The smart form of media to mimic these days is television. TV is going through a renaissance at the moment, with big actors heading to the smaller screen where they can often invest more into their characters, and where some of the most talented writers working are free to spend more time on detailed, involved plotlines. Such shows also benefit from the fact that they're on every week, are geared to appeal to both new viewers and existing fans (with easy-to-pick-up plots and recaps), and take breaks between seasons to refresh and make sure the next batch of stories are up to their exacting standards. That's a model that comic books should really be following. There are some series which are already following the structure of seasons, where the titles will take a break for a few months between story arcs for the creative team to keep things good. Something comics really struggle with is appealing to new readers, who are intimidated by the decades of continuity they have to be aware of in order to understand even the most mainstream superhero titles - or else, they pick up a single issue in the middle of a story arc and can't fathom what's going on. To expand their audience, they'll have to be more like the most popular medium.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
