Marvel line: collect and read the comics?

[rogueboy]

With a lot of people jumping on the Marvel line, I admit I'm curious if those same people also read the comics. I myself can't imagine why you would collect the Marvel line if you don't, but stranger things have happened ....

 

[Bodie The Cursed]

I have a pretty sick comic collection spanning from my youth to today...

 

[rogueboy]

I am a vivid collector and have to get my fix weekly...

 

[carbo-fation]

I started reading comics again after a good 6 year break. Civil war got me back into the game and I'll continue reading at least until World War Hulk. If things turn bleak afterwards, I may stop reading again. I started collecting Marvel because I still felt strongly about the characters, despite not having read the actual comics in 6 years. Characters like the Hulk, Wolverine, Spiderman, etc. have left a lasting impression on me, something that will never diminish regardless if I continue reading comics or not. Therefore, getting pieces of these characters just seemed natural.

 

[Darth Loki]

I've known all about these characters my entire life. I never read comics as a kid though. The movies really peaked my interest and because of them, I've started reading.

But the statues are really to blame for my new comic obsession.

 

[Eli26]

I used to collect comics. In fact I built myself quite the collection of silver age to modern age comics. Some hard to get grails and some really neat rare variants. However, then it went from collecting comics to sports cards, then from sports cards was comics again. Then there was my love for all things action figures. Now it's high end movie props, statues, busts, hard-to-get sought after items, Transformer G1 originals, some even sealed, to lately collecting SideShow's Premium Format line.

I have a kick ass collection of everything. You name something and I probably have it in my collection. Marionettes, puppets, statues, dolls, action figures, busts, comics, sports cards, old money...I've collected it all and yet I am still in my 20's. How do I do it? hehe

Anyway, as for comics, no I don't collect them anymore. Not to the point I used to. I just get the odd issue every now and then.

 

[The ill Jedi]

I at the Comic Shop every wednesday! I read strictly Marvel, nothing against DC; I love Superman and Batman, but Marvel Just speaks to me more.

 

[the Doctor]

i picked up marvel zombies vs army of darkness today..fun read but to short for an issue and loads of ads..shame really:emperor

 

[SolidLiquidFox]

I used to go to the comics shop every Wednesday religiously. As I got older and the style of writing changed to appeal to trade paperbacks (stories padded shamelessly), I limited my comics purchases to about 10 books a month.

Most of my purchases nowadays are hardcovers, omnibuses and absolute editions.

 

[Bonehead15]

I first started reading comics back in '78. I would take my allowance money every week and walk 4 blocks away to the 7Eleven and buy a stack of books.

In the late 80's early 90's I bought about 60 books a month. :

Nowadays I buy about 8 a month.

**gets on soapbox**

No offense to any comic books fans but in the last 4 years DC and Marvel have basicly ruined their universes IMO. It might be a genearation gap or something but I miss the good old days were the stories were enjoyable and easy to follow. Todays books make no sense unless you pick every other book in the universe.

About 6-7 years ago at SDCC Marvel and DC both said that sales were down and that they needed new readers so they decided to get away from the huge crossovers. The crossovers keep new readers away from the books cause they are hard to follow and don't make any sense unless you've been a fan for over the last 10 years, 20+ years for DC's Identity Crisis. (I've been reading DC since '80 and it still was hard to follow. Earth 2 Supes?... )Both Dc and Marvel lied and nowadays the "mega crossovers" have done nothing but keep new readrers out. Sales are up but only because fans now have to buy almost every issue of every book of every Universe to just understand one book. That's insane which is why I only read a few books here and there. The books nowadays are not self-contained which is disapointing.

I'm not saying that there isn't any good books out there today cause there are. For example, Hulk is great and it was nice to know that last year that the Hulk book had nothing to do with Civil War. Planet Hulk was self-contained and very good. Now with World War Hulk comming I'll have to buy tons of other books just to keep enjoying Hulk. That's sad.

I do pick up a few TPB also to feed my hunger but most are of older books from the 70's and 80's.

 

[Cosmo_Kramer]

OTHER:
i dont read comics i collect the statues cause there AWESOM-O and i know about the characters i collect. nope im not jumping on the hype i started with xmen vs sentinel REG back in june last year:chew

 

[p!tu]

i read!! comics every week!!! nad collect mostly Hulk!!!!! cant wait for World War Hulk!!!!

 

[customizerwannabe]

I mostly read online nowadays. Used to be a HUGE collector years ago. Got a 50,000 comic book collection on dvd's to sift through now.

 

[gambit]

I limited my comics purchases to about 10 books a month.

Most of my purchases nowadays are hardcovers, omnibuses and absolute editions.

almost same with me.

I am reading comics since primary school and was crazy about them

I am only buying HC, TPB nowadays.

 

[Bardoon]

I just got back into comics several years ago.I mostly stick with Marvel but I pick up some DC comics here and there.I don't go there every week but you can see me at the store at least once every 2-3 weeks.

I don't really collect much of Sideshow's Marvel line though!!!The upcoming Spidey 3 mini-busts will be my first Sideshow products.

 

[SolidLiquidFox]

No offense to any comic books fans but in the last 4 years DC and Marvel have basicly ruined their universes IMO. It might be a genearation gap or something but I miss the good old days were the stories were enjoyable and easy to follow. Todays books make no sense unless you pick every other book in the universe.

No offense taken. I agree with you. The crossovers are back to back nowadays. They involve every single book in the company (almost) and it gets out of hand when they create a checklist of 30 comics you have to read. 22 of those comics have like 1 page that links to the heart of the main story.

Long gone are the days when an event was really an "event". Every summer we get these big stories to generate interest and sales. They accomplish that goal but when the books go back to normal it exposes the lack of talent and imagination most writers have nowadays.

 

[Darklord Dave]

That's one reason I only buy the collections - it's too hard to follow stuff one issue at a time.

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

I have a ridiculous comic book collection and still pick up my pulls every Wednesday.

 

[Statue You]

I've been reading and collecting comics for 20 years. I buy 5-6 titles every Wednesday !!

 

[Rook]

I'm currently dropping $20-30 a week at the shop. But, due to the influx of "events," that's likely to change. Multiple crossovers broke me and forced me to give up collecting for a few years in the 90s. I gradually got sucked back in via the Ennis "Punisher" book, the re-launched "Daredevil," and other things. But now, once again, it's getting out of control and hard to follow. Almost time to cull the collection.

I'll likely drop back down to my core characters: DD, Punisher, Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain America, as well as Ultimate Spidey and Green Lantern. Then, of course, there's the relaunch of Thor to look forward to. And those All-Star books. Oh, and the Avengers. And ...

See? That's how it happens...