Not only are the price for a single (usually just 20 pages) issue of a comic (I guess we’re talking Marvel & DC here) pretty bad, in ratio to the story you get, but most of the artwork is horrible. So many artists seem to get hired from Marvel & DC on their strength of drawing pinups than on how to visually tell stories

But worst of all, nearly EVERY issue is just a chapter for a larger story. Look, if you like to COLLECT comics, than knock yourself out. Buy and collect as many as your heart desires. But if you want to read a STORY every month and not just a piece of a larger story, then do what I did. Quick the ridiculous habit of buying monthly comics and wait for collect trades.

Like the author of the article I’ve been loving all the great reprint series being put out by so many publishers.
I just picked up the first volume collection of “Y the last Man”. I really enjoyed it and will be picking up other volumes. Had I bought it as a monthly comic, I’d have felt ripped off.

I can collect every title that I still enjoy, and try out hundreds of comics cheaply that I may otherwise may never have known of, because the LCS just doesn’t have room on their shelves for something obscure when there are 27 new issues of the Avengers being belched out by the brain trust every month.

I read more now that I ever did. Mostly indy stuff from Image, IDW and Dynamite, with just a few Dark Horse titles. I still get my Batman books every Wednesday, since he is not only my favorite character in fiction, but most of the Bat-books are actually worth reading.

Paper comics, I reserve for special books. I’ll get Fantagraphics’ Carl Barks and EC reprints, plus the odd strip collection from them or IDW.

Truthfully, even if the direct market collapsed tomorrow, there would still be comics. I might not have 3-4 Batbooks a week, but indy creators would shift exclusively to digital and carry on. Frankly, following DC and IDW’s digital exclusives like Batman Beyond and Transformers Autocracy, I think we’d be better off if digital WAS the format comics took in the future. Keep the LCS for specialty stuff, like record store do for music today.

If I start complaining about X-Men comics in 2036, you have my permission to call me a crazy person.

Because the books get cheaper after a month (for almost everyone except Marvel), there’s no reason for me to buy a book when it comes out unless I really want to read it. Otherwise I can just wait and either buy it later for less, or not bother and try something completely different.

I do miss some books – and most of Marvel – but on the plus side I’m reading an awful lot more in the way of good stuff from Image than ever before.

I don’t have to maintain a pull list, but the books are never out of stock and if an issue of something I dropped gets great reviews I can pick it up and see if I should get back in.

When Age of X was announced, especially so soon after Necrosha has been so bad, I decided I’d had enough. I dropped all Marvel books except Uncanny X-men. When Uncanny was relaunched I dropped that as well.

This wasn’t an easy decision. I had been collecting X-Men books for 29 years. Even when I didn’t enjoy a story/writer/artist arc I would continue to get the book knowing it would get better eventually. But yeah, it had been a while since I had truly enjoyed the X-books. If it wasn’t for the relaunch I would have most likely collected Uncanny X-Men to my grave. I really should thank Marvel (and DC*) for giving me such an easy out.

I still follow some indy stuff and will still pick up a random book if an artist I really like is doing it. I don’t have anything against Marvel and DC and I may even buy some of their collected trades in the future (if the story is strong enough.) For the most part, however, I’m done buying from the Big two.

* Dc’s Reboot effectively canceled all of their titles I was following, providing another easy exit.

Try something you’re not used to reading such as the Steve Canyon, Prince Valiant, Bringing Up Father, Pogo, and the Buzz Sawyer hardcover books for example.

There’s still a lot of great material being printed even if it’s not from this year. I must admit I used to stare at the art in many of those I’ve mentioned which were in the weekly and Sunday comics in the newspaper as a youngster.

I’d love to get a hardcover of Barney Google ‘n’ Snuffy Smith (along with Sparkplug the racehorse). I didn’t read them all but my father read them to me and it was later when I discovered the Martian Manhunter, Flash and the JLA/JSA crossovers before I really began to care about comics themselves. Heck Superman was on TV thanks to George Reeves but I wasn’t that overjoyed with his comics beyond said TV show.

Then there were others from the newspapers like Gasoline Alley…..Alley Oop…….Lil Abner….the Katzenjammer Kids………this was in the early ’60′s.

TRUTH.

As someone who thinks mainstream comics is in great shape right now (creatively), I really hope the lifers who can only feel and express bitterness will fall away, and the people who actually really dig this stuff can have more of an impact with positive reinforcement.

I’m still buying creator owned books, because I know they can’t survive without those monthly sales. I’ll decide on collected editions for Big Two books as I go.

@ThePants That’s exactly what I’m thinking will happen to me, that I won’t even bother getting the trades. I feel like the time between when I stop reading, say, Batman, and the time when the trade is released, I’ll just lose interest.

Getting back to the topic, I think everyone reaches a point in which they question their purchases. I am sure the economy (amongst other things) have caused people to reevaluate their spending habits. I think that is okay.

I painfully learned about evaluating my purchases during the 90s. Looking back, there is a ton of money I could have saved I am looking a you variant/foil covers and poly-bagged books with trading cards.

Comics can be very addictive. After you have reached a certain high, it may never feel the same again. You continuously purchase a title, even though the excitement is gone just hoping to get a new buzz. If you are going run to the LCS for a weekly hit, at least purchase the high quality stuff.

FYI – A Marvel PSA about the dangers of purchasing comics would be hilarious!

But the New 52, I am buying more comics than ever before. Still not a ton, but I found that the reboot was not a reason to kick the habit but to re-energize it. In addition, there is the marvel of the public library. Sooner or later, every worth reading will make its way to me. And if I don’t like something, I can easily return it, at no loss to me.

Of course, having just read the second Thor the Mighty Avenger book, I am sad to know my apathy two years ago contributed to the failure of a great comic. If only I had been less picky about a writer I didn’t know and a character I never liked before, we’d still have this series.

Because really, if you’re spending money on this stuff out of some kind of obligation, you’ve got bigger problems than crossovers.

[NB: Nothing against Dads. My dad is a great guy but he hasn't bought a comic since 1967. NOR SHOULD HE.]

I’m with Tom, though my change happened three years ago. Once my daughter was born and I had the choice to lose a half hour running to the comics shop and back on Wednesday or spending a little more time with her, the decision was easy. It was hard at first and I convinced myself that I’d go back some day and catch up on it all – but I haven’t. And I’ve lost even that desire. I fill my reading up now with mostly hardcover collections and stand-alone things. It’s nice to be off the hamster wheel. Less pressure, less money, less agitation. I still have more than I can possibly read, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming, like next week’s haul will break a camel’s back or something.

In other words, good for Tom! And I’m with him on the art side of things — I’m emphasizing that now more than the past. Books with bad or inconsistent art bother me more than ever.

Are you kidding? That’s what all the news sites and message boards are for! I haven’t bothered reading some titles for years, but I’m up to date. Heck, better than up to date thanks to all the spoilers out there

I thought I’d keep up with more things in trade after quitting, but honestly haven’t bothered much ~ I still read some things and will pick stuff up off the Marvel App if something I am interested in shows up in the .99¢ monday/friday sales, but honestly I am just not missing it much.

If books were still, say $2.50, I’d probably be getting 20-30+ a month.

I dropped away as stories finished and now I pick up maybe 5 books a month.

I think this is a bigger problem for the big two as the core readership gets older – they realise that they have neither time, money or inclination to read everything that gets put out. I’d rather spend an hour playing with my son than an hour reading comics that I don’t really enjoy that much.