As the DCnU continues to develop, many series will feature regular back-up stories that tie into — and act as supplemental material to — the main action. Does this effect the value of these titles? Is the DC Universe richer or simply more cluttered for it? What do back-ups give the audience that can’t be achieved otherwise? Welcome to the Chat Cave.

Peter: I want to get right in front of this; I am excited about back-up stories. I’ve been reading All-Star Western – which has had back-ups since issue 1 – and I love those stories just as much as the main storyline. It has allowed Jimmy Palmotti and Justin Gray to introduce new characters, (Barbury Ghost) and old characters (El Diablo) for future use, as well as tell back stories of current characters (Nighthawk and Cinnamon) without detracting from their main story. Hell, sometimes I read the back-up story first.

Back-up stories can go in a couple different directions. 1) They can be used to weave a story that (for the most part) is set apart from the main storyline of the book – see The Curse of SHAZAM!; 2) they can provide background on current characters or story elements from the main story of the book – see Nighthawk and Cinnamon; 3) they can set up potential new story elements for later – see the upcoming Two-Face story in Detective Comics; and finally 4) they can be totally unrelated – see Marvel’s History of the Avengers back-ups. You know what, I don’t really see a problem with any of these. But, I will say that I am a Universe-buff, and love trying to know everything about every character, to the point where Patrick asks me regularly about things he hasn’t encountered yet. So, even though stories may not be related, I will be reading them anyway with great anticipation.

I also would not have a problem with DC raising some prices on these issues. We have already seen All-Star Western go up to $3.99, and others as well. While DC recently put a lot of emphasis on their “Drawing The Line At $2.99” campaign, I don’t foresee a rebellion by comic book readers. Plus, with the New 52 reboot, the back-up stories give DC the opportunity to reintroduce characters that were not given their own titles. That way, they can deploy them later without have to give a  lot of space over to exposition. (again, like SHAZAM!). So, bring it on: the more, the better.

Patrick: I’ll challenge that. Look, I love extra content as much as the next guy, but the experience of reading a single issue of any comic is so slight that tracking additional material feels… oddly placed. I’m going to reinforce here that I’m not opposed to getting more information about the characters and settings I’m currently enjoying. It’s just a little weird to get this PS at the end of an issue. If these stories are worth my time, why don’t they exist as mini-series alongside my favorites? As it is, I feel like I’m forced to pay for the extra content and if that’s the case: is it really “extra?”

Unfortunately, most of my experience with back-ups suggests that the back-up is the B material. And that sucks, because the kind of story implied by “back-up” is really interesting to me. Character-based vingettes that give me more insight into the way our heroes (and villains) work: it should be awesome. But the delivery is wrong. I read an article on-line about how the fan reaction to SHAZAM! may determine how DC distributes it in the future. Obviously, if everyone loves it, the former Captain gets his own series, but if reaction is lukewarm, the series may go ALL DIGITAL. I love this idea – partially because I take in so many of my comics digitally now anyway, but if there was a way to pick, choose and purchase this shorter stories separately (again, I like the thought of the implied social media aspect of this – suggesting stories for other readers, sharing “playlists,” etc.)

Drew: I think I agree with a synthesis of your arguments: more content is awesome (Peter) if it’s worth the extra time and money you spend on it (Patrick). This makes my argument a bit of a case-by-case basis thing, which is kind of a cop-out, so I’ll grow a pair and say that I like the practice on the whole. To me, it’s more about a playing with the form than about a means of delivering universe-altering content. In that way, I like back-ups in comics for the same reason I like cold-opens or credits bumpers in sitcoms: they let me spend more time in a world I like, plotlines or no.

The best example of this is the Barbury Ghost story that was backing-up All-Star Western 4-6; it was a fun little arc, completely unrelated to the lead story. I’m reading All-Star Western because I like westerns, and moar westerns equals moar better. Again, that doesn’t necessarily hold true for all back-ups — I wasn’t particularly impressed with the El Diablo story that was backing-up the previous three issues — but I’d hate to dismiss the entire concept of back-ups just because they’re not always well-executed (otherwise, I’d have to stop reading comics altogether).

That said, I think I’ve disliked more back-ups than I’ve enjoyed so far. I especially disliked the Shazam! back-up in the most recent Justice League, which features all of the negatives Patrick mentioned: it’s overstuffed, too short, and doesn’t feel relevant to the story it’s backing-up. Still, I think they can be great when they’re handled with the care to turn the limits of the space into an asset, rather than a liability — which maybe can be said of comics in general.

Shelby: I am not a huge fan of the back-ups. More content is great, sure, but if the extra content in the back-up is super necessary to the story, just include it in the story. If the content in the back-up is just an enhancement to the story, well ok, sure I guess; if DC wants to give me a little extra I will take it. If the extra content has nothing to do with the story I’m reading, if it’s just an attempt to get me hooked on another story, then no thank you. It could just be me being stubborn-stupid, but I don’t need to be forced to read something new. If a comic is written in a way that makes me think, “gee, I wish I knew more about SHAZAM!, that would really grow my enjoyment of this story, say, maybe I should pick it up,” then I will. That’s the beauty of the comic book universe, and the comic book fan universe, really. I would rather talk to Peter or the folks at my comic book shop about other titles that I should read.

I am definitely not interested in paying more for comics simply because they include a back-up story. Again, it’s a principle sort of thing; I would prefer to decide to pick up a new title for $2.99 an issue that pay an extra dollar for some back-up content that I don’t necessarily want. I want an organic comic book experience, I want my interest in titles to grow naturally based on the titles I’m reading and the titles my friends are reading.