I was a guest on the Webcomic Beacon, a podcast dedicated to (you guess it) podcasts. As a follow-up to my post Explaining Decompression in Comics, we discuss the concepts of compression and decompression in comics, what they mean and how they’re used, and how you could potentially use it in your own work. Have a listen and leave a comment, either here or there.
Webcomic Beacon #208: Decompression vs. Compression in Comics
OGIUE MANIAX 
Well, that took some time but I think I just learned more how americans view comic books. Not that I understand it.
I guess that the debate of compression vs decompression is typical to american comics. Since in Belgium, authors tend to take the pacing that suits them rather that rush because of a limited time or a restrained number of pages, it’s kind of cultural to us not to stress about this.
Just a question, how much time does it take for a comic book to go out? I may have missed it, but well.
When it comes to franco-belgian comics, it typically takes a year nowadays for one to be out in the stores. It varies though. If you take “Yiu” for example it could take far more sometimes.
When authors publish in comics magazines there would be 5 to 8 pages per month.
It’s interesting that you mentionned Yoko Tsuno. I didn’t think it was known it the States. Have you read some?
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Traditionally, American superhero comics come out once every month with about 32 color pages (though this has been shrinking recently). Manga is usually either weekly or monthly depending on the magazine a title runs in, and they are usually about 18-32 pages, with monthly manga generally being longer. Manga is mostly drawn in black and white.
Yoko Tsuno is not well-known in the US, but I’m currently living in Europe so I have had some exposure to Franco-Belgian comics. That said, there are about 5 volumes of Yoko Tsuno that have been published in English, but they are of course only a small fraction of what exists.
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That’s even faster that I imagined! Is there such a demand that justifies this? Do americans consume so much comics that there’s no time for more elaborate art? That’s kind of horrible.
You’re in Europe? May I ask where?
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I’m not sure how much of it is demand and how much of it is just inertia, but I do see people get critical whenever a comic is late.
As for where I am, the Netherlands, which conveniently puts me near Belgium, though I’ve only been there once.
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