was such an -- dare I say? -- amazing story starring one of my favorite minor characters, Anole, who just happens to be gay.  And green and scaly.  

The issue is a "filler" issue by James Tynion IV who's not a series regular.  It's a sweet tale about Anole meeting a guy online.  They click, chat for several hours, and decide to meet up for coffee.  Only Anole can't go through with it because he's afraid that his appearance will scare away his prospective suitor.  The only weird part being...would you meet up with someone online who you've never seen a photo of?  That aside, it was a perfectly written story contained within a single issue.  It also features Northstar, another out X-Man, as well as Nightcrawler, who knows a thing or two about growing up looking different.  I loved the lesson the story taught, and it was comforting to see Northstar and Nightcrawler tackling the mentor role for this teenage boy who's not only struggling with his mutant powers, but also his appearance and being gay.  

Amazing X-Men #7

Recently, Amazing X-Men had another "filler" issue with #7, featuring a reunion of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Iceman and Firestar.   The concept of this story made me giddy with nostalgia, having loved the Saturday morning cartoon series from the early 1980s.  The issue was written by Kathryn Immonen, also not a series regular. 

I miss the single-issue story that was so prevalent in the 1980s, as they always seem to be the better written.  It's too bad there aren't more single-issue contained comic stories like these two Amazing X-Men stories, as well as the Rose & Thorn and Looker one-shots from 2012.  Storylines in modern comics are typically stretched over six issues so they can be collected into a graphic novel for additional sales.  From a business standpoint, I get that.  From a quality standpoint, I'm disappointed.  Unfortunately, when that happens, most stories also usually feel like they're stretched.  What could have been a one-, two-, or three-part story is now six parts and it's borrrrrrrrrring.  

I'm all for these one-off filler issues.  They not only give aspiring writers and artists an opportunity to show what they can do, but they tend to be much more enjoyable to read.  I anticipate DC's upcoming one- or two-part Convergence-related stories to be similarly enjoyable.  Then it will be back to business-as-usual and the humdrum 6-part stories will resume.  Marvel and DC could both learn a lesson from this, though.