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Post by tolworthy on Sept 15, 2014 14:59:44 GMT -5
I'm reading some wonderful reprints from the late 1950s to early 1960s. They're mostly four page mystery stories, but they all have on thing in common: they end abruptly. VERY abruptly. For example: These are the endings from "Uncanny Tales 106, an Alan Class reprint comic: - Story 1, "Giant from the Unknown", 7 pages. The story develops at a relaxed pace until the final frame:
"back at the university, Clay realized he had no proof of his amazing experience." "Did you go up to see the bogus giant Clay?""I... Uh... No, I didn't bother to go!"
- Story 2, "The Stubborn House", 5 pages. Again, the story develops at an easy pace, then a sudden ending: "The Haley house was destined to stand as long as there was a Haley living in it!"
- Story 3, "The Greater Life", 5 pages. The final panel is a long piece of dialog that introduces the war between Venus and Earth AND its surprising twist, as well as... well, you get the idea. That's a whole lot of stuff in a single panel, when the rest of the story was surprisingly light on words.
- Story 4, "The Man Who Sold Darkness"- 7 pages. Not a rushed story, it could easily have had two panels for the wrap up, but instead the twist is told in a text dump by a single panel.
I realise that the writers were badly paid and space was very short, but this goes beyond that. Clearly they see nothing wrong with these abrupt endings. They could easily allow two frames for the end, but they never do. Were these sudden endings normal for all comics of the time? For other short stories? For TV shows? Was there a famous TV or radio show or that ended with a freeze frame and data dump? What's going on? |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Sept 15, 2014 15:37:47 GMT -5
I wonder if this was indigenous to specific publishers or editors. I've read a great deal of Dell Disney output from this era and not been hyper aware of this phenomenon. And I similarly don't recall it in the early 1960s Dell sci-fi titles that I've read.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2014 18:15:52 GMT -5
Was it when page counts dropped? 64 to 48 to 32? Some stories were edited for space when comics dropped from 48 pages to 32 pages.
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Post by hondobrode on Sept 15, 2014 19:14:29 GMT -5
Honestly, I don't recall noticing anything that abrupt.
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Post by benday-dot on Sept 15, 2014 19:30:42 GMT -5
In this generation of one-shot 2-7 page anthology pieces plot was everything. There was basically a tried formula. Set-up. Set-Back. Overcoming Odds through key of a gimmick. Or this last stage was given over to an EC/O.Henry/Twilight Zone style twist ending. These short stories never much allowed for nuance, characterization, psychology (though we did get those weirdly existential Ditko shorts)or afterthought. The triumph or fatal twist often was held back to the very end, and thereafter was no need to expand into reflection.
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ironchimp
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Post by ironchimp on Sept 15, 2014 20:04:24 GMT -5
They kind of sound like the stories you'd have to write at school as a kid. You'd start off setting the scene, have a little plot going on and then think "well anymore of this and it's going to take hours - best just wrap it up quick smart"
Actually just thinking on it - Prophet ran back up strips of 5 pages - one i always remember was a soldier preparing for war for 4 and half pages. Towards end of page 5 his transport module has landed on panel to invade and then last panel shot in the head before he gets the chance to leave.
The abrupt ending can be really effective because it really jolts you. It's the antithesis of the classic beginning / middle / end.
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Post by tolworthy on Sept 16, 2014 0:46:01 GMT -5
Thanks for all the replies! I wonder if this was indigenous to specific publishers or editors. Yes, I wonder that too. I don't know what Alan Class was paying for the reprints, but I suspect it was not much. Maybe he simply got the cheapest stories? AFAIK there is no EC or DC, and Marvel didn't think much of its pre-superhero stuff. (Class also reprinted early Marvel superheroes, but I think this may have been Marvel's oversight - after a while they noticed and only let him reprint the mystery and monster titles) Was it when page counts dropped? 64 to 48 to 32? Some stories were edited for space when comics dropped from 48 pages to 32 pages. That would make sense - maybe it's just coincidence that I've read a lot of these lately. Some of the beginning seem very abrupt too. Like the story I just read, about a giant dragon, it really feels like the ending to a longer tale. In this generation of one-shot 2-7 page anthology pieces plot was everything. There was basically a tried formula. Set-up. Set-Back. Overcoming Odds through key of a gimmick. Or this last stage was given over to an EC/O.Henry/Twilight Zone style twist ending. These short stories never much allowed for nuance, characterization, psychology (though we did get those weirdly existential Ditko shorts)or afterthought. The triumph or fatal twist often was held back to the very end, and thereafter was no need to expand into reflection. I actually prefer this to the modern style. It takes some getting used to, but honestly, if they expanded the ending to a full page it wouldn't actually add any useful information. I just have to mentally slow down on the last panel and savour every word, then pause to reflect (or if the story is really bad, quickly move to the next). I wish somebody would reprint just the very best of these, at a cheap price - maybe a thick black and white paperback with a hundred stories. If only it could get into the right hands it would revolutionize how people see comics as a medium. Or maybe it's just a matter of taste. But I love 'em. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Sept 16, 2014 6:04:41 GMT -5
They kind of sound like the stories you'd have to write at school as a kid. You'd start off setting the scene, have a little plot going on and then think "well anymore of this and it's going to take hours - best just wrap it up quick smart" LOL! I sooooooo used to do this! Really made me smile to read that someone else did too. |
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Post by MDG on Sept 16, 2014 12:07:52 GMT -5
I wonder if they were originally printed (or commissioned and written) pre-code, then had to be edited to be code-approved.Or bought as 6- or 7-pagers and cut down on the fly.
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Post by tolworthy on Sept 16, 2014 16:35:07 GMT -5
Definitely a possibility. I've noticed a couple that seem quite realistic, about tragedy leading to theft, that quickly turn into sugary morality tale endings. These reprints are a fascinating, a very mixed bag, and I'm enjoying them immensely.
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