@sheva78: acmamall.com prices for GNs and TPs are even cheaper than Kino's. The office's registered in Tmn Melawati. I wonder if they're the distributors themselves...? Anyway, I might just wanna order from them from now on.

Huh? How come save but pay more? Confused!

And free shipping! Save petrol, parking, time...

@ puterilyn28 : Why r u quitting now?

I wouldn't be surprised if these new 52 titles are DC's answer to Marvel's Ultimate Comics line. So these could be a temporary attempt to compete with Marvel for a bigger market share. Think Age of Apocalypse. Or Heroes Reborn. Where regular and ongoing titles were "cancelled" for four months to a year before everything reverted back to the normal universe/timeline.

Or it could be set in a post-Flashpoint world. Another Earth. Didn't DC introduce a new Multiverse at the end of the 52 weekly limited series comprising of 52 different Earths? Isn't Grant Morrison working on Multiversity?

These days, I only get omnibus and absolute editions. Thor by Walt Simonson Omnibus is a keeper. I am a proud owner of Absolute Watchmen, Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths, Absolute New Frontier. And I love my Captain America Omnibus and Death of Captain America Omnibus. Madman Gargantua is a nice package. I just ordered Madman Atomica from TBD. Can't wait for it to arrive.

(For those who've ordered from The Book Depository: If the books are sent via normal mail, what if the parcel is larger than the mailbox? Will our friend the postman just throw it into the house compound like our other friend the newspaperman? Uh oh!)

However, there're still some titles that I follow in their monthly format. Grant Morrison's Batman is an only current example. Minis don't count, right? I'm getting Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung's Avengers: The Children's Crusade and The Chief's Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates. Flashpoint and Fear Itself too. I pick and choose when it comes to Geoff Johns' Green Lantern.

So am I excited about DC's new 52 no. 1s? I'll check out Justice League by Johns and Jim Lee. Green Lantern too. And the rumored Superman series by Morrison. I wonder what's gonna happen to Batman Inc.

In conclusion, I buy monthlies. I buy trades and hardcovers. I read free online comics/webcomics too.

Is it time to end the monthlies? Is it time to kill off the direct market? Is it time to stop being a comic book fan and go watch X-Men: First Class, Thor, Green Lantern, Captain America instead?

There are no hard-and-fast-rules for these. My own comic book experience might be similar to yours but it's also different. And it evolves over time too.

Perhaps the question should be: Is it a good time to be a comic book fan?

This post has been edited by lowyatben: Jun 3 2011, 03:03 PM

Anyone selling Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps? Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis? PM me pls.

Hey, guys
Just discovered that DCBS offers great discount.

http://www.dcbservice.com/

Has anyone ordered from them before? Is it cheaper to order from them with shipping cost and all?

Thanks,

So for those who'd preordered from TFAW, DCBS, Mile High, etc, do you save more even when shipping cost is factored in? I'm very eager to order all September-shipping 52 new DC Comics titles from one of these online stores since local comic shops are unable to give better discounts.

Thanks in advance.

@ evoHahn - Thanks. But yeah, local comic shops only offer 10%. However, DCBS is offering 40-50%. Very tempting, especially if one is considering getting more than a handful of copies. Just that I'm not sure if it's worth it when we include the cost of shipping...

Hey, guys
I'm definitely getting 17 of the new DC 52 titles this Sept. Would love to get more. But these 17 are already costing me over RM200. I've checked out some online stores. And I've done the math. For example, if I were to order from DCBS, ALL 52 cost me slightly over RM300, INCLUDING shipping. I'm now seriously considering getting all 52 from an online shop. There'll probably be a few titles that I have zero interest in like the Western one and a few others but at least I get to try out and read more than the 17 that I'd initially wanted. Who know? I'll get more come Oct.

Well, I intend to try out as many titles in Sept. After all, they're first issues. Might switch to trade later.



Action Comics and Justice League are set in the past, approx. 5 years in the past.

The Batman and GL titles are not reboots. They worked so well previously and were best-sellers so DC's not messing with them.

Some titles and characters will, however, experience major revamps. Like Teen Titans. And Batgirl. But for all we know, Batgirl could also be set in the past, though in one of the ongoing SDCC panels, DC's mentioned that Barbara's going through physiotherapy so she could still have been paralysed previously.

It's been speculated that this DCnU initiative is DC's version of Marvel's Ultimate line, just that it's being applied to the entire DC Universe. And it's been mentioned that DC's giving this new bold direction a year to gauge the level of success that this will or will not bring. If you've been a comic book reader for some time, you'll know that it's so easy to press the reset/reboot/relaunch/"reborn"/"ultimate" button or "OMD" the entire thing or change it back to status quo and everything reverts back to an earlier established continuity or do another Crisis and "Superboy-Prime punch" the whole thing again and do another round of universe-wide correction and clean up whatever mess they've gotten themselves into.

Ah, comics. Can we live without them?

Fear Itself #7 - price increases from $3.99 to $4.99 (like what DC did with the last issue of Blackest Night). Starting to piss me off. Seriously thinking of fully migrating to HCs/TPBs. Cheaper than getting all single issues combined and need not worry about variants and unnecessary price increases. Forget about event books and all singles already!

Wolverine and the X-Men #1 - $4.99?! First issues now priced at $4.99 ke? Then subsequent ones $3.99 meh? "Dear Marvel, draw the line-lah, like what DC's doing."

X-Men: ReGenesis - $3.99 but is this necessary? The X-editors have a habit of doing bookends and specials. This has been the norm since as far back as the 90s, I think. Remember X-Men: Alpha and X-Men: Omega, then quickly followed by X-Men: Prime, and we also had Onslaught: X-Men and Onslaught: Marvel Universe? More recently, we had seen stuff like Decimation: House of M: The Day After, X-Men: Original Sin, X Necrosha, X-Men: Endangered Species, X-Men: Second Coming #1 and #2...

Incredible Hulk #1 - $3.99. Shows inconsistency in Marvel's policy. Or rather it shows that the House of (Bankrupt) Ideas is only thinking of our hard earned money. But what about subsequent issues? Knowing Marvel, they'll still be priced at $3.99. Need to pay Marc Silvestri...

Huge X-Men fan in the 90s. Moved to Avengers in the 2000s when Joe Q "destroyed" the line. Was into Ultimate X-Men and Ultimates too during Millar's time. Started reading more DC after Identity Crisis/Infinite Crisis.

These days, I've dropped most of the Marvel stuff when Marvel started charging $3.99 for a comic. I only get limited series and certain arcs. I've given up the habit of "completing my runs".

As for DC, they still have my money as long as they keep their comics at $2.99.

I also follow creators. Millar used to be my favourite Old Man Logan but he's more interested in making films nowadays. Followed Morrison from New X-Men to the Bat titles. Ellis from Stormwatch and The Authority to Iron Man and Thunderbolts but I found his run on Astonishing X-Men to be a little confusing even though I was a huge X-fan. With films and animation keeping him busy, I'm not surprised that his "quality" has dropped.

Right now I'm more focused on events but Fear Itself is making me think twice about getting future events, though I have a feeling Marvel and Bendis will give us an Avengers event next summer (no surprise here with the Avengers film coming next year and Bendis' already confirmed that he and Hitch are working on an Ultron story, which was teased at in a Point 1 issue of Avengers earlier this year). Not really a big fan of Bendis but that guy does have pretty innovative ideas but poor execution/conclusion.

Flashpoint would have bankrupted me if not for the earlier than expected DCnU announcements, no thanks to Bleeding Cool, of course. So I'm just getting the main FP miniseries, Batman, Superman and Secret Seven.

DC's getting most of my money this September but at the moment, I'm only continuing with Action Comics and Justice League in Oct. The others are on a "wait and see, read first then decide".

Of course I'll always get some trades, HCs, Omnibus, Absolute editions and special one-shots from time to time.

Hi, guys
I'm looking for Ultimate X #1-5. Anyone selling?

Thanks,

Brian Michael Bendis is leaving the Avengers franchise after so many years at the helm.

Being an X-Men fan in the past, I fell in love with Bendis' New Avengers (and Disassembled, which was necessary for the scribe to restart the franchise on a clean slate back then).

Wolverine, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, The Sentry, Jessica Jones, Ronin as members of the then-New Avengers? Very cool.

However, as much as I despise Bendis' decompression style of storytelling, I collected New Avengers monthly. I had also jumped on board for his House of M and Secret Invasion, even Secret War and The Illuminati. And Mighty Avengers too.

But I was so disappointed with Secret Invasion that I decided to stop supporting New Avengers post-Secret Invasion even though I was intrigued by his Dark Avengers idea (but to me, Warren Ellis' Thunderbolts was/is the Dark Avengers. Go read it if you haven't done so). Nevertheless, I purchased the Dark Avengers Omnibus when it came out. Yes, I loved it. Not as good as Ellis' highly recommended Thunderbolts run but at least both were illustrated by fan favorite artist, Mike Deodato Jr. Got Siege as it's only four issues.

Anyway, I did not spend my hard earned Ringgit on Heroic Age Avengers. Bought and read the Point One issue, and I'm looking forward to the Ultron War storyline (actually, it's more for Bryan Hitch's art but I'm sure and hope that Bendis will try to end things with a Big Bang).

He's launching Avengers Assembled with art by Mark Bagley. It's targeted at fans of the Avengers film series and will feature characters such as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye and familiar ones from the movies.

There'll be an Avengers vs X-Men 12-part bi-weekly series starting in April, co-written by Marvel's Architect writers -- Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction -- and drawn by big name artists Frank Cho, John Romita, Jr., Olivier Coipel and Adam Kubert.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be on board. The House of Ideas seem to be running out of good, solid ideas. And they seem to be pitching comics to Hollywood. Gone are the days when you could read and enjoy stories without having to endure the death of an iconic character, only to have him or her re-appear again some months later (the "deaths" of Thor, Bucky Barnes and Johnny Storm in Fear Itself and Fantastic Four are some recent examples of bad gimmicks employed by the House of Bankrupted Ideas).

@ evoHahn - Thanks, bro. I'm already reading it. Loving it. Bendis isn't all that bad. He's (almost) always at his best when he's writing solo characters with great supporting cast. Besides, the artist's a gem of a find. But we all know that Italian (and European) artists are in a league of their own, right?

@ arius - Oh, I'm having a great deal of fun reading Ultimate Comics Ultimates and Ultimate Comics All-New Spider-Man. Even though they're priced at $3.99, Hickman and Ribic, and Bendis and Pichelli are doing a fantastic... AMAZING job with these series. Forget about Marvel 616! Unless it's Uncanny X-Force. Remender and co. (especially Opena) are doing a marvellous job. But I'm waiting for the first 19 or so issues (up to the Dark Angel Saga) to be collected in an Omnibus edition.

To tell you the truth, one of the main reasons I dropped most Marvel was because they raised their prices to $3.99. I'm okay with this price point PROVIDED they put star creative teams on the titles. However, whenever they do, like Joe Madureira on Avenging Spider-Man, Chris Bachalo on Wolverine and the X-Men, and Marc Silvestri on Incredible Hulk, these artists only last 3 issues (although Silvestri had some accident or something but I wouldn't be surprised if he'll still only be able to draw three consecutive issues only based on his recent track records). Second reason why I've dropped Marvel and moved on to...

DC New 52! Now, I DO NOT mind paying $3.99 for Justice League even though it's been announced that Gene Ha is stepping on for Jim Lee for a couple issues in the next few months. Because when DC charges $3.99, they make sure that fill-in artists are top quality artists. Instead of an up-and-coming artist or someone who imitates another artist's art style (FYI, that Nick Bradshaw guy who draws like Art Adams is filling in for Bachalo on WatXM... meh! And the ever inconsistent and overrated Whilce Portacio is trying to keep Incredible Hulk on schedule but isn't he an example of an artist who also missed and misses deadlines?)

Rags Morales on Action Comics. Another good buy. Even when DC does the back-up stories, every single Sen spent is worth it.

And I'm also following Batman (Snyder and Capullo rock!), Aquaman (can never have enough of Reis!), Batgirl (the covers by Hughes are already worth the $2.99 that DC charges for this series!), Animal Man (surprise hit of 2011!), Wonder Woman (Azzarello should write more DC! And Vertigo, of course), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Rocafort's art is yummy!), Superboy, Teen Titans and others.

I started out with 26 of the new 52 in September.

The initial list was later culled and it was down to 11 or so in the second month.

I'm at less than 10 titles now but it'll be just JL, Action, Batman and probably Red Hood after January.

So my Marvel and DC purchases are quite balanced now. But there're rumours that DC's gearing up for a second wave of new 52 titles, and Marvel's considering rebooting its universe post-Avengers vs X-Men (if it's indeed Phoenix and/or Jean Grey that's coming back, then a reboot is a big possibility).

Nevertheless, there're some series that I'll collect in TP or Omnibus form. As I'd listed down earlier, Uncanny X-Force is one of them. And the upcoming Winter Soldier by Brubaker is another one (I LOVE his Cap America series! Up to Reborn, anyway). I got Dark Avengers in the HC format (couldn't bring myself to cough up $3.99 per single issue back then and I knew that Kinokuniya will bring them in at a discount when they're eventually collected), and Ellis and Deodato on Thunderbolts is nothing short of brilliant so I'll wait and see if the currect New Dark Avengers storyline that's running in Avengers and New Avengers is worth getting later on. I'll probably get Captain America (by Brubaker and Steve McNiven), the Mighty Thor (by Fraction and Olivier Coipiel), the Punisher (by Rucka) and Daredevil (by Waid and Martin) sooner or later. So Marvel'll still have my money.

I agree that Dan Slott has been amazing (pardon the pun) on ASM. But I pick and choose and trade wait. Is Spider-Island his best so far?

As for GL, well, I used to buy this monthly pre-New DC 52. But now that Sinestro's taken over the spotlight (not that I don't like him, I do but he is not Hal, not my GL, anyway) and Hal seems to be playing the sidekick/Peter Parker role now, I'm giving it a rest. But I'll surely come back to GL. Like I always do. My favorite series in the last decade. Geoff John is perfect on GL. He's a hit and miss for fans (and I'm one of them). Comes up with cool concepts and ideas but sometimes he comes off like serving the fanbase more, feeding the fans what they want, instead of giving us solid stories that have everlasting impact.

I mean, Captain Planet and the Planeeters-inspired GL Corps and rainbow corps?! And Blackest Night is like his excuse of turning every super hero into a corps member. Still, BN is much better than Marvel's Fear Itself, which to me is like House of Uninspired Ideas copying from Geoff and DC.

And Justice League isn't that great a read. Not much of a plot, really. But who could resist Jim Lee's art, right?

Overall, DC's been successful in reaching out to the fanbase. And they're not charging us a bomb.

Well, yeah, New 52 is like the 90s all over again. Cheap gimmicks, fan favorite creators, Bob Harras (!)... but at least they got the fans' attention. And the mainstream as well.

Marvel? Well, go ahead and continue to charge us $3.99 and double ship and employ less than superstar artists and flood the market with more and more Avengers stuff. The fans have accepted former EiC Joe Quesada's challenge. "Don't like the books, then don't buy them." Thank you very much for the great advice. And us fans who go online and post our thoughts and comments "don't matter"? Well, look who's smiling now?

(For the record, I admire what Joey Q and co. have done on the creative level. I just don't agree with their marketing and business plans)

Yeah, sidekick, no? Isn't the arc about Sinestro trying to save his homeworld from the Sinestro Corps or something? And Hal's just along for the ride while also trying to play Peter Parker to Carol Fenris' Mary Jane?