East of West, Vol. 2: We Are All One by Jonathan Hickman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
…Aaaaand this confirms that the decision to read these in a tight timeline was correct. There’s no fucking way you would remember what was going on if you read this as the trades came out. 6 months isn’t a long time between trades, but it’s a long time when I feel like, two trades in, the story is still building. We don’t have all the pieces at the end of the first, and the second, at the end of this one I think we’re STILL just getting to the real start of the story.
I find, more and more, I have issues that aren’t with the books themselves, but the way they’re presented and published. I would love to see this as a thick, single volume. Or maybe broken into three parts or something.
I find it odd that comics haven’t figured out what Netflix knows, that people like to watch an entire season, or even an entire series, in very short order. We love it. And that’s why Netflix-produced shows come out that way instead of weekly. Because then everyone watches the whole thing, not to mention that everyone’s talking about the thing in a concentrated burst when it comes out.
This comic would make great binge-reading. Having 4 volumes in front of me at the start is a much better experience than picking this one up 6 months after I read the first. That was insane. That would never work.
Comics seem very tied to either a monthly or one-shot format without a lot of room in between. I’d love to see them put out in longer, binge-season form. I think that would kick ass, and it’d also allow for really complex stories to be told.