NumberSix Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Sure, I could just up lovecraftian's old "pull list" thread for this purpose, but: (1) it's long and old; (2) lovecraftian is MIA; (3) not everyone has a "pull list" per se; and (4) starting over with a new #1 for no good reason is a time-honored comics tradition. We have members who collect trades. We have members who used to collect comics, walked away from the hobby, but lurk here anyway. We have members who're all about the animation news. We have members who have the nostalgia for the old cartoons that probably objectively sucked but to all of us two decades ago were pure gold. We have the fans of the anime and the manga that seem to be outnumbered. And then we have members who still buy good ol' comic books -- monthlies, pamphlets, singles, floppies, whatever you call them to avoid simply referring to them as "comic books" as if that term were somehow too ambiguous or too stigmatizing. This thread's for that sect. What are you guys buying off the rack rather than waiting for the trade? My updated list as of the moment, subject to change constantly: Marvel, ongoing: Amazing Spider-ManAstonishing X-MenDeadpoolFantastic FourIncredible HerculesInvincible Iron ManThunderbolts DC, ongoing: Batman & RobinBooster Gold (just for the Blue Beetle backups)Doom Patrol (just for the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire Metal Men backups)Green LanternGreen Lantern CorpsSecret Six Other companies and imprints, ongoing: Archie (temporary indefensible curiosity, plus at $2.50 it's dirt-cheap)Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8ChewEx MachinaGlamourpussHellblazerThe IncrediblesThe Muppet Show: [rotating subtitle]Star Wars: Knights of the Old RepublicThe Unwritten Miniseries: AliensBeasts of BurdenBlackest NightCyberforce/Hunter-KillerDie Hard: Year OneThe Flash: Rebirth (Where is this, anyway?)G-Man: Cape CrisisMuppet Peter PanStrange Tales ...and when I say "change constantly" I mean it. This week I dropped Detective Comics because JH Williams III's grand designs deserve to be devoted to better characters, and I'm considering adding Bongo's long-running usually-ignored Bart Simpson series now that the amazing colossal Sergio Aragones has signed on as a regular contributor. Like I said, that list doesn't include series I collect in trades. For me, that's a short list: Fables (at this point still waffling on Jack of Fables)Locke & KeyAngel: After the Fall (which I'm stockpiling for now because I have 56 episodes to go). Your turn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Marvel: Ultimate Comics Spider-ManIncredible HerculesAgents Of AtlasFantastic FourGuardians of the GalaxyX-ForceThor DC:Green LanternGreen Lantern CorpsMadame XanaduREBELSPower Girl Other: Buffy Season EightAny Atomic Robo minis that come out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 DC Comics Adventure ComicsAction ComicsSupermanSupergirlBatmanBatman & RobinRed RobinGreen LanternTitans Marvel Comics Amazing Spider-ManMighty AvengersNew AvengersDark Avengers Miniseries Blackest NightThe Flash: RebirthSuperman: Secret OriginSuperman: World of New Krypton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Marvel: X-Factor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Dunlap Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 DC ongoing: DetectiveBatman (maybe dropping)Batman & RobinRed Robin (dropping)Gotham City SirensStreets of GothamBatman Confidential (per creative team)Superman/Batman (per creative team)Brave & the Bold (per creative team)SupermanSupergirlActionWorld of New KryptonAdventure (dropping)Booster GoldPower Girl (dropping)Green LanternGreen Lantern CorpsJustice Society (maybe dropping)Secret SixWonder Woman (maybe dropping) DC limited:Superman Secret OriginBlackest Night (plus most of the tie-ins)World's FinestFlash Rebirth (dropping)Justice League Cry for JusticeJSA vs. KobraFCA: Run! Marvel:ThorThe Twelve (is it ever finishes) Yeah, I'm a DC guy. I just realized I buy way too many comics and I'm paring them down. But, for the most part, I really enjoy what I buy. But I will drop a series or a limited series in the middle if I'm not liking it enough. I did that with every Marvel title until JMS took over Thor. Other:IrredeemableBuck RogersEx Machina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowDog Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Holy CRAP you guys shell out a lot of dough per month. I only collect: Locke and KeyThe RunawaysBuffyAngel and all it's spinoffs (including the new Angel vs Frankenstein)The Dark Tower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NumberSix Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Holy CRAP you guys shell out a lot of dough per month. Comics have been my life's primary hobby since age 6. As long as there're writers in the medium making it worth my while even in adulthood, I'm there. You should've seen how many I used to buy back in the day, when they were 40-50 cents apiece! It helps that I'm buying nowhere near as many CDs or movie tickets or books as I used to. Most of these titles also fail at maintaining a consistent monthly schedule. When they slack, I save money. Angel and all it's spinoffs (including the new Angel vs Frankenstein) I was wondering if anyone else bought that one-shot. (I'm still avoiding all present-day projects for now, but with that era I figured it'd be spoiler-free!) Surprisingly entertaining, and reminded me why I used to be a big John Byrne fan in my youth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowDog Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Did you check out his four issue Blood In The Trenches Angel story? It was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NumberSix Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Thought seriously about it! Still working through my bias against $3.99 titles, but I'm preparing to loosen that standard for indie companies like IDW. Might have to go for the trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Dunlap Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Comics have been my life's primary hobby since age 6. As long as there're writers in the medium making it worth my while even in adulthood, I'm there. You should've seen how many I used to buy back in the day, when they were 40-50 cents apiece! It helps that I'm buying nowhere near as many CDs or movie tickets or books as I used to. Most of these titles also fail at maintaining a consistent monthly schedule. When they slack, I save money. Y'know, I feel exactly the same way (although I started reading comics in earnest at 13). I've gone through phases and periods where I've bought different comics or fewer comics. And I don't really spend money on any other distractions except for a DVD now and then. Even still, I plan on cutting back since I got another kid on the way. But I do feel like I get a lot out of it, and I think these stories stand up to most television and "books" (as opposed to "novels"). My wife reads James Patterson books. She knows not to demean my reading comics. I got another question though - is reading comics a "hobby"? I've never really considered it as such, but I hear that a lot. I put it in the same category as seeing movies or reading books, and people don't typically call those hobbies. Just wondering if anybody else has thought about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryn Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 "Collecting" is a hobby. Reading, like watching film, is an activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovecraftian Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Sure, I could just up lovecraftian's old "pull list" thread for this purpose, but: (1) it's long and old; (2) lovecraftian is MIA; (3) not everyone has a "pull list" per se; and (4) starting over with a new #1 for no good reason is a time-honored comics tradition. I'M BACK, BABY! [awaits adulation; taps foot; scratches head] Anyhow, I've been gone for so long because I just transferred schools. I'm currently attending UC Berkeley, and now that I've snagged an awesome, on-campus job, I have cash for comics again. YAY!! My pull list is small, but here it is in its current entirety: The Brave and the BoldDoom PatrolThe Unwritten Invincible Creepy I'm probably going to add one more book, since Creepy is a quarterly. Sorry for having been gone so long, O interweb brethren of mine. It's been quite a journey, and I'm glad to be back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epimetheus00 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I just collect miniseries that I have an interest in. At the moment I am collecting: DC Comics: Blackest Night (and probably all the spin offs except Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps) Marvel: Captain America: Reborn I don't know whats coming up with Marvel and DC or any other indie publishers but this will probably be it. Not much to talk about but I am enjoying all of them for the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NumberSix Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 "Collecting" is a hobby. Reading, like watching film, is an activity. I consider comics a hobby since it involves buying and keeping multiple items of similar size and shape but differing contents and details. Not that all hobbies are like that, but it's certainly a classifiable type. Frequent moviegoers seem to avoid using the term "hobby", but that's their psychological hangup. I'M BACK, BABY! [awaits adulation; taps foot; scratches head] And the crowd goes wild! *yeeeeey* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowDog Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Frequent moviegoers seem to avoid using the term "hobby", but that's their psychological hangup. Hmmm, I'm gonna have to ponder this one. I'm not saying you're wrong here, I'm just never once considered moviegoing a hobby so I'll have to dwell on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NumberSix Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 I never thought about it till this thread, but consider how many people think will list "reading" as one of their "Hobbies", whether they buy the books or check 'em out from the library. Same principle, just a different medium. Does the difference lie in how much time one spends in the actual consuming -- i.e., hours spent reading vs. hours spent watching? Or is it in the number of items consumed? Or is it just that the word "hobby" sounds demeaning? I have no idea, either. Just thinking out loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovecraftian Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 I have room for one other title in my pull list budget, so in addition to The Unwritten #7, I'll be picking up these candidates tomorrow: Booster Gold #26 I liked me some Jaime Reyes back in the days of Blue Beetle, and I have a soft spot for Dan Jurgens (as well as Booster, ever since his role in 52), so I figure I'll give this one a shot. Green Arrow and Black Canary #26 When I was really, really getting into actually following series consistently, instead of buying comics based on the coolness of their covers (Give me a break. I WAS 11.), I fell madly in love with Kevin Smith and Phil Hester's Green Arrow. I still have a strong, abiding fondness for Ollie and Dinah, and Renato Guedes is one of my favorite newcomers (something about his style reminds me of cell shading animation... which I love), so I'm giving this one a look. The Shield #3 I dislike overly snarky, rich boy leads, so The Web is out of the question. But the solicit for this issue sports one of the coolest sounding villains ever: THE BRAIN EMPEROR. I've been hearing good things about this series over at the CBR forums, and I'm also all for expanding the DCU and bringing in new blood, so I'll check this sucker out and let you guys know how it goes. In case anyone hasn't noticed, I'm totally in love with backup stories. The medium (10 pages) seems challenging, but I just have a crazy love for that format--getting 2 stories in one comic. Fun, fun stuff indeed. It's late and papers are looming, so I apologize for my collegiate incoherence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Dunlap Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 "Collecting" is a hobby. Reading, like watching film, is an activity. I consider comics a hobby since it involves buying and keeping multiple items of similar size and shape but differing contents and details. Not that all hobbies are like that, but it's certainly a classifiable type. Frequent moviegoers seem to avoid using the term "hobby", but that's their psychological hangup. For the record, I have no problem with comic readers self-describing it as a hobby, it's just that I have never thought of it that way. I guess I have a rather parochial view of "hobbies" as more like little projects for your own enjoyment, like model airplanes and train kits and such. I used to love to hang out in "Hobby Shops" and peruse all the different kinds of hobbies, though I never really got into that sort of thing myself. I suppose especially now that I don't even save them, it's less of a hobby for me. I'll keep some stuff for my kids to read when they're older, but for the most part, I get rid of anything I' know I'll never read again. Man, I am a cynical old grouch!! Maybe I should start looking at it like a hobby again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowDog Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 I still save all mine, but I think I have the same problem with the concept that you do. When I think hobby, I think model airplanes or collecting hotwheels or other lame **** like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovecraftian Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Well, I'm back from the comic shop, and I've finished reading today's batch of stuff. The Unwritten is just a great goddamned book. Give it a look, everybody! Here are my verdicts on the newer titles I tried out: Booster Gold #26 was an alright read, and I had an alright feeling of the continuity of the story. That is to say, I didn't really feel too lost reading it. Ultimately, though, I don't have much of a connection to the Michael-Ted friendship that some other readers might, so it kind of minimized the emotional punch the issue should have had. Not only that, but there was no backup in this story; the current Blue Beetle hung out with Booster for an extra ten pages. That peeved me a little bit, especially since I hear that Jaime's backup is especially good. Green Arrow and Black Canary #26 was not an alright read. The art was schizophrenic (No, not just during Bill Sienkiewicz's parts), and the story really offered no help to anyone coming in fresh. From what I understood, Hannibal Bates a.k.a. Everyman from 52, is now in the form of Ollie, and actually believes that he is Ollie. He seems to be under the control of an as-yet-unrevealed figure. So much for getting my GA/BC jones from this book. Ah well. Not much of a backup here, either. The shorter tale happens at the beginning of the book, and it's actually just a dream sequence that is immediately referenced The Shield #3 was a standard beat-em-up, and gave a fine catch-up on the first page. The titular hero was scoping out some hullahballoo in the mountains between Bialya and Khandaq, and ended up running into Magog; the two of them end up tangling with locals who are under the control of the Brain Emperor, who is actually under the control of Gorilla Grodd. The proper asswhippings are handed out, and the Shield gets told off by a local for the invalidity of his mission, which was nice to see. A dichotomy between the Shield and Magog is set up quickly at the end; the Shield is a fairly introspective guy trapped under bureaucracy, while Magog is a jingoistic ***hole. Lovely. Speaking of "lovely," the art in this book is fan-friggin-tastic. Marco Rudy (who evidently helped pick up J.G. Jones' slack in Final Crisis) and Eduardo Pansica both have great art chops and render everything beautifully; the opening double-page splash is breathtaking. The backup, a story about a mysterious pyrokinetic guy on the run, accurately entitled Inferno, was also quite good. The art was had a gritty/moody tone to it that perfectly suited the work, and the writer did a good job of cramming in both a recap and a ton of new, exciting info into 10 pages without slowing down the pace. I also picked up, on a whim, Jonah Hex #49, and I must say that it was quite lackluster. The ending really just kind of crapped out and disappointed me greatly. I'm willing to check out the next issue, because this book is neck-and-neck with The Shield for being the fifth and final monthly I'm picking up with my pull list budget. Now I'm off to write a paper. Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.CAllen Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 I also like The Unwritten it is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Dunlap Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Green Arrow and Black Canary #26 was not an alright read. The art was schizophrenic (No, not just during Bill Sienkiewicz's parts), and the story really offered no help to anyone coming in fresh. From what I understood, Hannibal Bates a.k.a. Everyman from 52, is now in the form of Ollie, and actually believes that he is Ollie. He seems to be under the control of an as-yet-unrevealed figure. So much for getting my GA/BC jones from this book. Ah well. Not much of a backup here, either. The shorter tale happens at the beginning of the book, and it's actually just a dream sequence that is immediately referenced I thought Dinah killed Everyman on her wedding night, when he posed as Ollie and tried to kill her. Do they explain how he survived/reanimated after that? I know death is a revolving door in comics, especially the DCU, but there are some good deaths, and his was one of them. Too bad they didn't have the nuts to keep it that way. But that could certainly be attributed to the shoddy writing on this title since (I can't believe I'm saying this) Winnick left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovecraftian Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Green Arrow and Black Canary #26 was not an alright read. The art was schizophrenic (No, not just during Bill Sienkiewicz's parts), and the story really offered no help to anyone coming in fresh. From what I understood, Hannibal Bates a.k.a. Everyman from 52, is now in the form of Ollie, and actually believes that he is Ollie. He seems to be under the control of an as-yet-unrevealed figure. So much for getting my GA/BC jones from this book. Ah well. Not much of a backup here, either. The shorter tale happens at the beginning of the book, and it's actually just a dream sequence that is immediately referenced I thought Dinah killed Everyman on her wedding night, when he posed as Ollie and tried to kill her. Do they explain how he survived/reanimated after that? I know death is a revolving door in comics, especially the DCU, but there are some good deaths, and his was one of them. Too bad they didn't have the nuts to keep it that way. But that could certainly be attributed to the shoddy writing on this title since (I can't believe I'm saying this) Winnick left. Yeah, that's what I'd thought. And they haven't explained how he's back, but--though he was in Ollie's form--he had the same scar in his neck from the spot where Dinah had stabbed him the arrow. Long story short, this issue did nothing for me. I now have three books to choose from: The Shield, Jonah Hex, or Justice League of America. So far, The Shield is looking pretty good to me, though I've had soft spots both for Jonah and the JLA in the past. Any opinions, guys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovecraftian Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Well, my love for the Legion has kinda slipped out of nowhere and clubbed me over the head. SO. My pull list now looks like this: Creepy Adventure ComicsThe Brave and the BoldDoom Patrol Invincible The Unwritten It'd be longer, but being a full-time college student with only one job kinda made me drop my pulls to five monthlies (and one quarterly). Geoff Johns will be leaving Adventure Comics soon, but I'm pretty excited to check out Paul Levitz on the title, as he pretty much made his name on it. Worse comes to worse, I'll jump back onto Jonah Hex or something. Maybe even get a Marvel title. Well, probably not, but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowDog Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 The Unwritten Hell yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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