rigelkitty: Comics - Cold Turkey?

Rigel (

rigelkitty) wrote,
@ 2008-03-27 19:07:00

Current mood:

thoughtful

Comics - Cold Turkey?

I've been thinking lately about going cold turkey on my comic book collecting. I've got nearly an entire wall covered with long boxes filled with bagged & boarded issues that I read once and never again. Comics haven't been a serious investment in decades, and at a minimum of $3/pop they're an expensive handful of paper. Many series that I read are such from sheer momentum rather than any real continuing interest.

TPBs on the other hand provide a less expensive option. With deep discounts through online stores like Amazon, six issues of a comic that add up to $18 can be had for a fraction of that in collected format. I'd also get advance notice on what stories were crap by those who read the issues ahead of time so I could skip the filler junk. And I'd be able to start thinking about offloading some of my own stock of issues once I'm no longer feeding their growth.

On the downside of TPBs, I'd no longer be able to hold a subscription at my local comic shop (minimum 10 series per month). I'd also be the last one to read stories, often months or years after they come out in issue format, risking getting them spoiled by friends and news online. Continuity between series would also go out the window.

If I did so, I'd probably cut off after DC's big event wraps up later this year. Good idea? Bad idea?

(Post a new comment)

	srakkt 2008-03-27 11:19 pm UTC (link)
	I did precisely what you describe a few years ago, and haven't regretted it. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on in the DC universe, and folks have been kind enough not to soil it for me, though I hear some fun parts. I'm looking forward to reading about the war between GLC and Sinestro Corps - and I don't at all regret not having read it yet. (Reply to this)(Thread)

rigelkitty
2008-03-27 11:33 pm UTC (link)

I'd still try to get Previews to keep up with which TPBs are coming out when. I wonder if you can get subscriptions to Previews by snailmail?

After the last crisis when they rebooted a bunch of series, I chose to start picking up Flash instead of GL and regretted it. Already dropped Flash after only a dozen issues or so. I'm going to pick up the Sinestro Corps storyline when it hits TPB, too.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	reveille_d 2008-03-28 02:41 am UTC (link)
	I cut my own comic consumption down to about a quarter of what I was getting. It's making my pocketbook much happier, and I'm finding I'm not missing much. :P -Reveille (Reply to this)(Thread)

	rigelkitty 2008-03-28 02:54 am UTC (link)
	I cut my collecting in half after college. The next step would be to stop altogether. Cutting any more would put me close to the minimum I'm allowed to subscribe to at my comic shop. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Well... sorien 2008-03-28 02:53 am UTC (link)
	Periodically I cull my buy-list, and I sell off comics that I haven't looked at in years. They're not really a good investment, and I figure if I sell them I get some cash, some more space and someone else can read them. :) (Reply to this)

joshuwain
2008-03-28 03:09 am UTC (link)

I'm just about to cut back and may go cold turkey like I did 12 years ago. I only got back into it about 5 years ago because there was some interesting stuff out there. And, to be honest, I would regret never having read "Fables". However, I think that given the general crappy quality of most comics these days, it's not a bad move.

I dropped Spider-Man, recently (all the titles) as well as the X-Men and most other Supers books. We'll see how long I can stomach the current trends.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

rigelkitty
2008-03-28 04:05 am UTC (link)

I'd go cold turkey on the issues, but not on TPBs. The latter would allow me to be more discriminating in what I read, as well as save some money and physical space.

Fables is available in TPBs, too, so you wouldn't've missed it.

I quit 20 years of collecting Spider-Man about two years ago, after the "Other" storyline made it all hideously unreadable. There was a bit of regret, but the whole One More Day/Brand New Day debacle just reaffirms my decision.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

joshuwain
2008-03-28 12:28 pm UTC (link)

I'm still trying to figure out why I stuck with "Spider-Man" after "the Other", myself. Hell, I'm still trying to figure out why I stuck with it after JMS ret-conned Gwen Stacy getting knocked up by the Green Goblin!

I think, for me, I viewed these comic books as more than stories (bad or otherwise). I had, at the time I resumed buying comic books, been out-of-touch with many things my friends were talking about. They played video games (I didn't), watched bad movies or anime (I'm so-so on both), and were discussing things that happened in both the DC and Marvel Universes. In many ways, I resumed buying comic books because I wanted to socialize, again.

But, really, right now things have gotten so badly written -so annoying- in both mainstream Universes that I'm not sure I want to keep going through it.

Does that make sense?

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	I just HAD to find and post this once I read your post! ohio_geek 2008-03-28 03:54 am UTC (link)
	Hehehe!!! http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/dorktower/archive.asp?nextform=viewcomic&id=1332 (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: I just HAD to find and post this once I read your post! rigelkitty 2008-03-28 04:07 am UTC (link)
	Wow, life imitates art rather precisely. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	normanrafferty 2008-03-28 09:57 pm UTC (link)
	Life's too short to read something out of momentum. (Reply to this)

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