Sideshow Vote II: Does it tally up?

[broodblik]

In the prog we can have a short story a story than ran for weeks or even two or three parts. So, how do you prefer your stories?
-   Small bursts of 1 to 3 parts
-   Between 6 and 8 episodes
-   10 to 12 parts
-   I like the long run
-   Just tell me a story I do not care about the length

[Colin YNWA]

If the Prog has tauight us anything it that a story needs to be as long as it needs to be. Classics can be 1 offs, 4 parts or 12 or more. Let the creative team determine.

Just tell me a story I do not care about the length

[IndigoPrime]

Same as Colin. I'd say the story should be as long as it needs, without too much fat but also without compression, which can rob a strip of breathing space and pace.

[AlexF]

Yup, I like stories to be allowed to be long or short as the creators feel necessary. That said, I am very keen on the Weekly Prog running a mix of such stories - I get a bit bored when we have 5 thrills that are all like 8-10 episodes long, meaning no room for suprirses about the content in any given new Prog.

[The Legendary Shark]

Just story me, length doesn't matter.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

...length doesn't matter.

My wife is always telling me that

[Southstreeter]

As long as it needs to be, however that story is often annoyingly chopped into smaller chunks with gaps (eg SinDex) so I always prefer to see a longer run.

[sheridan]

What I don't like is when every story in the prog is one episode of a 10-part story (or more likely these days - one episode of a 10-part book of a multi-book epic that takes have a decade to tell, with huge gaps in between).  I prefer the prog to have a mix of stories - some the multi-book epic, one or two in every month standalones one-and-dones and a few stories in between.

[The Legendary Shark]

Oops - wrong thread.

[Funt Solo]

Bulletopia started 104 progs ago, but has only been in 25 progs. Drip ... drip ... drip ...


Join us for more high octane action next decade as Finister and Drextooth finally solve the case of the Multiple Mosi. Non-stop stoppage every sixth week as we rejoin people you'll have forgotten existed in a mission you've forgotten the plot of with an artist borrowed from another project!

etc.

Still waiting for the next Witch World chapter over here, Tharg! F'sake.

[Richard]

I like them all, and I like some variety.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

However the droids want to tell the tale.

That said, I *really* don't like the "3reeler" format, not.one bit. So, one-parters or six parts plus, please.

SBT

[GoGilesGo]

If I think about some of the classics strips that are the most perfectly rounded

• Cry of the Werewolf
• Graveyard Shift
• Midnight Surfer
• Summer Magic
• Incident at Mayger Minor

They all clock in at 6 or 7 episodes.

Same goes for Guatemala, Machine Law and An Honest Man, three of the best Dredds in the last half decade.

So, IMO, it seems the perfect formula is Between 6 and 8 episodes

[Proudhuff]

Between 6 and 8 episodes   We've had too many spiralling stories that have over stayed their welcome.

Prog rock indulgence or 3 minutes of Motorhead?

[IndigoPrime]

So, IMO, it seems the perfect formula is Between 6 and 8 episodes

For those stories, sure. But I don't see how every series of Zenith would have been better had it been cut in half or less. Necropolis was 26 episodes. Song of the Surfer was 12. Even most Kingdom series were 11 or 12.

Again, what works works. Appropriateness is the key.