Archive Panic: Difference between revisions

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What's worse is that the strip is continuing to update while you're reading through the archive, making it even harder to catch up. Even worse is if the strip doesn't continue to update: there's the risk of it coming to an end. Few things are more disheartening than finally catching up with the current strip and seeing an author's note listing the end of the comic. In two weeks from now.

Strips with less intense update schedules (say, three times a week) rarely suffer [[Archive Panic]], nor do strips that have suffered various [[Schedule Slip]] incidents. (It's less of a hassle to read five years' worth of strips if there are none from June 2008 to July 2009.)

Strips with less intense update schedules (say, three times a week) rarely suffer '''Archive Panic''', nor do strips that have suffered various [[Schedule Slip]] incidents. (It's less of a hassle to read five years' worth of strips if there are none from June 2008 to July 2009.)

The site [http://www.archivebinge.net/ Archive Binge] lets you subscribe to a webcomic's archive via an RSS feed at a rate you choose, allowing you to attempt to avoid panic. Another tool to help is [http://piperka.net/ Piperka] which helps you keep track of a few thousand webcomics you might be reading.

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* The [[Walt Disney]] comics have been at it since the characters were created. [[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck|Uncle Scrooge]]? 1947. [[Donald Duck]]? 1934. [[Mickey Mouse]]? 1928. All around the globe, too!

* The trade paperbacks for [[Hellblazer]] aren't even numbered!

* ''[[The Beano]]'' and ''[[The Dandy (comics)|The Dandy]]'' have both been running for more than 70 years and have been going for over 6000 issues so there is a lot of stuff to read if you must read it all. The comics are [[Anthology Comic~~|Anthology Comics~~]] which means some strips have been running for a shorter time, but even then some strips such as [[Dennis the Menace UK]] have had over 3000 episodes.

* ''[[The Beano]]'' and ''[[The Dandy (comics)|The Dandy]]'' have both been running for more than 70 years and have been going for over 6000 issues so there is a lot of stuff to read if you must read it all. The comics are [[Anthology Comic]]s which means some strips have been running for a shorter time, but even then some strips such as [[Dennis the Menace UK]] have had over 3000 episodes.

* ''[[Commando (Comic Book)|Commando]]'' has had over 4000 issues so there's a lot to catch up on. But currently half of the new issues are reprints of older issues.

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== Anime and Manga ==

* [[The Other Wiki]] has [[wikipedia:List of manga series by volume count|a list of manga]] and [[wikipedia:List of anime series by episode count|anime contenders]].

* Currently holding the record (for those who can read it): ''[[Golgo 13]]'', 155 volumes running for [[Long Runners|nearly 50 years]] ~~-- and~~ that's just the manga.

* Currently holding the record (for those who can read it): ''[[Golgo 13]]'', 155 volumes running for [[Long Runners|nearly 50 years]]—and that's just the manga.

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' has been going strong since 1996, with no less than four manga series, three TV shows, and two movies.

* ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''. The original manga ran weekly for nearly 15 years with one hiatus between Part 5 and Part 6. If you add up the number of chapters between all six parts of ''JoJo'' and the pseudo-sequel ''Steel Ball Run'', that adds up to 790 chapters and counting.

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* Start watching ''[[The Slayers]]''. Then realize that there are 5 series, adding up to 104 episodes, each of 22 monutes long, adding up to a reasonable value of 38 hours. [[Oh Crap|Then realize on top of that, there are 5 feature length movies and 2 OVA series]]. All in all, you'll have 44+ hours of shows to watch. Good luck.

** And then you realize that are still 10+ light novel volumes released.

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has 355 chapters over 38 volumes, though the original goal of ~400 chapters was [[Aborted Arc|aborted]] due to being [[Screwed by the Network|Screwed By The Diet]]. Count the side mangas, the Negima Neo manga, the anime adaptions and various OVA and you will be busy for a ~~while -- though~~ even 38 volumes is still not long enough to even make the list of long runners on [[The Other Wiki]].

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has 355 chapters over 38 volumes, though the original goal of ~400 chapters was [[Aborted Arc|aborted]] due to being [[Screwed by the Network|Screwed By The Diet]]. Count the side mangas, the Negima Neo manga, the anime adaptions and various OVA and you will be busy for a while—though even 38 volumes is still not long enough to even make the list of long runners on [[The Other Wiki]].

* [[Mariasama ga Miteru]] has 2 [[Twelve-Episode Anime]], one with 24 episodes and three 45 minutes OVAs. Add to that the 35+ Light novels and you'll be occupied for a long while.

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* ''[[And Shine Heaven Now]]'' is just about to hit its seventh year of publication, with updates at about six times a week. Over 2650 comics.

* ''[[Something Positive]]'' currently has over 2,650 strips.

* ''[[Phil Likes Tacos]]'' ~~-- started~~ in 2002, hasn't missed a day since 2005. Now over 3600 strips. [http://www.fulltimeink.com/plt Good Luck!]

* ''[[Phil Likes Tacos]]''—started in 2002, hasn't missed a day since 2005. Now over 3600 strips. [http://www.fulltimeink.com/plt Good Luck!]

* ''[[Achewood]]''. Debuting in October 2001 and featuring at least three new strips a week with relative frequency, as of June 2009 there are over 2,500 strips.

* ''[[Ozy and Millie]]'' by [[D. C. Simpson|DC Simpson]], debuted in 1998 and ran for a decade. During its earlier years, it was updated daily. Almost 2500 pages before completing.

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* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' averted this for a while - it started out as a print comic before moving to the web, and Foglios eased new reader access considerably by including a "101 class" (which started from the beginning) and an "Advanced Class" (which started where the print series left off), and updating them concurrently. Then in June 2007, the 101 class caught up with the beginning of the Advanced Class, giving 101 readers and newcomers a couple years of panic-laden archive trawling to catch up on, promptly breaking the site for a few days. Over 1300 pages.

* ''[[Rhapsodies]]'' 1300+ since 2004.

* ''[[Megatokyo]]'' has heavy continuity, so [[Archive Binge|archive binges]] are necessary for new readers. Even after running for seven years and 1300+ comics, it goes pretty fast with all of the [[Filler Strip~~|Filler Strips~~]] that you can skip.

* ''[[Megatokyo]]'' has heavy continuity, so [[Archive Binge|archive binges]] are necessary for new readers. Even after running for seven years and 1300+ comics, it goes pretty fast with all of the [[Filler Strip]]s that you can skip.

* ''[[Least I Could Do]]'' deserves a mention, having run since 2003 on a primarily daily basis.

* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' has over 1250 not counting filler and newspaper strips. It's getting close to 100 chapters (though a couple of them are single-strip interludes). It's one of those things where once you get going you keep reading because you have to know what happens next.

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== Music ==

* The band Tangerine Dream has recorded over 100 albums and EPs. If you're a sucker for getting the back catalogue of any newly-discovered band, this one might bankrupt you. Panic ensues until you realize a ''lot'' of them are EPs with two to four tracks. So if you can find a music download site that sells by the track, you can grab up to ten of them for under 20 bucks.

* Many classical musicians produce hundreds of hours of music over their ~~lifetime -- sample~~ "Complete Works" sets include Mozart (170 CDs), Beethoven (85 CDs) and J.S. Bach (155 CDs).

* Many classical musicians produce hundreds of hours of music over their lifetime—sample "Complete Works" sets include Mozart (170 CDs), Beethoven (85 CDs) and J.S. Bach (155 CDs).

* For fun, check out the discographies of Throbbing Gristle, [[Skinny Puppy]] and Cabaret Voltaire on Wikipedia.

** On the subject of Skinny Puppy, try looking for all of their side projects - in addition to the original 30 or so albums, there's Download (10 albums), Ohgr (3 albums), The Tear Garden (8 albums), [[Rev Co]] (10 albums), Cevin Key's solo work (3 albums), Doubting Thomas (4 albums), Hilt (6 albums), Cyberaktif (1 album), Ritalin or Rx (1 album)... that brings them up to 76 albums. With one in the works.

* [[Paul McCartney]] has released approximately 30 ''solo studio pop/rock'' albums. Add in [[The Beatles (band)|Beatles]] albums, live albums, and classical albums, and it's closer to 60. (We will try not to think about the albums with multiple editions.) Fortunately, there is also at least one good [[Greatest Hits Album]] (and there was a period when ''All The Best!'' and ''[[Wings (band)|Wingspan]]'' were both readily available). Unfortunately, you'll have to do a literal [[Archive Trawl]] to get many of his solo ~~albums -- they~~ can be found on iTunes more easily than in stores.

* [[Paul McCartney]] has released approximately 30 ''solo studio pop/rock'' albums. Add in [[The Beatles (band)|Beatles]] albums, live albums, and classical albums, and it's closer to 60. (We will try not to think about the albums with multiple editions.) Fortunately, there is also at least one good [[Greatest Hits Album]] (and there was a period when ''All The Best!'' and ''[[Wings (band)|Wingspan]]'' were both readily available). Unfortunately, you'll have to do a literal [[Archive Trawl]] to get many of his solo albums—they can be found on iTunes more easily than in stores.

* Coming in a distant third has gotta be Chicago, with 30+ .

* Latin Jazz musician Cal Tjader released over 70 albums in his lifetime, across a period of around 30 years. Luckily, 'where to start' is pretty well defined as only a few of these albums have appeared on CD and they're usually the most popular ones.

* [[Bob Marley]] and the Wailers. Hundreds of songs were recorded during the 60s and early 70s that were not released on album until the 90s. Whilst getting them on CD or digitally is manageable thanks to the compilations (a lot of which feature the same tracks and a few exclusives) acquiring the original 7" singles is a lifetime's work, not helped by the fact that Jamaican vinyl is not usually well looked after and can often have blank labels. And to make matters worse, due to the poorly managed copyright there are millions of unofficial CD compilations of poor sounding versions of material from the period, something which has caught out many a journalist/collector/casual fan. The official releases on CD don't collect all the band's work nor do they always present it in the correct order.

* [[Aphex Twin|Richard D. James]] has released 5 studio albums and several EPs under his most prominently known name ([[Aphex Twin]]), but has released two other albums and many other EPs under many different pseudonyms, some of which are just speculated to be him. Obtaining his entire discography can be an exercise in confusion and frustration, which only worsens when he also has older stuff leaked out on the net, old recordings of songs played on the radio, and remixes that were submitted for various contests or given to friends but have never seen the light of day on an official release.

** Even the artist himself suffers from [[Archive Panic]] with his own works, with having over 100 hours of material that remain unreleased. James once stated in an interview that if anyone left a message on his answering machine, it would record over a song he had put on the cassette beforehand.

** Even the artist himself suffers from Archive Panic with his own works, with having over 100 hours of material that remain unreleased. James once stated in an interview that if anyone left a message on his answering machine, it would record over a song he had put on the cassette beforehand.

* [[Frank Zappa]]'s discography is very large and confusing, especially since many of his albums sound very different. Knowing where to start is difficult to the point that some fansites have lists of albums they recommend as starting points. They also tend to advise new listeners not to be put off if they don't like a particular album, due to the aforementioned variety of musical styles.

** Zappa's live discography ''includes'' six two-CD volumes of concert performances and three volumes that consist entirely of ''guitar solos''.

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* [http://www.muslimgauze.net Muslimgauze] was so prolific that there are 210 releases as of 2010... and he (yes, he) died in 1999 (when there were 114 releases out).

* While not as prolific as some artists, Japanese pop artist [[Ayumi Hamasaki]] has an impressive back catalogue. Her career spans 11 years, and in that time, she's released 12 studio albums, 50 singles, five compilation albums, 19 remix albums, 18 DVDs and four box sets. This adds up to hundreds and hundreds of songs, especially if you want all her remix albums.

* Rapper Lil B created his own [[Archive Panic]] in one swift move: by releasing a ''[http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/02/download-lil-bs-676-song-mixtape/ 676-song mixtape.]''

* Rapper Lil B created his own Archive Panic in one swift move: by releasing a ''[http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/02/download-lil-bs-676-song-mixtape/ 676-song mixtape.]''

* Country singer [[Johnny Cash]] has released 55 studio albums in addition to live albums and compilations.

* As of 2012, the Canadian band [[Rush]] has released 18 studio albums, 8 live albums (including 2 double- and 2 triple-CD sets), 7 live DVD's (3 of which were remastered from VHS), and an EP. Perhaps a dozen compilations of singles and videos have been available at different times as well.

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* At two episodes a week, it would take a year and a half to finish all of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. (On the other hand, 144 episodes at around 45 minutes per episode only makes for 105 hours of continuous viewing. Allowing time to sleep, you could still watch the whole show in less than a week, if only barely.) If all you did for one week was watch [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] and sleep, you would have about 63 hours total to sleep, which comes out to 15 hours of television a day.

** If you try to watch everything from the [[Buffy Verse]], [[Angel]] adds in another 110 episodes.

** Shows are actually closer to 40 minutes than 45, which puts the low time for watching Buffy at 96 hours and Buffy and Angel at 169 hours 20 minutes. Real times would be higher since the episodes average ~~~41-43~~ minutes.

** Shows are actually closer to 40 minutes than 45, which puts the low time for watching Buffy at 96 hours and Buffy and Angel at 169 hours 20 minutes. Real times would be higher since the episodes average ~41–43 minutes.

** Not to mention the original movie, and [[Joss Whedon]]'s original script which was quite different, and the unaired pilot, and the 100+ comics which are considered "canon". There are also dozens of non-canon comics and over 70 non-canon novels. Basically, there's an awful lot of stuff.

* With 232 episodes over 10 seasons, it's gonna take you quite awhile to get through ''[[Friends]]'', it dosen't help that most of the episodes are actually LONGER on DVD then they are on TV due to a lot of scenes being cut for time in the original airings(some episods are at least TEN minutes longer, and that's not counting the super-sized 40 minute episodes), at the very least it'll take you about a month or so to finish the series, and of course there's also the spin-off ''[[Joey]]''.

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* ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' deliberately tempts fans by casually mentioning over the end credits that "every clip ever" is now available on the show's website. The Report runs half an hour, four days a week, and has been airing since late 2005. That's not so bad. But what's this - its parent ''[[The Daily Show|Daily Show]]'' has a complete clip archive too? Half an hour, four days a week... since Jon Stewart took over in January 1999. Oh yes, and it has a [[YouTube]]-esque 'Related Clips' feature. Abandon all productivity, ye who enter here.

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' has arcs and the occasional [[Continuity Nod]], but it's still episodic enough that you can start in the middle and not suffer for it. However, if you ''do'' decide to do the homework, there are six different series adding up to a grand total of 727 episodes across thirty seasons, plus eleven movies. Good luck with that.

** The entirety of ''Star Trek'' (as of 2010) come to about 567 ~~hours -- that~~'s almost 24 days of solid watching, or about an hour and a half every day for a year.

** The entirety of ''Star Trek'' (as of 2010) come to about 567 hours—that's almost 24 days of solid watching, or about an hour and a half every day for a year.

* ''[[24]]'' can be one of the worst of these. Not only are there eight seasons x 24 episodes each = 196 episodes PLUS the movie, but watching them on DVD is extremely addictive. The main reason for the addiction is the real-time format of the shows, and the fact that EVERY episode ends on a cliffhanger, which is picked up at the very next minute of real time at the start of the next episode. There is no real conclusion until the end of the season, which can make it tempting to use up an entire weekend watching all 24 episodes of a season practically back to back.

** Rather spookily if you watched each Season over the course of three days, it would take you 24 days to watch the whole show

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** Assuming the same 22 minute viewing time as American TV it would take 26 days 10 hours 20 minutes to watch the 1730 episodes mentioned without any sort of breaks. And it is only getting worse with more being made every year.

* ''[[Neighbours]]''. The 5-a-week Australian soap, is about to broadcast its SIX THOUSANDTH episode in the UK. And the UK showings are a few months behind the original Australian broadcasts, meaning there's probably been another 30 or so episodes since then. At around 22 minutes per episode, that makes for some scary maths: 2200 hours, or around 91 days worth, of Aussie soapiness to get through. And that's without any breaks!

* Better still, British soap opera [[Coronation Street]] has been running continuously since 1960 and has aired over 7,000 episodes, most of 30 minutes and some of 60 minutes. If the idea of watching the whole series over makes you panicky, imagine how its star, William Roache, ~~feels -- he~~'s been on the show since day one.

* Better still, British soap opera [[Coronation Street]] has been running continuously since 1960 and has aired over 7,000 episodes, most of 30 minutes and some of 60 minutes. If the idea of watching the whole series over makes you panicky, imagine how its star, William Roache, feels—he's been on the show since day one.

* ''[[The Atheist Experience]]'' has the show's weekly archive from January 2004 available online. With around 370 archived episodes, each 90 minutes long, you're looking at around 550 hours (or 23 days) of viewing material.

* By the end of season 11, there will be 296 episodes of ''[[Degrassi]]'', plus the movies and the original series (which contained 70 episodes). If you watched one episode a day, it would take about a year. And watching ''[[Degrassi]]'' every day for a year is not recommended — that amount of teen angst is bad for your health.

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== Film ==

* Film is actually the savior of many a non-reader who want to read a series, but aren't particularly good readers. Sitting through, for example, nine hours of the [[Peter Jackson]]'s extended ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' is a actually lot faster than most people can read the three-book [[Doorstopper]] series, and will cover all the important plot points. Purists will say that the book form of any series is superior, however there are people in the world who have difficulty reading.

** Well, if you want to talk about [[Archive Panic]], talk about the 92 hours combined on all of the Extended DVDs. Shorter than reading the books? I don't think so.

** Well, if you want to talk about Archive Panic, talk about the 92 hours combined on all of the Extended DVDs. Shorter than reading the books? I don't think so.

* A few [[Long Runner]] film series, the best example being [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] (22 official movies with a 23rd to come, plus three non-official ones; God helps if [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRrNlh-UaGg watch them non-stop...]).

* Fans of old film serials run into many problems. [[Lost Episode~~|Lost Episodes~~]], crappy distributors, [[Filler]], and then this. Most serials were twenty minutes long (except for the famous Republic Studio serials, which were thirty minutes), the successful ones ran for well over a hundred episodes, and there's no way to just read faster.

* Fans of old film serials run into many problems. [[Lost Episode]]s, crappy distributors, [[Filler]], and then this. Most serials were twenty minutes long (except for the famous Republic Studio serials, which were thirty minutes), the successful ones ran for well over a hundred episodes, and there's no way to just read faster.

* If you wanted to show those film buffs who's boss and knock off the entire [[Criterion Collection]], it's going to take some time. There are 542 entries (some of which contain 3 or 4 full length films or a multitude of short films). So even if you watched one movie every day, it would take you nearly two years.

** Don't forget the occasional movie in there like ''[[Berlin Alexanderplatz]]'' or ''The Human Condition'', both in excess of 10 hours length.

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* [[Perry Rhodan]] (well, the German original at least) has, as of mid-2009, ''one hundred and six'' 400+ pages books of the main plot (covering the first 911 of ''over 2500'' 60+ page booklets, with around 20% already left out), fifty-something books of half-independent story arcs, 34 books of the Atlan-spinoff and 415 independent pocket books. Not to mention the tons of anniversary re-prints, story collections, fact books, star atlases and so on. You can fill a ''library'' just with Perry Rhodan stuff.

* Balzac's ''[[La Comedie Humaine]]'' is a novel sequence of 88 books, and represents the most fiction ever written by anyone.

* ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' not only consists of thirteen books (fourteen by the time it's wrapped up, plus one prequel book for a total of fifteen), every one more than 700 pages long. [[The Other Wiki]] estimates the series page-count to be around eleven ''thousand'' ~~total--while~~ the total running time of the unabridged audiobooks is 17.5 ''days''. And EVERY SINGLE named character plays a part in the story. The whole thing can get really confusing when trying to remember which Aiel, Aes Sedai, woman with a dress, darkfriend or lord did what to whom in what way, and then realize it wasn't even essential to the plot.

* ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' not only consists of thirteen books (fourteen by the time it's wrapped up, plus one prequel book for a total of fifteen), every one more than 700 pages long. [[The Other Wiki]] estimates the series page-count to be around eleven ''thousand'' total—while the total running time of the unabridged audiobooks is 17.5 ''days''. And EVERY SINGLE named character plays a part in the story. The whole thing can get really confusing when trying to remember which Aiel, Aes Sedai, woman with a dress, darkfriend or lord did what to whom in what way, and then realize it wasn't even essential to the plot.

** Or even worse, [[Four Lines, All Waiting|knowing that the character is relevant to the plot]], but you can't remember ''which one''.

* In a similar vein, ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' consists of five (of a promised seven) [[~~Doorstopper|doorstoppers~~]], the ''shortest'' of which is about 800 pages long. Just as with ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', there is an entire galaxy of named characters swirling around the world and driving the plot forward, but for the sake of the reader's sanity we're only given detailed looks into a few (read: ~20) of their lives.

* In a similar vein, ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' consists of five (of a promised seven) [[doorstopper]]s, the ''shortest'' of which is about 800 pages long. Just as with ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', there is an entire galaxy of named characters swirling around the world and driving the plot forward, but for the sake of the reader's sanity we're only given detailed looks into a few (read: ~20) of their lives.

* How many ''[[Redwall]]'' books are we up to now? (At least if you've read one, you've basically read them all...)

* The ''[[Animorphs]]'' core series consists of 54 books, with 8 more (canon) companion books. Even considering that most of them are quite short, it's not a series designed for the average bookshelf length.

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* ''[[Forward]]'' is a ''[[Firefly]]'' fic that is nearly seventy chapters long as of this edit. It gets even more daunting when one looks at the sheer wordcount; the story is edging toward half a million words now, and is still ongoing. And almost all of the story is relevant, as every "episode" is interconnected.

* ''[[Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality]]'' is a fanfic that's now 84 chapters long and still going at the time of this edit.

* [http://whydoyouneedtoknow.fanficauthors.net/Harry_Potter The Dangerverse], a ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' [[Alternate Universe]] fic, currently clocks in at nearly 1,300,000 words, one chapter into the final book. With AUs,<ref> 250,000+ words</ref> crossovers,<ref> 425,000+ words</ref> oneshots,<ref>35,000+ words</ref> songfics and more, <ref> 250000+ words</ref> the total word count is over ''two million'' words.

* [http://whydoyouneedtoknow.fanficauthors.net/Harry_Potter The Dangerverse], a ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' [[Alternate Universe]] fic, currently clocks in at nearly 1,300,000 words, one chapter into the final book. With AUs,<ref>250,000+ words</ref> crossovers,<ref>425,000+ words</ref> oneshots,<ref>35,000+ words</ref> songfics and more,<ref>250000+ words</ref> the total word count is over ''two million'' words.

* ''[[Fallout Equestria]]'' consists of 45 chapters plus an intro, prologue, epilogue, and afterword, totaling 603,395 words.

** The recursive fanfiction ''[[Fallout Equestria Project Horizons (Fanfic)|Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons]]'' is ongoing, with 42 chapters so far and 780,841 words. [[Word of God]] says that the story is about half done.