Welcome to the club, OP. Well, actually, Marvel looks like it's putting out some really good stuff but between the double shipping and high prices, I only read Hawkeye in trades and Daredevil. Still, at least with Marvel it feels like there's quite a lot of stuff I would like to catch up on at some point. DC, however, is another story all together.

I came into comics through early 90s runs of The Flash, Superman and Batman but I currently don't read a single in-continuity DC book. Worse, while I'm sure one or two of their titles have improved recently (I have heard good things about Pak's Action Comics, for example), I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I don't generally like the new takes on established characters but, more importantly, I don't like the tonal monotony of the line and I really hate the way the whole line seems to be ruled by a badly developed editorial drive rather than allowing the creators to simply create. As such, not only do I not have any interest in the comics themselves, there isn't even a sense of nostalgia to draw me back in. This is a new DC Universe and I couldn't care less.

On the plus side, this does mean that I get a chance to re-read and gain an entirely new appreciation for older DC comics and, money permitting, start filling up some major blank spots in my DC Comics collection. Best of all, I've really discovered creator owned comics - most especially through the currently unstoppable and thoroughly awesome Image Comics - and I couldn't be happier. There really is something to be said for a reading a very diverse selection of quality comics by creators who are clearly putting their heart and soul into their work. Sure, I don't like all creator-owned comics equally but even with the ones that I flat out don't like, it still feels like there's actual integrity in the work being put out. A given title may not work for me but at least it doesn't usually end up feel like nothing more than phoned-in corporate product.

I haven't entirely abandoned corporate-owned comics (I still read Buffy, Daredevil and the Adventures of Superman on a monthly basis) but creator owned comics are the future -certainly for me, but, maybe just maybe. for the comics industry as a whole too.