Print thread view Batman YTB - Fansite For Batman Comics, Toys, Figures, News and more! | GOTHAM BOOK CLUB | Batman Comics & Other Publications Author Trimming the Excess Off Darknight Posts: 1010 Location: NW Arkansas Joined: 26.06.05 Posted on 17-11-2005 19:03 I have reached a point where I need to drastically reduce my comic purchases. I am currently picking up about 20 ongoing titles. That doesn't even include the miniseries that I have been getting. First thing to do was to drop as many of the miniseries as I can get away with (Infinite Crisis is a necessity, but most of them can easily go away). Here is a rundown of what I have been picking up with my justification as to why I should drop it or keep it. Action Comics - Keep, core Superman title Adventures of Superman - Keep, another core Superman title, also currently well written All Star Batman and Robin - Lee and Miller have one more issue to give me a reason why I should care about a story that has had two issues wasted with events that could have fit in two pages of a comic. I might like the comic if something would happen. All Star Superman - Based on the first issue this is going to be a lot of fun. Morrison has written a great story characterizing Luthor and Superman really well. Batman - I've picked this up consistently since #491, it isn't going anywhere Gotham Knights - It is ending in around 3 or 4 issues so I should see it to its end. Birds of Prey - it can be a fun comic, but it just doesn't have the feel that it used to. I miss Ed Benes' art too. Detective Comics - That is like dropping Action, it is good to get, even though the stories have been off recently. Gotham Central - Also ending, one of the most original titles in a while, I'll see it to its end. Green Lantern - Another one that was just not really going anywhere. The stories were kinda cool, but not as much as I was really wanting. JLA - most rumors say it is ending with #125. DC hasn't confirmed it. If it is still around I will pick it up. JLA Classified - started out with a couple of great stories, but the recent one has just not been very good. The good stuff gets printed in a trade anyway, so I might as well drop this one. Nightwing - I have this going back to the special that was released before the miniseries, which lead to the current ongoing. It has drawn the mob and Nightwing story going to the bad guys story out way too long. I just don't enjoy it like I used to. Outsiders - It has been a really cool team book, but it has really lost the chemistry that was in the early issues. The rotating cast is a little annoying too. Robin - It is really hard to do this, but I want to drop it. I have every issue going back to the first (of 3) miniseries, then all the ongoing issues. Willingham has just had some really bad ideas that just do not fit what Robin was like in the early issues. Supergirl - Is it really that necessary to pick up? I haven't read #3, but it seems like she does more in other titles than she does in her own. Superman - definitely a keeper. Superman/Batman - Loeb has run a little stale, but I look forward to Verheiden's run. This title is just too fun to pass up. Teen Titans - This has had some really great stories, but it also has a little too much of the teen angst angle to it. I just can't see it as a necessary thing. Wonder Woman - I want to maintain picking up the core 3 heroes' titles, but this one is ending in February as well. I am sure it will come back in some form in a while, but that is another one tha tis going away. For now at least. Well that knocks my regular pull from 20 to 8 as of the end of February. These include: Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, All Star Superman, Batman, Detective Comics, JLA, Superman, and Superman/Batman Anyone see any reason why I should keep some of the ones I am going to quit. The closest is Teen Titans because Marv Wolfman is supposed to co-write an arc starting in February, but that isn't enough at this point. Thanks for any suggestions. Author RE: Trimming the Excess Off Drunken Fist Posts: 601 Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi Joined: 30.07.05 Posted on 18-11-2005 04:25 I pick up most of these books myself, and have regularly read the ones I don't still get. Here are my opinions on them, for what it's worth. "Action Comics - Keep, core Superman title"- Agreed. Despite Byrne's art not being what it used to be, the book has been a lot of fun. Their run is ending in a couple of issues, so whether or not it retains a spot in my pull list depends on the next team. I'd recommend picking up February's issue, at least, as all the Superman books that month tell the story of the Golden Age Superman on Earth 2. "Adventures of Superman - Keep, another core Superman title, also currently well written"- Again, I agree. I have tried the Superman books numerous times over the years, and they never have what it takes to maintain my interest. Count on Rucka to pull me back in, though. His work on this book has been very good. Not his best, but still very good. "All Star Batman and Robin - Lee and Miller have one more issue to give me a reason why I should care about a story that has had two issues wasted with events that could have fit in two pages of a comic. I might like the comic if something would happen."- I really enjoy this book, for long-winded reasons I've already stated in other threads, so I won't waste time repeating them here. Not a whole lot happens in an issue, but that's usual for Frank. His issues focus mostly on characterization, with a couple of concluding issues filled breakneck action. That's just his way on most of the things he's done in the past decade. IT's one of those deals where you either love it or hate it. From what you've been saying about this book since its inception, it really does sound like one you oughta drop. Save yourself $3 every six weeks, or whenever the hell this thing comes out. "All Star Superman - Based on the first issue this is going to be a lot of fun. Morrison has written a great story characterizing Luthor and Superman really well."- I haven't read it yet, as I won't be able to pick up books until next week. But c'mon, it's Grant Morrison. I've got almost everything he's ever done, and I've never been disappointed with his work. It's a no-brainer that this one's a keeper. Plus, Quitely= quality. "Batman - I've picked this up consistently since #491, it isn't going anywhere"- Yep. I've got well over 20 years of this book, and I can't imagine not having it on my pull list. It's not always mind-blowingly good, but it's been quite a long time since I read a genuinely bad story in this book. The quality is prety consistent. It is one of the industry's premier titles, and DC takes good care of it. "Gotham Knights - It is ending in around 3 or 4 issues so I should see it to its end."- Ditto. "Birds of Prey - it can be a fun comic, but it just doesn't have the feel that it used to. I miss Ed Benes' art too."- I'm in the minority of those who did not like Benes's art. Too much Jim Lee clone for my taste, as I prefer artists with their own artistic style, as opposed to aping someone else's. The art since his departure has been decent and consistent, if not great. Gail's done a great job with this book, breathing new life into it that I frankly did not expect to see. It seemed doomed after Dixon's departure, and Gail put it back on track. It's a fun, action-filled, romp every month. Some of the most dependable entertainment in comics, as far as I'm concerned. "Detective Comics - That is like dropping Action, it is good to get, even though the stories have been off recently."- My comments on Batman above fit this one, too. "Gotham Central - Also ending, one of the most original titles in a while, I'll see it to its end."- I would stab someone before I qould quit reading GC. Since day one, this has been one of my all-time favorite books. I enjoy it more than almost anything else. I'd gladly sacrifice half the books on my pull list if I could somehow keep getting new issues of GC. I'll even go this far: If DC had announced the cancellation of Batman, I don't think it would have affected me as much as GC's cancellation has. I'll miss it terribly. "Green Lantern - Another one that was just not really going anywhere. The stories were kinda cool, but not as much as I was really wanting."- Yeah, this has been a surprisingly tepid book from Johns. Still, I trust Johns enough to make it something I'll look forward to each month. I was set to drop it, but since I've switched to www.mailordercomi... as of my December books, the discounts were substaintial enough that I've kept this one on my list, for now. "JLA - most rumors say it is ending with #125. DC hasn't confirmed it. If it is still around I will pick it up."- As long as a JLA book is published, I'll be buying it. Even if a creative team that I'm not crazy about does a run on the book, I know they'll be gone soon enough. This is a book that has delivered too many great stories for me to just write it off because of one arc that didn't deliver. "JLA Classified - started out with a couple of great stories, but the recent one has just not been very good. The good stuff gets printed in a trade anyway, so I might as well drop this one."- Agreed. I think I'll drop this one once the current arc is done. Wait-- if memeory serves, Gail Simone is doing the next arc. Okay, I'll get that one, too. So, I guess I'm not dropping this one just yet. "Nightwing - I have this going back to the special that was released before the miniseries, which lead to the current ongoing. It has drawn the mob and Nightwing story going to the bad guys story out way too long. I just don't enjoy it like I used to."- Ugh. I can't talk about the current state of this book without using the kind of language that would make your eyes bleed. I'll just say that the past few years have gone from mediocre to outright horrific, and I miss Chuck Dixon more than words can say. He MADE this book, and ever since he left, it's been unreadable. Drop it until OYL, when it'll have a new team(assuming it's still being published). "Outsiders - It has been a really cool team book, but it has really lost the chemistry that was in the early issues. The rotating cast is a little annoying too."- I've always picked this one up in trades. Good book, but Winick's stuff is tough to read in monthly installments. "Robin - It is really hard to do this, but I want to drop it. I have every issue going back to the first (of 3) miniseries, then all the ongoing issues. Willingham has just had some really bad ideas that just do not fit what Robin was like in the early issues."- The book is really uneven since Willingham took over. Like Azzarello, he's a good writer who, it seems, should avoid superheroes. Just doesn't seem to be his thing. That said, there have been some good issues here and there, but it's a far cry from the glory days of Chuck Dixon's run. I'd bet the house on this book having a new team after OYL. "Supergirl - Is it really that necessary to pick up? I haven't read #3, but it seems like she does more in other titles than she does in her own."- Never read this one. THe arc that introduced her in SUperman/Batman was awful, which didn't exactly inspire me to want her solo book. I just have zero interest in this character. "Superman - definitely a keeper."- This is the one Superman book I'm not buying right now. I have read some issues, though, and it's not bad. Verheiden's writing is decent enough that I'll probably pick up Superman/Batman again when he takes over. "Superman/Batman - Loeb has run a little stale, but I look forward to Verheiden's run. This title is just too fun to pass up."- IMO, Loeb has done surprisingly awful work on this book. Plus, the constant delays are extremely annoying. I'll try it out again after Loeb is done. "Teen Titans - This has had some really great stories, but it also has a little too much of the teen angst angle to it. I just can't see it as a necessary thing."- Good book. I buy it in trades. The trades come out super-fast, and they're insanely cheap. The one that comes out at the end of the month reprints like 11 issues, and it's only $9.99! (Plus, with my MOC discount, it cost me $4.99! :bigeek: I still can't believe that.) I have been tempted to pick up the current issue, though, which has Jason Todd taking on Tim Drake. Wonder Woman- This is another book I never read, until Rucka pulled me in. I've just started picking it up monthly, but the trades are released pretty regularly. I've got all the currently released trades of Rucka's run coming at the end of the month-- there are only 2 out now, I think-- and I'll be caught up. I have to admit, WW is a character I didn't care too much for. I've been really surprised at how interesting Rucka has made it to me. The series will be relaunched, count on it. I've got a feeling Diana won't be in it, though. They've really set her up for a fall during the IC. If Rucka is not writing the relaunch, I'll probably pass on it. See my Myspace profile! CHECK OUT MY BLOG! Edited by Drunken Fist on 18-11-2005 04:29 Author RE: Trimming the Excess Off Darknight Posts: 1010 Location: NW Arkansas Joined: 26.06.05 Posted on 18-11-2005 11:28 Thanks for the thoughts. I think that I will probably buy the trades for some of the titles to get the story lines that are best. I did a little math a found that I was spending nearly double on comics that I spend on electricity. So something had to be done. I can't just drop buying anything because I actually prefer to pick up comics instead of trades, but trades are a great alternative to help keep up with good stories. Author RE: Trimming the Excess Off Chris Posts: 2999 Location: Richmond, Indiana Joined: 22.06.05 Posted on 18-11-2005 11:47 Comics are just to expensive for most of us. That and space. To bad DC can't do a online comic where for maybe 99 cents you can download the comic. I think they'd end up with more money that way. Author RE: Trimming the Excess Off Drunken Fist Posts: 601 Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi Joined: 30.07.05 Posted on 19-11-2005 04:22 Right. I was really surprised that LOTDK was not on the list of cancellations. I figured it should have ended a while back, once it started focusing on present-day stories. That's what the other books are for. See my Myspace profile! CHECK OUT MY BLOG! Edited by Drunken Fist on 19-11-2005 04:23 Author RE: Trimming the Excess Off BigDaddy Gotham Posts: 147 Location: NYC Joined: 30.06.05 Posted on 27-11-2005 00:01 the thought of u cutting back on any comics is just weird to me, cuz i consider u like the yoda of comics but i understand ur reason for having to do so. obviously the main titles are all worth keeping, but aside from that im nto really sure what u should let go. the idea of waiting for tpbs instead of buying individual issues is a good one tho...if u can be patient while the entire arc has its run lol. -BDGB) Author RE: Trimming the Excess Off Darknight Posts: 1010 Location: NW Arkansas Joined: 26.06.05 Posted on 28-11-2005 11:33 I would hardly call myself the yoda of comics. There are people that know way more than I do. Drunken Fist and Flabat could probably out do me any day of the week. I just have some places that I check for information that makes me sound smarter than I really am. I also have more free time than they do.