Thursday, May 27, 2004

My Tremendous Comic Order

In an idea stolen from Grotesque Anatomy, I decided that I'd take a look at what I order in a month of comics. So without further adieu, here is my May previews order. I'll be getting these comics in three months. Yay!

MILKMAN MURDERS #1
CONAN #6
CHOSEN TP
BATMAN #630
BATMAN THE ORDER OF BEASTS
SCRATCH #2
ACTION COMICS #817
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #630
SUPERMAN #207
SUPERMAN BATMAN #12
SUPERMAN BIRTHRIGHT #12
FALLEN ANGEL #13
IDENTITY CRISIS #2
OUTSIDERS #14
EX MACHINA #2
LOSERS #14
PHANTOM JACK #5
SWORD OF DRACULA #5
WALKING DEAD #10
UNCANNY X-MEN #446
ASTONISHING X-MEN #3
NEW X-MEN #3
X-MEN #159
EXCALIBUR #3
DISTRICT X #3
CABLE DEADPOOL #5
EXILES #49
WEAPON X #26
SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #17
VENOM #17
WOLVERINE #17
SUPREME POWER #12
NEGATION WAR #5
DRAGONLANCE THE LEGEND OF HUMA #6
GI JOE MASTER & APPRENTICE #3
GI JOE RELOADED #5
SYMBIOTES #1
TERRITORY 51 #1

So what do I notice when I look over this list? Well, first, that's a lot of titles that I order every month (and there's even a few series that didn't have issues solicited this month so they're not on the list). The other thing is that there are a lot of Superman and X-Men related titles. I really didn't know I got that many X titles, but I guess I must have been suckered in by Marvel's X-Men Reload event. I'm sure that a few of the X titles I'm getting will end within 8-14 issues, so when that happens my list will be cut down some.

As for the Superman titles, well, I've only within the last year or so really gotten back into liking the character. With the emergence of the tv show Smallville, Superman having some awesome creators assigned to his titles (minus Chuck Austen, of course), and him being Kristin's favorite superhero, he has become one of my favorite superheroes to read about, especially in Loeb's Superman/Batman title.

As for the rest of my titles, well, there are definitely some diverse titles, but the one thing they all share is that I think they're darn good. Walking Dead, The Losers, and Supreme Power are probably my three favorite reads month in and month out. I find it interesting that my favorite three titles are each from one of the big three.

The other thing I notice is that seven of the titles are mini-series. I've decided that in the future I'm not going to buy mini's anymore because I enjoy the ongoing format so much better. That should help cut down on the amount of titles I buy each month as well. I also don't really like mini's because a writer has to attempt to cram in everything they want to tell in 4-8 issues whereas with an ongoing things can take a long time to develop and, if you have a good writer, the longer development of the plot makes the characters and situations so much easier to relate to. Supreme Power is a perfect example of this. Over the first 7 issues or so there hasn't been much in plot development, but I feel like I actually know Hyperion.

So am I buying an extravagant amount of comics every month? In my mind, obviously not, but in my parents' it seems like I am. Even Kristin thinks that I spend a little too much each month, but I usually manage to keep my budget under $80 (this month cost me $82, but I bought two graphic novels which drove the price up) and I can usually do it using www.dcbservice.com. Hopefully I'll be able to justify my comic spending in the future when I can sell them off and maybe at least get back what I paid for them. That's really all I hope for in the long run. If not... *shrug* I enjoyed reading them and collecting them and that's what matters to me!

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