With the turn of the new year, there is the tendency to make big lists for ourselves of resolutions. Lose weight. Stop smoking cigarettes. Keep that journal going.
For me, it was reading that big damn pile of comics.
I read about 60-70 comics in one shot over the weekend. These were all the comics I have been putting off reading for weeks, in some cases months. Entire runs. Arcs from Daredevil, JSA, Hercules. The entire new Guardians of the Galaxy. The tie-ins to the end of Secret Invasion and everything in Dark Reign. War Machine. Amazing Spider-Man. Blue Marvel. Even goddamn Northlanders. Read eight issues of Northlanders within 30 minutes -- you get a chill wind.
The point was, I had these books on my plate, made a commitment to read them, but just couldn't get my ass in a seat to do it. Now, I've done it. The cumulative effect is not necessarily negative, but slightly "Super Size Me" in immediate impact. Can you overdose on comic books?
As soon as I was finishing, the BF creates for me another stack of "must read" comics. This is to keep me limber. What did Denny O'Neil tell me when I asked him what comics he recommended I read? "You've already read too many comics." Nay, I say. I say thee nay.
That's it -- Thor. I need to read more Thor.
No manga? Tsk.
ReplyDeleteI don't read them professionally or anything, but I do the same thing with my comics. I buy them and the build up because I never have the opportunity for a quiet moment to just chill and read. The holidays are the best time to get such reading done though! I finished two novels and then devoured the first 3 Buffy Season 8 TPBs in about an hour. I have felt so accomplished in months!
ReplyDeleteHaha that was pretty much my resolution months before New Years. Too many cons and too little resistance to discount bins created long box after long box of books I hafta read. And then there was all the work I was doing last year which caused all my RECENT books to back-up into their own little longbox. I made a point to start reading one title at a time of the recent stuff every weekend and now it's almost gone. There's still the older stuff, though...
ReplyDeleteAnd my friend, she's recently gotten hooked on X-23 so now she ENCOURAGES me to go raid the discount bins with her even though she KNOWS I'm an addict. She's evil, I tells ya! Evil!
At least a current gig I have is forcing me to read a good chunk of my Spidey, X-Men and Iron Man backissues.
I only partially completed the stack of books I had built up.
ReplyDeleteI try not to let my comic reading get backed up and I think everyone needs more Thor in their life...it's been an awesome title of late
ReplyDeletewhat are you normal non-mainstream comics in your diet?
ReplyDeleteyou know like magazines , mangas, books, the supermarket tribune, etc
Yea, I think that if people asked me about my New Year's Resolution I would simply reply, "Thor". I am reading a bunch of the Lee/Kirby stuff and am expecting a bunch of Simonson stuff in the mail soon.
ReplyDeleteFraction's one-shot Thor titles have been pretty epic.
ReplyDeleteAvoid New Exiles.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it'll just hurt. Claremont -- THE Claremont, the be-all end-all of mutant sagas -- is practically incoherent.
Avoid Trinity. Just as incoherent.
And Ultimate Hulk Annual, because . . . you just don't wanna know. Really.
Well, I only spend $10-$20 a week on comics, which I then read on the hour-long subway ride back to my apartment.
ReplyDeleteThis week, there's some stuff I bought while I was in Omaha, which I haven't gotten to yet. (Slept on the plane)
Sandman Dream Hunters #1
Amazing Spider-Man #579 (recommended by Tom Beland)
The Spirit #24 (got to give Aragones and Evanier a try)
Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! #3 (finally!)
Marvels: Eye of the Camera #2 of 6 (the sequel to Marvels, set in the 1970s Marvel history)
Beanworld Holdiday Special (read that one immediately! Hoka hoka gunk'ldunk!)
DC Universe Holiday Special
In books, there's No Fear Hamlet from Spark Notes (a year's best recommendation) and Woodrow Phoenix's "Rumble Strip", a UK GN examining traffic fatalities and society's acceptance (another "year's best").
Once my holiday check clears, I'm buying the deluxe version of "Comic Book Tattoo". And AbSand Volume 4. Don't know if I'll ever read the entire Sandman series in one sitting, but it's well worth it.
Oh, and B&N has it's boxed set sale this month, so I might avoid reality that way too.