Since the New Year is still pretty fresh I figured I’d take the time to jot down some of my comic book related resolutions. We all do these things on an annual basis and we very rarely see things through. But I’m making mine public in the hopes that, this year, I’ll stick to them.
My first one is a pretty simple one; be more aware of the books that I’m buying. Allow me to explain.
A typical week for me sees double-digit titles in my pull list. And my comic shop is a very contentious one, in that they they’ll pull variant covers for me as well, so that I get to pick the cover I want. So, this month I’ll have the standard DC covers and the Flash Anniversary covers too.
But the problem is that in my carelessness, I’ll invariably end up buying both covers of some issues. I don’t need both covers. I never want both covers. But sometimes one will slip through. For instance I’m looking at the Lego cover for The Flash right now.
I’ll also occasionally pull a book from the shelves that’s already in my stack, again buying the same issue twice. So, for the rest of the year I’m going to make a concerted effort to carefully and cautiously purchase my books so that I’m not getting the same issue twice.
Along the same lines, in 2015 I’m going to scan the racks more, so I’m not missing anything I really wanted to read.
Sometimes there are books that slip through the cracks. Maybe I’m in a rush or maybe they don’t necessarily stand out on the racks, but I end up missing some books. Two recent examples are The Kitchen and Men of War.
I picked up the first two issues of Men of War, but I missed the third issue and now I’m two issues behind. It’s entirely my fault; both my negligence in not picking up the third issue and also my refusal to pick it up now because it’s now a “back issue” which my store has jacked up the price of.
I’d wanted to try out The Kitchen, but again I missed out on the first issue and now I’m behind. The good thing is that I’ll probably be able to find the issues I’m looking for at an upcoming con, but I’m missing books now.
Lastly, and I feel like this is my version of “getting in shape”, I want to drop books that I’m not enjoying.
This falls in two categories; books that I’m reading and not loving and the books that I’m literally not reading. The mercifully cancelled Green Lantern line would be an example of the former, while Dead Boy Detectives is an example of the latter.
I have every issue of the current Dead Boy Detectives comic, yet I’m not sure if I’ve yet to finish the first arc. Every month I’d see Dead Boy Detectives in my stack of comics and think “I need to drop this book” yet I’ve never done it.
In 2015 I’m going to be more diligent in trimming my pull list. Hopefully.
Well, that’s it for this week. It’s Wednesday so go out and get some fresh new comics from your local comic shop.
