Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Am I over comic books?

I have a pile sitting in my reading area waiting to be read. I have LOTS of time on my hands.

Yet still they go unread. Including the last 2 Adventure issues before the current one.

Maybe it's time to drop everything except THE WALKING DEAD and LSH...

You need that one great story that inspires you and reminds you why you love them again.

I know how you feel Lash - the pile of books I'm interested in just keeps getting smaller and smaller. Occasionally, something like an Empowered volume will come out that I'll really enjoy, but the boost doesn't last, or spread...

It seems they only get read when WALKING DEAD or WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY come out... I read my favorites last, so when those come out that is when all the others get read.

MORNING GLORIES is still new and mysterious and has my attention, as does Young Avengers when it comes out. LSH is always a sentimental fave of course.

I honestly think I could drop all the others and not be worried about it.

Maybe I just need to have a good all-day sit-down read-athon in the sun room with a big glass of iced tea.

Lash, I know exactly what you mean. Over the past few years, the number of comics I buy has lessened a good deal. Most of that comes from this question: Do I really want to spend 3 or 4 dollars on something that lasts maybe 15 minutes?

The answer is, only if I really, really like it.

I was all excited about the revamping of the Legion, and also about Gail Simone returning to Birds of Prey. By the time those series came out, I found...I just didn't care. I have pretty much a complete run of Legion (except for a few very early issues) but I just can't bring myself to buy any of the new issues.

Right now, the only comic I am reading is Buffy, and it will end soon. I am wondering if I will even be visiting the CBS after issue #40. (Yes, I know they will do a Buffy - Season 9, but the resolution of the current series is so underwhelming I will finish the current series, but no more.)

I might be about done with comics, too...

Grant Morrison will save you, Lash, if you'd only let him.

Interesting. 'The Walking Dead' and anything LSH related are the only comics I am still reading... and the LSH stuff has come very close to being dropped several times in recent years. So, is it us that have changed or the comics? Or both?

There's still plenty of really outstanding titles out there. More and more, however, I'm finding that these are creator-owned series published either by Vertigo or by any number of indie publishers (Image, in particular, has had an outstanding batting average lately). There are a good number of terrific titles published by the Big Two, as well, but it's the indies, more and more, that are really firing on all cylinders.

Read the various review threads and see some of the great books we're talking about. Off the top of my head, some of the indies/Vertigos getting well-deserved pub (other than the already-mentioned Morning Glories and Walking Dead) are Chew, Turf, The Boys, The Secret History, Mystery Society, Scalped, Irredeemable, Atomic Robo, Invincible and Time Bomb. The list goes on and on.

Honestly, if you're not looking hard enough, you probably are just looking for an excuse to get out anyway. But the fact is that there's plenty of diverse and phenomenally awesome comics out there!

I go through phases - sometimes I think there is nothing worth reading in comics and I'm just throwing my money and time away continuing with the hobby. And then others, I'm really into it and can't wait to find out what's happening next in a particular story/character's 'life'.

One system I have developed which has made my comics-buying hobby a lot more bearable is to develop a zero-tolerance approach to crap comics (except for the Legion which my continued purchasing of Adventure Comics is testament to). This means if a series has two or at most three bad issues in a row - it's dropped!

Continuing to buy an awful book in the hopes that it will get better is like a comic-book cancer IMO since the resentment you have toward the writers/editors/publisher of that book(s) can spread to the hobby as a whole.

Keeping your pull-list relatively small but varied helps too IMO. I make sure to always buy a few non-DCU/non-super hero books (mainly in TPB - Walking Dead, Scalped, Unwritten), a good Vertigo book (Madame Xanadu), one or at most two books each from the Batman and Superman families (currently the JMS and Morrison ones - the latter being really very good at the moment), one or two team books (currently just The Legion for me - the Titans, JLA and JSA franchises would need some big shake-ups to get me interested in them again), one or two solo books that I feel good work is being done on (eg. Green Lantern), one 'event' type book (only if it is well-written) to stay up to date with the 'happenings' of the DCU (Brightest Day at the moment) and then one or two quirky/out-of-left-field series' or one-shots that I feel will give me something different to latch onto (the upcoming Ragman one-shot for example).

Keep your hobby diverse and manageable like that so that it's maintaining your interest and you're not spending too much money on it will probably go some way toward keeping the hobby alive for you.

I can't suffer from a comics-based-ennui as I haven't been able to really regularly read any titles in years due to no comic shop up here.

I think Lardy has it exactly right. There are a ton of EXCELLENT comic books out there right now, but you have to look for them in places you normally would not. Honestly, anyone depending on DC and Marvel them interested in comics is going to be dissapointed; I like to follow characters I loved my whole life too but the Big 2 have proven that they can never have more than 25% of their output be anything better than mediocre. There are good comics from the Big 2, but they're hard to find and often the best ones get canceled. I mean, sure, I like team superhero comics like everyone else, but I can't remember the last time a superhero team comics was so fantastic it made me excited like a 10 year old.

I think the independent publishers and Vertigo are where you need to go to find real quality, moving, exciting comic books right now. Lardy mentions a whole plethora of really great ones above and he only scratched the surface. For instance, if you're not reading Fables, you're doing yourself a real disservice and there is always time to catch up in trades, just like the Walking Dead. The quality of story & art being produced right now by these guys (and like Lardy says, Image in particular seems to be the real leader right now) is really impressive.

I'm someone who likes diversity of genre in my comics and I know everyone says that. I also know that there are people who read comic books for superheroes, and I can't blame them--I need a strong dosage of superheroes as well each month, it's why I started reading comics in the first place. But I can tell you, there are some pretty EXCELLENT superhero comic books out there, so do not despair! The superhero may not be one you have a nostalgic tie to, but I think if you gave it a chance you wouldn't be dissapointed. Green Hornet: Year One by Dynamite is probably the best street-level superhero comic I've seen in a long time. DC has some good comics that might not be everyone's cup of tea but I think you'll find something you like: Green Lantern, Flash, Booster Gold. And at Marvel, I'm really enjoying Fantastic Four, SHIELD and the Hulk comic books (anotther hint: if you see the names Jeff Parker or Fred Van Lente, it's probably excellent). So I think superheroes shouldn't be written off yet either.

But like Lardy says, expand your appetite to more independents and Vertigo and you'll be pleased. There is so much good right now in comics that I'm more excited now than I have been in over a decade.

I personally would not buy a comic that I didn't think was good. ZATANNA and WARLORD and SECRET 6 and BIRDS OF PREY and <insert title> are not bad comic books. They are good comic books.

So its not that I am buying comics I don't already like.

I get everyone's point about diversity. Unfortunately, my personal history with the VERTIGO line is spotty at best. I am currently reading (and enjoying) I ZOMBIE. And I never thought the day would come again when there were 2 IMAGE titles on my pull, like at present.

I am sure my vague dissatisfaction with most comics will pass.

But right now, if it weren't for WALKING DEAD and TRANQUILITY... I dunno.

FWIW, LASH, all I'm reading at the moment besides Legion comics is The Stuff of Legend, and whatever I can snatch up at the library. (I did pick up one Marvel mini-series recently, too.) When money's tight and books aren't all that affordable, I don't think that's a bad thing at all.

Also, the library's great for looking into stuff that has a lot of hype behind it, but that you're not sure you'll really like in long form. I now have a "reserve list" of stuff I'll want to own at some point, if my fortunes ever turn around-- thanks to the library.

I have SOOO wasted my time off by NOT going to the library. I really could kick myself. It's almost stupid not to go.

Do it!

That was a big solace to me when I was out of work. I'd grab a super-cheap lunch downtown with mr_cleome at a food cart, and then wile away the day at the main branch, which is a glorious place-- and just across the street from where he works.

Sadly, I had no luck getting my hands on most of the early Legion collections. Apparently they went out but never came back. [grumble] Lots of other goodies, though.

Pov reminded me on Facebook about my love of the current Doom Patrol. There's an issue in my stack and I got a little excited.

Yay!

I know what you mean LAsh. But I do like some of the stuff I am getting from DC at this point.

I, like I think you do, miss when comics were fun. Fun to read, and not a matter of dreading who was going to be killed or maimed this month. The Walking Dead being the exception...as you cannot wait to see what happens to them next.

I just read 3 comics.

Marvel Zombies 5 # 5 was really REALLY good.

I'm not over comics I guess.

I was kinda underwhelmed by the last 2 issues of WARLORD (which I finally read last night) although I did enjoy Grell's art.

So underwhelmed I almost set the rest of my stack aside-- instead, I chose to read the last 2 issues of the second RAWHIDE KID mini, but after doing a search for "Rawhide Kid" and seeing Cobie's decidedly negative review elsewhere in this forum, I'm a little a-scared to report that I enjoyed them.

It was silly goofy fun with NICE Chaykin art. All in all, though, I wondered what I else I could have done with the $16 I spent on it.

So I'm slOOOOwly moving through my stack. I came into some extra cash today and do plan on hitting the CBS this weekend. So that's good.

I picked up the Legion stuff today. Will read it and comment later, when I'm less tired.

I was floored (in a good way) to see that James Sturm has a new graphic novel out. Unfortunately it's way too rich for my blood right now, but I want iiiiit11!!! Sturm has been a fave of mine forever.

[sulk]

Eh. Maybe next month I can have it.

Not to rain on anybody's parade, but I had to share this:

I cancelled everything on my pull list.

I believe the final straw was when the DCU Legacies mini that I had initially championed so enthusiastically devoted an issue to Doomsday/Azbats.

I just can't take it anymore.

I'll still get Steve Bissette's comeback book and the next installments of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen whenever they all come out, but otherwise I've embarked on my second hiatus from the month-in/month-out thing. The first one lasted from late '97 to early '05. Who can say how long this one will?

Rise of Arsenal #4 was so bad it made me drop just about everything I picked up from DC. For about a couple of months.

Sorry, I love them too much and owe them too much to drop them now. If I really stopped caring about the characters I wouldn't be protesting so hard.

I was wondering what happened to you in that thread. You got me into that book and then ditched me!

I agree that the Bane/Doomsday issue wasn't the best but I've been enjoying that book enough to keep going the few issues it has left.

I certainly don't begrudge you for dropping it (or your other titles) though. My patience with comics these days is so thin that I give most books only one or two bad issues before I drop them. I do not have the time, money or inclination to continue buying things that don't bring me pleasure anymore.

Hope you stick around Legion World though.

Comic books have certainly gone through better times. I'm not buying much anymore, but a lot of that has to do with money, time and other priorities. I've been doing a lot of re-reading of books in my collection in recent years. That is keeping the hobby fresh for me since it's been years since I read some of these books.

Blacula, I'm definitely sticking around, I'm just more likely to be found at MMB than Gymll's these days. But that was very sweet of you. Thanks.

Jerry, I'm also re-reading old favorites as well as catching up on the good stuff that I missed during my first hiatus.