REEDING INTO THINGS #25: MY EVOLUTION

[Joel Phillips]

<img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/columns/ritlogo.jpg" align=left width=115 height=100 border=0 alt="Reeding Into Things">By Joel Phillips, old_ky_shark@hotmail.com

My Evolution


Many if not most comic book fans react to change they disapprove of with righteous indignation, which usually gives way quickly to some kind of overt frustration. Many have accused me, in many of my rants on various topics, of being angry about one thing or another. I always correct these people… I’m not angry, just frustrated. It is the frustration everyone feels when something they like no longer pleases them. Though I agree that anger is a ridiculously over the top reaction, the frustration is actually quite acceptable and normal as far as reactions go. If you think about it, this actually happens to everyone all the time. We are constantly growing and changing, as are many of the things we are fans of; and there is a bizarre kind of frustration that forms inside us when we realize the joy we once got from something is gone and will never be back again.

Everyone has had these experiences in some part of their lives, even if they haven’t had them in comics. Remember when you got to that age when you stopped wanting to eat candy all the time? It wasn’t that you stopped liking candy, just that it stopped fulfilling you the same way it did when you were a little kid. I still remember when I stopped watching baseball. It was after the first big player strike, in the early nineties. A day at Dodger Stadium used to be one of my favorite things to do growing up; but by now I was 13 or 14, old enough to see the faults in the game side by side with its pleasures. But it was okay, because going to a baseball game wasn’t just about the game. Baseball was about the experience. I’m old enough to remember when baseball still held that mythic quality for Americans (at least for everyone I knew). But after the strike, the players stopped being mythic and became human. Not only that, they became jerks. Greedy, overpaid jerks who made the entire country miss out on the World Series. And the World Series was an American institution, and you don’t screw with that for anything, let alone money. That killed the myth, killed the experience, and I haven’t been to a baseball game since.

Maybe it seems petty to stay away from baseball games because of something that happened a decade ago. Why don’t I just let it go? Because at some point, and it’s impossible to tell when and where exactly it happened, the reasons that drove me away stopped being the reasons I stayed away. Instead a funny thing happened: apathy set in, and I stopped caring about baseball entirely. When I stop to think about it now I don’t feel I’m missing anything by not having baseball in my life anymore. Something that used to mean something to me now simply… doesn’t. I don’t stay away from baseball games because I’m mad at baseball; I stay away because I don’t care enough to want to go.

Which brings me back around to the comics I have read and loved for fifteen years. I wrote a column a while back about “Why Spider-Man is dead to me”, which wasn’t an angry column at all. Years of bad stories and bland stories merely wiped out any interest I had in the continuing exploits of the character. It wasn’t one event or one writer, and it happened over time. The end result is that something that once meant a great deal to me now simply doesn’t. I got frustrated, and then the apathy set in. Now I live in a Spider-Man-free world and I’m completely okay with that.

I could write “Why the X-Men are dead to me” or “Why the Avengers are dead to me”, but since most of you have had a front row seat while those characters lost their meaning for me there wouldn’t be much point in reliving all that. If you could go back over my posts here you’d see the same pattern emerge: I got frustrated, and then the apathy set in.

There’s one theory of human emotional reaction that says we are never mildly affected by anything, but that we always either love or hate things to the extreme. Feelings in between the two extremes are the result of something striking us in a way that is contrary to experience. If we typically love a series, and then we are fed something we would hate if taken in its own context, we tend to simply find it “okay” or otherwise mildly unsatisfying. In contrast, if we typically hate a series, and then we are fed something we would love in its own context, we consider it a “slight improvement”.

I’m not sure I subscribe to that theory 100%, but being a comic book fan for so many years I can understand it. How often do issues strike us as “okay”? There are titles where the majority of the issues of the last few years are just “okay”. How much of that is because we’re reading bad stories in a title we once loved and, on some level, still expect to love? I would imagine another facet of this theory is that these expectations change over time: years of stories that just fall flat eventually change our default opinion from positive to negative. If that’s true, I think that’s where the apathy comes from: spending so long in the land of the “okay” story that you become tired of the emotional run around and just tune yourself out.

I’ve hit that other extreme: I now expect my once favorite franchises to suck. Sure, I could wait it out and see. Reload is coming for the X-books, and a big Avengers retooling is on the way. But nothing I’ve seen changes my negative expectations, and I find that I just don’t care anymore. I don’t feel like reading the next three years of stories, finding them “slightly improved”, and then getting my optimism back just in time for the next retooling. I want off the rollercoaster.

After twenty-five editions of this column, the column is about to change, because I’ve changed. The focus of the column will now be two-fold. The first focus will be on the history and tradition of comics that I love so much. The past doesn’t change, except in the way we perceive it… something you can count on future columns addressing.

The second focus is the one that brings a smile to my face. The second focus is where I share with you my experience as someone who has been reading comics for more than fifteen years, and is only now getting a proper taste of what they can do. It’s never too late to start reading better comics. Ryan Day, one of our reviewers, said it best: “I think I became a much happier comic reader when I stopped buying titles and started buying stories.” I’m amazed at how right he is, and I just made the change recently. Dissatisfied with the things you’ve been reading for years? There is an answer. It’s never too late to start reading better comics.

There’s no zealot like a convert. Sure, I can still speak intelligently about the X-Men or the Avengers or Spider-Man or a dozen others, and from time to time I will. But there are other comics for me to talk about that are just plain better; and since my head and my heart (and my money) are with them these days, I hope to spend more time with them.

I usually have my say in my columns, and let discussion go where it goes, but I’d like to direct the conversation just this once. And I’d like to do it by asking: what comics excite you? What comics energize you? Entertain you? Make you think? What comics can’t you miss a single issue of? What comics make you glad you read comics? What comics, in a perfect world, would everyone be reading with you? What we have here, on these boards, is an incredible miracle of communication, one whose main purpose is to let us spread our love of comics around. So let's do just that.

I’m open to new ideas now, new experiences. Tomorrow I head down to the good comic shop, and I honestly don’t know what I’m going to find there for me… but I’m sure excited about the trip.

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Joel Phillips is just beginning to enjoy comics again. He hopes everyone else is enjoying the comics they read as well.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of ComiX-Fan or its other staff in general.

[Kevin Sutton]

Buying better stores became necessary over the past year as I stopped being satisified with titles. Unfortunately, it also means I'm less easily pleased as I was a year ago.

[Tan K.]

Jeez, I guess some of us were unintentionally exposed to the same radiation because I am going through the same thing right now. Nice one, Joel.

[DCUnited]

To be completely honest I can't think of any comics that really excite me any more. Also, there are titles that I like to buy every issue of, but once I miss an issue for whatever reason I find that it's not so hard to just stop buying it all together. This has pretty much been what's happened to me with nearly every Marvel comic I used to read.

And Tan I think it may just be that comics in and of themselves have just started to suck in recent years. It's really the only reason I can think of that so many fans can be getting so tired of the titles they used to love, because I think it is highly unlikely that we all just grow out of them at different ages, but at the same time.

[DKBatman]

Obviously the problem with modern comics, suddenly becoming boring and dull for select readers, is that rotating creative teams often do not have the same approach (or in the case of the X-men after Claremont left: try the same approach but can't hack it). I stopped caring about JLA once Morrison and Porter left, but there is still a following on the book that love and enjoy it. Those people might actually be a group that 1) either hated morrison's post-modern crap, or 2) never even read Morrison and Porter's run on the series. I totally agree with the idea that limited series as well as vertigo, max, wildstorm, as well as multiple indi publishers are a thousand times more creative and innovative... at times. Great stuff does obviously come out in the monthly marvel and dc books, but all too quickly the team of creators we enjoy jumps to another idea, book, project. Still, the frustration about a run ending, or a series transforming is pretty idiotic. Follow a writer or artist around, because a character will be interpreted differently by every new creator-- and THAT'S the fantastic thing about comic books. Right after Loeb and Lee presented a really modern, iconic Batman... Broken city brought us a more gritty and street level story.
But lots of X-men fans seem to really dislike New X-men. Why? Because fans of the book might not be the most experienced with the type of stuff the new xmen creators were interested in tackling.
I for one always thought spiderman was a krappy kinda character. After Ultimate Spiderman started up, I got a taste of one author's version of the character. I find it interesting now to see how different people tackle his character. Batman, with all of his elseworlds and many limited series is the best example of this, but every book changes with the creative teams.

mainstream comics today give little tastes of an author's ideas for a character. While it's a shame we don't get seventeen year runs like claremont on xmen, it's also great that so many different ideas are tried out.

[Jon Hancock]

i liked morrison's JLA and his successors too.

[Eric Travis]

It used to be that a large chunk of my money went to Marvel. Now, sure, most of my comic-budget is still Marvel-heavy. But more and more, I find myself drawn into the manga option.

I don't want to argue which is 'better'. But in an instance where I suffer through nearly six months of Chuck Austen's Exiles, I enjoyed at least four different manga titles. Levels of enjoyment that I haven't felt too often about the bulk of the comics I buy. (Not all, mind. I still have a few favorite comic titles I hurry to scoop up...)

Manga sucks me in, because of the art (which I know a lot of people don't care for) and the stories (which I know a lot of people oversimplify). It's unheard of for a manga to reach 'volume #450'. Chobits, for instance, has eight digest-size volumes, and tells a complete, engaging, cute, and thought-provoking story. The creators of most manga have a very specific story they want to tell, and they tell it in the way that suits them best. Editorial influence tends to be fairly minor, and the content is often worth far more than the price.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not about to stop buying books like Fallen Angel, New Mutants, Outsiders, or Exiles. I still love comic books, especially well-written stories by writers for whom I have great levels of respect. I can't name any manga-ka off the top of my head. But books like Angel Sanctuary, Battle Royale, Rurouni Kenshin, and Hellsing are right there on my list when the new volume is released.

I know this is about comics. But I'm far, far more addicted to manga than I am to either DC or Marvel's TPB program. :)

[Ann Nichols]

I've been an X-Men comics fan again for barely 10 months after being away for 23 years. My enthusiasm was high last June. I don't want to know how much I've spent on back issues and TPBs (or hardcovers) trying to catch up. I eagerly awaited each Wednesday and going into my local comics shop.

That changed during the "Planet X" and "Draco" storylines. I couldn't suspend my disbelief for either one. Each end was a :p "Here Comes Tomorrow" and "She Lies With Angels" bored me so much that I began to wonder why I should bother to buy NXM or UXM.

"Mystique", "New Mutants", "Ultimate X-Men", and "1602" continue to be enjoyable.

I'm a character fan. Back before the US woke up and realized again that cartoons aren't just for kids, I was a fan of shows that made me wince because I liked the characters ("Battle of the Planets", "ThunderCats", "SilverHawks", "Pirates of Dark Water" (if only "Dark Water" hadn't been watered down!), etc.

My favorite books are mysteries. I buy several series where I find the solving the crime very easy, but I don't care because they're novels about the lives and times of some neat people with a mystery thrown in.

I can put up with A LOT if I like the characters.

Mess with the characters, and I grow apathetic. A big reason why I dropped out the first time is that new writers kept changing the cast or what I liked about the characters and/or their relationships.

I was a big "X-Files" fan, but I barely watched the last season. I no longer cared what Mulder or Scully did.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was my replacement favorite series, but by season 6, I didn't like her very much. Spike replaced Giles as my favorite character (he made me laugh). Call me a softy, but I am just NOT enthralled by watching characters I care about being tormented or tortured week after week. I saw Buffy as a cold bitca and Giles was a "ghost" of his former self.

It's the same deal with comics. I'm waiting to see which of the titles have someone I can care about after reload starts. If not, I'm going to be dropping some titles -- and I don't buy that many to begin with.

I am not stupid. I am not a sheep. And I am NOT satisfied.

[Dylan McKay]

Originally posted by DCUnited
To be completely honest I can't think of any comics that really excite me any more. Also, there are titles that I like to buy every issue of, but once I miss an issue for whatever reason I find that it's not so hard to just stop buying it all together. This has pretty much been what's happened to me with nearly every Marvel comic I used to read.

And Tan I think it may just be that comics in and of themselves have just started to suck in recent years. It's really the only reason I can think of that so many fans can be getting so tired of the titles they used to love, because I think it is highly unlikely that we all just grow out of them at different ages, but at the same time.

It's funny, with the people I talk to, the exact opposite is happening. More and more people are realizing just how great comics are today.

I too have recently gone through what Joel is going through. I got back into comics about a year ago and at first, going back to the titles I once loved like the X-Men was great. But after a few months, I began to realize that I liked comics, not for nostalgia, but as a literary medium. At that point, I stopped caring for the X-Men, not that I disliked the stories, just that they weren't worth my money. And lately, I've been getting more into Vertigo and Wildstorm, and I'm realizing, that comics in 2004, really are all that and more.

What comics can I not wait for? Supreme Power, Birds of Prey, Wildcats Version 3.0, Y: The Last Man (Although I do wait for that, still, an amazing read.) Negation (Although I'm mentally prepped for that to end now. )

Mini series like My Faith in Frankie, Two-Step (I really hate the wait there.) and Wildguard.

I recently checked out Hellblazer and Human Target and am looking forward to more of them.

The only book I pick up that is merely good, but I think the character is great, is Nightwing.

[Alex Guillen]

I also loved good written books and characters like Spidey will never be truly dead for me. why? well one thing for sure is that I can identify with him, isn't that what comic creators had in mind when creating these characters?

Overall I have stopped buying many comics after awhile due to the repetitive stories and others just flat out awful stories and characterization that makes you wonder, are this the same characters I knew and loved? Sure, they're going to change with time but they change for the wrose then that scares off many.

Usually now whemn I pick up a comic book it's either a TPB( well old stories especially sandman) or somethign I know I will truly enjoy (Grant Morisson's New X-Men).
Comics will never be dead for true fans but soemtimes the greddy companies can accomplish what supervillains can't: destroy superheros in fans' mind.

[Suzene]

Originally posted by Tan K.
Jeez, I guess some of us were unintentionally exposed to the same radiation because I am going through the same thing right now.

Heh, nicely put.

As usual, Joel, nail, head, your fist. Though I think somewhat worse than the apathy for certain series is the general mistrust that sets in after the first few burns. I hear a lot of, "Aw, comic fans are afraid of change," but generally don't hear many people pointing out that, with certain publishers, we typically have good reason to be, as "change" usually involves a lot of superficial, needless fiddling that will be retconned as soon as the next line-wide event takes place.

I don't think it's just change that gets the hackles of the average fan up. I can't wait to see how the current Fables arc shakes up everything and everyone. I've been waiting for Wendy and Richard Pini's pentultimate Elfquest story for years, even though I know it's probably going to break my heart. I don't mind change. I do mind having my chain yanked, though, and I guess that's one of the many reasons why I'm probably going to drop Marvel books once ReLoad kicks in, as I've seen nothing to excite me, a lot that's made me roll my eyes, and a couple of things that have truly frustrated me.

And I'm ranting in Joel's column. :P Sorry about that. Just...yeah. Well said, Joel. I'm looking forward to you sharing your finds.

Suzene

[Jeanne]

I find your column very interesting, Joel.

In your X-treme column, I tried to propose that this, in fact, might be happening Someone can blame the writers for making a comic book 'boring' to them, just as they can blame baseball for becoming boring to them. In the end, I feel that we are the ones that change, though. A kid at a ballpark going to their first game is going to enjoy all the things about baseball you did as a kid....and the rules didn't have to change for them to enjoy it.

I wish you good luck in your adventures to other places in the comic universe. While I still like X-men, the Books of Magic, Astrocity, and Sandman have all been recommended to me, and some great things have come out of the Japanese mythos/archtype with Rurouni Kenshin, Lone Wolf and Cub, and even Usagi Yojimbo. But those are my personal tastes. Wherever you go, good luck!

Jeanne.

[Anthony Lucynski]

You aint alone Joel, you aint alone. I've dropped parts of Marvel before, but this is the first time in (like yourself) over 15 years that Marvel comics is the minority in my monthly pull.

Have fun on your journey, i'd make suggestions, but i'm going down the same path as you :)

Anthony L

[Dylan McKay]

Originally posted by Suzene
As usual, Joel, nail, head, your fist. Though I think somewhat worse than the apathy for certain series is the general mistrust that sets in after the first few burns. I hear a lot of, &quot;Aw, comic fans are afraid of change,&quot; but generally don't hear many people pointing out that, with certain publishers, we typically have good reason to be, as &quot;change&quot; usually involves a lot of superficial, needless fiddling that will be retconned as soon as the next line-wide event takes place.

Suzene

This isn't directed at you, just that quote sparked this thought.

I think comic fans are afraid of change. It seems to me alot of people will complain about the new direction a book is taking rather than change titles. If X-Men isn't doing it for a person any more, don't like the new characters, new team or whatever, then why not buy JSA or Fantastic Four or Wildcats? Many comic fans seem afraid to change what they buy. The problem is this. Change has to happen, if books aren't moving forward, they're moving backwards. Also, when change happens, don't get bitter because your favourite character has been changed out, see if new characters can grow on you before calling for their execution. But when everyone just complains about change publishers are apprehensive about real change and that leads to stagnant books that are hard to enjoy. X-Men are a perfect example of this. What made Claremont's first run great was that the roster was always changing, the adventures were always changing, be it a real world grounded story about hate, a superhero/villain slugfest, a sci-fi adventure or a fantasy tale, you never new what the next arc would have in store for you and what characters would be along for the ride. But then "fans" began complaining, creative and editorial changes created more complaints and before long, editorial was afraid to do anything with the X-Men. You could predict what would happen next, and it got boring. That's why I dropped out.

But now I realize that's wrong. If you give new teams a chance and they don't click, don't **** and moan, don't stop buying comics. Try something new.

Maybe it's just me as I don't have a collectors mentality.

[Zach Kinkead]

Ryan Day, one of our reviewers, said it best: “I think I became a much happier comic reader when I stopped buying titles and started buying stories.”

Well really I think Zisa covered things even better but that isn't exactly a quote you can post in public ;)

[Arachne]

I got into comics about five years ago. I would have gotten into then sooner, but it wasn't easy to be a girl walking into a comic book shop back in the mid 90's. But this year I haven't bought any comics at all. Did I lose interest?

Nope. But I'd rather not waste money on unfulfilling stories when I could spend that money on manga. I got into manga when I couldn't get into American comics, and it showed me a world far different from what women were expected to be in American comics. And now they are giving me stories I care about, not just because I really like a character, but not having to worry about the way the new writer is doing it. Maybe that's the great thing about manga. I'll get over 30 graphic novels of Basara, Flame of Recca, Rurouni Kenshin, or Inuyasha, with the same creator doing the whole thing. I won't have to worry if a new writer is going to make Basara too wimpy or into a hoochie, like I have seen happen to beloved American female characters.

There are American titles I still care for. Spider-Girl being number one. This is the only title where I actually buy it in issue form. And it has had the same writer for the entire run. I know that May is safe in Tom's hands. Same with Ultimate Spider-man, although I buy that in trade. I know that the characters that I started out caring for, are still going to be same characters when I pick up the new book. Sure they might be alittle older and wiser, but May is still May and Peter is still Peter.

[Radiate]

Great article Joel;)Very insightful:yes:

I gotta ask though,i've seen you lurking around the X-Men threads i was just wondering are you not interested in the X-Men anymore?

And what titles do you currently collect,so i can get some type of perspective.

ThanX joel;)

RADIATE!

[Vector]

Originally posted by Arachne
But this year I haven't bought any comics at all. Did I lose interest?


Perhaps you might be interested to know that Rachel Summers is back?

[mackaybear]

I don't think comic fans are afraid of change per se. Just afraid of "bad" change. Show me a change that is evolutionary and that comes as a result of a characters reevaluation of his or her self and I'll be all for it. Show me a "new direction" that makes sense in any way except just for the sake of change. I'll give it a shot.

Modern comics fans seem to have been "trained" to like and want frequent tearing down and rebuilding cycles. Whether a "change " is needed or not. I'd use the Avengers upcoming revamp as an example. It wa a good book that just needed a good writer. Now it's going to be "shaken up and rebuilt".

Creators jumping from title to title doesn't allow for character development. We mostly now just think "well how long willl this last". Even if it is a direction we like. We know it's not long for this book.

What I'm doing is what I've mostly always done. Made harder by not having a LCS. Deciding what I'll buy by how good the story will be. But now I have to depend on solicits instead of being able to pick up the book and glance through it.

I'm still reading FF, JSA, Flash, Nightwing, Avengers, a lot of manga, Spider Girl, Supernatural Law when I can get it, and a lot of Archives and Essentials books.

[mauer01]

It's kind of odd because I was thinking about this this morning. I've been reading comics for about thirteen years. It's been an important part of my life since sixth grade. Wednesdays I would rush to the store and read them all within an hour of getting home. Yesterday I got home from the store and realized I hadn't even read the books i bought last week and I couldn't really bring myself to care. I ended up reading a few of the books last night and while I didn't hate them they didn't QUITE do it for me. There just used to be this sense of excitement and I really miss it. I've asked myself if I'm starting to grow out of comics and I really hope that's not the case, but sometimes I wonder. So many people talk about how this is a new golden age for comics, but i really don't see it. To be honest I'd rather go back to the nineties. Even with the glutton of titles, gimmicks, and crossovers at least there was something that got me excited. I really hope that something happens to bring us out of this slump...

[Junkyard]

Let me initially say that I have been surfing this site for years.....and this is my first post to an article/review, and I read them all.

Reeding into things is a great read (no pun intended)....and this was by far the best that has come out to date.

I like to view comic books as an art form, and because I do, I believe them to be subjective. Art is subjective. For example, a piece of wall art that your friends spent $5000.00 on and are pleased of their investment and brag of it every time you are over for dinner. Yet you stand there and wonder if they mistakenly hung the thing upside down because for the life of you, you have no idea what the hell it is and why anyone could spend 5K on something that looks like it came from a pre-school art session.

Music is extremely subjective, and I work in the music industry. There are albums that are in my top five list that colleagues consider to be unworthy of the CD the tunes were pressed upon.

Art is subjective. That is why if you dig deep enough you can find reviews praising Chuck Austens work on Uncanny X-Men and others that consider it destructive to the mythology of the characters that Austen is tinkering with. Nightcrawler? Draco? Please.

A mentality develops when you collect things. Friends in the same boat and I jokingly call it the "collector mentality." When you collect "stuff", cards, comics, magazines, music, whatever, there is a side effect and that is "completion". Once you start a collection, and it grows, the toughest thing to do is stop buying after issue #30 because the story is not as strong as it was. Maybe by #36 it will be back on track and better then ever! You just don't know! And damn if I will miss a single bit of character development during those 6 issues, be it good or bad.

Maybe this is a disorder. Maybe there are clinics for guys like me who has every issue of the Exiles because it started with such a cool premise and then Austen muddied it up. But damn it if I don't have them all!

Then I read a line in this story that said “I think I became a much happier comic reader when I stopped buying titles and started buying stories.” Hmmmm. That line still has me spinning.

I think I have begun to make the change. I have ventured into the world of Vertigo and followed a writer or two that used to work for Marvel who is now with DC. Mature titles have been a growing interest for me of late. I think 'Supreme Power' is absolutely amazing. 'Y: The Last Man' is so bizarre and intriguing that I am mesmorized. Yet I still have such a soft spot for my beloved X-Titles. How can I stop??? I will try with RELOAD. I know I will follow Whedon's take on Astonishing. I'll try the other #1's and see what is promising. I will pay attention to this site and see what the reviewers think of these new books and maybe, just maybe I can quit the practice of being a 'completeist' and get over this 'collector mentality' that plagues me so.

[Dylan McKay]

Originally posted by mauer01
It's kind of odd because I was thinking about this this morning. I've been reading comics for about thirteen years. It's been an important part of my life since sixth grade. Wednesdays I would rush to the store and read them all within an hour of getting home. Yesterday I got home from the store and realized I hadn't even read the books i bought last week and I couldn't really bring myself to care. I ended up reading a few of the books last night and while I didn't hate them they didn't QUITE do it for me. There just used to be this sense of excitement and I really miss it. I've asked myself if I'm starting to grow out of comics and I really hope that's not the case, but sometimes I wonder. So many people talk about how this is a new golden age for comics, but i really don't see it. To be honest I'd rather go back to the nineties. Even with the glutton of titles, gimmicks, and crossovers at least there was something that got me excited. I really hope that something happens to bring us out of this slump...

My theory is maybe you've grown out of the comics you once read. I can't see how anyone can grow out of comics when so many comics are not for kids. Are you reading Vertigo and Wildstorm?

[§tormy]

An excellent edition of RIT.

I completely understood your explination fo the theory, and I agree with it.

As for your question at the end, I don't know, I can't answer those. I'm a narrow minded Marvellite who will only buy certain titles . Maybe I should look into other genres and titles, but I don't know, I'd feel like a traitor or something.

I can't say there's any one comic I enjoy so much, because, for me, it all depends on the writers. Like Busiek's run during the Avengers, my god, how much I loved that. I would have given my limbs for him to continue writing it. I just became so rapt by the tales, I felt like I was apart of them, and for that, I owe him.

There's other stories that make me feel the same way, maybe not as soon as I start reading, but maybe when I read just one perfectly crafted line, something flares up inside of me and I just become involved in the story. Revitalised almost.

It's times like that when my faith in the comic industry is retored and I look forward to the next issue.

[Ryan Day]

Hmm. I feel like I should be owed royalties or something. Joel, gimme 15% of whatever you were paid for this column. :)

If I could only recommend one ongoing series right now, it would have to be Queen & Country. It's a tightly plotted, wonderfully characterized series about the British intelligence agency. Greg Rucka's superhero stuff is good, but Q&C is often brilliant.

Really, just go to Oni's website (http://www.onipress.com) and read up on their titles -- it's all good. Ditto for Slave Labor (http://www.slavelabor.com). They both publish a pretty diverse line of books; if you can't find something that looks interesting, there's probably no helping you.

[Zeb Aslam]

Great article Joel. I also think Zisa put it much better, but well...;)

I've been reading comics for 13 years, and truthfully, there have been atleast 5 times when I have felt the way you do. Maybe I'm just more impatient than most comic fans, or maybe I just refuse to make deep attachments to comic characters, I don't know. All I know is that every 2-3 years I would feel that the industry was in a slump and stop buying new comics all together. This, while really helping my back issue collection, just made me reconsider my hobby of choice. It wasn't change, it wasn't gimmicks, and it wasn't mis-treatment of characters that drove me away...it was the lack of fun. For me comics have always been about fun...escapism. This is what the genre is based on, and every few years I have noted that more and more the fun has slipped out of comics, leaving the titles stagnant and repetitive. Spider-man went through the early 90s phase where he just whined a lot, same with Superman prior to his death, and I don't think that the X-men should even be mentioned...that comic has to be the biggest chronic sufferer. But every single time this would happen...when, as you put it, apathy would set in, I would go into the store one day and see a comic I had not tried before, usually by an obscure creative team, but sometimes I followed favourite creative teams, anyway, I would be drawn back into the world of comics. I would want to read more comics again, and thus the cycle would continue. This last 'gap' lasted 2 years. I just couldn't bear to pick up any new comics between 2001-2003. It was only in September last year that I started reading new comics again, and I have to say, I have never been happier with the state of the comics industry. Currently, we have the largest variety available to us of quality books...ever! It's just a matter of finding the book for you. Books like Y - The Last Man, Fables, Sleeper, Invincible (Best Super-Hero book, imho), JSA, Conan, Abadazad, Birds Of Prey, DC - The New Frontier, My Faith In Frankie, Planetary, Superman/Batman, Superman - Secret Identity, and Noble Causes...to name but a few. Each book is meant for a wide variety of people to enjoy, and I find myself buying over 20 titles a month now because of the high quality of books on the market today. In short, just because you've finally grown tired to your old favourites, doesn't mean you have to let go of comics...it just means you have to find new favourites.

[Ricky]

double post

[raul grau]

Originally posted by Junkyard
A mentality develops when you collect things... Once you start a collection, and it grows, the toughest thing to do is stop buying after issue #30 because the story is not as strong as it was. Maybe by #36 it will be back on track and better then ever! You just don't know!

I completely agree with your diagnosis, Junkyard, and I think we all (to varying degrees) show signs of the symptoms. I know at one point in my life, I had to buy every issue of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and X-Factor, and Darkstars, and so many more, simply because I had enjoyed the first few issues. Did I ever bother to evaluate the newer issues for quality, or at least compare then to the first few issues I had actually enjoyed? Of course not, though what I did do was pay any exorbitant price at a con for a copy of any issue I had missed because my local newsstand had sold out. What does that leave me with now? Several thousand back issues that I am not entirely sure I had ever liked reading in the first place (some of which I must not have read then at all, because if I had, I surely would have stopped).

Joel, for me it is never a slow shift that alter my opinions, it always comes in a sudden burst (though I am still a major Major League fan... Yankee Stadium is still right where it always was, despite the questionable behavior of the players). After roughly 15 years of reading, Marvel made me laugh (well, cackle madly) with Onslaught, while DC slapped me upside the head with a horrible continuity mess in the Kingdom. If only one or the other had come along, then my status quo might have continued, but both in the same time period put the camel in traction. Luckily for me, I had already begun reading the peripheral titles (and was a Vertigo fan before there was a Vertigo :)), so dropping the mainstream left me with a few titles to follow.

Only now (more than 20 years after I started) am I putting my feet back into the mainstream water, but I swear that one bad arc, one ridiculous new writer put on a book, one terrible logic shift, and the book is dropped this time. I may actually bring myself try out an X-title in a few months when Whedon starts his run... wish me luck. :)

- Raul... do I sound frustrated? :)

[Dylan McKay]

Originally posted by Ryan Day
Really, just go to Oni's website (http://www.onipress.com) and read up on their titles -- it's all good. Ditto for Slave Labor (http://www.slavelabor.com). They both publish a pretty diverse line of books; if you can't find something that looks interesting, there's probably no helping you.

Not much that seems up my alley, too many teen drama(dy)s. But I will be ordering Dr. Radium Battles Phill, King of the Pill Bugs.

[Post]

I am one who has to agree with that the problem is that comic fans are afraid of change. I remember I had been collecting comics for about two years and then they go and kill Professor X. I had heard about it comming but not much of the detail. I have to admit I was young and ignorant about comics but this devestated me. Everything I knew was ending and something new was taking it's place. Age of Apocalypse turned out to be one of my favorite stories to read.

Maybe im just old and don't have that innocence anymore but it has been a long time since I really felt passion about comics. When Morrison took over X-Men I felt something again, I did not like it at first but then I realized he is making me care too bad that only lasted a short time.

[Joel Phillips]

Originally posted by Radiate
I gotta ask though,i've seen you lurking around the X-Men threads i was just wondering are you not interested in the X-Men anymore?

I still lurk because I still mod those forums. Am I still interested? Not enough to buy anything, no. But the great thing about these boards is that, if I do happen to find myself suddenly curious about what the X-Men are doing these days, I can find out without having to spend money on it.

And what titles do you currently collect,so i can get some type of perspective.

I'll address my personal tastes in future columns. I specifically avoided getting into it here because I wanted to make the larger point: it's all about personal taste, which is different for everyone. This column is a call to anyone who is reading things that aren't working for them anymore. It's a big industry out there... we all deserve to be reading things that work for us, whatever that might be.

Originally posted by Ryan Day
Hmm. I feel like I should be owed royalties or something. Joel, gimme 15% of whatever you were paid for this column. :)

What's 15% of diddly squat again? I think it's zippola... damn metric system... ;)

[Ricky]

What got me back into comics was the first TPB of Ultimates a few months ago. I've been hanging around the fringe for years, buying an occasionaly odd comic book now or then, but I never got back in any mayor scope since I stopped collecting Amazing Spiderman 10 years ago.
I got into Manga later on (to the degree that I'm majoring in Japanese Studies right now), but after having read Ranma, Inuyasha, Maison Ikkoku, Geo Breeders and Evangelion as far as released and others occationally, I lost Interest again.
A while ago, I discovered Essential X-Men and I dug into it, to the extend, that I can't wait for #5 (or 6-10, either). The reason for that is simple: When X-Men were published in Germany 10 years ago, we got issues from around the time of Phoenix Reborn, with several holes in between stories. Reading about those characters again, in a continual way was great.
I tried to get back into Spiderman, too, but failed completely, due to the fact that there were several books out, refering to or not refering to each other in most peculiar ways.

However, what really kept me from reading comic books on a regular scale any longer was the form ob publishing:
Individual stories were splitt up into single issues. In order to read a complete story, you had to either wait 6 Months, or you had to look for back copies (which is very difficult here in Germany).

I care about stories, not individual issues. The Ultimates TPB gave me a lot. For once, the Ultimates is really a great comic. It caught my attention quite fast. But the book was long enough to hold it, as well. There was some actuall character development, things happened. I don't get thet out of single issues anymore.
So, in a way, the TPB-format brought me back as well as the actual story.
Since then I have bought the complete Ultimates Continuity (except for the Team-Ups!). Ultimate X-Men bothered me from the beginning. I had read the complete Essentials about a year ago and everything I read in Ultimates seemed so wrong. Later on, the art became ridiculously bad, but recently, the titel got quite good. The current arc might me one of the best yet. The first two issues were amazing. (Go read ult X-Men 41, it's freaking comic art, if there ever was something like that).
Ultimate Spidey is quite nice, and FF might become a top title. Might.
So what's wrong with it? Well, nothing actually, except for the fact, that the first story arc is still unfinished. I said before, that I care about stories, not individual issues. And that's my big problem with comics at the moment.
I don't think any of these comics will hold my attention long enough for me to see the next story arc finish. Half a year for 1 single story is simply to long for me to wait. Well, of course, I could buy TPBs instead, but they are quite expansive and only available via Amazon in Germany.

Conclusion:
What drove me out of comics was probably most of all the slicing up of stories into monthly output. I'd probably buy a six-issues-story arc of Ultimates or Ultimate FF on a monthly basis, but I doubt I'll be kept interested into one measly issue per month.

[dopplegager]

i think that the problem with comics now is the constant rotation of artists and writers and a lack of creative freedom and also the cancellation of titles when they sell decently without promotion. Its not like they're losing money.

I used to wait impatiently for sal and chris to come out with an issue of xtreme because I thought that the series read like some of the old x-men titles. When they changed artist I thought the art was okay but I did not care for it. Then I started to get issues every two weeks. I liked getting one a month cause then I had to wait and wait and it made reading the issue more enjoyable for me.

Writers have to get every little thing approved now. The editors don't want to make very many big risks anymore or more specifaclly a certain editor-in-chief. During chris's first seventeen year run how many times did they ley chris take a risk.

[Ryan Day]

Originally posted by dopplegager
i think that the problem with comics now is the constant rotation of artists and writers

You have to remember, though, that writers and artists are human beings, and are prone to boredom. There are also many more opportunities and venues for creative expression now. There's absolutely no reason not to tell that great X-Men story you always wanted to do, then go off to work on a book where they actually own the characters they create. For the longest time, you could work for Marvel or DC or just go home. That's different now, and that's a good thing.

Besides, it's always better to change creative teams too early instead of too late.


Writers have to get every little thing approved now. The editors don't want to make very many big risks anymore or more specifaclly a certain editor-in-chief. During chris's first seventeen year run how many times did they ley chris take a risk.

You don't take risks with successful books, though; you take risks with failed properties. I assume you're referring to Quesada as the certain editor-in-chief, and I don't think you could be more wrong: Post-bankruptcy Marvel produced some of the most original and daring books I've ever seen from the company. Ennis on Punisher, Milligan & Allred on X-Force, Morrison's X-Men, the Max imprint... Tons of great stuff.

But Marvel is back on its financial feet, now, so there's no need to experiment, or do anything new. They can just sit back and churn out recycled and regurgitated product, until people stop buying the books and they have to be rejuvenated again.

[wyzeguy]

The one comic I absolutely can't wait to read every month is currently in my signature. Yep, Fantastic Four. It's exciting, true to the characters, fascinating, and it keeps trying new unexpected things, which is exactly what it should be doing. Mark Waid has completely turned this book around, and he's improved with each issue, making it the most compelling take on the Fantastic Four I've ever seen.

#2 is Ultimate Spider-Man, as one of the most consistently-great reads around (along with quite possibly the most consistent writer/artist team in current comics). I'm not as hopelessly addicted to it as I am to FF, but it's still something I look forward to.

[LoganBane]

I still collect and read every issue about the characters I've been reading about since 1984. This change and some things have happened that I didn't really care for. But to use the same analogy I don't give up on the Denver Broncos no matter how bad they do or how the roster changes.
Do comics still hold the same effect on me as they did when I first started reading no...but I've grown up.
Someone one these boards said that people had out grown the stories, comics in general. I kinda thought of that. Comics give me a story that good or bad I was a part of in some way. I don't give up beacuse I still care. Not for the same reasons I used to, but for the one's I came to discover as I kept reading.

[Arachne]

Originally posted by Vector


Perhaps you might be interested to know that Rachel Summers is back?

I am HUGELY interested in the fact that Rachel is back. But I'm holding my breath. The title that got me into X-Men was Excalibur. I loved the friendship between Rachel and Kitty and I'm very disappointed that they aren't on the same team. So I'll be checking out the title (that's the great thing about doing the mags at Borders- I get to read all the comics before I put them out on the stand!) but I'm going to wake and see.

[Roguefan]

My favourite comics? Hrmmmmm, if you had asked me that nearly two years ago, I would have sait that, without a doubt, the comic that does it for me evertime was Gunsmith Cats. Admittedly, at the time, we had no comic shop so by necessity I only used to get two titles - GSC and Oh My Goddess. I used to look forward to getting them both every month - but it was always GSC that I'd read first. So, as you can imagine, I was devastated when I found that Kenichi Sonoda was finishing it up. I mean, what would I do now. Thankfully, Oh My Goddess filled the void left by GSC almost immediately. But now, two years later, when we actually have a comics shop that I can walk into week after week and buy comics - well, I've yet to find a book that fills the void almost as comfortably as both of the above. I'm still getting Oh My Goddess and still enjoying it but by grab-bag has steadily increased. The comics that I look forward to reading these days are Oh My Goddess, without a doubt, Xtreme X-men, Emma Frost and Supreme Power. I've also just recently gotten into DC and I've got a few DC comics that I look forward to every month - specifically Wonder Woman and Y: The Last Man.

Before, I wouldn't have been seen dead buying a superhero comic, but thanks to the first X-men movie, I got into them in a big way. And when I heard that Xtreme X-men and New X-men were going where they were going at the time, I decided that now would be as a good a time as any to jump on the showboat. Unfortunately, after MATM, New when down hill, but Xtreme kept going onwards and upwards to the point that, every time it came out it, along with Emma Frost, it always found it's way to the top of my read pile.

However, with reload imminent, I must admit, I have some reservations towards picking up the X-titles afterwards. Sure, CC is writing two books but in my minds eye I can see a re-run of the 90's (admittedly again, most of which I read in TPB format and in Essential X-men). After the wondrous things that has been done in both New and Xtreme, I really can't see the logic in returning to the 'Dark Ages'. But I will give them a try and see what happens.

But where does that leave me and my reading habits? Well, I can still look forward to the DC titles that I'm reading and, with the debut of Sonodas latest work, Cannon God Exxaxxion, in the pages of Super Manga Blast, for me the future isn't looking as bleak as it is now. But what about Marvel? Well, I can see myself reading the character titles, such as Mystique, Emma Frost and She-Hulk - possibly Acadamy X: New X-men, and Excalibur. But what about the remaining titles - all I can do is wait and see, I guess.

[Justice Daye]

There are only 4 modern comics I'd recommend to anyone:
Wildcats, Sojourn, Outsiders, and Fables.
I enjoy others, but I get horribly excited reading these.

I read X-Treme which seems a bit watered down. CC was forced to do more "modern" stories than the style he was great at, though "Invasion" made me believe in all things comic again and realize why he was so popular in the first place.

Spidey is getting me back after making me grow to hate everyone involved with it (Except Pete) because of the MJ debacle.

Green Lantern is dragging, but there's a new guy coming on board, Geoff Johns (I'll be skipping GM's issues). I he doesn't cut it, then I'll be saving myself some change.

I plan on getting Astonishing and Uncanny next month and maybe Academy X with a little Exiles and Excalibur. Hopeully, they'll always be at least one good x-books around.

I'm also considering Metabarons if I can find it.
Any recommendations for any non-marvel books or any just of the beaten path???

I become so discerning when I became frustrated with NXM (I've never grown to not care about every character in a book faster, so I dropped it around 123 and never looked back). Comics were like books to me and NXM wasn't and I realized how detail-less and hollow and self-gratiying some books had been as well as and I dropped them all. I didn't, can't and won't tire of an entire medium or genre (I never thought I could like a book like Sojourn). I tire of crap. I tire of unimmersive, shallow stories about characters I don't know anymore, about rehashed ideas dressed up all shiny-like like hookers on a friday night. There is one thing in stories that I will never tire of; passion, something many stories these days lack. There was never an issue of any o the books above except mybe GL that didn't have passionate and zealous characters that were...well alive. I know them almost and can feel many of their struggles myself. But, the world doesn't revolve around what I like, so from now on when the movie on the screen changes to something that I no longer want to see, I don't waste away griping. I calmly and a bit sadly, change the channel. Maybe when the schedule once again swings my way, I'll return, but until then I'll be thinking soft, sweet thoughts of what was and what can be.

[mauer01]

Originally posted by Nalyd Psycho


My theory is maybe you've grown out of the comics you once read. I can't see how anyone can grow out of comics when so many comics are not for kids. Are you reading Vertigo and Wildstorm?

That's probably it because I do still enjoy comics like Supreme Power, Y: The Last Man, and Fables. I recently picked up the first Negation TPB and Negation War (Though I'm holding on reading the War until I've read Negation). I WILL be checking out Astonishing and perhaps Uncanny or Excalibur and I'll DEFINITELY be collecting Exiles as it's probably the only X-book that I haven't lost interest in lately. SO I guess there's still hope...maybe I can just save myself some money every week by buying a lot less.

[Paul Shinn]

Originally posted by Tan K.
Jeez, I guess some of us were unintentionally exposed to the same radiation because I am going through the same thing right now.

Amen to that! And here I was thinking it was just me who was feeling this way. Glad to know I'm not alone.

As for the titles which do get me excited these days... hmm, that is actually a tough call.
I'm not actually reading that many titles these days, but here's a run down on my thoughts of the ones that I do part with money for:
I enjoy Bendis' Daredevil a lot... except it reads a lot better as a complete arc, rather than individual issues.
I really liked Morrison's New X-men, but sadly now that that's finished, I can find little to excite me in the X-universe...
X-Statix...I'm giving this title it's final warning. Milligan's X-force was a definite "must read" title for me, but sadly, since the relaunch, it's been going steadily downhill. There are still some nice observations and character moments in amongst the main story, but if the upcoming Avengers arc fails to impress then I'll be dropping this title.
Ultimate Spider-man is the one Ultimate title I continue to buy, although I'm collecting the tpb's rather than the individual issues as I really don't like the paper quality of the Ultimate comics. This is the Spider-man I want to read about, not some half-baked mystic mumbo-jumbo!
On top of this, admittedly rather small collection, I'm also currently picking up Chosen and Wanted by Mark Millar, both of which are fun, entertaining books.
There are other books I wouldn't mind trying, but at the moment I can only stretch to a meager selection.
Still, I'd say that I do "enjoy" all the books I buy each month.

[DiamondPaladinX]

I don't think I could fit into being tired about comics considering I've only collected them for two years, and the first couple of months it was like one or two titles a month. With what I've seen with others, there's so much tension about what has occured to comics, so much acknowledgement about the medicroe state the continuum is at the moment. And maybe it's just my naiveness inregards to quality and what really does suck.

I can't tell which one's don't work for me. The biggest measure I've token is buying UXM momentarily, like once every other issue. Though I do know the titl-wait, check that, stories that I do aim for. My favorite series at the moment is Supreme Power, which really everyone needs to read. That series I make damn sure I get every issue because if keeps such a great pace that you yourself feel compelled not to miss an issue.

And from what I've gathered about the quality of a comic is its ability to keep you captiviated so you can always come back for more, even during the low-brow periods.

[Radiate]

Originally posted by Joel Phillips


I still lurk because I still mod those forums. Am I still interested? Not enough to buy anything, no. But the great thing about these boards is that, if I do happen to find myself suddenly curious about what the X-Men are doing these days, I can find out without having to spend money on it.



I'll address my personal tastes in future columns. I specifically avoided getting into it here because I wanted to make the larger point: it's all about personal taste, which is different for everyone. This column is a call to anyone who is reading things that aren't working for them anymore. It's a big industry out there... we all deserve to be reading things that work for us, whatever that might be.


Ok,cool thanX for the reply Joel;)

RADIATE!

[Alex Groff]

I think this really hit the nail right on the head for a lot of us. I stopped reading X-Men between Zero Tolerance and Ages of Apocalypse, and it took a friend dragging me to a small press expo to get me back into comics (hence my prediliction for all things small press).

As for stories, I tend to follow creators more than anything else. Sometimes you can learn what to expect from a small press publisher (Everyone makes the comparison that you can't judge a Miramax film by the studio because they make such a variety of things, but, conversely, if you by an artist off Warp Records label, you know what you're getting. I agree with the logic-- but it only holds to a certain point).

As for creators, I've been wildly impressed by Scott Morse, by Jim Mahfood, by Troy Little, by Andi Watson and Jeff Smith. I'd recommend them without reservation. I read just about anything by Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, Bill Sienkiewicz and Joe Casey, and there are many more creators that I'm willing to give a try when they start a new project. (Willingham didn't interest me with Fables, but I really enjoyed his The Sandman Presents miniseri; likewise, Warren Ellis has me with Planetary, Transmetropolitan and most of his new graphic novel work, but his Avatar work and pop comics just didn't do it for me, Two-Step aside.)

A lot of times, my theory is to try one new book a week, if I have any money leftover. Most of the things I've found, I found simply because I had an extra $3. Liberty Meadows, Jane's World, How Loathsome, Channel Zero, Dumped and Private Beach were all small press books that I picked up, with zero expectations, simply because I always want to find something new. I borrowed Bone from the library. The worst that can happen is that you blew $3-- the best is that you find something that will keep you excited and interested in good stories.

Great column Joel. Does this mean you'll be pimping more small press?

[Joel Phillips]

Originally posted by Alex Groff
Great column Joel. Does this mean you'll be pimping more small press?

Eventually. I'm like two, three weeks into this new mindset at this point, so I'm still wet behind the ears. But in this case I see that as a good thing. There's no shortage of experts on small press comics who could talk about them, but I'm right where many of my readers are: new to this area of comicdom and uncertain about what I might find. I'm hoping that letting my readers follow me through the discovery process will demystify the experience and inspire some other people to give it a try.

[Nick Costanzo]

Hmmm....

Wildcats 3.0
Ultimate Spiderman
the Ultimates
and Supreme Power...

Those are the only four that really really excite me anymore. Sometimes the Authority does it too. But yeah... compared to a few years ago, I buy a lot fewer comics, and I wish I could say its because my tastes have just changed, but in reality the comics I used to love just aren't being written well anymore.

[Dylan McKay]

I have a question, how does one get aquainted with Small press comics? I find comic shops near me ship very little Strangers in Paradise is the only one that gets a decent amount of copies(And it has a nasty mark-up to Canada.), So it's hard to do a flip through and see. I'd have to rely on websites and previews, and well, that scares me...

[Alex Groff]

Nalyd Psycho: probably the best thing to do is find websites that provide multipage previews of issues. Image Comics provides 5 page previews for the majority of their comics; Top Cow is offering two issues of Proximity Effect for free online, in hopes that people will by the graphic novel that includes those issues. Dreamwave is always sending us 5 page previews of their different books, which we post in the Press Box. A growing number of writers are providing previews on their websites. Troy Little has previews of each issue of Chiaroscuro on his website www.meanwhilestudios.com, while Scott McCloud has free webcomics on his website www.scottmccloud.com. The webcomics are not in his books, but they give you a sense of his style.

What I'm trying to see here at COMIXFAN is increase the number of previews and interviews that we carry, at least on the small press end. We recently had Lee Ferguson's Freaks previewed (which I take no credit for), an interview with the creators of Teenagers from Mars and we're talking to other small press companies and creators to increase their exposure. Its hard-- even for me-- to commit to a book three months in advance with no knowledge about it except for a one-paragraph synopsis in Previews. And it's equally difficult for small press creators to attract attention to their work when a lot of shops don't carry a variety of books. And it's difficult for shops to try books that they don't know anything about the books, to know if they'll sell. So what we are trying to do is help readers see other options, help creators get more exposure, and improve the relationship between creators and readers.

Two more ideas. The first, which you seem to have already picked up on, is to read reviews and follow the longbox thread about "what comics should I buy?" If you have similar tastes to a reviewer or poster, then what they recommend gives you a sense of something you might take a chance on. Second idea: if you liked a book (ex., Demo), you might want to look at more books by the creators or publisher (ex., Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan or AiT-PlanetLAR). Small press publishers tend to publish a certain style of book, style being different than genre. For example, Oni publishes romance, horror, action, coming-of-age, slice-of-life, espionage, et&c-- but they all share a certain style, or attitude, that is unique to Oni. I don't know a better way to explain it than that.

Hope that helps. I'm glad you enjoyed Demo.

[Dylan McKay]

I already readily follow Image's previews. I'm buying Phantom Jack and Alternation from them and just picked up Noble Causes: Extended Family and Cloudfall. I'll also be trying Walking Dead based on a review. They really are setting themself up as the elite indy publisher.

Good call on looking up what the creators do. I really liked Wood's work on Gen-X, especially the four issue arc where he got to plot as well. The Chamber issue of that arc remains one of my favourite X stories, so I'll look into what else he does. Should probably check out AiT-PlanetLAR's website, see what they got.

Next questions: Any indy publishers you know of with an off-beat random sense of humour? (Pythonesque or Transmet style)

[SuperGirl]

I'm just a baby comic fan.
Been reading them for a year now.
They all excite me to some degree because I'm so new :) . Recently I read "Dark Knight Returns" and it really changed my perspective on Batman... and Superman for that matter.

[dizfactor]

Originally posted by mackaybear
Modern comics fans seem to have been &quot;trained&quot; to like and want frequent tearing down and rebuilding cycles. Whether a &quot;change &quot; is needed or not. I'd use the Avengers upcoming revamp as an example. It wa a good book that just needed a good writer. Now it's going to be &quot;shaken up and rebuilt&quot;.

Creators jumping from title to title doesn't allow for character development. We mostly now just think &quot;well how long willl this last&quot;. Even if it is a direction we like. We know it's not long for this book.

but how long does it have to be? two of the comics i've enjoyed most recently are Mark Millar's Superman: Red Son and Grant Morrison's New X-Men. both of them involved recognizable licensed superhero characters in new and interesting situations. one was an Elseworlds limited series, and one was a run on an ongoing title, but, really, as far as i'm concerned, they're both reasonably self-contained stories, with beginnings, middles, and endings, and i don't really need them to be any longer than they are in order to enjoy them.

i like the X-Men characters, and the Superman characters, and lots of other characters besides, and i'm happy to see good new stories with them, but i no longer reasonably expect to see all of them in good stories every month. these days, i'm quite happy to leave ongoing titles when i don't like what's going on and come back when they get interesting again. if they never get interesting again... well, i'll always have whatever stories i liked in the first place. whatever stupidies get inflicted on what GM did in NXM during the Reload aren't going to affect NXM for me, anymore than Highlander 2 affects Highlander.

--------

what stories am i liking right now?

- i'm totally addicted to Star Wars: Republic. really solid storytelling.

- i've finally started getting into Runaways because of all the good word-of-mouth. damn. i so should have jumped on this earlier.

- i was reading Superman/Batman because i liked the interaction between the two, but the storyline got really dumb, really quickly. i may come back to it, though.

- looking forward to the Superman and possibly the Avengers relaunches.

- also looking forward to Warren Ellis taking over Ultimate Fantastic Four. it's a good match.

- i love X-Statix, but it's losing a bit of steam.

- i'm trying to get back issues of Shade: the Changing Man.

[seth_raditz]

hmm. none of my monthly titles really excite me at the moment. i guess i'm just hoping that something will happen to make them interesting again.

i don't think i'll ever not love the x-men. i grew up with them. they are a part of me now. but i do think as i'm getting older and a bit (tiny bit) more mature i should be able to branch out and read other titles from (gasp) other companies.

i read in DC's July Previews that Hush is going to be released in TPB format. thought i would pick that up as all my DC friends recommend it. never know, i might be converted, but somehow i doubt it! ;)

marvel for life.

[Zach Kinkead]

Originally posted by seth_raditz
i read in DC's July Previews that Hush is going to be released in TPB format. thought i would pick that up as all my DC friends recommend it. never know, i might be converted, but somehow i doubt it! ;)

No, HALF of Hush is coming out :rolleyes:

You might as well hold out for the whole thing

[Alex Groff]

Originally posted by Nalyd Psycho
Next questions: Any indy publishers you know of with an off-beat random sense of humour? (Pythonesque or Transmet style)

All publishers have some humor books, so it's a matter of decided which slant you like. AiT-Planet LAR publishes some offbeat humor and some quality serious books. The Annotated Mantooth is pitched as "What if Bond was a gorilla and Ian Fleming was drunk the entire time he wrote 'From Russia With Love'?" It's one of the funniest books I've read. Sky Ape, although I haven't read it, is based on a similar theory, albeit by a different writer/artist team.

(On the other hand, if you like Demo and more serious comics, I'd recommend Joe Casey's Codeflesh, which I think of as a Batman story if the editors weren't involved. Its very dark, and basically looks at just how disturbed you'd really have to be to put on a mask and beat up supervillains every day.)

Oni also has a fairly off-kilter kind of humor, although it's more poppy. If you like Mike Allred or Pete Milligan, this might be more to your liking. (Blue Monday, which has a new miniseries starting soon, is carefree and very funny.) When I think of Oni, I always think of "hipness, in an Andy Warhol kind of way." I can't really explain it, but there it is.

And SLG. I don't like SLG-- but that's because of a difference in taste, not quality. I'd certainly recommend checking out Ryan Day's review of BEAR (in the reviews forum, appropriately enough). SLG is known as the goth publisher, and they do have a goth slant, but a lot of their books are quirky and funny. (Goths, as a whole, really aren't as depressing as they look, which I've always found ironic.)

Hope that helps.

[Dylan McKay]

I have to check out the Annotated Mantooth, that sounds too good.