Someone out there wants to buy me the Absolute Promethea, right? I mean, I provide y’all with plenty of entertainment, snark, and I know you’re just appalled at the fact that I haven’t read Promethea before. So, someone’s gonna pony up, put their money where their wagging fingers are, and buy me a copy, right?

Right?

While I’m still full-time-employment challenged, I guess I have to hold off on fancy pretty hardcover books for the time being. Instead, I’ll make do with a little Wolverine Weapon X, a splash of Unknown Soldier, maybe a little Gotham City Sirens and of course, The Boys Herogasm.

Anything else?

(If you’re going to comment to lecture me about the need to read Promethea, save it, I’m aware. It just might have to come from the library until I can afford to buy more books.)

Each week that I don’t have a steady job brings with it guilt over buying comics. Guilt because I’m not buying everything I want, and guilt because I spend money at all. I wish I could lay out the cash for the trades and OGN’s I want each week (um, hello, omnibus hardcover of Whedon & Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men?) but I’m pretty broke. The lovely thing about comics, though, is that they still cost less than a beer does in Brooklyn, and so as of now, at least, they’re still in the budget.

This week includes: Hellblazer #259 (oh, John, will you ever change? Don’t ever change.), Madame Xanadu #15, No Hero #7 (of 7–how gory will the last one be? Let’s see if Warren can outdo even himself.)

Things I want but don’t know if I can afford: Labor Days volume 2 and Neil Gaiman’s newest, Odd and the Frost Giants. Seriously, Mr. Gaiman, I can’t keep up with you these days. I haven’t even read the Graveyard Book yet (cue shocked gasps).

What about you? How do you make the decision what to buy and what not to buy when money is tight? I know that technically trades come out cheaper than buying singles, but buying a couple of singles each week always feels like spending less money. It’s wrong, I know, but I can’t convince myself otherwise…

I’m broke, but I’ve lucked into copies of The Nobody and Filthy Rich, so hope to have reviews of those sometime this week. Also last week’s DMZ, which was excellent, and The Unwritten, which was so as well.

In the meantime, this week: Air, Manhunter (well, Streets of Gotham, but who’m I kidding: Manhunter), and if the pitch I sent out this week gets accepted, maybe some remastered Tank Girl goodness.

Things I own and you should buy this week if you don’t have ‘em already: Dean Haspiel & Jonathan Ames’ The Alcoholic softcover out this week. Because it’s funny, and painful, and worth reading over again.

Since I gave you a pitch for a book, you know it’s your turn to reciprocate…

It is. While last week I was drowning in comics (and also finally got my hands on the Unknown Soldier trade, about which I swear I will write one of these days), this week I’ve only got Hellboy: The Wild Hunt and The Unwritten. Granted, those are indeed awesome comics worth a trip to the comic shop, but there’s probably other stuff I’m missing, right?

Right?

Nothing makes me happier than a new Vertigo series. Well, not much, anyway. So Sweet Tooth #1, along with Greek Street #3, as well as Northlanders and the tail end of Young Liars this week, leaves me plenty to be happy about.

And since I do read books that aren’t Vertigo, there’s The Boys #34 and North 40 #3. And if I had extra income (which I most certainly don’t have right now) I’d be buying the Absolute V for Vendetta because really, it’s necessary, and the DMZ trade that hits today because that arc was bloody amazing (as well as bloody and amazing).

But, you know, what am I missing?

No, really. OK, well I do plan on reading some other books this week. Like Unknown Soldier, Gotham City Sirens, and…that’s it.

As usual, though, I’m open to suggestions. I feel like I should be reading some of these new DC books with a female lead (Batwoman? Batgirl? So many options…) and I’m tempted by all sorts of other things.

Sadly, I’m busy as hell this week and there are tons of wonderful comics coming out. Air #12, Batman Streets of Gotham #3 (with Manhunter backup, the real reason I buy it) Doktor Sleepless #13, Hellblazer #258, Wolverine Weapon X #4 AND Brian Azzarello’s inaugural Vertigo Crime OGN and a new James Jean art book! Oh, and the first Unknown Soldier trade. Seriously, I don’t think I have the time or the money for all the good books coming out this week.

But, y’know, just in case, let me know what I’m missing, as always. I’ve heard good things about We Kill Monsters…

On the advice of several New Yorkers, I bought my comics at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn last week, and I think I’ve found my new comic shop. Located in a great area of Brooklyn, small but well laid out and neat, with the new books easy to find and the owners pleasant and helpful, it’s my kind of place.

Since I’ve found people I like giving money to, why not give them more of it, right? Since there’s a new Fables trade this week, plus DMZ #44 and the long-awaited Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #5, I know I’ll be shelling out a few bucks this week. As usual, I turn to you, readers: what am I missing?

Leave me alone, it’s late and I’m sleepy but it occurred to me that I hadn’t posted my books for this week. I’m still geeked for Greek Street, though it’s only issue #2, and I’ll be picking up North 40 #2 as well, even though tentacle monsters aren’t usually my thing.

Also, of course, there’s The Boys, and there’s another of these Warren Ellis Avatar novellas, this time something that I’m really into, Frankenstein’s Womb. OK, the title’s rather gross, but I love the original Frankenstein and I’m a sucker for what I suppose could be called literary origin stories, or stories about the writers of famous works that speculate on how they came to be.

So, my dears, as usual, it’s time for you to tell me what I’m missing…

One of these days, I’m going to go look at the comics that come out that week and there will be no mention of President Obama. And then I will be thrilled.

On the upside, there are plenty of great comics coming out this week that aren’t set anywhere near the White House. I’m fairly sure that neither the cast of Madame Xanadu nor Northlanders have ever heard of Obama, and while Unknown Soldier might be present-day, I think he’s got more pressing concerns than a guest spot by the President.

So besides those three, what else is worth reading this week?

So I’m quite jealous of all of you going to SDCC this week, picking up art and sketchbooks and other fun things. I’m stuck with my regular comics-buying spree, which this week includes Gotham City Sirens #2, and Wednesday Comics and…and…and that’s it?

Man, you con-goers really do get all the fun. It seems every now and then that the comics-universe conspires to put everything I like out in one week and leave me fairly barren the next. But it follows that someone else is having an excellent week with tons of books they love coming out. So if that’s you, please share!

It is, in fact, Harry Potter week. I’ve been geeking out about the posters that speed by on the side of buses, the cast lined up with wands raised (why does that sound so dirty?) for weeks, so will I even find the time to read comics this week?

Well, in a week when Air, DMZ, Young Liars AND Scalped are on deck, I’m pretty sure I’ll find the time. Because I am a Preacher obsessive, I really want the new hardcover, but I should save my meager funds for books I haven’t read yet. And so, as usual, I ask you: what do you think I should be reading?

So I suppose, like all of you, I’ll be checking out this Wednesday Comics thing from DC to see what I think about it–as a comic, and as an idea for the medium. There is also No Hero, and The Unwritten, which is still fabulous. Also, Jeff Lemire’s original graphic novel The Nobody comes out this week, and though I shouldn’t spend that kind of cash, I really am tempted.

With all that goodness, I don’t know if there’s any more room in my increasingly tight budget for more comics, but, well, I always want more comics. So what else hits this week that looks good?

I guess that’s sort of me telling you what to read. I will have a review of Gotham City Sirens #1 later this week when I can think straight, but the new Vertigo series that I’m almost as stoked on as I was on Unwritten hits this Wednesday. So. Read it with me.

There is also The Boys, and Bang! Tango (which appears to be the last one) and…well, that looks like it for my list. Still, Greek Street should be worth it, with a mix of gritty street violence with classic myths, unless the stellar combination of Peter Milligan and Davide Gianfelice somehow doesn’t mix, oil-and-water style. I’m betting on them, though, and at $1, why not?

(This post in no way paid for by Vertigo comics, Peter Milligan, or Davide Gianfelice. Sometimes I am just a fangirl like anyone else who reads comics.)

I did indeed buy two new books last week that wouldn’t normally have been on my list. Discussions of Streets of Gotham/Manhunter and X-Men Origins: Gambit here and here.

This week, I’m looking at Gotham City Sirens already, as well as my usual Madame Xanadu, Northlanders, Unknown Soldier and Wolverine: Weapon X. Look, kids, I’m turning into a superhero comics reader!

Anything else lurking out there that I’m missing?

…there’s always room for a few more comics. This week is Air #10 and Herogasm #2, Hellblazer #256 and Young Liars #16 and of course, Phonogram #2.3.

Because, like many of you, I’m feeling the lousy-economy pinch, I’m going to open this week up with a call for some webcomics recommendations. Who’s doing something new and different with comics online?

Finally, I don’t know if you’ve been watching the (rather lousy) news coverage of the protests following the elections in Iran, or following the (much better) feeds on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube. Either way, today felt like a good day to re-read Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s classic tale of growing up in revolutionary Iran. I know this is the space where you get to tell me what to do, but I really can’t recommend Persepolis enough. It’s a view into a country that gets universally bad press, and as we’re watching the people fight oppression, it’s nice to see inside the hearts and minds of people who’ve lived through it.

It’s Wednesday, and I have to leave for work in a few, and I’m getting adjusted to a new comic shop that doesn’t automatically pull things for me that I might like (I miss you, Brave New Worlds!)

However, it is a pretty bloody amazing comics week, what with a new Anna Mercury and the next Unwritten, the new Young Liars trade and this little book you might’ve heard of called DMZ, with this Ryan Kelly guy doing a guest spot on art. There’s also Fables, and a few other things I might pick up, but as always, I’m looking at you for suggestions.

Well, I already read and reviewed Herogasm, and this week has a couple of other things that I love–Air #9 and my beloved Hellblazer. I may be taking some of your suggestions for some Wolverine books from last week, but as usual, I feel like I’m missing something.

So, recommend/self-promote away!

OK, so I already hit up the comic shop for this week. (Purchases: Hellblazer trade, Young Liars and Unknown Soldier #1, which I should’ve read months ago. Unforgivable. Also, if you didn’t buy The Unwritten and the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, we aren’t friends anymore.)

But. In the wake of a thoroughly mediocre Wolverine movie that I enjoyed far more than I should’ve, I find myself with a strange desire to read Wolverine comics. I’m a Jason Aaron fangirl, so I’ve been tempted before this to check out his take on the character, but I have this problem where I want to go back to the beginning with everything–it keeps me out of the superhero section quite often. I want to know EVERYTHING, which is impossible with these characters with this epic history.

So, I figured I’d ask you. Recommend me a trade that I can pick up and devour in one sitting. The more foulmouthed and gory, the better.

(No, the picture wasn’t entirely necessary. But I like it.)

It should come as absolutely no surprise that I am a Tank Girl fangirl. I even love the movie. Of course I own the first collections, but I am sorely tempted to spend money I don’t have buying the “remastered” versions that come out tomorrow. Like any good comic junkie, I can’t resist newer, prettier versions of books I already own. Yet I am broke, and must fight the temptation. Drop me a comment if you buy them and let me know if you think it was worth it, eh?

What am I reading this week? A little Bang! Tango (jury’s still out, but I’m also still reading) and a little The Boys, and that’s pretty much it. So suggestions are welcome. Make me spend my hard-earned cash on books I don’t already own.