Completism vs Quality Control
October 8th, 2008 by Esther Inglis-Arkell |Like most comics collectors I have a completist urge. I want the whole run, the whole story, every single issue that a certain writer or artist has done. I’m also cheap, and picky. Many times, these urges war with each other. I’ve already owned up to playing favorites with characters. Usually, it’s not the art or the writing that makes me drop a book, but something that I don’t like happening with a character. This can run the gamut from a bad romantic pairing, to a death, to simple out of character moments.
Completists: what books have you dropped, and why?
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most recently, Ultimate X-men, Ult. Fantastic Four and Kick-Ass.
Same as Mack on the Ultimate titles (and this is in trades-only, even), and a couple of manga series I’ve been reading that, thanks to a delightfully long delay between volumes, I lose interest in and end up selling. (That latter one tends to come when I realize “holy shit they’re taking two months a volume and there are around 20 left”.)
Ultimates, Ultimate X-men and JLA. Though the JLA was a while back.
Typically, I base what I buy on artist, writer, and or character. The only time this doesn’t apply so much is with Spider-man. I typically purchase every book that guy appears in, which as you know is a lot, (not the smartest character to do this with). Although Brand New Day makes me want to stop buying them. I only haven’t stopped because Romita.Jr, jumped back on (if only temporary). I might stop after he leaves.
Books I have ended and picked up again based on what characters are on the team have been Teen Titans, Justice League and Justice Society. I liked when Superboy, was in the Teen Titans, so I stopped buying it after that. I liked the Justice League better when Aquaman and any other Green Lantern besides Hal Jordan was on the team. And Justice Society pre-one year later.
I like the Punisher series, but I like War Journal better because he interacts with the Marvel U.
I like the Thunderbolts now that Warren Ellis is off the book. And the only reason for this is, because I feel it took him too long to tell a story.
Books I have stopped picking up as a result of artist, are many, but the one that comes to mind in particular is Green Lantern Corps. I love Gleason’s work on that book, and I hate it when he leaves for a couple books. So I just don’t buy the issues that he doesn’t draw.
I love to laugh at completists and prod them. I buy trades of stories which I have heard (from reliable voices) are good, and avoid most single issues because they’re usually full of adverts; any single issues I do buy, I run ragged from reading them over and over and not sealing them in a plastic bag.
Oh, yes. *Smug Grin*
Just recently, I moved to Hawaii and had to drop a substantial portion of my pull list, simply because I can’t afford to buy so many comics week to week anymore. This includes several titles I really like but just can’t afford to buy, such as Immortal Iron Fist, Incredible Hercules, both Iron Man titles, and Young Liars. I’ll also be dropping Action Comics as soon as the current arc is finished, God knows I can’t afford to get into another huge crossover.
I’m trying to collect Secret Invasion through just New, Mighty, and the limited series itself (plus a few one-shots and crossover issues), but I’m really reluctant to buy the latest New and Mighty considering how those books have been relegated to telling backstory that nobody really cares about (how the Skrulls sat out House of M, how Fury is a dick to his Commandos). The sad part is that a lot of these stories, like the House of M one, could have given us some insight, but instead settled for explaining how what we’ve previously seen doesn’t contradict what’s happening now.
These books are still good Bendis, entertaining enough and would be great in a Secret Invasion bound collection, but it’s weird when I’m tempted to buy Initiative because it’s MORE relevant to the Avengers crossover than, y’know, the real Avengers books.