Comics: The Weekly Rundown (was Heroes Con 2006) (1 Viewer)

[Ruz-El]

I used to do the same thing Greg. I had a file at the shop, and when I picked up my books, I'd compare them to the ones on the shelf to make sure I had top condition books. Since realizing that I well probably never sell them, and even if I had mint books to sell, I probably well never get full value for them, I'm not too concerned.
Still keep everything bagged & boarded though.
How do you guys keep track of your collections? I had initially started using Wizards online database, but then they wanted to charge for it so I dropped it. I've since got most of my collection in a giant Works database. Once I get it complete, I plan on buying an overstreet guide to put in what the current speculation value is. I tried the "Collecterz Comics" program, but their online database for comics is pretty much non-existant.
Oh, and to answer your question, I almost always got NM books with the pull list.

 

[Andy Sheets]

I recently made the decision to finally quit floppies altogether, so I'm ordering collected editions only.

Getting most of the Essential and Showcase volumes.

I really like these new Omnibus editions from Marvel - basically 3 or 4 Masterworks in one huge book, but with letters pages, extras, better paper and restoration for the price of only 2 Masterworks. I've got the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Eternals just came in last week.

From Dark Horse, I get The Goon, Hellboy, BPRD, and both the classic and new versions of Conan whenever a new collection is released.

Pretty much anything from Alan Moore, most of Kurt Busiek's works (especially Astro City), most of Matt Wagner's stuff. Been getting IDW's reprints of classic 80's indies: Grimjack, Jon Sable, and Maze Agency. IDW's Doomed has been a pretty interesting horror magazine, but I wish it came out more frequently.

For new and recent books, the Black Coat and Athena Voltaire made good impressions on me, and I'm kind of curious about this new Star Wars: Legacy series that John Ostrander is launching.

 

[BrettGallman]

I don't have a problem with the quality of books my LCS pulls for me. They're always close to mint. Before I had a pull list, I'd always try and get the best quality book on the shelf.

I have the first issue of SW: Legacy, and it's pretty interesting so far. I'm going to stick with it for a while just to see where it goes. I've never collected any Star Wars comics, and I'm a HUGE Star Wars fan. Kind of hard to believe it took me this long to get into one.

 

[Ruz-El]

Pretty much anything from Alan Moore

I'm the same way. I actaully moved a bit from buying character books to creators books, and drifted form the heros until recently when I got sucked back in to the superheroics. My faves, as far as books/series:
Batman/Superman : this brought me back to comics in the 90's with the Nightfall/Death of story lines, and I collected both regulalry until BAtman : Cataclysm and Superman a little after the RED/BLUE deal
Frank Miller - I pretty much buy everything he does, even Allstar Batman which has been thus far disapointing. I guess I should of went with Superman, I'll wait for the trades.
Alan Moore - Like Andy, I'll try pretty much anything he's done. ABC Comics folding was just sad, buyt that final Tom Strong issue was pure gold. I see that LOEG : The Black Dossier is being offered this month in preview, and I have "The Lost Girls" collection on order, if it doesn't get banned first.
Eddie Campbell : Anyone read Bacchus? A great Greek Mythology book. His Alec stries are top notch. His lates "How to Be An Artist" was even better.
Samurai Books: I'm a total whore for the Dark Horse Mangas, Lone wolf, Executioner, Lady Snowblood, What ever that new one is? I've got/get them all.
Los Bros Hernandez - Love and rockets, etc, basically buy the trades and GNs when they come out.
R. Crumb

 

[Greg_S_H]

How do you guys keep track of your collections?

I really don't. If I'm wanting to buy a certain title, I will go through and make a list of issues I'm missing. Other than that, I don't have any record. If I were to make one, it'd probably just be a list in Excel or something.
Another thing to note is that the next Suydam zombie cover will be out tomorrow. UFF 31, cover based on FF #51. Variant covers helped drive me out of comics in the early '90s, but I have to admit that these zombie covers are pretty cool. It helps that I've always been a sucker for homage covers.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I changed the thread title as it drifted into comics in general. Hope it does become a regular "thang" amongst comic fans.

My current list (I don't have a pull list at my LCS because I want to be able to quit quit cold turkey should I decide that's right for me, and having a pull list would obligate me to buy 2 more months of books after I put in my pull cancellation notice as I would honor my commitment to buy what a store orders for me):

Creator-wise:

Most titles drawn by Greg Land (upcoming Ultimate-Supreme-verse crossover)

Most titles drawn by Steve McNiven (Civil War)

Most titles drawn by Ed Benes (upcoming JLA)

Most titles drawn by John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men, Planetary)

Most titles written by Brian K. Vaughan (Runaways, Y The Last Man, Ex Machina)

Many titles written by Warren Ellis (Planetary, coming to an end, etc)

Most titles written by Alan Moore (ABC-related stuff, most coming to an end, now with a cave for a basement, who knows what's next from him)

Some titles written by Grant Morrison

Batman (Morrison)

Detective (Dini)

Supergirl and the Legion (for now)

Superman (on probation, seeing how it goes after the Up, Up and Away storylines go)

Action (ditto)

All-Star Superman

Supergirl (for at least one more issue)

Superman/Batman

Bird of Prey

52 (sort of tepid on it for now)

Wonder Woman (let's see how the new restart goes)

Justice

Fables

Y The Last Man

Civil War (though I find the premise hokey)

Runaways

She-Hulk

Astonishing X-Men

Ultimate Fantastic Four

Squadron Supreme (though, since Gary Frank left the book, I may, too)

The Ultimates

Strangers in Paradise (going away in 8 issues)

Optic Nerve (comes out once a year at best)

Stray Bullets (quarterly nowadays, it seems)

Ex Machina

Planetary (2 issues to go!)

WildCATS (Morrison and Lee in the fall)

 

[BrettGallman]

My pull list:

Marvel:

Astonishing X-Men

X-Men

Uncanny X-Men

New X-Men

X-Factor

Cable/Deadpool

New Avengers

Wolverine

Amazing Spider-Man

Sensational Spider-Man

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Punisher

Wolverine: Origins

Young Avengers/Runaways

Fantastic Four

Captain America

Eternals

Civil War

Civil War: Frontline

DC:

Superman

Action Comics

Superman/Batman

Batman

Detective Comics

Legends of the Dark Knight

JSA

Green Lantern

Wonder Woman

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive

52

JLA (starting soon)

I'm pretty much a Marvel/DC person, though I used to follow WildCATS and Spawn over at Image (and I'll be coming back to WildCATS in the fall, probably).

I'm pretty much loyal to titles and characters rather than artists and writers. I mean, I love Frank Miller AND Jim Lee, but I've stayed away from All-Star Batman and Robin due to all the negativity. Now, that doesn't mean I don't get excited when a writer I like takes over one of the books I read (I'm really looking forward to Morrison on Batman and Brubaker on Uncanny X-Men). There's always an exception though. I probably wouldn't be getting Eternals if Gaiman weren't writing.

 

[nolesrule]

How do you guys keep track of your collections?

I use a program called Realms of Wonder, which I've been using since the 1990s. It's inexpensive (you can use the free trial up to 100 issues), and also has support "subprograms" for adding issues from Previews magazine and for price guide updates. Also, the owner supports the program through yahoogroups.
Check it out, I'm sure you'll love it, as you can enter as little or as much info as you want: http://www.relamsofwonder.com
As for my pull list, it's fairly short right now:
Amazing Spider-Man
The Book of Lost Souls
Case Files: Sam & Twitch
Dork Tower
Fantastic Four
Futurama Comics
Spawn
Squadron Supreme
Transformers
TRON
True Story, Swear to God (sappy, but excellent)
I read the JMS stuff monthly, and I keep up with Frank Miller's work in collections rather than issues.
Probably my two favorite all-time series were Nexus and Bone.
Back in the late 90s, I spent way too much money on Batman, Superman and Star Wars comics.
I'm still waiting for Nexus to come back. I heard Baron and Rude had started working on a new Nexus project but the story was crap so Rude blew it off.
One of the interesting things is that Crossgen required the writers and artists they hired to relocate to Crossgen's HQ in Oldsmar. As a result, many of their former creative talent are still living in the area and they shop at my comics shop in Clearwater. Every so often, I'll run into one of those guys when picking up my stuff (which is how I learned about the failed attempt to restart Nexus).

 

[Andy Sheets]

One of the interesting things is that Crossgen required the writers and artists they hired to relocate to Crossgen's HQ in Oldsmar. As a result, many of their former creative talent are still living in the area and they shop at my comics shop in Clearwater. Every so often, I'll run into one of those guys when picking up my stuff (which is how I learned about the failed attempt to restart Nexus).

Cool!
The owner of the comic shop I used to go to had a number of industry contacts, and he used to have some interesting stories about the business (apparently Joe Quesada is not well-liked by many comics creators). And I remember getting some pretty interesting stories about Marvel under Jim Shooter's reign, who pretty much sounds like the Boss From Hell

 

[Patrick Sun]

Every now and then I see guys from Gaijin Studios (located just about a mile from my workplace), mainly Cully Hamner (penciller on Blue Beetle) and Karl Story (awesome inker), picking up books at my LCS. Cully will chit-chat with us, but Karl is quiet-spoken and generally just shops and goes.

 

[nolesrule]

Yeah, that was pretty disappointing, but I guess it's best to let it lie instead of trying to force things and bring it back as a lesser series.

I agree. I wish they could have come up with something good though.

 

[Greg_S_H]

New issues I got today:
Ultimate FF
Superman
Civil War Frontline
Ghost Rider
Ultimate Spider-Man
I intended to get Thunderbolts, but I either overlooked it, or it was already gone. My LCS doesn't get many of them or She-Hulk, so they have both been difficult to find with the heightened interest in the Civil War titles. I'll try another branch tomorrow, and I also need to find Sensational Spider-Man. Every copy at my shop was messed up, so I took a pass on it.

 

[Patrick Sun]

This week's titles for me:

Superman - Kurt Busiek flies solo, and it's not a bad standalone issue re-establishing not only Superman's presence back in Metropolis, but also Clark's past inefficiencies and frequent disappearing act in his capacity as a news reporter.

52 week 10 - In an odd timing stroke, this week showcases Clark getting chewed out by Perry White for getting scooped on a new hero in town. Clark pulls a few time-tested tricks to get the story. Didn't care much for the Black Adam subplot, though he does get a talking-to.

Squadron Supreme - some of the team allows for some retribution after seeing some ghastly terror and violence perpetrated on innocents. Not quite I like the direction of this series for now.

Also picked up Ultimate Fantastic Four and Fables, but won't get to them for a bit (I like reading certain titles in 6 to 10-issue chunks).

 

[nolesrule]

New issues I got today:
Ultimate FF
Superman
Civil War Frontline
Ghost Rider
Ultimate Spider-Man
I intended to get Thunderbolts, but I either overlooked it, or it was already gone. My LCS doesn't get many of them or She-Hulk, so they have both been difficult to find with the heightened interest in the Civil War titles. I'll try another branch tomorrow, and I also need to find Sensational Spider-Man. Every copy at my shop was messed up, so I took a pass on it.

If you have a pull file, you should tell your LCS ahead of time what you want so they will make sure they have a copy for you. It really helps if you can ahold of a copy of Previews.
I told my shop that I wanted anything written by JMS, and I've never had to worry about missing anything he's written. They even will put stuff in my file they think I might like based on other titles I can get (and no hard feelings if I decline ).
In addition, I use the pre-order add-on to my collection software to add titles I want in my collection database (again, check out http://www.realmsofwonder.com ... I can't say enough good things about this inexpensive piece of software). And I look over the Diamond shipping list on their website every week on their website so I know what has been shipped. The shipping list is really a handy tool

 

[Greg_S_H]

It may be a minor spoiler to say, but this week's Superman reminded me strongly of the first issue of Astro City.

If you have a pull file, you should tell your LCS ahead of time what you want so they will make sure they have a copy for you. It really helps if you can ahold of a copy of Previews.

It'd probably be a good idea to have one, but I like to compare the books they get in to make sure I get a nice copy. It comes at the price of sometimes missing out on titles that are under-ordered.
Someone mentioned being a Greg Land fan. He does draw gorgeous women--particularly Sue Storm. His run on UFF is wrapping up, though. It gets a new team issue after next. I liked his art with the exception of Johnny. He looked like an idiot and his hair was really bad.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm the Greg Land fan. He'll be moving on to Ultimate Power, the crossover between Ultimate-verse and the Supreme Power-verse characters.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I thought it was you, but I didn't feel like going back a page and I didn't want to say the wrong name if I was wrong. Heh.

 

[nolesrule]

It'd probably be a good idea to have one, but I like to compare the books they get in to make sure I get a nice copy. It comes at the price of sometimes missing out on titles that are under-ordered.

Well, you could always have a pull file to guarantee you get a copy, and just change it out with a better off-the-shelf copy if you find a better one. I'd say that's better than missing out on something you want and still get the best copy you can get.
I'm not grade-demanding, but I've been known to switch out copies from time to time when I get a creased or damaged cover.

 

[Andy Sheets]

I agree. I wish they could have come up with something good though.

I remember back when Dark Horse decided to shelve Nexus, Baron and Rude mentioned that they had the next issue of the series already fully drawn. I'd like to know whatever happened to that one...
Somewhat off-topic but not by very much...in case anyone's interested, a small publisher has just begun releasing new licensed trade paperbacks of The Shadow, with Doc Savage to follow shortly. Two of the original pulp novels per book. http://www.adventurehouse.com/ is one of a few online retailers carrying them.

 

[Ruz-El]

I'm going tonight to pick up my monthly comics/swag pile. I'll report later with my booty. Comics booty, not my "junk in the trunk". That would jhust be wrong.
A questions:
Anyone read Marvels "Secret War" from last year? I into it and enjoying it. While this was running, they had a story arc in "Pulse" that tied into the mini-series. Is there a particular reading order for it? the last secrst war issue I read advertised the Pulse arc, but I don;t know if I should read all of Pulse, than the rest of Secret Wars or ping pong between the 2.
Which brings me to gripe. Secret War has a "Dossier" issue that appears to be a bunch of text about the characters, as opposed to having an actual plot function to the story. Anyone else feel ripped off iwth these? Earth X, Paradie and Universe X all had issues like this as well.

He'll be moving on to Ultimate Power, the crossover between Ultimate-verse and the Supreme Power-verse characters.

Neat! I've been loving the MAX Supreme Power books. I was a little dissapointed to see it move away from that label. I've got the newer books but haven't read them yet because I was missing an issue of the "Hyperion" mini that came out. Are they still up to snuff? My concern is that they dumb them down. Oh and that they stop showing Power Girls boobies. That was my other concern. Boobies.
Andy, thanks for the heads up on Doc Savage! I've been wondering about getting some of the Doc stuff for a while now, haveing heard good things about it. I recently got into the pulps via the great Robert E Howard reprints. I highly recommned "Soloman Kane" to anyone, and have jsut gotten the 3 re-prints volumes of the complete Conan, but haven't had a chance to read them.
It's actually annoying. I've been trying to find a good HP Lovecraft anthology for a while, but all I can find are comp books with 2 lovecraft stories and than a bunch of other authors writing their own stories. I ended up just downloading the complete lovecraft poems and stories.