Bronkster

It's been coming for awhile; being out of work, prices going up, interest going down... Today - Shipment Day - I did not go out to buy comics. I realize this has little to no significance to anyone but me, but it marks the end of a lifetime of buying and collecting. I had always had comics around when I was a kid but I "officially" started collecting in 1968 when I bought Superman #202 - an 80 Page Giant (for 25 cents!) featuring all Bizarro stories. I may still grab a few issues to finish up some ongoing story lines, but I'm not planning on it. When my finances get straightened out (if ever!) I'll most likely try to fill in gaps of older titles. I haven't given up on comics, just the new stuff.

*sigh*

EdTheRipper

I'll always remember the first new release day that I didn't buy any titles. I'd been collecting for a few years and was always the first one in the shop as soon as they opened. One day I just decided that I'd had enough. I actually called the store owner to tell him that I wouldn't be in,lol. That was it too...I stuck with it and never got back into it. A few weeks later, I actually wound up selling my entire collection.

Meatwad's Ghost

I did that back in '96 the prices where up and I was just annoyed with the comics, dealers, etc. And I was in college (art major) and needed all the money I made. The only times I go to a comic shop now is if I'm just around and bored or during free comic book day, the closest one around here (40 miles away) also has discounts.

I did get back into comics a couple of years ago, as in digging out my old comics to sell. I stumbled onto the hard back collections and have enjoyed those. They are usually cheaper per issue than the floppies (at times $2 or less per issue) and I would also hear which ones are good and bad. If you wanted to kind of stay with certain comics this has been a good cheap way for me. I'm still trying to sell off all my floppies and use that for the hard backs. Unfortunately I've been getting too many good deals on the hard back collections.

fargodroid

I stopped buying comics back in the mid 90's, I used to buy a lot, I just stopped buying it, again, I also thought to myself that I had enough. I still may be able to pick a thing or two when I go for a walk or a ride but it's on more rare occasions, if I really need something I just order it online.

Trevor

I drove thru my old neighborhood yesterday, and had a fond remembrance of my early days of collecting. I used to ride my bike a mile or two, cut thru the woods, and get to a 7-11, where I could buy 5 comics for a dollar. This was 1972 or 1973, I mainly bought the DC stuff like Flash, Plop, Superman, and the horror titles.

I quit my monthly subscriptions a few years ago, but still buy a few trades a year on average, and will probably never quit comics all together.

slop101

I'm not too far behind you. I did got to my LCBS yesterday, but I didn't buy a single book. I only have a handful of floppies to finish up and after that I'll just be buying a couple of trades and hardcovers here and there. I'm pretty sure that by the end of this year, I will be 100% done with regular monthly comic books.

starseed1981

Its an important moment. I stopped about two years ago. There was a certain point where I just realized that I wasn't enjoying it anymore, just kinda going with it because it was natural. I don't regret it either. I've recently sold my collection and used the money to buy trades of all the stories that i'd actually re-read....which only ended up being about 10 % of the original collection.

gglass4269

Good choice man! I stopped about 6 months ago. I think the comic companies are too concerned about crossovers nowadays, that they forget to tell engaging stories with social commentary that comics made their name with.

fujishig

I feel you, man. I've taken hiatuses before and always come back, but I'm finding that I enjoy collections of older stuff that I know is quality rather than new issues. I remember being such a huge X-men fan, even through the mess of the second Claremont run, but I took some time away from the books and, with the exception of something like Astonishing, I just couldn't jump back in, the barrier to (re)entry was just too high. And I'm someone who followed continuity for decades.

I'd like to say that I've finally stopped collecting stuff just because I used to love the characters, but I'll readily admit that the few monthlies I still collect (Teen Titans, Legion before they cancelled, JSA, JLA) are largely driven by nostalgia. Luckily, some of these are really good... I finally dropped Supergirl after I realized that it was too far gone for me, and it wasn't really the character I knew.

What's sad is that it always seems like we're shedding the old readers, and nobody is replacing them. I think even the manga industry is in a slump (not like those kids would set foot in a comic book store anyway).

ytrez

I'm getting sick of mainstream comics (again). I only buy trades & hardcovers and these huge crossovers are pissing me off. How many more crises can there be? World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, etc., etc. I don't know what the hell is going on anymore. How does one Batman story relate to another? How many Wolverine titles are there? An he's joining another group? There are Avengers, Mighty Avengers, and now Dark Avengers? I don't even know what to buy any more. Ah, the hell with it. Just give me more Love & Rockets.

starman9000

I'm the opposite. I was never into them before (bought a few when I was a kid), but with the new Farscape comic, I've actually been going to the store and even got a subscription.

reverie

I'm one of the ones who is cutting back, and realize that very soon I won't be going to my LCS anymore. I will still do the trades, but I think I'm about done with monthlies. I partly blame the comic store owner where I go. I've come to realize that whenever I ask for certain things, he always says he'll get them in or put them on order for me, but then they never materialize. Add that to the funny fact the my wife said she probably knows more about what's going on that he does (and I agree), and it's just been a bit of a drag this past year.

calhoun07

I used to buy a lot. I ordered from Wesfield Comics for years and went through a period where I had so much on order that I opted to have twice a month shipping. I'd even visit the local comic book stores to find stray titles that I missed out on. I used to buy a lot more DVDs back in those days as well.

For some reason, years ago when I actually made less than I do today it seemed my dollar stretched a whole lot further than it does now. When things started to get tight in the budget, the comics were the first thing I started to cut back on...reducing the number of titles I ordered per month to just essentials then eventually not ordering at all.

I pick up the random graphic novel/collection every now and then, and I go to amazon.com for those because I can often find them cheaper through them, or through their secondary sellers. But I don't actively seek them out like I used to. The single monthly titles have no interest to me anymore, mainly due to the exorbitant price. I'd rather they print them all on cheaper paper (like the DC Kids) titles and offer them at considerably lower prices...like $1.99 each at least. That's not going to happen. What are they going up to now? Four bucks an issue? Dude, I got a car payment and I want to save money to move/buy a home.

I feel really sorry for Westfield and other online stores and the local comic shops...it's not their fault the prices are going up and they can't offer the deep discounts that amazon.com can offer. There is no way I'd go to a local comic book store and drop $75.00 for a Marvel Omnibus when I can pick it up on amazon.com for $45.00. That's a HUGE difference. I think we are past the days of saving the comic book industry and making it what it once was. Belt tighteners have to look at the collections instead of the singles, and be choosy on what collections they do buy.

Trevor

^ Could have written almost the same thing, including the years of huge orders from Westfield.

Spiderbite

Hell, the late 80's/early 90's got me fed up with all the crossovers way back then and I quit way back in 1991.

Now you just need to subscribe to Alter Ego ( http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main...ex&cPath=98_55 ) & Back Issue! ( http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main...ex&cPath=98_54 ) to keep yourself happy. They are excellent comic history magazines and still give a small taste of comics without having to collect them.

Trevor

Back Issue is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

madcougar

Wow. My brothers in arms...

I stopped collecting cold turkey about six months ago. A combination of finances, time and honestly bordom eventually spelled doom for my hobby. I had been collecting for 20 years. Like some who have posted I would go down to the my local shop every Wednesday for YEARS to buy my books.

Over the past few years however the overabunance of crossovers made keeping up more and more difficult. After a year or so I had an entire longbox of books I hadn't been able to read. To make matters worse things were going on in the books that I didn't care for. Civil War, the Spider-Man reboot, and the year-long crossovers at DC... they just all killed my enthusiasm for all of it.

Don't get me wrong, there's still stuff I want to read, but I'm afraid to get sucked in again. My name is Madcougar and I've been clean for six months...

Patman

I'm veering towards just buying from $1 boxes in the quarterly comic book shows in town. It really is becoming tougher and tougher to justify the cash outlay for comics these days.

Trevor

I haven't been to a show in a few years, but I remember leaving my last show with a large box full of $1 or 50 cent books. If I ever get around to re-cataloging my collection using the CBG Checkist/Price Guide, I'll do that again.

Iron_Giant

Ah, the great days or youth and comics. Riding your bike to pick up comics for 20 cents each.

It has been a long time since I have thought about PLOP, one of favs from the 70's. We were lucky to have lived in the best time for comics: Flash, GL, Aquaman, Superman, Batman, JLA, LoSH, Teen Titans, XMen, Avengers, Spiderman...

We had the best artist and writers: Adams, Grell, Wolfman, Shooter, Perez, Starlin, Crockman, Lee...

Ah, the good old days, they bring a smile to my face many times throughout the years.

boredsilly

That's just the thing though, you don't need to collect or even buy comics to enjoy them. I understand the appeal of owning comics, or shelves of beautiful looking hardcovers, but really that isn't necessary.

I maybe spend $50 to $100 a year on comics (if that) on those trades that I really love and want to own. The rest I just get from the library and it's great! If you're lucky like me, your library has a pretty decent selection of titles for you to choose from. Also, because it's free you're that much more likely to try titles that you would never have bought, thus exposing yourself to new material. If you're only frustrated with the costs of comics, and not the medium itself, give this a try.

I think it's a shame that the prices of comics are driving so many fans away, and I don't blame any of them. If I had to "buy" everything I wanted to read, I wouldn't fuck with comics hardly at all. Especially when you consider the fact that a single issue of a comic goes for $3 to $4 dollars these days. I think when you're spending gobs of money on funny books, you can't help but feel cheated. The current Old Man Logan storyline going on in Wolverine right now is fun, but it's 8 issues long. At $3 an issue, it will cost you $24 to follow that story at retail. That's kind of insane. I'm of the mind that comics should not cost more than $2. I feel like I would be ok with buying books again, if this is what they went for. But to be honest, I'm happy not having any long boxes and shit in my house, since the likely hood of me rereading most of the comics I read again is very small.

Ever since I changed my personal spending and reading habits, I have to say I'm as happy as a clam with comics. There is a lot of fun to be had with keeping up with the current conversation in comics. However, once I got past the desire to do that, and just read the things that I wanted to, when I wanted to, I found that I became a much more satisfied comic reader. I just recently caught up with Fables, which was a blast, and now I'm working on Y The Last Man. Once that's finished, I'm going to do both Usagi Yojimbo and Lone Wolf and Cub, this summer. That doesn't take into account the dozens of one off trades I will try just because the library has them.

I can also sympathize with madcougar's overall boredom of comics -- or rather mainstream comics. I think when you read these things for any real length of time, you start to see the seams of the stories. You know you're on a never ending treadmill, like the Asguardians, and the same stories will just repeat themselves (with little variations) over and over and over again. That isn't to say these are bad stories, or aren't entertaining stories, but you can reach a saturation point. I LOVE mainstream comics, but I do find that I'm not really that interested in much of the current goings on of the universes. I'm taking a little break from keeping my finger on the pulse of mainstream comics for a bit to recharge my battery. Which is great, because this affords me the luxury of reading series that aren't mainstream, but just as good as the best mainstream superhero stuff I read, if not more so. I mean, there are few reading experiences better than reading 8 Fables trades in 3 months.

MovieExchange

Yeah, I dropped out of comics about 2 years ago also. I think the defining moment for me was when someone at Marvel (Bob Harras, I believe) defended the craptacular editing and ignorance of continuity by saying (essentially) that Marvel doesn't care about long-time readers like myself, because we're the minority. He said that the majority of readers are there for only a couple years at a time, and they don't care about continuity.

So my response was "well Mr. Harras, thank you for being brutally honest and telling me that Marvel does not want my money." Then came DC, with their 5 year long story arc crossing over into everything and spawning off numerous limited series.

Anyhow, shortly after Civil War was the disgustingly vile "One More Day" in Spider-Man. Joe Quesada, the man that told us that he was a "fan" and would never unleash anything as horrible as the Spider Clone saga, gave us a story arc that had us wishing Ben Reilly would come back and tell us it was all a dream.

I still go back and re-read my old stuff - Preacher, Transmet, Lucifer, Sandman, the Batman Cataclysm story, Jim Shooter's time in the Valiant Universe... but the more I read about what is happening in the comic business today the happier I am that I'm no longer buying comics.

Travis McClain

I quit buying many years ago. I'd followed Batman since the '89 movie brought the character to my attention and I started following Superman when I found out they were going to kill him. (Yeah, I know, I'm one those readers.) "Doomsday!" "World Without a Superman," "The Return of Superman," "KnightFall," "KnightQuest" and "KnightsEnd" later, along with a discovered interest in Green Lantern (I bought issue #46 because it tied into the Superman storyline and kept with it).... By the time "Zero Hour" came along and was marketed as a "jumping on" point, I decided it was my "jumping off" point.

boredsilly

I have no ties to Spider-man, but I undestand how many people didn't like One More Day. For what it's worth though, as much as that story might not have worked for you, Brand New Day has been really good.

MovieExchange

It's a quirk on my part, but I wouldn't be able to enjoy it.

Spider-Man - the icon of what is "right," the hero that NEVER breaks the rules, never lets an innocent come to harm, mentally tortures himself when he does something wrong, etc. MADE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL. It's a betrayal of everything the character supposedly stood for all these years... for his own personal desire, he allowed the lives of millions of people to be changed. Most only trivially, but he still made the deal in which the devil did this to people.

For that reason alone, although he's given us many others, Quesada should be run out of Marvel by fanboys wielding torches and pitchforks.

Furthermore, the whole "Peter and Mary Jane's love is so pure it causes pain to the devil" idea makes me want to vomit. It was a weak solution to get themselves out of the corner Quesada forced them to paint themselves into.