$20 a month; what do I get?

There was a time when I gave a damn about Marvel and DC hero books; that time ended around 94 or 95.

I like Moore, Morrison, Bagge, etc.

Otherwise, though, for $20 a month, you're going to want to get:

All-Star Superman (continuity-free, Morrison/Quitely, fun like Showcase, bimonthly so $1.50 a month)
Love & Rockets (3x a year, so $1/month, plus more for Beto's various series (e.g. now New Tales of Old Palomar if you like that)
Or Else (probably works out to about $2/month, given its frequency)
Fell (bimonthly, $2 an issue, so $1/month)
Morrison's Batman starts next month, so that'll be $3/month. It sounds super-fun.
Age of Bronze is like 3x/year, so that's $1/month.
You might enjoy Ed Brubaker's Daredevil, for $3/month. Try a couple and see.
Do you like Y the Last Man? That's $3/month, although I like it better in trades.

Really, it's not the best time for floppies. You'll probably be happier buying more graphic-novel-y stuff right now.

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT????

CASANOVA - I picked it up yesterday and found myself delighted. It's in the spy/anti-hero/James Bond/Jerry Cornelius mold with a protagonist who's basically Mick Jagger. Ideas pop off of nearly every panel, time and dimensions shift, beautiful ladies and evil beings, the greatest staring contest ever, and the indelible image of a dental hygenist who keeps a tank of nitrous oxide by her bed. Plus - 2 bucks for 28 pages. Do keep it in mind...

are trades cheaper? i've changed from singles to graphic novels recently but still find them to work out at about £2 an issue (swamp thing #3 = £12 for instance. um, lot cheaper on amazon...)

(apologies for derail)

(Oh and if you haven't gone yet BABEL will run you, um, something like a dollar a month, but in eight-dollar chunks. But you want it.)

The Supes book is great, no question; I bought the first four on the spot. Good call on everyone and I mean EVERYONE; when I said I hadn't read it, literally the entire store turned around and said "Oh, BUY that; buy that NOW." SO I'll definitely check out the Batman run too.

Good call on the Daredevil; I've always had a soft spot for the character after the first Miller run and the art and story look pretty solid right now. Always liked Brubaker's batman stuff and he's smart enough to let it just be kingpin vs. daredevil, which is where the series has always been most interesting to me.

I enjoyed Casanova, but it reminded me a bit of Paul Pope (both in art and story) which turned me off. Interesting and glad I got it, but didn't really leave a big enough mark for me to want to follow long term.

They didn't have any recent issues of Or Else, Fell, L+R or that templeton spidey/torch book (which sounds excellent, btw). I tried the first trade of Age of Bronze and it didn't work too well for me. I read two trades of Y already(and they recommended that I start into Ex Machina), but that's stuff I can get in the library eventually.
I looked over 52 and axed the nice folks whether I would be interested and they asked how I liked the new Crisis.

"There was a NEW crisis?"
"Okay, you don't want 52."
"Even though Booster Gold's on the cover?"
"Do you care who got a new costume in the past five years?"
"Hardly."
"You don't want 52. Or Civil War."

Instead, (after an awkward moment where I was asked if I liked 'capes and tights') I got steered toward the first trade of DMZ which was a WONDERFUL call; very 100 Bullets and totally NYorker fun. I'll be keeping up with it by trade from now on; very pleasant surprise.

They also put me into Jordan Crane's Uptight which was sufficiently creepy and impressive to win me into his fanbase.

Then Local, which was nice, but I can definitely wait for a trade.

Also, the new Showcase Presents Superman v. 2 AND the Collected Doc. Strange v.1 were out, so those got snapped up without prodding.
Both of these are great and essential, of course. That bumped my 20 dollar trip up to about seventy, but I guess I expected the first trip to be more of a binge anyway.

My new script box has a bunch of special holds (next trade of DMZ, any new Little Lulus or Showcases, new Peanuts books, the next Wally and Skeezix book, etc) but not many monthlies (just allstar supes, morrison's batman, daredevil and uptight).

So, I know I'm gonna try legion and x-factor when i go by on thursday and I'll keep an eye out for the rest of your MIA suggestions (and now BABEL), but I'm still open for a few more to hit the magic twenty buck ratio. What else you got? Or do I just stay with a few key books and spend the excess on trades?

Also, go back and get the Gotham Central TPBs. You can always buy the later issues as back issues when St. Mx has their 50% off sale and pretend they're new.

Might also like Queen & Country, but you've gotta start at the beginning of an arc.

And: Tales Designed to Thrizzle!

All issues of both Or Else and Fell are self-contained, pleasingly enough.

You mean DMZ (unless you're being cheeky). And it's pretty good, tho YMMV if you're not up for semi-apocalyptic war-correspondant stuff. New York's gone to shit from the inside out; photo journalist gets dropped into the middle of the mess by NewsCorpInc, finds out The Real Story, tries not to die, and throws up a lot. (Ha - it's the REAL Civil War: Frontline!)

My synopisis sucks. Also, I think me endorsing something is akin to Gene Shalit giving a good review.

It's good - Homicide: Life On The Streets, but with Batman making an appearance at least once an issue.

Detective
Batman (GMO)
All Star Supes
Any Showcase or Lulu trades
Love and Rockets
Ex Machina
Daredevil
Castle Waiting
Usagi Yojimbo

I'm also grazing a lot these days. With those names in mind and bearing in mind that I tried everything else up top, any more recommendations?

Did you ever manage to track down a copy of Or Else?

Is there a good one (in colour if poss) to start with? Are the Rosa stories as good as Barks's?

Chuck, NOBODY is as good as Barks but Rosa's stuff is a close second. It's apples and oranges anyway, but if you liked Unca Carl I can all but guarantee that you'll love Rosa. Start with that 'Life and Times' trade and I'll bet you'll be fiending for individual issues afore too long.

Which brings up my next question: Douglas, did anyone ever reproduce the Rosa stories in a trade or comic reprint form except for these? In Britain even?

There are Rosa fan pages that indicate where particular stories have been printed & reprinted...

I'd say you'll have much better luck for Or Else at Jim Hanley's Universe, or maybe even Midtown Comics!

Chuck: yes, go for the first "Life and Times" book. Or if you want to start smaller, dig up a copy of Uncle Scrooge #335, the 2004 issue that reprints (on nice paper) Rosa's first Scrooge story (done on spec as an audition), "Son of the Sun." What a great story.

lol you fuckers crippled me.

SO MUCH MONEY AND SPACE AND TIME GONE FOREVER

welcome to my nightmare :(

I will pay any of you one whole dollar to come over and organize my umpteen boxes / stacks of comix.

i'm cool with throwing or giving away comics after i read them now.

I would kill for a comic library service.

In Portland, this is known as "the library." Seriously, virtually anything that's been collected you can get or order.

I never did get a copy of 'Or Else'. Should hunt it down.
My latest and costliest amazong netted me (among MANY things) the complete 12 book run of Tezuka's Phoenix, which I'm slowly reading through; book 2 is one of the greatest cartoon stories I've ever read. Scans as if it were ghostwritten by PK Dick. I've got an ebay order of the way for three issues shy of the entire Dark Horse minitrade run of Astro Boy, which should put me in the batshit position of owning just about everything currently in print by Osamu Tezuka in English. Waiting patiently for Dororo v.3, Blackjack and still trying to figure out a reasonable way to glom onto the Hitler bio series. Anyone read them?
I've officially spread out to six walls worth of books. I should likely photo or video this collection at some point. Easier than listing it.

What I really want is friends who want to come by, plunk on the couch and read for a few hours a week. Or, you know, just friends who are into comic books.
http://www.myemohairstyles.com/gallery/files/0/1_563953.jpg

David, if you're near Manhattan, my OCD will take you up on that offer but I'm gonna want a box worth o' stuff to take home.

Anyways as long as I'm rambling: regarding Don Rosa, check this good shit out: http://www.amazon.com/Don-Rosa-Library-1987-1988/dp/1603600647/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218869261&sr=8-1

forks, you're in Manhattan? I'm up on 187th.

I work in Manhattan. Out in JC.

Cool. We should chill sometime. I'm really into comics :P

Sure. Hit me up off thread.

My library looks at me suspiciously when I suggest such things, Douglas. But then I live in a pretty reactionary section of a predominantly reactionary county in California. There are such things, it's true.

I will certainly echo Douglas' comments that the Portland library system is pretty fantastic when it comes to comics. I can put a hold on just about anything that's recommended here, and it shows up at my local branch within a week or so. In the past month, I've read a half-dozen Hernandez Bros collections, the first volume of Phoenix, the Jack Kirby 4th World Omnibus, the Saga of Bloody Benders, and a couple Kevin Huizenga collections. The library system may be one of my favourite aspects of living here (though, strangely, it took me nearly a year to find a comic shop I liked).

Really? What comic store do you go to here, Arango? I like Cosmic Monkey on the east side and Floating World on the west side for new stuff, and the back-issue selection at Excalibur is excellent (although they bag & seal all new issues, which drives me bonkers).

Forks, I'm really psyched for that Don Rosa collection!

I'm partial to Guapo. Excalibur has a great back issue selection, but was a little too much for my wife to take. We initially went to the Gateway Cosmic Monkey location, which was a little terrifyingly cluttered (and overhearing the clerk having a conversation about the Authority explaining how awesome Hawksmoor's powers are worried me a bit). The new location is less overwhelming (and about three blocks from my house), but I love the minicomic/indie selection at Guapo (as well as having all the mainstream stuff so I can maintain my Grant Morrison fix).

I haven't been to Floating World yet, mostly because I don't go the west side unless I have to.

I think you might really enjoy Floating World, which has an ENORMOUS mini/indie/art-book selection... and it's like five blocks from Powell's, so no excuses.

xp douglas, yeah it looks great. Not like I need another compendium edition of anything, but I'll almost certainly start buying those.
How do you get on publisher gravy train lists anyways?

Forks--same as record-label lists: reviewing stuff all the time plus going up to publishers/PR people at cons and saying hi. (Some publishers are a lot more promo-iscuous than others.) I've also found that emailing a publicist and saying "hi, Magazine X has assigned me a review of Book Y, can you send me an advance?" and leaving it at that is way more likely to land me on an ongoing promo list than "hi, can you put me on your promo list?"