Trevor

What's a Comic Book Challenge?

- monthly threads to encourage more reading and discussion
- a way to figure out "what do I read next?"
- motivation to try different genres
- motivation to keep reading and make progress on our unread piles
- a place to get recommendations

How does it work?

- we pick a genre (or company, or title, or whatever) for a month
- we post in this thread and talk about what we plan to read and read throughout the month
- you could keep a spoilered list in one post and update it all month, or post as you read
- in theory the lists could be kept in a separate thread to allow for fancier formatting while avoiding clutter

What makes it a "challenge"?

- well, unofficially, the goal is to read 100 comics a month, but that isn't stressed
- the group discussion will challenge and encourage you to read more (the main goal of most participants I imagine)

Who can participate?

- anyone and everyone!
- you don't have to list your reading or even post at all to participate, but what's the fun in that?
- quasi-technically, anyone on the planet who reads a qualifying book for the month is a participant, whether they know it or not

When does it start and end?

- it begins at dusk on the last day of previous month, and ends at dawn on the first day of the next month
- this bonus time allows for possible "double counting" cross-Challenge content
- content eligible for both Challenges has the bonus of being able to be counted for all 24 hours of the last/first days of both Challenges

How does counting work?
- as with every other 'rule', we're pretty liberal and you can count any way you want really
- in general, a comic book counts as one
- for graphic novels and oversize books, feel free to count one for every twenty pages

Who wins?

- there are no losers, the person who reads one page a month is equal to the person who reads 20 books a day

What is the schedule?

January - TV/Movie/Book
February - Eisner/Harvey/Etc Winners
March - Rotating Company
April - TBD (random idea every year)
May - Make-Your-Own
June - Reality
July - Science Fiction
August - Fantasy
September - Outside-Your-Comfort-Zone
October - Horror
November - Comedy
December - Holiday (w/ bonus Thanksgiving and New Year's time)

Trevor

last year's thread

majorjoe23

Hmm, I need to figure out what I'll read for this.

HyperWeather

I've been trying to get into manga lately, so will probably try and read a few this month.

davidh777

I may read some of the European comics I've been wanting to try.

9/3
Manara: Indian Summer* (Dark Horse Manara vol. 1)

9/4
Manara: The Paper Man* (Dark Horse Manara vol. 1)

9/15
Corto Maltese: Under the Capricorn* (IDW)

Trevor

I'm working on a personal checklist to use each month, to help me get my money's worth out of various aspects of my collection. So far, I've come up with this:

Read something from my:

Comixology - Dash 1-2, Sally of the Wasteland 1, Chaos!: Smiley the Psychotic Button 1, Hack/Slash/Eva: Monster's Ball 1
Dark Horse digital - Grumpy Cat FCBD 2016, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z 1-3, Best of Comix Books (partial), Dead Island 1
DC - multiple
FCBD - Grumpy Cat 2016
Groupees bundles - Athena 1, Grumpy Cat I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Just Don't Care... 1
Humble bundles - Queen Sonja 1, She Comics: An Anthology of Big Bitch (partial)
Marvel - multiple
original graphic novel - Flood
physical collection - Firestorm Reborn
physical single issue - Battleworld Marvel Zombies 1
Treasury edition - The Bible
TwoMorrows - Plugged In (partial)

majorjoe23

Last year I read a lot of crap for this month's challenge. I think this month I'm reading American Gods my Neil Gaiman, which is prose so not really a comic.

davidh777

I finally read the Manara volume I picked up a couple years ago. As I mentioned once, I'm friends with Kim Thompson's widow and knew him as well. The Manara translation was work he did for Dark Horse, even though he had plenty to do at Fantagraphics.

It was so "out of my comfort zone" that I was nervous removing the shrink , but I liked it. The art was beautiful, and the stories about colonial America--written by Italians!--were interesting. It was pretty erotic, and I understand that stories in later volumes are more hardcore so I'm not sure how much I'll end up reading. I'll probably try at least another volume, though.

Art spoilered for size:

Trevor

This maybe will sort of count if I read it tonight, since I've been avoiding it for almost 15 years.

PhantomStranger

That cover is nice.

Trevor

October Challenge is up.
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/comic-book-...er-2016-a.html

davidh777

I've been reading an Italian adventure comic by Hugo Pratt featuring a roguish character named Corto Maltese and enjoying it quite a bit in an oversized paperback edition. If the name sounds familiar, DC Comics has been using it as an inside joke for a number of years.