Comic Gradation

Getting Close to Switching to Trades. Possibly. Maybe.

2010-01-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

Changing from reading comics in issues to trades makes sense to me no matter which way I look at it. Yet I'm still reluctant to make the switch.

Issues are Not Suitable for a Family Man

My lifestyle as a husband and father of two does not allow me to fully embrace the hobby as a reader and collector. I have to stash all of my favorite comics away in short boxes stored in multiple closets. New and unread comics sit as a stack on a shelf in our master bedroom, which I know irks my wife. She's kind enough, however, to let me have my "space" for my issues, but with every shipment I feel the tension grow as the unread copies mount up to tipping over points.

Comics are Getting Too Expensive

Financially, it would save me a significant amount of money. With more and more issues being sold for a $3.99 cover price, getting collected editions would save me at least half of my hard-earned money... if not more. I would pay a bit more for hardcovers and special collected editions, but for my day-to-day reading, a standard, soft-cover trade would be more than sufficient.

Waiting to Enjoy the Trade

For enjoyment's sake, I think I would appreciate reading stories in trade. Everything I want out of an arc or series is right there in my hands. In 2009, "Scalped" by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera (and other artists) was one of my favorite titles. Interestingly enough, I don't own a single issue of the series. I read the first four trades (and will be ordering the fifth very soon), and was completely enthralled by it.

I'm sure that not every series is going to be that compelling of a read, but it does prove the point -- even if it's only to myself -- that comics can be thoroughly enjoyed in the trade format. I understand that this is not Earth-shattering news to anyone but me, but as a reader and collector of comics in issues for about twenty-five years, this is a big deal.

The Comics Collector in Me

As a collector, this may end up opening up new opportunities. I've often told myself that if I did end up switching to trades that I would allow myself to track down single issues of stories that meant something to me. Same goes for original art and graded copies. I would certainly be able to afford more comic collectibles because I'm saving money with trades. I probably would be able to squeeze out a little more space in my bedroom and closets if I opted to sell or donate old issues that have no sentimental value or meaning to me anymore.

It's funny how this decision is coming on the heels of my "Chronological Crisis" reading project that I've recently invested my time and money in. I don't want to abandon the single-issue experience completely. In fact, there may be some cases where I'll continue to subscribe to comics in issue form. I can't see myself cutting over to trades all cold-turkey-like; a more gradual shift towards trades, prestige formats, and collected editions is what I'm envisioning.

Time to Make Some Cuts

So the first order of business is cutting down my subscription list. I have to make the hard cuts and leave my heart out of it. Basically, I'm cutting out the following titles because I'm several issues behind. When I say "several," I mean four to five; that's the criteria I'm going to use, no matter what it means to me as a collector. Goodbye, for now, to the following:

Secret Warriors
I love this series, but, for some reason, I can't seem to catch up. I just read issue #6 and enjoyed it. I'm a big fan of Jonathan Hickman; I subscribe to Fantastic Four, and love that as well. I just feel like this title is an ideal series to read in trades.

Uncanny X-Men
As a long-time X-Men reader, fan, and collector, this one is painful. However, I'm about five issues behind in this series, and the crossovers with the other X-books is making this difficult for me to want to read. As a fan of Matt Fraction, though, I will look for trades of future arcs, especially the upcoming return of Kitty Pryde.

Sweet Tooth
Another incredibly entertaining series, but I just feel like I'd get into it even more if it was collected. The issues are more than adequate, and I've been able to follow along, but typically read two issues at a time, then take a couple of months off.

Mighty Avengers
This one should have been cut a long time ago, but similarly to X-Men, my heart couldn't cut an Avengers book. I suffered through "The Unspoken" storyline, and the latest issue with the Dark Avengers had me wondering why I'm buying this. I probably won't pick up trades on this... if the series lasts any longer.

First Trades to Order

Along with the fifth volume of "Scalped," I'm excited about this new opportunity to go back and grab some collected series both new and old. Here is my short list of items I want to order:

Scalped Vol. 5: High Lonesome
Green Lantern: Rebirth
100 Bullets Vol. 1: First Shot, Last Call
Captain America Vol. 1: Winter Soldier, Book One

So we'll see how this goes. I'm curious about what my collection will look like a year from now. Will I still have all my short boxes full of back issues? Will I have more or fewer new comics than before? Will I still care about the value of comics? I know one thing is for sure: I won't freak out if one of my sons vigorously grabs the trade I'm reading and starts to chew on it. Well, I won't freak out as much.

The Chronological Crisis - 1 - New Teen Titans #21

2010-01-05T15:58:00.000-08:00

A Story for Another Time

A hint of what's about to come is all I got out of New Teen Titans #21. As Starfire and Raven put their powers on display, a mysterious, spherical satellite above Earth is home to an unidentified being that is "monitoring" their activities and adventures.

The writer, Marv Wolfman, hints that this will be "a story for another time," and wishes to get back to the matter at hand in the issue, which is discovering more about this Brother Blood character. The Titans go undercover to infiltrate the Brother Blood cult, only to be discovered by Brother Blood himself after he zaps one of his cultists.

Overall, the issue was above average, but felt very dated. I'm almost certain this will be my opinion about every Crisis on Infinite Earths-related issue I'm going to read. The nostalgic feeling is overwhelming, though, as reading this issue (along with reviewing the covers of the first pack of issues I bought) immediately brought me back to my early days as a young comic book fan and reader.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Crisis Impact: Low

The Chronological Crisis - First Wave Ordered

2009-12-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

I ordered the first twenty-five books that tie in with Crisis on Infinite Earths. Thanks to Lone Star Comics at mycomicshop.com, most of these issues were easy to track down. Several of the books were available for only $0.88! There were four issues they didn't have. Now, these books weren't difficult to track down, but higher-grade copies were not available. I won't know the significance and impact these stories had on Crisis until I read them (or find them spoiled somewhere online), but here are the books:

(4) Green Lantern #176 - The fourth appearance of the Monitor
(9) Blue Devil #5 - The eighth appearance of the Monitor
(14) Justice League of America #232 - The thirteenth appearance of the Monitor
(20) DC Comics Presents #76 - The nineteenth appearance of the Monitor

The number in parenthesis before the issue indicates the placement in chronological order for reading the entire Crisis storyline (see The Chronological Crisis - Reading Order for the complete list).

The Chronological Crisis - Reading Order

2009-12-23T10:40:00.000-08:00

I will be using the following list for the chronological reading order for Crisis on Infinite Earths. This list was taken from a post by "VeganWithaYoYo" on the Comic Book Resources forums. The post is dated May 21, 2009 at 6:01 PM.

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - CHECKLIST / READING ORDER

New Teen Titans 21
New Teen Titans Annual 2
Green Lantern 173
Green Lantern 176
Green Lantern 178
Flash 338
Flash 339
Tales of the Teen Titans 47
Blue Devil 5
Fury of Firestorm 28
Batman and the Outsiders 14
Batman and the Outsiders 15
Action Comics 560
Justice League of America 232
Tales of the Legion 317
Swamp Thing 30
Wonder Woman 321
Infinity, Inc. 8
All Star Squadron 40
DC Comics Presents 76
Superman 402
Swamp Thing 31
Justice League of America 234
Vigilante 14
Superman 403
World’s Finest 311
Tales of the Legion 319
Tales of the Legion 320
Amethyst 2
G. I. Combat 274
G. I. Combat 275
G. I. Combat 276
Wonder Woman 323
Action Comics 564
Warlord 91
Jonah Hex 90
Atari Force 18
Batman 384
Detective Comics 551
Flash 350
Tales of the Teen Titans 58
DC Comics Presents 97
DC Comics Presents 78
Crisis on Infinite Earths 1
All Star Squadron 50
All Star Squadron 51
All Star Squadron 52
Fury of Firestorm 41
Infinity, Inc. 18
Detective Comics 555
Crisis on Infinite Earths 2
Green Lantern 194
Batman 389
Detective Comics 556
Batman 390
Detective Comics 557
Batman 391
Detective Comics 558
Swamp Thing 39
Crisis on Infinite Earths 3
Swamp Thing 40
Swamp Thing 41
Swamp Thing 42
Crisis on Infinite Earths 4
DC Comics Presents 86
Swamp Thing 43
Swamp Thing 44
Omega Men 26
Vigilante 22
Wonder Woman 327
Wonder Woman 328
Infinity, Inc. 19
Justice League of America 244
Infinity, Inc. 20
Infinity, Inc. Annual 1
Warlord 97
Legends: Crisis on Infinite Earths 1
Crisis on Infinite Earths 5
Swamp Thing 45
All Star Squadron 53
Infinity, Inc. 21
Infinity, Inc. 22
Swamp Thing 46
All Star Squadron 54
All Star Squadron 55
Crisis on Infinite Earths 6
Superman 413
Infinity, Inc. 23
Legion of Superheroes 13
Legion of Superheroes 14
Legion of Superheroes 15
Legion of Superheroes Annual 1
Crisis on Infinite Earths 7
Infinity, Inc. 24
DC Comics Presents 95
Legion of Superheroes 16
Legion of Superheroes 17
Legion of Superheroes 18
Wonder Woman 329
DC Comics Presents 87
Superman 414
Crisis on Infinite Earths 8
Green Lantern 195
Blue Devil 17
Omega Men 31
Blue Devil 18
JLofA Annual 3
Crisis on Infinite Earths 9
Blue Devil 19
Green Lantern 196
New Teen Titans 13
New Teen Titans 14
Fury of Firestorm 42
Superman 415
DC Comics Presents 88
Omega Men 32
Crisis on Infinite Earths 10
Justice League of America 245
Omega Men 33
All Star Squadron 56
Crisis on Infinite Earths 11
Green Lantern 197
Amethyst 13
Crisis on Infinite Earths 12
Legend of Wonder Woman 1
Legend of Wonder Woman 2
Legend of Wonder Woman 3
Legend of Wonder Woman 4
Green Lantern 198
Infinity, Inc. 25
Starman Annual 1
DC Comics Presents 94
Losers Special 1
All Star Squadron 57
All Star Squadron 58
All Star Squadron 59
All Star Squadron 60
Last Days of the JSA Special 1
Infinity, Inc. 30
Oz-Wonderland Wars 3
Aquaman 1
Aquaman 2
Aquaman 3
Aquaman 4
Superman 423
Action Comics 583
Batman 400

Original post: http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showpost.php?p=8969038&postcount=7

My Pull List - December 2009

2009-12-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

Here is my current pull list at Midtown Comics:

Amazing Spider-Man
Astonishing X-Men
Batman And Robin
Blackest Night
Captain America / Captain America Reborn / Captain America Reborn: Who Will Wield The Shield?
Dark Avengers / Annual #1
Detective Comics / Annual #11
Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo: Reef Rescue
Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles
Disney/Pixar's The World Of Cars: Radiator Springs / Ongoing Series
Disney/Pixar's Toy Story
Fantastic Four
Flash: Rebirth
Green Lantern
Invincible Iron Man
Irredeemable
Marvels Project
Mickey Mouse And Friends / Wizards Of Mickey
Mighty
Mighty Avengers
New Avengers / Annual #3
Secret Warriors
Siege
Siege: The Cabal One-Shot *
Stumptown
Superman: Secret Origin
Sweet Tooth
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
Uncanny X-Men
Walt Disney's Comics & Stories
Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1 / Dark Wolverine

The Chronological Crisis - The Monitor's First Apperance

2009-12-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Comic Geek Speak's "Crisis Tapes," I'm currently trying to track down and/or compile a chronological listing of comic books related to "Crisis on Infinite Earths." The Comic Book Database (CBD) has listings for both the Crisis and "Pre-Crisis" story arcs, but they are alphabetized.

When looking for appearances by "The Monitor," CBD cites the July, 1982 issue #21 of "The New Teen Titans" as the Monitor's first appearance.

This will be one of the first issues I will try and track down. Next up will be The New Teen Titans Annual #2 from 1983. According to CBD, this issue contains the second appearance of the Monitor.

I'm going to be looking at Midtown Comics, Mile High Comics, and eBay for copies of these two issues.

Comic Gradation - The New Beginning

2009-12-21T14:18:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to start a blog about one of my hobbies, comic books. Now, through the combined power of the Internet, technology, some pencils, soy beans, and a few ideas, I've put together "Comic Gradation."

This will be my home for all things comic books: reviews, collecting, industry news, artwork, sketching, and resources. The current online comic book community has inspired me to contribute in this shape and form, and I hope to build a resource that others will add to their arsenal of comic book knowledge and fun.

I chose the name "Comic Gradation" for several reasons:

I'm a collector with an opinion. I like giving out grades and reviews for the comics I read. The collector in me isn't left far behind though.
I enjoy watching characters and stories change over the years, while attempting to preserve some kind of original continuity.
I'm a typical comic book fan that thinks that I can create comics. How difficult can it be, really? In all seriousness, I have a high appreciation into everything that it takes to produce a single comic book. I am a huge fan of the production side of comic book making, and this will be a focal point to my writing.

A gradation is defined as, "the passing of one tint or shade of color to another, or one surface to another, by very small degrees." By the very definition of the word, this will be an underlying theme behind my posts.

So here's to a new beginning. An unplanned venture. A new line cast in over-fished waters. A fresh, inconsistent perspective. An older, immature, critical perfectionist's take on a childish hobby in an adult world.