Comics vs Books -- Which Did it Better?

[Pomegranate]

The core Bionicle story was told primarily through the comics and the chapter books, running more or less simultaneously throughout most of Bionicle's run. While the comics were free, coming fairly regularly with the bimonthly LEGO Magazine (with the exception of the notorious Ignition #6), and lasted through Bionicle's very end in 2010, the chapter books understandably covered more ground but ended in 2008 (not counting the much simpler books for the Glatorian arc) and were only available in bookstores and though Scholastic promotions.

They've both got their pros and cons- availability, content, artwork, price was a big one, longevity, those sticky bits that held the comic inside the magazine that were fun to pull off, the comfortable typeface on off-white pages, etc.

What I'd like to talk about is which was the better medium for y'all. Which do you think told the story the best? Which did you enjoy reading more?

The story was my favorite part of Bionicle, and running to the shelf in the bookstore with the kids' chapter books to check if a new Bionicle title was out (I didn't really figure out the concept of checking release dates online for most of my childhood ), or seeing that a LEGO Magazine with a new comic was sticking out of the mail pile, were really some of the more exciting days in my life. If anything, neither failed to disappoint me I had been keeping up with the books since around '02-03, with Tales of the Toa and then moving on to the whole Chronicles box set with Infected Hau, whereas I didn't start on the comics until halfway through '05, when a school friend gave me their LEGO Magazine's comics as they arrived since they weren't into Bionicle themselves, and the following year I had a subscription of my own. Personally, I'm really conflicted on the topic and am really mad at myself for making it, 'cause now I can't decide While I love art and comicbooks and the Bionicle comics really were the first and only comics I ever read and owned, until I became a giant geek and dove headfirst into mainstream comics a few years ago, and they were a really big inspiration to me and the issue with Matoro dying and the issue with Teridax winning were really big shocks and written excellently, I think I'll have to hand it off to the chapter books. They were more emotional and had a bigger impact on me, and I remember "you were not the first Toa," "Mata Nui is dying," and all of Time Trap sending shivers down my spine and being just such a thrill to read. I don't think I ever did read all the comics, and I still need to get around to getting the graphic novel compilations of 'em or getting everything pre-2005 somewhere so I can finally see what I missed. So that's my answer, I guess. The books win out by a hair ^^


Give me your opinions. Tell me your story. Discuss. Get really passionate about it. You can cry if you want. It's okay. I won't judge.

[Sir Kohran]

The books were never available anywhere outside North America, so being in Europe I'd have to choose the comics more or less by default.

 

I can't provide a critique of the books' content when I haven't read them, but I can highlight what I think were some problems with them. Firstly, the format lacked any of the immersive and intriguing music and visuals that played a major role in Bionicle's appeal in the early years. Secondly, it generally seemed to be the case that many fans would simply wait for the story points ('spoilers') to be reported on BZPower, rather than buy the books and find out for themselves. Also, once a book had been read and its story era had passed, it became pretty much irrelevant to its owner (ie, they lacked long-term appeal). And the biggest problem was that overall they failed to attract enough readers to keep Bionicle's story popular.

 

The comics did have some flaws of their own - there was often too much action, which came at the expense of character development or detailed plot information (things that apparently had more presence in the books). The rule that the comics had to avoid covering anything that was in the movies frequently left big gaps in their overall narrative. But I'd still say they did a better job of delivering what story they did have than the books did.

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

I think the books are good(unfortunately not available here in Iceland) . The comics were ok i guess and i only have one of the 2003 comics "End of the Toa ?" Which i obtained only because my dad bough it alongside a pohatu nuva set while he was on a business trip in Minneapolis.

 

Also i want to point out that 2006 and 2006 had the most despicable/unlikeable artwork, i didnt like that the characters looked like something out a horror series while bionicle is focused on combat and science fiction.

[Kopekemaster]

I think the books were better at giving more detail and additional story, while the comics were better at making the backbone of the story and developing the characters.

[Hitoshura]

Books. For sure.

 

They gave a more detailed description of certain things, whereas, no offence to the artists, the pictures didn't quite capture the scene/object/whatever mentioned. And in the books, you can read what the characters are thinking the whole time, as opposed to the comics where only some thoughts were shown. Also, in the books, it tells you more on the Web of Shadows part, such as Vakama's betrayal, Keetongu, etc while the comics don't show a lot about it, like some of them were missing parts of the story.

 

As for the comics, they were good too. They help you visualize everything better, and makes the story less confusing at some parts. A key point is, and again, I'm referring to the WoS part again, I was going through the graphic novel and they had some parts( I think) that weren't included in the books. They are also more visually appealing, by loads, and better to read for some.

 

But overall I'd still pick the books.

[Pomegranate]

The books were never available anywhere outside North America, so being in Europe I'd have to choose the comics more or less by default.

Also, once a book had been read and its story era had passed, it became pretty much irrelevant to its owner (ie, they lacked long-term appeal). And the biggest problem was that overall they failed to attract enough readers to keep Bionicle's story popular.

 

Oh wow, I never knew the books were only released in North America o: That changes things up, yeah.

I don't know about anyone else, but the books had a lot of long-term appeal to me, in that I reread them many, many times even when that story year had passed. I've read Chronicles over the most, though, so I think CA Hapka just had a better writing style than Greg that has a sort of rereading value.

 

Also i want to point out that 2006 and 2006 had the most despicable/unlikeable artwork, i didnt like that the characters looked like something out a horror series while bionicle is focused on combat and science fiction.

I actually really liked Stuart Sayger's artwork, it was very different from all the other Bionicle comics, definitely my favorite But it was really creepy, I can see why that'd be disconcerting.

[Indigogeek]

Coming from someone who had a lego magazine subscription 2003-2010, the comics for sure we're an easier outlet for storytelling, as they were free, and most lego club members had all of them at some point. The comics we're also very visually appealing, and I don't know what everyones talking about! I LOVED sayger's style! Personally, I would put it above the style for the Mata-nui arc, which looks very.. odd. The comics had that "what will happen next aspect"

 

The book were wonderful as well, and were a joy to read, the problem was that you had to buy ALL of them to understand the story, although it did cover WOS better, and has a more in depth look on things like the OOMN, BOM, and various islands like xia, daxia, etc.

 

Its a tie for me, but the books are far more informational, the comics were easier to get.

[Kopekemaster]

 

Also i want to point out that 2006 and 2006 [sic, what] had the most despicable/unlikeable artwork, i didnt like that the characters looked like something out a horror series while bionicle is focused on combat and science fiction.

I actually really liked Stuart Sayger's artwork, it was very different from all the other Bionicle comics, definitely my favorite But it was really creepy, I can see why that'd be disconcerting.

 

Yeah, I'd have to say that the art for 2006 was my favorite as well. Definitely a darker style, for a darker storyline.

[fishers64]

Books all the way. For a being who begged my local library for them, they were just amazing and immersive.

 

I still am struggling to motivate myself to read all of the comics though, so I'm biased. Personally comics were never really my favorite storytelling medium anyway, although sometimes I find the comic art to be useful to understand certain things. (Also I didn't know that Bionicle comics even existed for most of the theme's run, if it all; my memory doesn't have a register for their existence prior to finding BS01 and joining BZP. I do recall thinking that they were boring/not worth reading/told the same story as the books at some point in 2006, but that's prejudice rather than actual quality differential.)

[TwistedLego]

As someone who is just now reading through the books I have a fresh view on this. I read the comic book runs as they they came out from 2001 to around 2006 but never had access to the books. I now own all the books so Im reading through them and I find that the stories are richer and more detailed. Im re-reading the comics as well, as I get through the books, to do a side-by-side comparison and find that the comics severely condense the stories and omit many things for the sake of keeping it brief and to the point. I have a bias towards the comics since that's one of my favorite mediums (Im an avid comic book reader) so I can appreciate the Bionicle comics.

However from a general Bionicle fan stand point I believe that the story books were overall better at getting the story across.
I will even go as far as to say they also tell the story better than the movies. Now, I am aware that each medium has their own strong point and I think its fair to say they all stand on equal grounds. Obviously the movies will be more entertaining, the books more informative, and the comics visually pleasing. But in my opinion if we are talking Bionicle story the books take the crown. Its such a hard decision to pick which is better for me since I enjoy all, luckily we don't just have to pick one and can do all three

[Fullmetal]

I can't provide a critique of the books' content when I haven't read them, but I can highlight what I think were some problems with them.

 

>Hasn't read the books.

>Critiques them anyway.

 

Never change, internet. Never change.

[Lyichir]

I much preferred the books, since they told a more complete story. However, I do agree with Kohran on one point—a visual medium like comics might just be better for a Lego story by default, due to the colorful characters and settings. I feel like the illustrated Chima books provide the best of both worlds—pictures to convey the action, and prose to provide detail and narration.

[Bluest-of-Jayys]

I'm re-reading some of the books and honestly I still love them as much as I did when I was 8. They did the best job of telling the story.

 

The comics sort of glossed over things at times, especially later on in the story. I liked the earlier comics better, mostly 'cause D'Anda slightly tweaked the characters to give them more life: he gave the Toa's armor scratches, expression in the shape of their eyes, and Onua's mask has eyebrow ridges. <3