Thoughts around reducing the monthly pull list

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 8:40 am

I don’t mean this to be a negative post, but with the economy being they way it is, my wife and I have decided to re-do our budget to reduce our spending and increase our savings, this includes how much I spend on comics. As people might be aware, I have been reducing my monthly pull list slowly anyway, but now I want to go from spending between $200 to $300 to only spending at on average $150 starting with my November order. Part of my problem was that since Countdown to Infinite Crisis and Civil War, I have been increasing the number of comics I have been getting without really dropping many titles and the publishers keep putting out new books. Plus, I have become addicted to trades and hardcovers, with half of my budget going towards those items. (Especially the Omnibus and Marvel Masterworks). The other thing is that my reading has not kept up with my buying. I think I have enough trades/ hardcovers to read for the next 12 to 18 months. I also haven’t kept up reading novels, since I have been buying so many comics over the past couple of years. And, of course, there is the space issue. The agreement that I have with my wife is that I have limited amount of space in the house for comics and that I will turn over parts of my collection. All of these things had led me to here, reducing my monthly pull list. So I thought I share my thoughts on how I decide what stays and what goes.

First, let start with what I have dropped already over the past few months:
Legion of Super-Heroes
Ms. Marvel
Incredible Hercules
Cable
Young X-Men
Wonder Woman
Batman Confidential
Brave and the Bold

Second, let me repeat my Top Ten list:
1) Batman
2) Action Comics
3) Justice Society of America
4) Green Lantern
5) Justice League of America
6) Daredevil
7) Captain America

New Avengers
9 ) Mighty Avengers
10) Thor

Ok, with that in mind, I feel that I have to get the current Superman crossover, the JsofA one-shots in November, Final Crisis, and Secret Invasion, especially since those “events” involves my favorite creators. Plus, Batman is being published twice in the month of November. As a result, I have dropped Trinity for sure. I can’t get every “weekly” book that the big two are publishing. I am keeping Amazing Spider-man as it is such an enjoyable book, especially with the current story arc.

I have decided to drop the Titans line of books starting in November. This is a hard decision since I have been getting the Teen Titans since issue 1, but I haven’t really loved the title in a long-time. And now they have spin-offs, which I think is a bad idea; I am dropping this title and the spin-offs. As a comic book fan for years, I exhibit the typical behavior of getting all related titles of the core book. It is hard for me to get one title and not the other, so I end of dropping all the titles.

On the other hand, I love the X-Men books right now, so I will continue to get a lot of the X-Men books. I even got the first issue of X-Men Manifest Destiny and even though it really doesn’t have a big impact on the core books, I really enjoyed the stories so I am going to continue to get this mini. I love X-Men Legacy so I am getting the crossover with Wolverine Origins.

I have been getting majority of the Ultimate titles since the line started. I have been enjoying Ultimate Spider-man since issue 1 and don’t want to stop getting that book. I am on the fence with Ultimate X-Men because I also have been getting the book since issue 1. I might wait until after 100 to determine if I keep it or not. I will be getting the Ultimatum.

One of the questions that either Bob or John asked me on the Comics Fatigue episode, if I start to drop titles, would I replace a dropped DC title with a new DC title, or would I replace a dropped DC title with a Marvel title or vice versa. Originally I responded that I would replace a DC title with another DC title and the same with a Marvel title. However, going through the list of comics, I realized that even though my top books are the DC books, I enjoy more Marvel comics than DC comics. In other words, I feel that the Marvel line as a whole is much stronger (in my opinion) than DC’s line. Therefore, I am replacing DC titles with Marvel titles.

I rather read Runaway, Eternals, and Iron Fist rather than Green Arrow/ Black Canary, Robin, and Batman/ Outsiders. I am keeping Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy for now. There is something very enjoyable about reading 2nd Tier characters as they are not bounded by the same rules that the 1st Tier characters are. And I feel that Marvel 2nd Tier characters are better written than the DC 2nd Tier books.

Quick notes:
I am stilling digging Invincible Iron Man and the Hulk.
The Secret Six is now on my list.
Superman is still on my list even after the crossover
Supergirl is temporary on my list because I want to try out the new creative team
Nightwing has never been this good so it stays
Detective Comics stays as well.

I am keeping Echo, Criminal, Kick-(bleep), and War Heroes. I will keep reading Madame Xandu until #6 and then continue to read it in trades. I prefer to read majority of non-super-hero titles in Trade format.

Sorry to ramble a bit on with this post, but I felt inspired to discuss my thoughts after listening to Bob and John’s episode on Top Ten Comics. I post my thoughts around which trades I get and when later.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 5:12 pm

I'm dropping more titles myself, but thankfully not because I have to for financial or space reasons. I'm also lucky that my wife has never issued me an edict to cut down my collection.

My latest cuts:

* Titans
* Simon Dark (even TimR has stopped getting this one)
* New Warriors
* Glamourpuss

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 10:43 am

After reading issue #13 & reviewing it on Weekly Comics Spotlight #057 (to be released on 9/22) I have successfully talked myself out of collecting Lone Ranger. #13 will be my last issue.......

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 1:02 pm

JLAFan wrote:After reading issue #13 & reviewing it on Weekly Comics Spotlight #057 (to be released on 9/22) I have successfully talked myself out of collecting Lone Ranger. #13 will be my last issue.......

I haven't pick on Lone Ranger as it was on my wait-for-the-trade list. I am looking forward to this week's episode. Depending on what you say, it might be off my list.

Dropping Titans is/ was a great idea. I feel that the book is a throwback to the 90s and I don't mean that in a good way. It is such a horrible book that it reads like fan fiction.

On a positive note, I was so glad I am keeping Guardians of the Galaxy on my list. Issue 5 was such a great book.

It seems that more and more, with the exception of books by Johns and Morrison, my DC books are at the bottom of the pile, while the Marvel stuff is on top.

Lord Shaper · Post by **Lord Shaper** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 1:09 pm

JLAFan wrote:I'm dropping more titles myself, but thankfully not because I have to for financial or space reasons. I'm also lucky that my wife has never issued me an edict to cut down my collection.

My latest cuts:

* Titans
* Simon Dark (even TimR has stopped getting this one)
* New Warriors
* Glamourpuss

How come you've dropped Simon Dark? I'm still loving the story and I'm glad that they haven't brought in the Bat for a numbers grab yet either.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:17 pm

Lord Shaper wrote: How come you've dropped Simon Dark? I'm still loving the story and I'm glad that they haven't brought in the Bat for a numbers grab yet either.

Somewhere along the line the title just lost my interest. When I'm reading a comic and a little voice in the back of my head starts saying "Geez, when will this comic be done?" it's time to jump off. I've found the story to be kind of slow, meandering, and not holding my interest for the last 3-4 issues. Just personal taste here, nothing terrible with the series, just has not gone in a direction that held my interest.

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 6:52 am

I just read Iron Man Director of Shield #33, which was supposed to be my last issue of this series. Unfortunately, Gage's writting and Chen's art has pull me back into the series

I have to send DCBS an e-mail to put the next two issues on my list and I will probably try out the new War Machine series in December.

On the other hand, Batman and the Outsiders #11 was a complete mess as it is a "RIP" crossover. Luckly this was the last issue that I pre-ordered.

ctowner1 · Post by **ctowner1** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:53 pm

JLAFan wrote:I'm dropping more titles myself, but thankfully not because I have to for financial or space reasons. I'm also lucky that my wife has never issued me an edict to cut down my collection.

My latest cuts:

* Simon Dark (even TimR has stopped getting this one)

I just got, but haven't read yet, the 1st Simon Dark TPB. Has the series had a substantial downflow in quality since the initial books?

e
L nny

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:36 pm

ctowner1 wrote:
JLAFan wrote:I'm dropping more titles myself, but thankfully not because I have to for financial or space reasons. I'm also lucky that my wife has never issued me an edict to cut down my collection.

My latest cuts:

* Simon Dark (even TimR has stopped getting this one)
I just got, but haven't read yet, the 1st Simon Dark TPB. Has the series had a substantial downflow in quality since the initial books?

e
L nny

Seems to have lost focus a bit after the 1st arc. Maybe it will read better in trade. Kind of *meh* as a monthly book. It's always at the bottom of my "to read" stack, which is a dangerous place to be when I get in a cutting-books mood.....

Lord Shaper · Post by **Lord Shaper** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:43 pm

JLAFan wrote:
ctowner1 wrote:
JLAFan wrote:I'm dropping more titles myself, but thankfully not because I have to for financial or space reasons. I'm also lucky that my wife has never issued me an edict to cut down my collection.

My latest cuts:

* Simon Dark (even TimR has stopped getting this one)
I just got, but haven't read yet, the 1st Simon Dark TPB. Has the series had a substantial downflow in quality since the initial books?

e
L nny
Seems to have lost focus a bit after the 1st arc. Maybe it will read better in trade. Kind of *meh* as a monthly book. It's always at the bottom of my "to read" stack, which is a dangerous place to be when I get in a cutting-books mood.....

On thing that I noticed that the first Arc only just finished with the end of issue 12 so the first 6 only gave you half the story.

I'm still loving it and wanting people to read it if you want someone else to give an opinion

comicm · Post by **comicm** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:28 am

I recently had an intervention of my own when I had to sort all of the comics I had not read yet. This totaled 12 long boxes of books.

4 indie long boxes
4 DC long boxes and
4 Marvel long boxes

I came to the shocking conclusion if I keep this up I will not ever get caught up. This exercise also made me kinda sad that I have gotten so far behind on such wonderful books. So the slashing has begun. I already removed approxately $200 dollars for my DCBS order and about $30 from my LCS.

I also decided to cut out all comic book magazines including Wizard, Comics Now, and Alter Ego

The only magazine left is Back Issue Magazine.

ctowner1 · Post by **ctowner1** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:15 am

Lord Shaper wrote:
JLAFan wrote:
ctowner1 wrote: I just got, but haven't read yet, the 1st Simon Dark TPB. Has the series had a substantial downflow in quality since the initial books?

e
L nny
Seems to have lost focus a bit after the 1st arc. Maybe it will read better in trade. Kind of *meh* as a monthly book. It's always at the bottom of my "to read" stack, which is a dangerous place to be when I get in a cutting-books mood.....
On thing that I noticed that the first Arc only just finished with the end of issue 12 so the first 6 only gave you half the story.

I'm still loving it and wanting people to read it if you want someone else to give an opinion

I do, Lord Shaper - and given what you've said about the 1st 12 issues making up a single arc, if I do like the 1st book, I will defintiely get the 2nd and then make a decision on further books after that. Thanks!

Also, what do you think of Bob's comment about it maybe reading better in trade - does that echo your own experience of the book?

e
L nny

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:33 am

Lord Shaper wrote: On thing that I noticed that the first Arc only just finished with the end of issue 12 so the first 6 only gave you half the story.

Agreed, there was a single theme to the 1st 12 issues, but I liked the 1st half a LOT more than the 2nd half. Maybe I just didn't care for the turn the story took in the 2nd part.

One thing I will say, is that this is the kind of story that I'd probably like more if:

1) They made it MORE connected to the DCU by putting in more officers from GCPD that we recognize from elsewhere

-OR-

2) If it was TOTALLY disconnected from the DCU

This whole "it's taking place in Gotham, but not any Gotham I recognize" just bugs me.

PS: I also thought the "demon soap" thing was kind of weak. Shades of Joker's Smilex from the 1st Burton Batman movie.....

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:41 am

comicm wrote:I recently had an intervention of my own when I had to sort all of the comics I had not read yet. This totaled 12 long boxes of books.

4 indie long boxes
4 DC long boxes and
4 Marvel long boxes

I came to the shocking conclusion if I keep this up I will not ever get caught up. This exercise also made me kinda sad that I have gotten so far behind on such wonderful books. So the slashing has begun. I already removed approxately $200 dollars for my DCBS order and about $30 from my LCS.

I also decided to cut out all comic book magazines including Wizard, Comics Now, and Alter Ego

The only magazine left is Back Issue Magazine.

You hit on a good point here, Mike. This is almost exactly why I started cutting also. I had lots of stuff that I was not keeping up with and always fell to the "read later" category. Some continuing series, but LOTS of mini-series that are disconnected from continuity. That's why I started my cuts there.

I agree with you on the magazines too. I cut Comics Now after issue 3. I stopped Wizard a long time ago. I never really got Alter Ego regularly, though I'll pick up an occasional issue when the topic seems interesting (last one I think I got was the Stan Lee one, #74 from about a year ago).

I should really think about Back Issue, though. I have them all but have not sat down to read one in 6 months.

That makes my only 2 magazines to be Comics Buyer's Guide & Rough Stuff (which I get more to look at the pictures than to read the articles, kind of like Playboy

)

Darth Kramer · Post by **Darth Kramer** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:58 pm

I'm doing another purge of my list soon, just because there are a few books that I'm buying and finding myself pretty apathetic about. The titles "on notice" are -

Manhunter
Thor
Skaar, Son of Hulk
Justice League of America

I recently cut She-Hulk, with #33 being my last issue. I couldn't stand the new art team.

X-Factor constantly fluxes between safe and "on notice". Let's hope that PAD can go uninterrupted for a while so this book can pick up a good momentum again.

Also, I'm hoping that the upcoming "War of Kings" crossover into Guardians of the Galaxy doesn't derail the story from what I thought I was getting like the Secret Invasion issues have. I really don't want to drop any book that features Adam Warlock and the Universal Church of Truth.