Well, I took the plunge again...

After swearing off comics in the mid-nineties I honestly never thought I would get back into the scene at all. Over the last few weeks however, that has changes significantly.

I stopped collecting in the mid-nineties when all of the cross-overs, foil/multiple covers and constant retconning of characters/origins were the norm. I mainly focused on strictly the Spider-Man issues (The Amazing and Web Of), The Punisher (Reg series and War Journal), ANYTHING Doctor Strange, the old Tomb of Dracula and/or anything horror related. Those weren't the only titles as I dabbled in pretty much whatever issues looked interesting or that had cool story arcs going on (Iron Man - Armor Wars for example). I was an almost strictly Marvel fanboy although I was well aware of the DC "heavies" and main characters.

Needless to say, things started to get too convoluted story wise along with the additional expenses of trying to keep up with all of the multiple issues just made everything too overwhelming and sucked the fun out of collecting for me. Pretty much the same thing was happening in the sports card collecting arena as well so I quit both altogether and focused on my music collection exclusively.

Although I didn't buy comics any more, I've never given up on my fascination for the characters and have tried to keep my fingers on pulse to a certain degree. I still played the Video Games (Marvel vs Capcom series, the Spider-Man titles for all of the platforms, X-men Legends, Marvel Alliance, etc) and I'd never pass up a chance to look into a comic store if one crossed my path. I still very much believe that comics when done right really are works of art.

The thing that really made me decide to go back and re-visit the scene though are the trade paperbacks and various collections. The last thing I can afford right now is another fullblown hobby but to have things like The Essential line and pretty much all of the major/classic story arcs in one handy package really appealed to me. I have no desire to start with any monthly subscriptions or what not but now I don't have to as I can lesirely and selectively take what I have interests in the most.

The first few things I have purchased in the past few weeks to start me on my path again have been:

Doctor Strange: The Oath --AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME. Finally, my favorite character given a shot of human qualities for once instead of being used as a dopey excuse to clean up an out of control story line. Really well scripted book, I can't wait for the DVD.

Doctor Strange: The Essentials Vol. 1 and 2. Both rock but vol.2 could've been much better.

The Punisher: The Essentials. Stuff I had as a kid, still quality though and highly enjoyable.

The Complete Frank Miller: Batman, leatherbound, still waiting for this one to be delivered.

Iron Man: Armor Wars story arc, one of my all-time favs growing up.

and, last but not least, The Absolute Sandman Vol. 1. Caught it at my friends house and HAD to have it. Gorgeous doesn't do it justice. Unfortunately, I have to wait to open my copy as I am moving to Texas in the next few weeks and I don't want anything to happen to it.

Next on the list I believe will be the Spider-Man/Kraven arc, Thor: Viking (or something like that, my buddy rants like a mad-man about it), and the Essential lines for the Tomb of Dracula, Godzilla, Zombie and Frankenstein's Monster.

Like I said, I can't wait to revisit some of the classics of my time as well as picking up everything I missed the first time or in the last 12-15 years or so. I'm still not sure what the hell is going on with all of this Civil War, World War/Planet Hulk stuff or this whole "Ultimate" junk. I guess it never stopped getting complex but I'm just going to take things one at a time.

Titles I plan on checking out due to word of mouth: The Preacher and Hellboy (LOVED the film).





:edited because I can't spell:

[edit on 18-7-2007 by VoiVod13]

Originally posted by VoiVod13
I stopped collecting in the mid-nineties when all of the cross-overs, foil/multiple covers and constant retconning of characters/origins were the norm.

Unfortunately Not much has Changed from then, What with Marvels Civil War and DC's Countdown, plus I hear DC is once again Retconning The Jokers Origin.

And people wonder why western comic sales are declining

Yeah, I noticed, the Civil War section of one of my local stores alone is mind-bending. I'm just going to stick with the casual approach and pick and choose as I go along. After 12 years or so there are plenty of smaller story lines let alone independant comics that will keep me occupied for a long time. Not to mention being able to pick up all of the stuff I was never able to get growing up it will be a long time before I give any of the more recent cross-overs any thought.

Speaking of DC and Joker retcons, I read an article about the upcoming Final Crisis or whatever that is. The story line from the beginning of the first arc to the upcoming last one makes me surprised anyone even bothers to try to keep up with DC anymore. Two, three, four versions of the same characters throughout the ages living on seperate alternative Earths battling it out??

Yeah I like to keep to the Graphic Novels and Trade Paperbacks, That way it's all together and not as confusing, I find myself preferring the Alternate reality books like DC's Elseworlds and Marvel's What if's series. In my opinion if one series can't tell a story then it's not a good enough story to be told.