Melodrama in comics: a lost art?

The thing is though that I assumed that quote was from some really recent comic.

It's only quite recently that the post-Claremont melodramatic style fell from grace, I think.

Quick theory: two different kinds of melodramatic effect depending on whether you use the captions or speech. Captions: Claremont, Superman's dying love, Roy Thomas etc. Speech: giant scorpions, Morrison JLA, Millar ultraviolence, Kirby 4th world. Stan Lee did both - that is why he is Stan Lee.

The captions style is designed to slow the story and make it seem more significant. The speech style is designed to if not quicken the story make it seem more urgent and exciting.

The thing is, that Thomas and Claremont both depend of the Marvel-style conceit of filling every available space in the art with a speech bubble, so while their writing does slow the story down, it's not especially caption-based - especially now that captions seem to be going further and further out of style.

I dunno, reading some old Thomas and old and new Claremont stuff it was really striking to me how much caption exposition there was. Also the speech patterns in that style of writing work as an extension of captions (OK this argument is a bit of a cheat).

You're right about captions going out of style. Not a bad thing really.

I don't agree 100%, but it's notable that Alan Moore stopped using them quite a while ago as anything other than a form of thought bubble (generally a diary entry or after-the-fact narration). The 'narrator' function of captions seems to be dead as the dodo.

It's occured to me that the 'lost chapter of the Bible' feel is what everybody's been chasing desperately for throughout the past decade, (or even further back) so that's another thing that hasn't gone away... probably the last time it was successfully attempted was DKR/Year One, which was then attacked as though by slavering wolves as a new source of story.

Remember when captions actually addressed the reader? Those were so cool.

I was sorely disappointed upon finally reading Superman's love from beyond time. For one thing I wanted to know more about the planet-sized pink space beast.

If you pick up COMMERCIAL SUICIDE II, Huk, I've brought them back. Effendi.

Where can I get this?

I'm glad you asked. It'll be available at the comics convention opposite Russel Square this Saturday. Alternately, go here:

http://www.commercialsuicidecomic.com/

The 'buy' link will be active in days.

How can you think of the planet-sized pink space beast when Superman had to contend with a love that fate itself made huge earthquakes at the very rashness of??? Even if he did forget all about it IN THE SPACE OF A PANEL.

Classic Ewing = he instantly divides the phenomenon into two.

His erudition and analytical prowess impresses - me, au moins.

Melodrama lost in comics? Haven't you guys ever read any manga for girls?