Life is finite. At first it doesn’t feel like it is. It stretches out like an endless ribbon of time, to fill with all kinds of silliness. Then, one day, time becomes something to be carefully allocated. It isn’t even clear when it happened or how, but it’s a precious commodity.
With this in mind, not even thinking about the increase in cost, and the state of the economy right now, it seems like a good time to be thinning the slew of comics that need to be read. I’m a huge proponent of reading less, and instead spending more time and attention on those chosen, perfect books you keep. Basically, I’m talking about valuing quality over quantity.
Other comic readers, people who know the depth of my obsession, have expressed horror at the slim bag of comics that I buy each week. While they are at the store buying 20+ comics every week, I’m there picking up 2-6 books. There’s been talk that I’m somehow less of a fan, but I think the opposite. I’m extra picky because I love comics so much and I know how great they can be. While I do understand the desire to acquire and collect indiscriminately, it’s not the direction I want to go in. For me, giving in to that desire would be something like succumbing to my wish to lie in bed all day and eat caramel ice cream (which I’d really like to do). While it would be fun in the moment, if I did it forever, I’d feel indolent, gorged and have accomplished nothing at all. I don’t want comics to ever feel that way.
To get the most out of the comics I read, I try to be ruthless with new books. Even if something comes highly recommended, if it doesn’t impress me within three single issues or a first trade, then it’s out. Sometimes I’ve cut books that were okay, books that didn’t grab me, but were perfectly adequate. And while I certainly wouldn’t mind reading more, I don’t crave it, and so they must go. As an 7 year old girl, this behavior would have seemed insane to me. I remember rifling through my parent’s friends book shelves while the grown-ups ate dinner, looking for anything with a cartoon in it because I loved all comics indiscriminately. But now I don’t need to use up my time, now I’m one of those weird grown-ups and I need to conserve my time so that I can diligently allocate it to the various grown-up pursuits that have completely filled life.
Most importantly, this habit has evolved into being less about eking out time, and more about being true to the integrity of the comics. Life is so filled with interesting things to do and see, it’s never boring. So logically, if comics are something that I love, I have to be selective about them. That way, when the pile of books builds up it’s a bounty of goodness waiting to be consumed, rather than a bunch of books I really should read. As soon as the thought enters my mind that I should be reading them, then I look at why I don’t want to read them, and prune my list a little.
Basically I’m saying that this is how I consciously create, (and self-inflict) brain-washing. I keep reminding myself that comics are meant to be fun, a bit of escapist literature that uses a magical combination of art and words to pull us into another world. If that world feels like anything less than a luxurious vacation, then it’s flawed, and undeserving of my attention. If we are truly in love with comics, then we will not put up with anything less than the very best that they are able to deliver.
While it’s pretty easy to be strong about this when it comes to new books, it’s a hell of a lot harder to be as rigid about books that I have a been reading for a while. The key to keeping my little list of monthly titles so small, is to be rigid about my rules. As soon as a book doesn’t work for me, I have to stop buying it (I’ll give a title a few months of being terrible, but if it can’t improve, it’s done). I’ve been able to ruthlessly move through a lot of books this way, enjoying them and then walking away. But despite my best efforts, there are exceptions. I completely understand the near-addictive quality of comics in this regard, especially when there’s history. Just a like any long terms relationship, it can be nearly impossible to walk away from something familiar.
Hellblazer is a perfect example of this. I’ve been reading it since the characters inception, but 5 years ago I just couldn’t enjoy it, so I stopped buying it. I hated the art (it was way too Disney-esque for the gratuitously gruesome story, not appropriate for the gritty mood of Hellblazer. Worst of all, Constantine didn’t look like himself at all, he was all clean-cut and square-jawed — unforgivable!). There I was, completely adamant and sure of my self… but then immediately following John Higgins odd run, Warren Ellis wrote some of my favorite issues. Not only did I come back to the comic, but I had to seek out the back issues that I’d missed so that I could follow what had happened. I’m just not equipped to walk away from some comics, and luckily this is a book that continues to engage me.
Most of the time I try and stay true to the rule; if a comic that I used to adore is written badly or drawn in a way I cannot fathom, I will leave it, thus preserving it in my memory. Other writers on iFanboy have talked before about selective continuity, and this is one of my favorite aspects of walking away from a comic series. It means that the integrity of the characters will always stay perfect, even if it’s only in my own mind. One title that will always be dear to my heart is X-Men, it was the book that brought me into comics, but until Whedon and Morrison wrote their versions the team, I hadn’t read it in about 20 years. Back in the ‘80’s, I couldn’t bear what began to happen; Uncanny X-Men was so popular that the X-Titles bloomed and disseminated like mold spores. I felt as if this random proliferation were a brutal betrayal of the characters that I’d come to comics to read, and so I walked away. What Whedon and Morrison did in the last couple of years finally brought back the kind of quality and intrigue that I’d enjoyed so much as a child. And at the end of the day, this is the beauty of comics; unlike any other relationship in life, you can walk away for 20 years and then waltz back in, without explanation or recrimination.
If a book you pay money for, a book you spend time on, is not delivering, then that’s not okay. If you do not like what a writer or artist is doing, simply stop reading. You’re not being a loyal friend to that title by continuing to reward it for being sub-standard. In fact, if you keep buying it while it betrays the characters you love, then you’re rewarding it for being bad (and for as long as it sells, it will not need to improve).
Just like with people and animals, if you do not put your foot down, you’re encouraging that title to be bad. But unlike interactions with people or animals, there will be no recriminations for walking away, so do it! This is one area in your life where you’re allowed to be an asshole with impunity – these are inanimate objects, and when you aren’t there, lavishing money and attention on a comic, it won’t bitch at you for taking a stand. Even more wonderfully, if you ever decide to come back to it, you’ll never have to explain yourself to that comic, it will take you back unquestioningly.
Sonia Harris inefficiently manages her time in San Francisco, where she sleeps, reads comics, and designs ads.
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I think we are in the same boat. I usually pick up 3 to 6 books a week. This week it was around 9 and I was flipping out!! I buy what I love, and I try out a few new series or arcs if I hear good things. Its tempting when you feel you "have to read" a certain book in order to know whats going on in the general Marvel or DC universe. But you just have to have the strength to say "NO!!" Cool article.
Brilliant Article. I am in the process of trying to trim some books, because the college budget is onlyl getting tighter. As much as I might hate to not read EVERY tie in and crossover, it is becoming a reality that the creators really need to put in the effort to grab their audience in these economic times.
I also like the point you make about enjoying the quality over the quantity. I am going back through a great deal of my comic collection since I am buying less and find that there is SO MUCH that I have missed in those pages. I think I read comics differently now, noticing the sublte nuances.
I’m very glad you wrote this article. I follow over a hundred different blogs and news sites, but rarely am I inspired to comment. Forgive my verbosity …
Years ago, I decided to become a "trade waiter." The handful of graphic novels and trade paperbacks I owned at the time were a pleasing sight on my bookshelf, next to the "real books." Their place seemed like a coup of sorts, a way for me to remove the separation of comics from books by allowing them to physically inhabit the same space and, therefore in my mind, the same respect.
At first, I was loathe to forego my weekly trip to the comics shop. That jaunt into town for comics was always the highlight of my weekend, something to look forward to, something that was just for me. Not long after making the decision to switch to trades on certain titles, financial concerns forced me to delay and delay and later cancel my weekly shopping trips until there was no going back. I started buying all my comics with spines, all online, and never for full cover price (if I could manage it). I thought it would be painful, but it was … liberating.
The shift from purchasing weekly installments of comic singles to hunting for good deals on cheap graphic novels on the Web was a new thrill. After years of collecting and storing comics in dusty boxes in my closet, it was really nice to put my comics up on the bookshelf, where they were more likely to be perused and re-read (I can’t stress the importance of this facet of owning books!). Apart from the pleasing aspects of their new location, collecting squarebound comic books instead of staplebound pamphlets allowed me to break my long-held notions of what it means to have a collection.
I was like most comic collectors, I think, in that I believed it was important to save all my comics, no matter how bad, because every comic added to the overall quantity that was my "collection." The quality of my collection was measured not by the individual quality of the comics but by the number of them I could amass. The "trade shift" forced me re-think the importance of comic singles in comparison to their squarebound counterparts, which then allowed me to make a decision that would have horrified my 12-year-old self: Get rid of them. That’s right, I got rid of them. I sold them, gave them away, and even (gasp!) threw some in the garbage.
That’s not to say I rid myself of the entire mass of comics. I merely unburdened myself of the comics I didn’t like, want, or need. I actually pared them down to a number which fit into two "short boxes" (traditional collectors will understand how small a number this really is). All the while, though, I was building up a nice little library of comics with spines on the bookshelves. Of course, I decided early on to only keep the books I really liked and to sell or give away any others. (The public library’s graphic novel section helped me save money by allowing me to find out if some books were good or bad without having to pay for them first. Whodathunk?)
I devised a few criteria to judge each book for inclusion in the new collection: (1) A "collection-worthy" book must be great–not just good. (2) A collection-worthy book must be "re-readable." The only purpose I can see for keeping a book is to read it again. If I read a great book, but find it difficult and can’t see myself ever reading it again, it doesn’t get a spot in the collection regardless of how great it is. (3) If a book is not necessarily collection-worthy on its own, it may stay if it is part of a larger series that as a whole is great. (4) Books with pleasing nostalgic value may earn a place in the collection despite their quality–assuming of course that I would indeed re-read them.
Every book I read is judged by these criteria, which ensures that my collection is not only full of high quality books, it is only high quality books. I can go to the shelves, pull any book off, and enjoy reading it. Because that’s what counts, right? Reading is about enjoyment, about finding a "good friend" to spend time with and relax. I would rather have a small number of really good friends than thousands of MySpace friends.
Joshua Strasburg (joshuastrasburg.blogspot.com / theyliveagain.livejournal.com)
Over the past… oh, say, 10 years, I’ve come around to a similar state of mind. While I still read more comics than you (I’d say I average about 8 per week), what I’ve definitely shed is that collector mentality. If I do not like a creative team, I will not buy the series. Period. End of story. Of course, this means that I have runs of series with giant holes in them, but I really don’t care. At this point, I won’t even finish a mini-series if I do not like it. That recent Superman Beyond 3-D book? Didn’t care for it. It’s only two issues, but I didn’t even bother with the second half.
I like to try new comics. I’ll jump on a new #1 or a new arc of an old series. But I’m just as willing to jump off.
I wondered why people that claimed to "not get Morrison" and whom seemingly hated "Final Crisis" bought it for all 7 issues. If you really need to know, fust wiki that shit dudes.
This article really hit close to home. I’ve been suffering through some weird anxiety over comics lately, and I realized, through your article and Jim’s from last week, that reading comics has become a chore. I decided that it was time to trim down my pull list, and so far I have been enjoying myself much more. Although the quality of the books in my current pull list have always been superb, I find that they are, for some reason, more engaging, and I don’t encounter lackluster issues as much as before. The cuts I’ve made on my pull list have been great, and I found that I look forward to Wednesdays more and more these days.
Huh, I dropped my pull list to six books last night. Walking Dead, Cap, DD, Scalped, Spider Woman, Incognito
@Labor – It’s not an either/or with regards to Morrison. Some issues and some scenes were good enough that I was curious to see the whole thing play out. With Superman Beyond, I knew exactly what it was after the first issue and didn’t need to continue.
I’m with you! Most I ever pulledin a week was 4 books I think. I was just talking with my LCS and asked him how he keeps up, he says he reads it at lunch. 1 hour = 6 books. I was blown away. I told him it takes me up to an hour to read a book. He was blown away.
I do love to go re-read alot. Even books I purchased months ago. It’s part of the fun for me.
I thoroughly agree that keeping up with books that are doing nothing for you is a bad habit and one that it’s good to shed.
On the other hand, I don’t assume that because somebody is getting a lot of books, they aren’t paying attention to quality. If you’re happy with a few things, great. If you want to sample more of what’s out there — if there’s something that keeps you coming back to a book that you admit isn’t going to be remembered as one of the great works of graphic art from the current era — who cares?
Basically, f you’re having fun, you’re not doing it wrong.
…and that’s the end of Booster Gold for me.
@Jumpingjupiter
Yeah, rereading is the best. I realized I didn’t do that at all when I had a bloated pull list.
I haven’t re-read books in a long time (I used to read a book two or three times when I first bought it, but that was when I was getting two books a month at most). This was a great article and has gotten me thinking about my own list. I’ve actually done cuts a few times, with New Exiles and back in the day with Uncanny X-Men. I was so fed up with Austen’s run that I sold every single issue of it back to my comic shop and I haven’t picked up the book since except for a tie-in or special here and there. I’m almost ready to do that with the recent JLA run I bought back when the OYL reboot happened; it just didn’t impress me like I thought it would. My problem though is that as soon as I cut a book I find another one to take its place. Like with JLA, I replaced it with Green Lantern. But maybe a trimming of the tree is in order…
I find it interesting that Marvel and DC love stopping established books and relaunching them as #1s. They think it increases sales, and it may for a few issues. However, this is what made it easier for me to dump books. I used to buy Amazing Spider-Man just because I had bought it for the prior 200 issues or so. Then they restarted the numbers and it was an easy jumping off point (they have since reinstated the old numbers but I was already gone).
I used to have a harder time dropping books but those changes made it easier.
That being said I’ll always buy Green Lantern even if it’s drawn in crayon and written by Charlie from Flowers for Algernon.
@kirkjt- OMG that last comment cracked me up. "sinstro yoo ar bad to pepul yoo ar not nice i will fite yoo."
With you on the reboot thing too; that’s when I jumped from New Exiles. That was a book always kind of on the chopping block, and when they started over again I got off the train. Some books I staid with when they did reboot, like Spider Girl. I’ve even followed a few books from one company to another, such as Rex Mundi and G.I. Joe, though some, like Transformers, I dropped during the transition. Like Sonia said, if it’s a good book I’ll stick with it, but if I feel "meh" I’ll take a jump off point when it comes. I’m kind of thinking about that with Batman and Action at this time, though I’ll probably replace Action with Geoff Johns’ origin series if I do drop it.
I’ll always buy Detective and Batman. I don’t know about Batman Confidential though. I can do without that one sometimes! I would have stayed buying All Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder if it hadn’t got itself canceled. I always bought Robin and Nightwing even though I was alway at the very ledge of dropping them both. Don’t have to now!! They dropped themselves.
I don’t see myself dropping Amazing Spiderman anytime soon neither. I can live without Ultimate Spiderman, and now it seems as if I’m going to have to.
Superman and Action on the other hand, I really only feel inclined to buy them when a major arc is happening. The problem is the writers all makes things out to be major when they aren’t!!
I’ve been into Punisher a lot lately but I could drop them like they were hot if I started having $ problems (which is about to start happening if I don’t get a damn job!)! Same goes with House of Mystery. All Vertigo stuff reads better in trades anyway. Don’t ask me why, it just does.
But yeah, with 11 damn books on next week’s list, something does have to get done here. I really can’t continue to spend $$40 a week at the damn comic shop!! Well not if I ever wanna buy any new PS3 games or take my chick to see a movie every weekend.
You know what? I think I’m gonna drop a book right now in the spirit of things: Terminator: Salvation, considered yourself dropped. You just aren’t worth $3.99, I don’t think anything from IDW is for that matter…
Good article. I’ve been trying to be extra ruthless with my pull list these past few weeks, your article has redoubled my efforts. Muchas gracias.
Also: That 2nd image in the article looks amazing. What Hellblazer trade is that from?
Great article. I only wish I could be as steadfast as you Sonia.
@OttoBott It is from the best Hellblazer ever! A single issue, perfect in ever way, called "The Crib". It can be found in the trade "Setting Sun", which has all of my favorite Hellblazer stories in it. Warren Ellis shows a fantastic grasp of Constantine, and his connection with London and magic. I cannot say enough good things about this run, and the addition of Bradstreet’s interior art makes for a genuinely enjoyable read, time and time again.
@Ruo21 In all honesty, I’m pretty bad. While I may be pretty good about not buying too many current floppies, I fall down with the trades. That top photo is just the small shelf of books that I keep by the bed, waiting to be read. Some are gifts, some are purchases, and some are borrowed, I think the difference is that I’m excited to read them, rather than feeling the oppresive pressure of the more time sensitive current comics that I follow (like the giant pile of Final Crisis and all it’s demon spawn, on the other side of the bed, waiting to be reread and deciphered).
For financial reasons, I’ve gone from buying about, oh, 10-14 books per week just 7 months ago, to now only 3 books per week. But it’s really forced me to think about what books I actually enjoy– vs. what books I was picking up just because "everyone else" was talking about them.
I’m referring here particularly to the online discussions, especially on ifanboy (my favorite site!!). When I got back into comics a couple of years ago (after a decade long hiatus), ifanboy really helped me get back in, and stay back in. But the guys talk about so many books on the show– and so many folks here on the site are talking about so many different books they’re enjoying– that my inclination was to want to try and read EVERYTHING. Classic fanboy mentality, right? Not wanting to miss anything– the sickness of the completist.
This is perhaps the greatest thing I’ve learned– although it’s taken me a long time, and a Financial Crisis (look out DC) to learn it: I don’t need to read everything that "everyone" else is reading and talking about. Book X may be a book a lot of people are enjoying, it may be a well written book– but if I don’t REALLY, deep down, look forward to reading it– I don’t need to pay $2.99 for it. Or $3.99 for it. Life’s too short, money’s too tight.
Nice article, Sonia! I agree with the sentiment of quality over quantity, but my problem is that I’m still like I was (& you were) as a kid — I love comics too much & wanna read everything I can afford & have time for. I also have my own version of your Hellblazer, in Batman & Detective, that I buy no matter how bad the run is, but every other title I will drop as soon as it hits a bad patch. I try to buy less than 10 books per week (some weeks it even happens!) for finacial reasons, but my other problem is that when a book gets bad & I do drop it, I replace it with another one … or two.
Lovely article. I’ve never had a problem with walking away from a comic (or tv show or book or what have) that I no longer enjoy. I don’t care about complete runs or anything like that I just buy the things I enjoy. Thing is I enjoy a lot and a few years ago it wasn’t unheard of that I’d buy over 200 dollars worth (I no longer have income so that’s not possible). Even in that, I never bought things after stopped enjoying them (includes Morrison’s X-Men and Brubaker’s Daredevil).
Yes, but what sucks is dropping books that you find compelling and engrossing solely for monetary reasons. I’ve had to make a decision to cut not based on the quality of the overall stories, but for the quantity, or the density of the stories. Sometimes I am too mindful of the amount of time it takes to digest a floppy. This is why I find Hickman’s work attractive. There is ALOT of story and ideas within one issue versus several of the more traditional superhero comics.
Yes, it’s a good idea to drop a book if it’s bad after a probation period, and still give new books a chance, but it’s very limiting in my opinion. Comicbooks and books even if only good or enjoyable, can hold great thing. I’m sure some people won’t have the fascination and enjoyment I have with this but:
I love getting new ideas – whether it’s new people, new locations, new ways to perform magic whether it’s Harry Potter or Magyk or some other series of books I can’t remember the name to… Literature has more than escapism – it can give us a new outlook, like the works of Douglas Adams which might be considered escapism but more than give us an interesting story it tells us about ourselves and introduces us to new concepts.
I didn’t enjoy Coraline but I love the neighbors she had and the house they lived in – it has a great potential. Girl in Landscape was meh but had great potential and what the book didn’t achieve I can try to with my imagination – it showed us a dangerous earth because people had no natural protection from the sun and you had to wear special suits to avoid getting cancer when going outside, and it showed us a planet where humans migrated to and where there are cities and smaller towns and enough food but not it’s a desolate place with weird aliens and viruses, and those concepts alone are worth it – the price of the book, the time reading it, even if in the end I had a big Meh feeling about the story.
Magyk has a great little community where magic is available and there are classes – regular people, wizards, queen. There is a great scenery there – a swamp with a weird and friendly creature that works for a nice old lady who is a witch and which lives in a home deep in the swamp. – That book was actually great but the second was okay and I have the third and I’ll see if it improves in the future (I’m too busy right now).
But I guess I’m weird like that – I get a joy from new ideas – even if it’s just a new way to build a home – I love basements, attics, a raised platform which is small and very close to the ceiling and it’s a sleeping area, a raised house or partly supported by stilts that has space underneath it for junk, a tree house, etc.
To me it would be a shame to discard those fascinating things that media can give us – new people, new places, new ideas etc. Un-Men TP #1 Get Your Freak On was enjoyable but dived towards the end but I don’t want to discard it – there are too many good ideas there – interesting characters and settings and a great fake history. Being too harsh isn’t recommended – even if it’s just "good" or "okay" it has a lot to offer. Do artists need to start painting puppy eyes on the covers for you to buy it? Just a thought.
I dropped three books yesterday. It was so liberating I might drop three more today. Hell, by the time I’m done, I’ll probably be left with just Green Lantern and Thor. Nobody can call me biased.
Well I am dropping Wolverine and Detective Comics coming soon.
Wolverine for obvious reasons, no way will the rest of that series be as entertaining as ‘Old Man Logan’.
But I’m dropping Detective cause at NYCC they just annouced the title will be taken over by Greg Rucka *sounds good so far right?* and the main focus will be on……Batwoman……*snores* It’s weird cause I dropped Action Comics too and that’s being replaced by Rucka and focusing on two characters the majority of the audience doesnt know (or likely care about). So I know Rucka is a great writer, but I am not going to waste money on characters I could care very little about.
This has been a great discussion to which I can definitely relate. I have been arguing the virtues of quality over quantity for years, often from a marketing standpoint. I constantly am annoyed that DC & Marvel often market their products with too much of a focus on quantity, which is why we are constantly beset with cross-overs and events that force one to read titles they normally wouldn’t in order to understand the context of events in the books they do read. I have on many occasions dropped books that I was previously reading rather than be forced into buying a book in which I normally have no interest. I am more annoyed though because I will always believe this tactic is a fallacy. If the marketing focus were always focused moreso on the quality rather than quantity of the product sold, Marvel and DC would be more successful and sell more books because people will usually pay a little more each month to read more books that are all of good quality.
This article makes an excellent point. In my college days back in the late 80’s early 90’s, I used to read between 15-20 books a month. Then I went away from comics, but recently have come back. Now I might get 5 books a month. Ironically, most of the titles I buy are not from the main two. My favorie titles include books Atomic Robo & Dynamo 5. Others, I usually read in trade format.
Personally, with a few exceptions, most of my tastes are not in vogue with most comic readers. I don’t worship at the church of Bendis. Despite his missteps with Spidey, I feel JMS is a very maligned, underrated writer (he did create and write one of the best SciFi series ever produced, Babylon 5). Plus, his run on Thor is amazing
Also, I can’t figure out why Peter David is not a much bigger name in the industry than he is. After all of this time, it is perplexing to me why we do not have more women and minority creators at the big two. Most of the comics from the main two are focused on over-hyped "events" that directly lead from one to the other with no real character development.
These are my opinions, but as Sonia stated, I only buy titles that truly bring me enjoyment. It is just shocking that it is not nearly as many as it once was.
Great article Sonia! As a relative newcomer, I don’t necessarily have quite the same weight on my shoulders (I only probably average 2-5 books a week, depending on how a month spaces out). But I totally agree with your approach. I spent an entire month back home away from school and my comic shop during winter break. When I got back, I had a month-stack to read through, as well as new stuff coming in on Wednesdays. Granted, the stack was probably only around 15-20 books, but for me that was a ton and it really made me a lot more critical of certain books that I kept putting off reading once I got back. I have found myself picking up a book or two because everyone else was talking about it, and though I don’t buy a lot yet, I’m definitely in danger of inflating my pull list just because of books that I continually hear I "should" be reading. I finally exercised some self-restraint and actually dropped Northlanders after 3 issues. It was good, but it just didn’t blow me away and I realized there was no point in shelling out the money if I wasn’t pumped to read it when it came out – I can always pick up a trade if a particular arc is really good (though, I have to admit, this is much easier with something like Northlanders which seems to have totally individual storylines in each arc). Anyway, really nice article!
I’ve stuck with my 20-25 dollar a week limit for 10 years. I completely agree with this article.
@Grayghost – just shy of 12K in ten years. at least you’ve got something to show for it though, whereas i know plenty of people who spend twice as much on drugs and alcohol every week
Sonia, you speak the truth. This less is more philosophy should be applied not just to comic books, but to other areas of life. Hey, like, woah! I say "should" coz I know I am guilty of hoarding and not really appreciating all that I’ve got. Comics, music, dvds, books… enough is enough. Its time to take stock and rationalise my purchases. Maybe…
@FACE – don’t knock it.
@FACE I’m glad someone else pointed that one out. I’ve got coworkers and friends who say I spend too much money a week on comics. One in particular accused me of this, who always complains about never being able to afford stuff. "How much a week do you spend on smokes?" I asked. "Uh, about 40 dollars or more," she responded. "Yeah, I spend half that on comics, and I won’t be getting cancer from them either." I then pointed out my shift was over and hers wasn’t and promptly strutted out the door.
@Sonia. Great article! I’m really glad that almost every type of comic reader is represented on the staff here at iFanboy. I didn’t even realize that I didn’t spend much on comics until I really started looking at Josh, Ron, and Conor’s pulls. I figured 12-20 bucks a week was a lot. It allows me to follow a good chunk of books, and definitely keeps them to a higher quality. I sort of have a shared pull with a friend. He spends about half as much as I do and we trade books. It lets me read way more than I could if I didn’t have that little system set up.
@Anson – Sick burn! That made me lol. Respect!
Great article Sonia. I couldn’t agree more. Part of the reason I have stopped reading comics periodically was how frustrated I would get with the quality and that probably had a lot to do with buying too many and trying to be in on everything. Now I wait to hear what is good and I’m a much happier reader for it.
Great article, but I’m still hanging to some books waiting for that comic book high of a great story and art!
I actaully enjoy dropping all the books I enjoy. Keeping the books I hate, and getting very angry with myself every wednesday.
I recently dropped Ellis’ Astonishing X-men. If you cringe everytime you realize that a book is going to be in your pull when you get to the shop, that’s a sure sign that you should drop it. I’m thinking about dropping Runaways, which sucks because it was the book that got me into comics. It just… isn’t the same anymore. There’s been some good spots in Moore’s run, but most of it just feels so mediocre. I hate mediocrity almost worse than I hate awful. It’s tough to stop reading something that used to be the highlight of my fictional intake. Hurm… thoughts?
Keep buying the issues but change the word balloons and create your own continuity…
@Anson: Hmm, now that you mention it, I’m not as fond of Astonishing X-Men as I was… it’s not so much the dialogue or the art specifically, but the combination seems disjointed. I like them both individually, but I don’t feel that they are a good fit.
As for Runaways, I dropped that soon after Whedon came on board, which is weird, ’cause I LOVE Whedon ordinarily, but I just didn’t like what he did with Runaways, and the art wasn’t doing it for me either. For me, I’ll always love the characters as Vaugn envisioned them, everything aftwards had felt (as you say) mediocre.