Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Your Current Pull List

Always interesting to see where your current Pull List is, Lardy.

I've also thought long and hard lately about my own pull list and how satisfied I am with the various comics I've been getting month-in and month-out. It ties into two things we've discussed often (with others): (1) many series are just more satisfying when read as trades. And (2) many of today's comics, regardless of whether they are superhero comics or another genre all together, just don't have a lot of the same narrative & storytelling devices that past generations of comics have had that make them not quite as satisfying a read. It's hard to explain exactly what I mean.

So like you, I've cancelled Lazarus. I might try to get back to it one day in the trade format, but it's felt a bit like a chore to keep up on a monthly basis, even if after I've read the issue I feel like it was pretty good. I've done the same for East of West and Mice Templar--the latter being a series I've stuck with for like 7 years now.

I admit that Five Ghosts, Manifest Destiny and Velvet are all on the bubble as well, though I've chosen to keep them for now.

I did decide to just skip Bitch Planet and Ody-C outright after getting #1 of each. I liked them well enough but they just didn't do it for me in the way I'm looking for; perhaps one day I'll buy the trade if I get enough encouragement.

Three other series I'm collecting are ending eventually: Fables (in a few months), Mind MGMT (a few months after that) and Chew (in about a year and a quarter). And honestly, I'm glad all three are ending. I like them all quite a bit and they are all still rather good. But knowing they are ending is giving me a reason to hang on. If any of the three was open-ended right now, I might question going forward. Chew especially I've had a hard time getting enthusiasm for lately, even though I can't quite figure out why.

I dropped Prophet, which I was loving for a good two years, because it started to just feel like it wasn't going anywhere. That was hard to do but once I did, I instantly felt better.

I've been pushing the creator-owned movement hard for a few years now, and have enjoyed watching it grow leaps and bounds. But it's hit a point where I simply can't be reading and collecting everything as it comes out. So some hard choices have to be made on what gets bought on a monthly basis and what gets trade-waited (or even just never purchased altogether).

Another thing too is that for the last 7 or 8 years or so, I like many others have been a big proponent of other genres besides superheroes. But after so many years, I have to admit I'm getting the itch to read more superhero stories again. The excellent Flash television show and awesome Marvel movies have certainly helped. I'll pretty much pick up any great superhero series right now regardless of who publishes it. That's why I'm willing to give even DC and Marvel another chance to impress me. I *want* to collect good superhero series. Now if only people would make them.

That's the thing: there's not a sucky comic in the batch that I've dropped. They're all well-crafted and presented. But at the same time, they just feel like filler in my ever-growing and procrastinated new comics stack that currently dates back to October. And now, I'm finding my trips to the CBS becoming less and less frequent. At most, I'll go bi-weekly, but monthly is starting to feel more and more the desired frequency. At least, then, I know a lot of worthwhile books will be in to pick up, even if it'll actually be months before I actually read them. Ugh.

Meanwhile, I'm continually getting reading pleasure from the stack of trades and collections that I'm acquiring from eBay and elsewhere. Comparatively, there's just no contest between these and the monthlies for pure reading satisfaction. And, other than getting more complete stories, it's like you alluded to: modern comics generally lack the narrative and storytelling strengths that older books do.

In my eBay purchases, I get the best of the indie and superhero worlds with the storytelling that I really crave. It's hard for my months-old floppy stack to compete with that!

Regular Titles:-
Walking Dead, Chew, Astro City, Sex Criminals, Invincible, Lazarus - Image
B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien - Dark Horse:
Sixth Gun - Oni
Rachel Rising - Abstract Studio

Irregularly Released Titles:-
Stray Bullets - El Capitan
Lenore - Titan

Finite Series:-
Usagi Yojimbo: Senso, Groo Friends & Foes, HellBoy & BPRD 1952 - Dark Horse
Sirens, Wild's End - Boom!
Infinitus Saga (for the Legion) - DC

Titles that look likely to make the pull list:-
Saga, Copperhead - Image

Summaries are over on the random review thread.

Regular Titles:-
Walking Dead, Chew, Astro City, Sex Criminals, Invincible, Lazarus, Copperhead - Image
B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien - Dark Horse
Sixth Gun - Oni
Rachel Rising - Abstract Studio

Irregularly Released Titles:-
Stray Bullets - El Capitan
Lenore - Titan

Finite Series:-
Groo Friends & Foes, HellBoy & BPRD 1952, Goon: Once Upon a Hard Time - Dark Horse
Sirens, Wild's End - Boom!
Infinitus Saga (for the Legion) - DC

Titles that look likely to make the pull list:-
Saga, Wytches - Image
Star Wars - Marvel

Removed
Usagi Yojimbo: Senso- Mini Finished

Top Regular Reads

El Capitan - Stray Bullets
Image - Walking Dead, Chew, Astro City, Invincible, Sex Criminals, Lazarus, Copperhead
Marvel - Star Wars
Abstract Studio - Rachel Rising
Oni Press - Sixth Gun
Dark Horse - B.P.R.D.

Top Limited Series Reads
Dark Horse - Mister X, Big Man Plans, Baltimore, Groo
Boom! - Sirens

Titles that I'm looking at
Image - Shutter, Saga, Invisible Republic, Wytches

My annual June 16 pull list update, one day late...

DC, Vertigo, Wildstorm
FABLES (only 1 issue left)

Marvel
SECRET WARS (only 5 issues left)

Image & Others
EAST OF WEST
MANHATTAN PROJECTS
MIND THE GAP (if it ever comes out again)
MORNING GLORIES
SAGA

Trade Paperbacks
C.O.W.L.
SEX CRIMINALS
THE WALKING DEAD
THE WICKED + THE DIVINE
THE WOODS
TREES

Have you considered getting a trade of The Woods Ken?

Oh sorry, I couldn't see The Woods for Trees there.

>ahem<

Good list. Some there I'll really have to take a look at.

Since I switched to digital, I don't have a "pull list" the way I used to. This has saved immensely on expenses, but I do miss the comic book shop interactions. Since Marvel and DC went into epic crossovers constantly, I had stopped picking up a bunch of stuff prior to the digital switch.

I do still have stuff I regularly pick up & read:
Midnighter (shockingly fun new direction)
Grayson (also fun)
Astro City (ye gods, this book is awesome)
Secret 6
Fables
Saga
JLU
We Are Robin
Sex Criminals

Still unsure about continuing with:
Cyborg
Martian Manhunter
Omega Men

As of today, I have no pull list.

I went to my local comic book store, purchased what was in my box and then cancelled all my subscriptions.

This had been coming for a long time. I haven't been happy with the state of comics since the New 52 started four years ago. My two favorites, the Justice Society and the Legion, are both long gone. There was no joy. There was no excitement. I went to the comic book store almost to fulfill an obligation.

In super-hero comics, I was always DC-only. I never read Marvel. The characters I loved were all in DC's stable. I read a few non-super-hero titles (Kaboom's Peanuts, for example), but not many.

This isn't the first time I've quit comics. I stopped reading them for about three years in my teens. Then I didn't read them (except for an odd issue here and there) from about 1994 to about 2003, basically missing the reboot-era Legion.

Will I ever start reading them again? Perhaps. If DC revives the JSA or the Legion, I'd certainly be interested; but for now, I will now be saving some money and not bringing more clutter in the house.

Well done, Rocky.

I've been in and out of comics at several points in my life. The longest without comics was from 1997 to 2004 (except for, like you, the odd issue here and there.)

Currently the only floppy I'm reading is Jem (which is wonderful).

Congrats, Rocky!
It's a difficult, but productive, act

Thanks, Fanfie and Andy.

I had been mulling this over for a long time. My mom also had a pull list for the Archie comics of which she's been a faithful reader for pretty much her whole life. She asked me to close hers out because she wanted to save a little money. I took that as my cue to make the same decision.

My own list continues to shrink now that Fables and Fairest are gone. What's left:

Astro City (the only super-hero book I get)
Manhattan Projects
Providence (bought this sight unseen. Hope I'm not disappointed)
Saga
Sandman Overture
Stephen King's The Dark Tower.

I'm also picking up those huge Cerebus volumes that reprint the entire series. I have fond memories of getting the originals as they came out. Unfortunately, those seem to have disappeared from storage.

Doctor Fate
Gotham by Midnight
Grant Morrison's 18 Days
Justice League United
Nameless
Prez
Ragnarok
Sandman Overture
We Stand on Guard

(Possibly adding New Romancer when it starts, and curious about Heavy Metal once Grant Morrison assumes the EIC duties).

Nearly a year later, here is my latest pull list. It's now so small that I don't see any reason to bother grouping them by publisher....

Monthlies
Astro City
Autumnlands
Chew
Invincible
Manifest Destiny
Morning Glories
Paper Girls
Saga
Secret Six
Sex Criminals
Silver Surfer
Stray Bullets
Walking Dead
War Stories

Irregularly Published/On Hiatus
Afterlife with Archie
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
whatever the next Brubaker/Phillips collaboration is (a return to Criminal, I think?)

Definitely continuing by waiting for trades
Amazing Spider-Man
Southern Bastards
Star Wars


The Big Thing I decided to do was drop any and all Marvel monthly books (with the exception of Silver Surfer, which is just too good to wait on) and buy them exclusively as trades, if at all. I haven't decided whether to get the latest iterations of Hawkeye and Daredevil, titles I was loyal to in the past, in TPBs or not. A lot will depend upon word-of-mouth here and elsewhere.

Several books I liked have simply ended or run their course in the past year, like Fables and Sandman: Overture. Moving forward, I will be very reluctant to add new ongoings to the list versus waiting on trades, so the list is unlikely to grow in the foreseeable future. Exceptions would be books featuring creators I consider to be "money" like BKV.

I think there will always be at least a handful of books I'll never give up on monthly. Walking Dead, Saga, Astro City and most of the others left on the list will always be considered too good to wait on. But that's a shrinking list, my friends, especially with the $3.99 book being so much the standard.

My current pull list has actually grown in the past month. For a long time Astro City was the only book on it. Now...

All-New Inhumans
Astro City
Huck
Ms. Marvel
Superman: American Alien
Titans Hunt
Uncanny Inhumans

I also get Archie but haven't added it to the list yet.

Current list (My list seems to be in a constant state of flux, mostly because books just keep getting cancelled out form under me):

Ragnarok
The Discipline
New Romancer
Grant Morrison's 18 Days
Klaus
Faith
Art Ops
Doctor Fate
Swamp Thing (for now)
Legend of Wonder Woman

I neglected to mention the recent Archie relaunches. Though they were decent enough, I felt they just weren't worth the $3.99 price point. I don't quite get the rave reviews. Compared to the Afterlife and Sabrina horror books, they are just not that satisfying. Too bad those horror books have no release date on their next issues in sight.

Currently;

A-Force
All-New, All-Different Avengers
All-New Inhumans
All-New X-Men
Guardians of Infinity
The New Avengers
The Ultimates
Uncanny Inhumans

Titans Hunt

I'm probably going to ditch Guardians of Infinity and Uncanny Inhumans, at some point. I'm not really impressed with A-Force, either, for that matter, although I like the idea of it.

My pull list fluctuates from month to month, and honestly I'm grabbing so many I don't know what to say about it.

Always interesting to see your Pull! We discussed the Image series in that thread but I note a few things:

- you're getting ASM in trades--interesting! Has Marvel finally gotten their trade system right?

- I'm still not sure on either Daredevil or Hawkeye but I'm only an issue or two into each.

- I'm definitely still getting War Stories. Cinema Purgatorio as well.

- I'm enjoying the Waid Archie book immensely, but I did decide to stop getting Jughead as part of this recent move.

- Astro City is the lone Vertigo series I'm getting as well. Twilight Children had glorious art even if the story was really a bit WTF?. The last segment of American Vampire was a total chore to get thorough which was a shame.

- Silver Surfer started back up gloriously!

Also, I should note that another Marvel comic I'm enjoying immensely besides Silver Surfer and Amazing Spider-Man is Dr. Strange, which is by Jason Aaron and Carlos Pacheco. Probably the best take on the Doc in decades! Disclaimer though: you really have to dig Pacheco's art if you're going to like this series.

I'm enjoying Invincible Iron Man too, but I know Bendis isn't your cup of tea. But so far, it's been very enjoyable.

Oh, and Vision too, which I commented on in the Avengers thread. Very solid, but writer Tom King is ending his arc at #12 and at that point, I may jump off with him.

I'll let you know! But, yeah, I haven't gotten an ASM trade yet. I bought the first arc of the new launch, which I haven't read yet, and decided to get trades with the next arc.



Make sure you review both when you have a better feel.



What's Cinema Purgatorio? Is that another Ennis book? He's got a few random things out there like Code Pru (which I doubt is about Hummer Lass ), but it seems the only "on the money" thing he does these days is War Stories. Whatever Cinema Purgatorio is, I'd like to hear more!



I read the first issue of Archie. I still have a couple to read and the first issue or 2 of Jughead not read yet. But the first Archie didn't impress me overly, so I cancelled the lot before reading the rest.



I haven't read the last couple of issues, but the whole Second Cycle felt to decompressed. I really didn't feel the first volume ever had that problem.



I got the Last Days arc from eBay the other day. Looking forward to reading them and buying Surfer on a regular basis! (I read a review somewhere, though, that said issue 2 had a really bad ret-con of some sort. Have you read that one, yet?)


All in all, the cuts or switches to trades had largely to do with whether the individual issues were worth $4 apiece and if I could wait for them to be collected. I'm clearly becoming more of a collection reader, so I don't want to blow a lot of money on floppies every month just out of habit when I could blow it on perfectly good books that give you more bang for the buck. I'll always get some books in floppies, but that number is shrinking every year.

I'll keep all of these in mind, especially Dr. Strange, but I'm sure that any investigating will occur via trades.

And I'm pretty sure you mean Chris Bachalo, not Carlos Pacheco!

A-Force
Angela Queen of Hel
Captain Marvel
Mighty Thor
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
Ms. Marvel
New Avengers
Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat
Power Man and Iron Fist
Spider-Gwen
Starbrand and Nightmask
Vision
Web Warriors

Astro City
Batgirl
Clean Room
DC Bombshells
Doctor Fate
Gotham Academy
Legend of Wonder Woman
Poison Ivy
Red Thorn
Robin Son of Batman
Secret Six
Superman American Alien
Superman Lois and Clark
Survivor's Club
Titans Hunt
We Are Robin

Black Magick
Faith
Jem and the Holograms
Lumberjanes
My Little Pony Friends Forever
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic
Plutona
Puppet Master