After 39 years of reading comics, I've quit.

[Blue Meanie]

Getting real close to quitting. I think the only thing I've read in the last couple of years is the Neal Adams Batman...problem is I have still "collected". Soon it will be a serious chopping of the list. Already started with canceling JLA after issue 50...I've already canceled Wonder Woman...next will be the Dynamite stuff...way too many titles in that line. I love the vintage characters...but it's just too much overload. I can say Thank God I don't read any of the titles that have a million different titles to them like Spidey, X-Men, Batman, and Superman. Don't buy anymore mini series, except for said Neal Adams Batman, because a week after the mini series is over they put the damn Hardcover out...I have limited space to begin with and Mini Series just take up way too much space. Also, there's a half off Hardcover dealer at the Big Apple Shows everytime they have a show...It's just gotten way to expensive. The day will come...maybe sooner than I thought. Still won't stop me from buying Silver age and Golden age back issues though.

[WannabeMego]

Still won't stop me from buying Silver age and Golden age back issues though.

...and THAT is the key.

I pretty much quit YEARS ago...but...I've gotten some GREAT deals on older issues to improve or fill in gaps in my collection (Thanx Charlie ).

That is my goal...now if I can only organize my stuff to find out what the hell I'm missing.

[Thor]

I have not quit completely but I have cut back drastically. My sticking points are the increased price per issue of some of my favorited titles, I'm having cash flow difficulties, and the direction they have taken is several books. I hate the fact they tend to try to drum up sales by killing off characters. At one time it meant something but now it's just a stunt. They did the same crap with Captain America recently. One huge thing that ****es me off is the entire BND crap in the Amazing Spiderman title. All progress the character has made in the last 30 years has been retroed. I also don't like the fact that Norman Osborne is back thus invalidating one of the best storylines in comic history imo.

I tend to buy old comic collections on DVD-Rom nowadays.

[LadyZod]

I think I'm more of a comic reader than collector.

Yes, I have over 30 long boxes full. It's an accumulation more than a collection.

I buy what I like TO ACTUALLY READ. I jump on, I jump off depending on the story. Some series, I've chosen to purchase in TPB form, as they read better that way (Invincible, Atomic Robo {who is AWESOME}, Y the Last man). Usually I stick with Trades for limited run series' like Planetary or League of Extrodinary Gentlemen.

Generally speaking, I'll try anything at least once (Bluewater Harryhausen books which blew.)

The only thing I do actually "collect" is Golden Age Superman/Action comics and Captain Marvel Adventures/Whiz. I try to pick up UK Marvelman issues whenever I find them, and I have a nice collection of Bizarro first appearances. (Pre-Crisis Tales of Bizarro world, and the like.) But nothing new.

Since I'm a Superman mark, I was affected by the whole Death of, and Electric bluing of "events"... but I knew if I hung on, the status quo would win in the end... cause I buy them to read, I just let the writers take me down the road. I didn't like the route, but I knew the destination, and that was enough for me.

[spamn]

I think I'm more of a comic reader than collector.

Yes, I have over 30 long boxes full. It's an accumulation more than a collection.

I buy what I like TO ACTUALLY READ. I jump on, I jump off depending on the story. Some series, I've chosen to purchase in TPB form, as they read better that way (Invincible, Atomic Robo {who is AWESOME}, Y the Last man). Usually I stick with Trades for limited run series' like Planetary or League of Extrodinary Gentlemen.

Generally speaking, I'll try anything at least once (Bluewater Harryhausen books which blew.)

The only thing I do actually "collect" is Golden Age Superman/Action comics and Captain Marvel Adventures/Whiz. I try to pick up UK Marvelman issues whenever I find them, and I have a nice collection of Bizarro first appearances. (Pre-Crisis Tales of Bizarro world, and the like.) But nothing new.

Since I'm a Superman mark, I was affected by the whole Death of, and Electric bluing of "events"... but I knew if I hung on, the status quo would win in the end... cause I buy them to read, I just let the writers take me down the road. I didn't like the route, but I knew the destination, and that was enough for me.

This is me as well. I follow writers. I have a fondness and familiarity with most of the characters of the big two, as well as Image.

I think the problem lies in the fact that there are only so many ways to keep serial fiction going, and the older we get, the less new things seem. The amount of deaths (and resurrections) in X-men specifically are preposterous. That and the number of times Professor X has had his walking ability restored (and taken away). But its not limited to Marvel - DC has brought back Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Flash, even Blue Beetle. Death is hardly ever permanent in the big comics, no matter who they kill. The resurrections are almost as offensive as the deaths.

At the end of the day, it boils down to how the story is told and what the characters are put through. If it's well done, it's a good read. But I doubt there's much they can do that hasn't been done before as far as plot elements and threats to characters.

But I don't read near as much as I used to since I switched to trade five years ago.

[BOTZWANA]

I quit in 1998 when the prices got too high! I have NO idea what is going on in comics today. Something about Civil War, spidey isn't married anymore etc. I know nothing otherwise.

I just collect Marvel Essentials and re read the old stuff. THAT is superhero comics to me.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I am like Lady Zod as well. Don't really collect for collectings sake but I enjoy reading them. it does get boring after a while. In high school and college I was a big collector but not so much now. they do tend to take up too much space after a while. But after I buy them it's not like i will just throw them out, you know? Anyway, I have always been a DC guy and they have used the kill/ressurect scenario way too much lately as well. enough already. The one character they had killed and left dead and whose death meant something was Barry Allen and now he is back too, and not to popular from what I hear.
the only hero storylines I am really still enjoying are teh Green Lantern books and as soon as Brightest Day i over I think I am done with comics

[Gorn Captain]

Have I told you lately that I love you....

Thank you for so perfectly putting into words my own frustration with recent comics. This is exactly how I feel, both where the stories and the art are concerned. Could you save me a lot of time and effort and write my posts for me from now on?

What it comes down to: comics these days are so "sophisticated", they make me run for the hills, screaming. It's too much!
I'm also the guy who prefers guys in rubber monster suits, and not tons of CGI.
Call me an outdated fossil, I just prefer the old days.
Tell you what, I'll go buy some vintage Iron Man comics to cheer me right up....

I gave up a long time ago.

I love comic books, but there's something about the long, never-ending story form that I really dislike. It's a soap opera that never ends, and I know that's why people like it, and that it's fun to "check in" on your favorite characters, but... it never ends. So any character development happens very slowly. Or, in complete lieu of it, a character gets killed to "liven" things up and generate interest. It's insulting, and it's vulgar. And then - whoop! - the character comes back to life! His DNA was just resting! Well, now you're applying fractal mathematics to insulting and vulgar. I don't know how anyone could blame anyone else for turning their back on this garbage. It's a rational reaction.

When it comes to popular superheroes, I've long preferred the self-contained, non-continuity stories like Dark Knight Returns and New Frontiers, where you really hear the unique quality of a creator's voice. I think that's the most natural and satisfying way to tell (and experience) a story: this is this person's take on these characters, and it has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and after the end it's over.

But, I have to admit I avoid most comics nowadays for reasons that are a lot more superficial than slogging, pointless narrative. I hate the pseudo-edginess of everything. I hate the digitally pristine way the word balloons and lettering look. I hate the artistically retarded imperative that dictates that all background elements have as much detail as foreground elements, because that's how fifteen-year-olds who can't draw like their art. But most of all, I hate the color. Everything is "beautiful" and gleams and shines and has gradients and render effects.

Well, it's not beautiful. It's ugly as poop. Historically, yes, the basic illustrative concept of paying close attention to your light source has been more-or-less ignored by comic book colorists. That gave old comics a neat, distinctive look and that's fine, especially back in the day when you were limited to the four color process. But if you're going to have the inker's lines turn orange because the sun is "flaring" behind them, then... you're basically saying "Hey, things are super-realistic now, okay? From now on we're going to pay real close attention to light and how it affects the appearance of physical objects." And then you ignore it and color everything like it's shiny and radioactive. It's like what the world would look like if you had a brain disorder.

Well, clever you. You got me to part with my cash, way too many times. But I'm not letting you back into my house until you treat me with respect, and you've gone to art school. And all the writers and editors have gone to writing and editing school.

[Sandman9580]

Have I told you lately that I love you....

Thank you for so perfectly putting into words my own frustration with recent comics. This is exactly how I feel, both where the stories and the art are concerned. Could you save me a lot of time and effort and write my posts for me from now on?

What it comes down to: comics these days are so "sophisticated", they make me run for the hills, screaming. It's too much!
I'm also the guy who prefers guys in rubber monster suits, and not tons of CGI.
Call me an outdated fossil, I just prefer the old days.
Tell you what, I'll go buy some vintage Iron Man comics to cheer me right up....

That made my day....

Enjoy the vintage Iron Man. Just the smell of a real comic book is enough to lift my mood. It's great aromatherapy!

[MIB41]

I gave up collecting comics on a regular basis back in the 80's after they put the Hulk on the therapy couch. These days I don't even recognize that Hulk anymore in comics. He's a king on another planet (huh?) and then he's Banner in the Hulk's body (that was covered in the "What if" series in the 70's). Yet when they make movies, they resort back to the character I know, where Banner is a fugitive. It's a strange reality comics live in today. Look at Spiderman. How many times have they reset his life line? In the 90's they created the God awful clone series which tried to negate nearly 20 years of storyline...yeah right. They even p*ssed on one of the great story lines in the Spiderman mythos by bringing Norman Osborn back and suggesting he raped Gwen before she was killed. Gee exactly where is the justice here? And then just recently they dropped all of that 'reality' again with this "New day" BS. To me that is crap writing at it's worst. You have kids making up things as they go along and then they write themselves into a corner where they essentially have to scrap the entire concept. That is inept writing and shows a tremendous lack of imagination from where I stand.

And then you have to pay outrageous prices to witness this crap? No thanks. When I was a kid, comics were an investment in both story and art (Plus they were only .35 to .75 cents). You collected them because the storyline was HONORED and followed closely. There was pride in keeping continuity with what had come before. Well all of that went out the window decades ago. The art of comic making has been long deceased. Sounds like the stench has only gotten worse with later generations. As the movies will show, only the good stories survive - and those were written decades ago! So much for the current 'talent' in today's industry...

[palitoy]

I quit as a monthly regular around 1991, mostly because I couldn't afford it as a struggling student. A lot of stuff started to change in the DCU at that time and I quit comics around the "Armageddon 2001" story arc.

In the late 90s I got into TPBs for a while (especially when Morrison had JLA) but eventually I got tired of paying for unsatisfactory tales.

I still buy the odd thing here and there but now my wife and kids are the hardcore readers. To be honest, I don't know what to do with a comic when I'm done with it.