"COFFEE! If I don't get coffee in my gullet post-haste I will comment the tossing of bodies out the window!"
Studies show that scientists are among the top professions that claim caffeine as an integral component to their daily routine. Well if that’s so then make mine a double. For those that listen to my podcast Science… sort of you’ll know that we take pride in our weekly alcoholic drink of choice, and perhaps the reason for that is during any given day we’re all pounding down coffee, tea, or Red Bull just to keep moving forward. We scientists ask our brains for a lot, and expect a lot in return, so it’s only fair that we feed them the good stuff during the day. And if they cooperate they get the better stuff in the evening. But what am I really getting at? Basically, it’s that I’m tired.
It seems that not a month goes by where some columnist here or elsewhere goes on a rant (justified or otherwise) about overall malaise or fatigue with funnybooks. But while that opinion may be justified from the insular iFanperspective, what are we really complaining about?
It seems that we’re complaining that there’s too much of our preferred form of entertainment OR that there’s not the exact right type of comic coming out from either of the major publishers. Correct me if I’m wrong (it’s what comments are for), but that sounds like some nonsense to me. It’s either, “there’s too much of my entertainment” or “the narrow spectrum I prefer isn’t exactly what I want in this moment.”
Above: An obvious comparison.
First let me clear something up. If either of those two quotes sum up your feelings, I want you to know I’m not attacking you. At all. However, I do have some advice. If you find yourself amongst the first quote, you’re suffering from what we call “an embarrassment of riches.” As a geologist, I get doubly excited letting the stuff pile up leaving me with a stratigraphic column of entertainment. All that stack means is a) you can save money if you can manage the self-control required to not buy more books and b) you have more options the next time you get sick or find yourself bored on a cold, rainy Sunday. So I’m not seeing a lot of valid excuses for group 1. As for the second quote, it’s been said time and time again, there are more comics than the big 2. If you don’t like what DC and Marvel are giving you, find something else. If you can’t find anything you like, it’s possible that comics aren’t for you. But in reality, if you can’t find anything you like you’re just not trying hard enough, there’s such a glut of quality comics of every variety that I promise there is something on the market for you. If there really isn’t, you can make your own, it’s the beauty of comics, but that’s another column entirely.
But back to me, because I am the guy typing, right? My problem isn’t either of the above statements. I already mentioned my weird, loving relationship to my stack, and Marvel/DC entertain me more often than not. My problem is that I’m actually just exhausted. Not tired of comics, but literally tired. So what’s a guy in my position to do? I don’t have a commute during which I can read. I live about 6-7 minutes from the lab by bike. When I get home it’s usually a hassle to even make food, which I need to survive, so how much leisure time can I spare for comics? Yet when I found myself hanging out with some fellow nerds last week (an experience I rarely get and greatly cherish) I was told, “Dude, sounds like you read a lot of comics.”
And maybe I do, who can judge? I doubt anyone has done a rigorous study on the average number of comics read per person per week, right? If so, let me know; if not, give me money to do it. I don’t keep hard and fast numbers even for myself. I grab whatever looks good in the moment, pretty unscientific but I guess we all have our lapses. The point is, I don’t have a lot of free time, so maybe comics just work for me. Fitting in an hour long TV show once a week is a chore, forget actually going to the movies, but I can take a 10 minute break with a single issue. So maybe that’s a trick. Find a job that affords no free time, even on weekends, thus allowing you only spurts to read comics on any given day.
Hint: It involves coffee.
Also, exercise, because that’s just important, regardless of how much time you spend. Ron reads comics on the treadmill, just saying.
But what’s a guy to do? I picked a career that requires a lot of dense reading, writing, and thinking. I love it, but it’s exhausting. I picked a hobby that involves a lot of reading, writing, thinking and talking. I love it too, but it’s exhausting. Between my job (science) and my hobby (writing about comics and podcasting) I barely have time to read the actual books. Is it time to cut back? I’ve considered it, but it’s not my style. I’m not trying to overwhelm myself, if I’m not busy I’d get bored and possibly die, yet it can be a bit much. I guess I just need to find a way to eliminate my body’s need for sleep. Scratch my earlier funding request; I have a new project in mind…
Ryan Haupt has yet to mimic Jason Wood’s ability to fit 36 hours into 24, but there are days he wishes he could. If you want a podcast that gives you 1.5x the content of a normal show, try Science… sort of.
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I didn’t do anything but piss away my life after high school, so I am no science guy (Though I love it, particularly astronomy), but I completely understand the exhaustion bit. I have STACKS of books beside my bed, all unread. I get my books every week, and they mostly go neglected. Mostly. I might read one or two every other night before I pass out from exhaustion. I have stacks of dishes in the sink from grabbing something in between jobs while also in between feeding the lizards and the cat, stacks of mail I need to get to, and stacks of laundry that has never been put away. 50+ hours at one job which includes production + customer service (Plus explaining technology to the elderly. Blargh!), then 12-16 at the other job, plus working on three businesses, and squeezing in wedding planning when I can. Might not be the mental exhaustion you have, but I completely understand the feeling. Cured the hell out of my insomnia though.
Somehow though, I completely devour comics content. An issue of Wizard used to tide me over fine till the next issue. Now I check iFanboy throughout the day, and CBR and Newsarama at least once. I just want more more more moremoremoremoremore. Gimme gimme. Bring on the world of Shadowrun. I’m hungry for constant streams of information. Even with all this going on, and having no time to read my comics, much less review them like I want (Oh yeah, there’s project #∞, the review website and podcast.), my list every week keeps growing and growing.
But man, if I lost these jobs tomorrow, pounding the pavement looking for work can only occupy so much time. I would be so bored if I didn’t have stuff going on constantly.
LMAO! (Plus explaining technology to the elderly. Blargh!)
Not to sound like an ageist, but I quit a job because of just that. About 10 years ago, I spent 3 hours on a tech-support call with a woman. When I had exhausted all the, “did you plug it in?” or “is the green light on showing the power is on?” and similar questions, I asked her politely to pack everything up in the box it came in. Because obviously her machine was manufactured incorrectly.
“Even the CD?” she asked.
“Yes, even that.” I said.
A moments pause, and then she asked, “One last thing…on the CD, does the shiny side go up? Or down?”
I thanked her for showing me that I needed a career change, hung up the phone, and walked out of the call center.
@Ryan: I think a photo of Ron reading comics on a treadmill is required after this article! 😉
I think it is possible to “burn out” on comics. Several months back, I made the dubious decision to read every Flashpoint tie-in so that I could experience a comic EVENT!! to the fullest extent possible. After reading all of those books, in addition to my other weekly pulls, I found myself bored with comics. The fault was not with Flashpoint, as I enjoyed a great number of those books. The problem was that I was trying to stuff the proverbial Twix, Milkyway and Reese’s peanut butter cup in my end zone all at the same time. I was consuming too much comic-goodness all at once. I simply had burnt myself out.
The saving grace is that I felt no compulsion to by all of the new 52, like many other people did. I chose instead to purchase selectively only those titles I felt I had a high likelihood of enjoying and that could wait, un-read, until I was ready to consume more comics.
I think part of the “fatigue” is the continual feeding of information. These days, you’re given so much information about a series before it even hits, that when it does, you struggle to even actually bother reading. You’re already processing information for the next series coming along.
Hmm… this is interesting notion and reminds me of a thought I had the other day. Namely, I think I could probably give up reading comics all together if I could still listen to comic book podcasts, such as iFanboy, EOC, and CGS. As long as I feel “in the know” about what is going on in all of the funnybooks (even ones I am not reading), I think I would be ok. In fact, comic book podcasts are the reason I don’t feel compelled to buy a lot more comics than I would otherwise. I don’t need to read “Hulk” or “Suicide Squad” if I can keep up with those books via podcasts.
Exactly. You’re getting the info from everywhere else. Why bother with the actual comic?
“You’re getting the info from everywhere else. Why bother with the actual comic?”
This is why I ignore solicitations (which were never intended for readers anyway) and rarely check preview articles unless utterly compelled to by the creative team. I also very rarely care about spoilers (unless it’s critical to a plot twist like the review of Scalped in the last POTW podcast) and judge a books quality by how much I enjoyed it despite what I may have heard happens in it. If all that info you’re talking about spoils your enjoyment of the book then maybe it wasn’t a very good comic in the first place. It’s like a movie trailer essentially explaining the whole story that said movie fails to transcend.
I found myself at one point with a backlog of podcasts, not just comics, that I really wanted to listen to but felt I couldn’t enjoy without haven’t read my comics first. Once I gave up that ghost and just dived in regardless things became so much more fun and I registered on the site as a result. I love hearing about titles I don’t read but potentially might do. I’m no longer concerned about having to read all my comics before Wednesday comes round again but I never miss a podcast. I feel my current comic buying and reading habits are evolving/in transition and I’m excited by it.
I buy on average 5 new books a week while trying to fill in gaps in my permanent collection and read all the old runs that I haven’t finished (there are many). When things are going right I get to read 1-3 books a day which for me is a perfect amount and why I love floppies instead of trades. I keep that 5 book average by capping spending and not hesitating to drop something if it loses me. I also resell or trade in a ton of books which keeps my stacks manageable.
I buy on average 32 to 36 comics per week and I collect 105 ongoings per month and if I add in the mini series and one shots I average between 130 to 145 comics per month,but I can honestly say that I don’t get tired or burn out from reading so many comics, I try to read all the comics I pick up weekly before the following weeks comics are out and sometimes if I do fall behind in my reading I’ve been know to pull an all nighter but that’s always on the night before my day off, I’ve learned over the years to time manage my life as best I can and I’m just like everyone else to a degree I have a job,go to the gym,have a wife etc.
That is a lot of dang money.
32-36 a week? I can only find 5-6 titles I’m interested in. Do you find yourself losing track of the story in all these titles?
You are my hero. I struggle buying 10 titles a month.
you sir, are a reading comprehension Jedi master.
I completely understand. I run a restaurant working anywhere from 60-75 hours a week. On top of that I’m married with a 2 year old and a 1 year. I’m mostly a trade-waiter with a few pulls at my LCS. I currently have around 20 trades to get through (along with finishing Morrison’s Supergods). Finding the time to read these, and keep up with the entirely too many show that I watch definitely wears me out. I’m also not a huge gamer, but I’ve been dedicating a large part of my time to cleaning up the streets of Gotham; but really, isn’t everyone right now. It’s is most assuredly a grind, but a grind I love.
Although im behind on back issue reading (2 year old comics plus).. i manage to keep my current comics under control mostly because i knock 5-10 comics out a week on the crapper alone.
Bathroom comic reading is the answer to your too much comics problem.
Hi Jesse1125,to answer your question,no I never lose track of any of the stories in the comics I collect, I have a pretty good memory for remembering where each story ends and begins from comic to comic and sometimes it doe’s help to have the recap page,but so far I’ve never had to go back and re-read the last issue of any comic to pick up where the next one starts, probably comes from reading and collecting comics since the 70’s.
Digital is your friend!! Nothing beats the portability! At a Dr.’s appointment? read an issue or two. Got a long commute? ditto! Lunch breaks at work are the best also!!
As a parent of twins, I can completely relate to being too tired to read. In the limited spare time I do have, I have to choose between catching up on my backlog of DVR shows, listening to records, reading (comics or otherwise), or surfing the Internet (which I try to minimize). And all those things can’t happen until after bills are paid, the kids are in bed, laundry is folded, blah blah blah. No wonder that my comics reading has declined so much in the last year.
You poor bastard…