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Wednesday Comics is a really interesting idea for DC as well as a seriously risky one. Essentially Wednesday Comics is a throwback to the newspaper funnies we all grew up on. These days’ newspaper strips are so filled with wacky families or politically informed animals there’s little room left for a good solid superhero story. Wednesday Comics is a newspaper filled with the superhero funnies we grew up on only this time the paper is filled with them.
The risky part here is that this is an actual newspaper, not a glossy facsimile. Wednesday Comics is printed on the rough paper used in news printing complete with the ink stains that rub off on your fingers. Not wanting to skimp on the experience DC has folded Wednesday Comics in four parts that have to be unfolded in order to access the stories. At full capacity Wednesday Comics expands to 28”x20” with the individual stories on their own 14”x20” page. This is a well-played throwback that may or may not jive well with the high gloss trade paperback world we live in. The one thing DC will have going for it is this 12 issue limited series has some incredibly solid talent involved.
For instance the first story featuring Batman is penned by 100 Bullets team Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Russo who approach Batman with their usual dark and jaded style. From there we get a harsh story with Sgt. Rock by Anthony and Joe Kubert, a fast paced Green Lantern by Kurt Busiek, a very mellow Paul Pope Strange Adventures story and even a Kammandi story by Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons.
There’s also a Golden Age era style Flash story, a kid friendly Supergirl, Deadman, Catwoman, Metamorpho, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, Hawkman and last but not least a Metal Men section penned by DC Editor Dan Didio. Each story acts just like the old school funnies by setting up a story, showing some action, hooking you and then leaving a cliffhanger.
Some of the stories hooked me faster than others. The Batman story is dark and sinister, the Superman section is serious high action, and Sgt Rock is a slow boil while Strange Adventures and Wonder Woman are really fleshed out for such a limited space. At times it felt as if the writers and artists involved with these stories were more comfortable working within the smaller medium than the others. That confidence really helped their stories jump off the page and grab you. DC even had the presence of mind to make storage easy as the folded Wednesday Comics is about the size of a normal comic book.
I love this whole idea but I’m an old school type of comic fan. I remember being so amped when the newspaper arrived (especially the Sunday Edition) just so I could get the comic section and vanish back into my room to read them. Wednesday Comics is well thought out tribute to those times executed perfectly by the people behind it. Does that mean that the next 12 issues will fly off the shelves and reignite the love of Newspaper Comics? I don’t know, it seems you would need a certain attitude towards comics to get everything out of Wednesday Comics you should.
Regardless of sales this is an awesome little diversion from all the event comics, the massive crossovers and the normal comic time stream, which is often missing the innocence the made comics so cool once. If nothing else I hope this inspires newspaper around the Globe to include more superhero strips in their daily comics section.
Take a look at the panel artwork on the next page.
