Comic book reading habits?

[babyblob]

So I was wondering what everyone's reading habits for comics are. Everyone is different and I like hearing about how people enjoy their hobby.

How many do you read a day/week. What companies do you focus on? Old or new stuff? Physical or Digital? Do you have a special place to read them or just where ever?

For me I havnt read many comics the last few weeks. I have been going nuts on my Switch. But I am going to change that and get back to reading comics on a daily basis. They help me relax more and calm me down better with my mental health illness and stress of caring for my father. I am going to try and read two or three a day but will likely go more when I have the time. I have had days where I have read 20+ I will have time coming up as I have no Doctors to go to. It is all over the phone right now. I have been doing my shopping online and having it delivered. My dad and I are both going through a batch of decent health. So I will have time to get back into comics more often.

As many know I read mostly older stuff. I started at the golden age for Dc and 1961 for Marvel as I do not like Golden age Marvel. but I ran into problems. Not that the comics were not interesting but because I was trying to work in some modern stuff and stuff from the 90's. It took away from my main project and I stalled out in 1968 Marvel. So I am restarting back in 1961 Marvel and Golden Age Dc. but I am going to not read any newer stuff as that confuses me and takes away from the early stuff project. I am still going to buy some of the newer stuff that looks good and I am going to set it aside and get to it at some point. I am also going to keep a journal of my thoughts on what I read. I did a blog for like a couple months but I lost my net for awhile and had to stop it.

I read a mix of physical and digital. The older stuff digital while the 60s Marvel I read on Marvel unlimited and in physical form through graphic novels and trades. I will be doing a mix of Marvel and Dc and may throw Walking Dead in there since it is a different company it will not throw me off.

So what are the habits for you guys?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I read digital mainly these days.

When I read hard books, it's TPB and I get it from the Public Library.

I read both old and new but it comes and goes in waves.

I like reading obscure stuff. Like earlier this year I got to read CORTO MALTESE for the first time by Hugh Pratt, and it's great. I read the "Ballad of the Salt Sea".

I like good comics, regardless of genre, regardless of company, regardless of universe. That said, I no longer read or follow DC Comics in general. That doesn't mean I am a Marvel guy per se (in that I hate DC or will never read DC again), I just don't find anything in DC exciting anymore in art and writing. Certain decisions, screwing over Moore via Doomsday Clock and Rorschach series' and so on, has made me lose any sense of customer loyalty and while I liked Tom King's Mr. Miracle series, him doing the Rorschach series has made me lose all respect for the guy. I no longer want to read anything else by him.

I have heard good things about Matt Fraction's Jimmy Olsen series and I like Fraction so I might check that out sometime later. But aside from that, I don't see anything in DC's current and upcoming direction that promises anything.

[shooshoomanjoe]

I mainly read floppies and only read digitals if the comic I want to read is too expensive as a floppy. I like to lay down or recline on a chair. If it's at night, I read next to a light which can get annoying with glossy paper because the light reflects back on the paper.

[chongjasmine]

I mainly read digitals, though I read tpbs at times. I read comics from marvel/dc/vertigo/image/idw.

[cable guy]

I read only Marvel and have been going digital lately. I now love reading at night time in bed.

Mostly current stuff is what I'm into, but I am going back and reading old Cable and X-Force issues in between.

[C_Miller]

I'm currently in grad school and I have trouble on focusing on reading for pleasure. The only way I can do anything "fun" is to turn my brain off or else I just spiral thinking about how much work I should be doing. So video games, specifically video games I've already played have become my only respite. Everything is due by the end of next week, so I'm hoping to get back to it.

The unfortunate reality is that I keep buying comics. My "to read" pile is insane. My goal for the winter break is to go through the entirety of Dawn of X.

[Chubistian]

Most of my life, I was a re-reader (does that term exist?). As I earned more money, I started to prioritize new comicbooks and balance them with books. Nowadays I don't read as many comics as before, but I read newer stuff (in the sense that I haven't read them before, not that they're recently published). I've also become more interested in european comics (of course I will never stop being a Marvel and DC fan, but I think it's time to vary a little more). I try to read at least one comic a day, I just love them as an art form.

I like the most old comicbooks, between the 60s and early 90s, but I read from every decade and I've found amazing material even to this day. I think there's always a comicbook out there that suits my tastes, it's only a matter of finding it

My preference has always been physical comicbooks and, with the current prices, I buy less floppies and more collected editions

[Jim Kelly]

During the pandemic, since I'm at home most of the time, I've gotten into certain habits. I've been reading a lot of the SHOWCASE PRESENTS. I finished off TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, now I'm reading both HOUSE OF MYSTERY and HOUSE OF SECRETS. On Saturdays, I will read SHOWCASE PRESENTS STRANGE ADVENTURES--that's my super-hero and science fiction day and I am also reading the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ARCHIVES on that day. On Sundays, the morning is for westerns and the afternoon for mysteries, so I read either SHOWCASE PRESENTS BAT LASH or SHOWCASE PRESENTS JONAH HEX, then I read a story from THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES.

If I'm reading for my Superman list from All Planets, then I'm pulling out old Superman comics or else reprints and digital copies.

I'm also watching T.V. series and movies (from the library or my own copies or online). On Saturdays, I was watching THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN and/or SMALLVILLE and/or STAR TREK, but I finished SUPERMAN and SMALLVILLE. Now I'm watching DOCTOR WHO and/or WONDER WOMAN and/or STAR TREK. On Sunday mornings, I watch Gene Autry or Hopalong Cassidy and in the afternoons I will watch COLUMBO and/or MONK and/or MURDOCH MYSTERIES and/or THE MENTALIST and/or MEDIUM. I was watching PERRY MASON, but it's been a long wait now for the library to get in season 2 for me.

[MyriVerse]

Mostly Marvel, with 6-7 indies. All new stuff. No TPBs. I haven't bought a back-issue in 20+ years.

[CSTowle]

I had been getting a handful of Image titles and Knights of the Dinner Table, nothing anymore from Marvel or DC, but recently canceled my pull/subscription list. I'd been buying monthly comics on subscription from one shop or another since 1994, feels weird but my shop moved towns and is far enough away that I don't get to stop in more than a few times a year. Made a disconnect from the habit of reading new things each month. Now I buy trades cheap on Ebay. Should explore digital, but I'm an old man and it's hard to change. Probably save me a s**t-ton of money. Often read some as they come in, others straight to the shelf until I'm in the mood. Still buy some back issues at Cons (when there's no pandemic), usually things I can't find collected in trade or single issues that stood out to me.

[GOLGO 13]

So I was wondering what everyone's reading habits for comics are. Everyone is different and I like hearing about how people enjoy their hobby.

How many do you read a day/week. What companies do you focus on? Old or new stuff? Physical or Digital? Do you have a special place to read them or just where ever?

For me I havnt read many comics the last few weeks. I have been going nuts on my Switch. But I am going to change that and get back to reading comics on a daily basis. They help me relax more and calm me down better with my mental health illness and stress of caring for my father. I am going to try and read two or three a day but will likely go more when I have the time. I have had days where I have read 20+ I will have time coming up as I have no Doctors to go to. It is all over the phone right now. I have been doing my shopping online and having it delivered. My dad and I are both going through a batch of decent health. So I will have time to get back into comics more often.

As many know I read mostly older stuff. I started at the golden age for Dc and 1961 for Marvel as I do not like Golden age Marvel. but I ran into problems. Not that the comics were not interesting but because I was trying to work in some modern stuff and stuff from the 90's. It took away from my main project and I stalled out in 1968 Marvel. So I am restarting back in 1961 Marvel and Golden Age Dc. but I am going to not read any newer stuff as that confuses me and takes away from the early stuff project. I am still going to buy some of the newer stuff that looks good and I am going to set it aside and get to it at some point. I am also going to keep a journal of my thoughts on what I read. I did a blog for like a couple months but I lost my net for awhile and had to stop it.

I read a mix of physical and digital. The older stuff digital while the 60s Marvel I read on Marvel unlimited and in physical form through graphic novels and trades. I will be doing a mix of Marvel and Dc and may throw Walking Dead in there since it is a different company it will not throw me off.

So what are the habits for you guys?

------ for new books.

I buy mostly hardcover Omnibus, Library, Oversized books of stuff that interests me. Collect B&W hardcover horror book like Creepy/Eerie/Vampirella or EC artist/collected books. Old DC horror books is like fresh cocaine to me.

The only floppies that I "collect" is old Marvel Conan books including those B&W Savage Sword magazines. Pre-code horror comic books are among my holy grails/"key" books that I chase now.

[babyblob]

------ for new books.

I buy mostly hardcover Omnibus, Library, Oversized books of stuff that interests me. Collect B&W hardcover horror book like Creepy/Eerie/Vampirella or EC artist/collected books. Old DC horror books is like fresh cocaine to me.

The only floppies that I "collect" is old Marvel Conan books including those B&W Savage Sword magazines. Pre-code horror comic books are among my holy grails/"key" books that I chase now.

I would love to read some of the older Horror. But know nothing about them. what do you recommend?

[GOLGO 13]

I would love to read some of the older Horror. But know nothing about them. what do you recommend?

~ Anything by EC Comics before the comics code finished them off is GREAT! "Tales from the Crypt", "Vault of Horror", "Haunt of Fear".

Also their crime books had a LOT of carry over from the horror books, especially the artists & writers constantly jumping back & forth among all the books. "Crime Suspenstories", "Crime Patrol" similar elements from horror (gruesome violence) carried over into crime stories.

I also recommend their sci-fi books for similar reasons (alien monsters/violence). "Weird Science", "Weird Science-Fantasy", "Weird Fantasy" are all great reads.

EC's war books have to be absolutely recommended because of the same masterful artists/writers jumping back & forth. "Two Fisted Tales", "Frontline Combat". These stories did not hold back from portraying the panicked tension of desperate men in combat & the terror of war.

*** As you begin reading EC books you'll see them proudly flaunt using a lot of Ray Bradbury works in their comics. Apparently, EC got caught straight up plagiarizing Bradbury's work without permission or credit. So Bradbury sent them a letter saying your guys must have "misplaced my check" for using my stories. EC responded by cutting him a check & an offer to officially use his stories in future comics. EC were a pack of unruly rebels during their heydays ***



~ Harvey Comics had an impressive run of pre-code horror that went toe-to-toe with the best of them. In fact, Harvey had some of the more gruesomely infamous covers for horror comics out there.

Harvey Black Cat Mystery, "Harvey Chamber Of Chills", "Harvey Thrills Of Tomorrow", "Harvey Tomb of Terror" and Harvey Witches Tales" Don't sleep on Harvey horror.

Now I must say that these books are rare & quite expensive. So the best way to read them is in collected HC/tpb form or reprints. Some of the reprints had updated colors so a lot of them look better than their original issues. I personally prefer the B&W hardcovers so i can see how glorious the line-works of those masters like Wally Wood or Jack Davis without color getting in the way.

~ DC comics had a great horror run during the 70's with their "House of Mystery", "Weird War Tales", "The Witching Hour", "Ghosts", "House of Secrets" & "Weird Mystery" books.

These book came after the comics code so their not as balls out horrific as the pre-code era but damn, DC did a masterful job getting some fantastic artists like Kaluta, Bernie Wrightson, Cruz, Redondo, Grell to do covers & interior work. DC horror comics was the joint in the 70's.

[DanMad1977]

1 or 2 books a day. Mostly new stuff from every publisher. The books that I am super into, I read when my wife is in bed, because I want to enjoy it without someone talking to me or the telly running in the background.

And always some back issues to catch up to stuff that I never read. Or re-reads of books that are going into hiatus, like Saga, Seven to Eternity and so on.

I stopped playing video games 3 years ago. Reading is so much better and I don't miss a single game in my life.

[Comics N' Toons]

Because I love comics, I'm all over the place as far as reading habits go... I read more DC than anything, but I've got my share of Marvel books too. I like indie-stuff too... everything from Spawn and TMNT to a lot of pulp hero comics, horror comics like Hellboy and pulp-noir like Blacksad.