What's your reading strategy?

[TheDragonKing]

I'm curious about what other peoples strategy is to reading comics? Like, how do you choose what you're going to read? Also, how often do you read back issues or trades?

[Restingvoice]

Free comics come first, then Discounted and Chronological starting with Origins or first publication, but also different versions depending on which one attract me more.

So I got Superman then Batman Golden Age volumes first but I also got Byrne's Man of Steel and Batman Year One. Then even though I haven't finished Golden Age I got Long Halloween which is a continuation of the latter version.

Also even though Hal Jordan came after Wonder Woman, I picked GL Secret Origin and also skipping the 60s version, since the modern one has my favorite artist

So I'm not reading current comics unless they have an origin/beginning

[jb681131]

I'm curious about what other peoples strategy is to reading comics? Like, how do you choose what you're going to read? Also, how often do you read back issues or trades?

I search renounded sites and forums to find the majors stories/arcs/runs/events to read on each characters/teams as well as reading orders.
Then I read. Then if I liked this character/team, I try to make the most perfect reading order and start with the "modern age" and go on. I pick up the "older ages" as I read.
I read multiple characters at once not to overdose on one charater/team.

I never read singles, always collected editions. Like that I have time to read reviews to see if this or that serie is really worth reading.
I aslo keep up with the most important series/events going on - even if I have a little delay because I wait to know if they are worthy or not.

So I keep lots of lists.

[sifighter]

For picking new series, in order of importance to me

1. I look to see if the book sounds cool (I.e premise)
2. Do I know/like the creative team
3. Do I know/like the character

For back issues or trades

1. Have I heard good things/reviews
2. Am I already reading the series or character
3. Did a friend recommend

[Lee Stone]

Currently, I pay for a DCUniverse sub and read comics there.
Purchases are reserved now for things I want to own. I can now go back and restore a few older collections or convert them to trades.

[Mike]

Avoid almost all new books and look for back issues (pre 2000) that I am missing.

[Robanker]

I pick up a lot of stuff, most of it DC but some indies too. How I decide is usually based on a creative team mixed with a character I like. Sometimes, it really just is the art. Didn't care for Tom King's Batman, but I picked up every issue Lee Weeks or Yanick Paquette worked on, for example.

I've got a lot of trades too, most of which I read in afternoons or after work, but that's not as frequent currently as I've let a backlog of newer material stack up. Life's been busy!

I read back issues before bed pretty much nightly or every other night on my tablet using DC Universe.

As with all things, there's great stuff in the past and present, but I'm less interested in some of the more recent stuff because it feels more corporate than usual. Even in the back issues, characters had supporting casts and their own stories. I'm currently going through The Power of Shazam and even when Captains Marvel (yes, both of them) have to tie into an event, it feels organic. Right now, you can feel the corporate pecking order of "Bruce > everyone" in most books. Everyone has to go to Gotham these days. Supporting casts are reducing and just being about highlighting other named characters, or establishing OCs hoping they'll get adapted for big money.

I won't disrespect the hustle, I get that last part, but it does hamper the overall experience. Newer comics don't make for as good longform storytelling generally because creative teams can't stick around long... So when you think you're getting one or two arcs at most, you go for broke, cut the small stuff and use the big guns. Batman, the Joker, Gotham at stake, etc. Every time. It's gotten banal.

Mixing new and old comics regularly actually helps stem that a bit, so I recommend it. You get the fix of the older method which built worlds around your hero with some new stories and sensibilities to hopefully catch interest. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of excellent stuff coming out now, but it's become harder to simply appreciate the DCU as a shared place and not just "Batman and Friends' playground," where you pray your favorite B-lister shows up to be rad in a crossover.

[LordMikel]

For me I've been collecting comics for over 30 years. I even worked at a comic store. So back issues for me would be 60's or 70's which really didn't have much appeal. I have been picking up trades of the Avengers and Dr Strange omnibus of Strange Tales from that time period. They've been interesting to read, but truly are written in a different time period.

Dr Strange in Strange Tales, "You will be defeated Mordo, for good will always triumph over evil." I wonder if this is what caused the lines to begin to blur. He's not evil, he is misunderstood, so he can win.

These days my collecting is a lot less. I can't buy everything, so I concentrate on characters I like. I will pick up trades of storylines that I have heard are good. I used to love events until the companies are greedy with events. So many lackluster crossovers and a never under story. and just being bad. Secret Wars I think was the last event I bought and I hated that storyline.

I don't go online simply because I don't have the time to read enough to make it worthwhile. I also don't like reading on devices, but primarily it is time.