A.V. Pull List: All comics should have recap pages for forgetful readers like me

It’s comic book day, and after waiting a whole month for the next issue of your favorite series, you’re ready to dive in, only to realize you can’t remember a damn thing from the last issue. Life’s busy, and if you’re juggling multiple series at once, with weeks between releases, keeping track of everything becomes a challenge. That’s why recap pages are so important; they offer a quick refresher so you don’t have to reread or hunt down summaries online. But lately, recap pages have been disappearing. The real question is, why aren’t they standard in every comic?

In the 90s, recaps were a given. You’d get a brief, no-nonsense summary that instantly caught you up. Now, it’s rare to see one, and it’s frustrating. I recently revisited Mark Waid’s Fantastic Four, and it was a breath of fresh air to see a recap at the start of each issue. It kept me in the loop, something modern comics often lack. With all the intricate storylines and long gaps between issues, recaps should be a no-brainer.

Sure, I get that every page is precious, and creators want to squeeze in as much story and art as possible. And even though adding a recap page might cut into production costs or valuable story space, it would go a long way toward helping fans keep up. With all the delays and expanding storylines, recaps are more important than ever. So, for this forgetful reader, please bring back the recap page.

-Brad McBoom