r/ImageComics • u/MightyUnclean • Mar 14 '26
Question At this point, are you guys like me with Exquisite Corpses and only still reading it because you're so far in? I'm really looking forward to it wrapping up. This could have easily been done fully in eight issues.
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u/Ngallaudet Mar 14 '26
I think it’s going to be an incredible reread when all is said and done
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u/Successful_Action_19 Mar 14 '26
Tynion’s work isn’t very good in monthly single issues. I only buy trades of his stuff
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u/Secure_Penalty4343 Mar 15 '26
This. I think they suffer from the delays and he does have a tendency to draw out his stories.
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u/Successful_Action_19 Mar 15 '26
He's also really great at building suspense and doing cliffhangers and its just not satisfying getting his writing in 20 page bursts.
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u/Ammar_02 Mar 14 '26
I don't think it needed to be shorter I just think this is one of those series that doesn't benefit a lot from the monthly release story wise and will read really well in trades/deluxe hardcover
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u/frontbluntshuv Mar 14 '26
Exactly!! I always re-read the prior issue before the current one.
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u/Ammar_02 Mar 14 '26
Once the last issue is out I'm gonna re-read it all in one sitting. Get the full picture even better that way
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u/d1a1n3 Mar 14 '26
100% I’m still reading because of the sunk cost fallacy. The last few issues haven’t measured up to the first 7 or 8 but I’m gonna buy and read this whole first run.
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u/VerdunBeach Mar 14 '26
Unless the ending is really strong I dont think im sticking around for season 2. Im really on the fence with this one.
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u/AdmiralOfDemocracy Mar 14 '26
I’ll get the full collected versions going forward after this I think if that’s a route they’re going
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u/ALEXXRN Mar 14 '26
There’s also spinoffs for the villains, and I don’t love this book enough to fill a short box.
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u/knownasjazz Mar 15 '26
Didn’t know that! Could def read a Fox Mask Killer book. Not sure about the rest 🤷🏾♂️
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u/Sharty_Waffle Mar 14 '26
Yeahhhh I've been debating dropping this from the pull list but I heard it was ending soon so I figured I'd just see it thru but I really do not look forward to it anymore
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u/captain__cabinets Mar 14 '26
I liked the first issue but am waiting for it to finish up before I read it all, some series I just can’t read month to month and this is one of them for sure
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u/knownasjazz Mar 15 '26
I’m reading it monthly and I think you’re making the right call. I just can’t wait at this point lol
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u/captain__cabinets Mar 15 '26
Is it taking a break after 12? I’d like to read it but just put it so far on the back burner
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u/Babayaga_711 Mar 14 '26
I actually find the opposite on you thinking it could have been done in eight issues. I do think it could be if they gutted some of the subplots, but to tell the story they wanted to tell and actually flesh out some of the killers, they needed more issues (Hence them doing some backstory side issues later this year).
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u/StephenTJ95 Mar 14 '26
I stopped reading about issue five. It started off with some great momentum and then just started to not keep my interest.
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u/scruffye Mar 14 '26
I think it’s doing fine pacing and length wise, but I’m not really interested in turning this into a multimedia, multiarc franchise. I don’t know, unless the finale really dazzles of me I’ll be fine when it ends.
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u/FamousWerewolf Mar 14 '26
James Tynion rules and he's writing some of the best comics around today, but he's definitely guilty of padding stuff out. I haven't read Exquisite Corpses myself yet, but I've read a lot of his other stuff, and I can't think of a single series he's done that wouldn't have been better at half the length or shorter. Much better at starting stuff than ending it.
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Mar 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ShrimpFartz Mar 14 '26
Lemme guess, you’re also a Kirkman fanboy who loves Skinbreaker despite the weak writing.
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u/reindeercurt Mar 14 '26
People in the comments here seem to really be misunderstanding the creative process behind this book. It was conceived as a project that would have a writers room and rotating artists, similar to some Big 2 event books. Tynion and Walsh always write and draw the frame narrative with the organizing families, and everything in the town is drawn by that issue's artist. It's not "farmed out", it's a jam piece
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u/d1a1n3 Mar 14 '26
Just because they intended this production structure doesn’t mean that the series doesn’t suffer from it.
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u/reindeercurt Mar 14 '26
Fair enough, but framing it as "Tynion is just slapping his name on the project to make it sell" and "This is such a mess that they've got the colorist writing scripts" is just disingenuous and frankly shitty to the other people on the team. People ought to know what they're talking about if they're making a criticism
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u/mommyreadstoomuch Mar 14 '26
I agree that it’s been a little misunderstood.
When I started it, I thought, from the name alone, it was going to be a group of various creators each month, mostly because that is what an Exquisite Corpse is- a game where each person adds to a work (drawing or story. This idea was created by Surrealist artists, I think. The name is just a play on dead body corpses, along with the acknowledgment of the game from which the comic’s creation is based. The name wouldn’t work, otherwise.
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u/Ok_Paint9449 Mar 14 '26
Farming it out really hurt the quality and I got backlogged on my reading….it keeps getting pushed aside.
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u/Delicious_Ad_9374 Mar 14 '26
I have enjoyed it so far, but I do agree that the last few issues haven't been as good as the first few.
I think Tynion may have miscalculated on the pacing. It turns out eliminating one killer each issue just isn't terribly exciting after the fourth or fifth issue. It becomes a bit predictable and formulaic.
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u/Cultural_Scar_4026 Mar 14 '26
I’m digging it, though it will be better to read it straight through after. Guess you won’t be picking up the 3 minis, oversized issue and next season?
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u/Abusivemang0 Mar 15 '26
Seen it all before to be honest, but hey its great read.. they're building to s2 and to release the cards.
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u/iWanttoKillaMan Mar 15 '26
It’s fun. Not amazing. I’m enjoying and looking forward to the end. Not my favorite comic but a solid comic.
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u/LapsedVerneGagKnee Mar 16 '26
I know it’s selling well since it’s the only Image book in the Top 50 not based on an 80s toyline. But it sounds like a classic read in the trade.
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u/blackertai Mar 16 '26
I'm enjoying it, but if it was going to be extended, they should have started more external world building to line up with a wider scope sooner. Right now, it does feel like it's just filling space without a lot of real progression. Yes, some of the killers are dead but frankly we didn't have any connection to most of them so the fact that they're getting whittled down isn't enough.
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u/Initial-Dentist-4056 Mar 16 '26
Totally agree. Just buying it now to complete the run. I want it to be over with as well.
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u/Murky_Mud2972 Mar 18 '26
I'm hoping the story leaves the town at some point not including the watch room.
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u/RogueUnicorn3434 Mar 14 '26
Amazing concept and kick off. Optimistic hope for a redemption landing
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u/Mushy5555 Mar 14 '26
Not going to lie I read the first 5 issues and just last week read the next 5 and Im excited for more I could see where your coming from if I was to have read it every release 1 by 1
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u/Kinsella5 Mar 14 '26
The eventual animated show will get some more interest on it but after this first "season" concludes with issue #13 I am dropping it and will post them up for sale when the hype increases with the show.
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u/Proper_Tax6923 Mar 14 '26
Nah I’m still loving each issue. It’s one of the books I read immediately after buying it. But I do think most image books do work best in trade.