Opinions/Help Needed...

[Uncanny Mutie]

I wouldn't say that Marvel has a wider range, and I say that as someone who's read Marvel stuff exlusively for the past 10 or so years. They've failed to put out Supernatural books time and time again, while they've also got a hard-on for changing the identities of their characters really often. Every Ghost Rider relaunch has featured a new Rider, with the book not getting past 12 issues nowadays. They have no detective or noir books, except Daredevil, which got turned into a silver-age super-hero book. Their cosmic line is a joke, with Bendis' GotG being one of the worst comics I've read. In general, while it may seem that Marvel's putting out a more diverse line-up, it basically comes down to two categories: Superhero titles, and indie-looking superhero titles like She-Hulk, Squire Girl and the like. Moon Knight is the exception rather than rule in this day and age. Heck, even Silver Surfer, which I loved, was basically the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who, just set in the Marvel Universe. Gone was the Surfer's philosophical self, gone was his immense power and stature. I read it and I really liked it, but I can't say that it was not a superhero title. Hickman's saga was great, but most didn't like it.

Am I excited for Black Panther and Moon Knight? Sure, but because they actually do look like they'll be more than just superhero titles (plus they're 2 of my favourite characters). But as it stands, I'm finding much more diversity and variety in DC's line-up than Marvel's. You've got teen books like Gotham Academy and We Are Robin, Supernatural books like Constantine, Indie-like books like Black Canary, and a whole slew of other stuff plus their classic super-hero stuff. Dunno why, maybe it's because I haven't read anything DC related in years so everything looks "fresh" to me, but I really do think that DC is mostly better than Marvel ATM.

Well said. I totally agree, and as a guy who grew up a Marvel Zombie and who generally likes Marvel's characters better, I have to admit that my Marvel pull list has dwindled to almost nothing over the past couple of years and DC books are now at the top of my pile every week. Sure, DC dropped the ball on a few things with the New 52. But overall, DC has been blowing Marvel out of the water quality wise for the last 2 or 3 years, and if DC hadn't shaken things up with the New 52, I probably wouldn't be able to say that about their books. I like what DC is doing right and I think we are finally seeing the result of 4 years of New 52 stories finally beginning to gel and feel like a real universe with shared history and continuity.

[Darthkostis]

Well said. I totally agree, and as a guy who grew up a Marvel Zombie and who generally likes Marvel's characters better, I have to admit that my Marvel pull list has dwindled to almost nothing over the past couple of years and DC books are now at the top of my pile every week. Sure, DC dropped the ball on a few things with the New 52. But overall, DC has been blowing Marvel out of the water quality wise for the last 2 or 3 years, and if DC hadn't shaken things up with the New 52, I probably wouldn't be able to say that about their books. I like what DC is doing right and I think we are finally seeing the result of 4 years of New 52 stories finally beginning to gel and feel like a real universe with shared history and continuity.

Honestly, I'm reading some back issues of DC and all I can think of is "while Marvel was putting out super-heroes battling super-villains, DC was actually putting out good stories". At the moment I'm still clinging to the Marvel characters, but honestly, the more I read the more I appreciate DC. Better writes, more mature stories and in a way, better characters. DC's not without flaws but I'm really starting to distance myself from Marvel. I just feel repulsed by them nowadays. Dunno why. Maybe it's the relaunches, the uneccessary changes, the price increases, dunno why, but I'm becoming more and more of a DC fan. I mean, I actually can list great stories from DC without reaching too deeply into a character's personal mythos. Kingdom Come, All-Star Superman, Long Halloween, Killing Joke, Moore's Swamp Thing, Animal-Man, Sandman, Watchmen, etc, etc. All my life, I've not read anything Marvel related that is up to par with these.

[steeplejack2112]

Go with Sinestro. For me it's hands down the best title DC is putting out right now.

[Darthkostis]

Go with Sinestro. For me it's hands down the best title DC is putting out right now.

I already made up my pull-list, but I'll keep an eye out for it in case I drop another Marvel title.

[Uncanny Mutie]

Honestly, I'm reading some back issues of DC and all I can think of is "while Marvel was putting out super-heroes battling super-villains, DC was actually putting out good stories". At the moment I'm still clinging to the Marvel characters, but honestly, the more I read the more I appreciate DC. Better writes, more mature stories and in a way, better characters. DC's not without flaws but I'm really starting to distance myself from Marvel. I just feel repulsed by them nowadays. Dunno why. Maybe it's the relaunches, the uneccessary changes, the price increases, dunno why, but I'm becoming more and more of a DC fan.

Same way I feel. As a kid, you couldn't have told me that one day I'd eventually end up like DC more than Marvel, but now I do, and it's not even close. Marvel has really sucked this decade for all the reasons you have named, and now with their messy, poorly planned universal reboot, they are only getting worse. I hate that Marvel double ships too, because not only is it super expensive to follow each month, but I feel like they should focus on improving the QUALITY of their books before they try to up the quantity.

[Darthkostis]

Same way I feel. As a kid, you couldn't have told me that one day I'd eventually end up like DC more than Marvel, but now I do, and it's not even close. Marvel has really sucked this decade for all the reasons you have named, and now with their messy, poorly planned universal reboot, they are only getting worse. I hate that Marvel double ships too, because not only is it super expensive to follow each month, but I feel like they should focus on improving the QUALITY of their books before they try to up the quantity.

True and true. Double shipping and 4 $ per issue are killing me. Besides, the stories in no way justify that price tag. 2$ maybe, but 4? Give me a break. Heck, Guardians of Infinity has "extra back-up tales" (probably 4 pages of an extra comic strip) which bump the price to 5 bucks! 5 goddamn bucks! Meanwhile Batman costs 4$, is the best book on the market and has much better paper and cover-paper. It's not even a contest for me, Marvel's f@cked up epically this time. Honestly, I don't even know why I turned to Marvel in the first place. It's not like I liked the characters more or that I'd watched the cartoons. I grew up with Batman, Superman and JL, not Iron Man. Either way, story-telling wise, DC is miles and miles above Marvel and I haven't even scratched the surface yet. Green Arrow for example puts most street-levelers to shame with the issues it's tackling. I just can't believe that I was so "blind" all this time.

[steeplejack2112]

I already made up my pull-list, but I'll keep an eye out for it in case I drop another Marvel title.

I understand how it is with pull lists. Although I still read some Marvel and DC, I am dropping those books left and right to make room for more independent titles these days.

[Darthkostis]

I understand how it is with pull lists. Although I still read some Marvel and DC, I am dropping those books left and right to make room for more independent titles these days.

Personally I prefer to read indies in trades. It's a much better feel IMO. Now I've also got to make room for 3 more series (MK, BP and Silver Surfer) and I just don't know what to drop (probably Carnage, X-Men and Ultimates).

[steeplejack2112]

Personally I prefer to read indies in trades. It's a much better feel IMO. Now I've also got to make room for 3 more series (MK, BP and Silver Surfer) and I just don't know what to drop (probably Carnage, X-Men and Ultimates).

I've always been a floppy copy guy. I am enjoying the new freedom I have for trying new titles. I used to be Marvel and DC with some indies. Then I was strictly DC. Now I'm back to Marvel/DC/indies, but since the New 52 DC has disappointed me, and Marvel is starting to again, so I am finding my enjoyment in the independent books, and back issues.

[JasonTodd428]

True and true. Double shipping and 4 $ per issue are killing me. Besides, the stories in no way justify that price tag. 2$ maybe, but 4? Give me a break. Heck, Guardians of Infinity has "extra back-up tales" (probably 4 pages of an extra comic strip) which bump the price to 5 bucks! 5 goddamn bucks! Meanwhile Batman costs 4$, is the best book on the market and has much better paper and cover-paper. It's not even a contest for me, Marvel's f@cked up epically this time. Honestly, I don't even know why I turned to Marvel in the first place. It's not like I liked the characters more or that I'd watched the cartoons. I grew up with Batman, Superman and JL, not Iron Man. Either way, story-telling wise, DC is miles and miles above Marvel and I haven't even scratched the surface yet. Green Arrow for example puts most street-levelers to shame with the issues it's tackling. I just can't believe that I was so "blind" all this time.

I used to be a Marvel guy myself until double shipping became a thing. That's when I started trade waiting on most of the marvel titles I still wanted to read. These days between double shipping, the constant events/renumberings and the cost per single issue I've completely stopped reading Marvel altogether. I've gotten pretty tired of all that nonsense myself. Frankly DC and various indie titles are doing a much better job of keeping me entertained these days.

[steeplejack2112]

I used to be a Marvel guy myself until double shipping became a thing. That's when I started trade waiting on most of the marvel titles I still wanted to read. These days between double shipping, the constant events/renumberings and the cost per single issue I've completely stopped reading Marvel altogether. I've gotten pretty tired of all that nonsense myself. Frankly DC and various indie titles are doing a much better job of keeping me entertained these days.

If it wasn't for a great love of Spider-Man and Daredevil I probably wouldn't be involved with Marvel much either. I'm trying some of their "All-New, All-Different" titles, but I'm honestly not expecting much. I've been exploring books from IDW, Dynamite, Dark Horse, and Valiant, and I've been enjoying most everything form those studios. I've even been branching into some Image books too. I think right now TMNT is my absolute favorite title.

[Darthkostis]

I've always been a floppy copy guy. I am enjoying the new freedom I have for trying new titles. I used to be Marvel and DC with some indies. Then I was strictly DC. Now I'm back to Marvel/DC/indies, but since the New 52 DC has disappointed me, and Marvel is starting to again, so I am finding my enjoyment in the independent books, and back issues.

Oh, I'm a straight-up floppy guy as well, but since books cost much more here, I've to make my pull list pretty small (around 12 titles, depending on the prices). So I buy DC/Marvel in floppies, and buy the rest in HC.

I used to be a Marvel guy myself until double shipping became a thing. That's when I started trade waiting on most of the marvel titles I still wanted to read. These days between double shipping, the constant events/renumberings and the cost per single issue I've completely stopped reading Marvel altogether. I've gotten pretty tired of all that nonsense myself. Frankly DC and various indie titles are doing a much better job of keeping me entertained these days.

Marvel's pretty much dead to me apart from 2 or 3 titles and the SW stuff (I'm giving a few series a chance until MK and BP start though). Double shipping + price increase made me narrow my list. Now their pretty much boring ANAD titles, made me jump ship. And like I've said already, I'm damn happy about it. I mean, you can't throw "Magic Tony" at 4$ to me and call it a "Doctor Strange". You also can't put Bendis on GotG after his awful (but sadly, commercially succesful run) and also let him be the first person to write Post-SW Doctor Doom. Honestly, who thought that that was a good idea?!

You ask me, as a longtime Marvel Zombie, I can safely say that DC is better at pretty much everything. Better games, better shows and better comics. Really, I started reading some old Green Arrow stuff, (Longbow Hunters) and I'm just amazed about how well they're handling things like rape, child-beaters and sensitive political things. Truthfully, I can think of who knows how many great DC stories, and none from MARVEL that can challenge them. None at all. Death of Captain Marve, Night when Gwen Stacy died and Extremis come close, but I can't think of any other great stories, much less great comic series all around.

The only thing that you can "argue" is the movie subject. While Marvel's look like they jumped straight out of a comic book, DC's are much more mature. While Marvel's are filled with corny jokes and repetitive plots, DC's feature a lot of heavy handed "symbolism" and can become irritating. I didn't love MoS but from what I've seen from BvS, I expect it to put everything from Marvel to shame. It's a fine line really, but I think I'm going to give DC the point here as well. The Marvel stuff are enjoyable, but they don't really warantee repeated viewings. Mostly because you already know the jokes and gags, so it becomes pretty boring.

If it wasn't for a great love of Spider-Man and Daredevil I probably wouldn't be involved with Marvel much either. I'm trying some of their "All-New, All-Different" titles, but I'm honestly not expecting much. I've been exploring books from IDW, Dynamite, Dark Horse, and Valiant, and I've been enjoying most everything form those studios. I've even been branching into some Image books too. I think right now TMNT is my absolute favorite title.

I used to be a big Spider-Man fan as well, but after OMD I gave up on him. I tried the new TASM series and I found that pretty bad as well, so I stopped with his books. I just can't stand the whole "man child" thing. The only character that I'll follow no matter what from Marvel is Moon Knight and maybe Black Panther. I thought that Strange and Silver would be on that "list", but after seeing how awful the new Strange book was, I dropped it without hesitation.

[steeplejack2112]

Oh, I'm a straight-up floppy guy as well, but since books cost much more here, I've to make my pull list pretty small (around 12 titles, depending on the prices). So I buy DC/Marvel in floppies, and buy the rest in HC.

Where are you from? I totally hear you on the price of books these days. It's pretty much impossible to collect everything you want these days. I think in all total I collect around fifty different titles from various companies. I might have to think about trades and collected edition at some point though. I'm running out of room for comic boxes.



I used to be a big Spider-Man fan as well, but after OMD I gave up on him. I tried the new TASM series and I found that pretty bad as well, so I stopped with his books. I just can't stand the whole "man child" thing. The only character that I'll follow no matter what from Marvel is Moon Knight and maybe Black Panther. I thought that Strange and Silver would be on that "list", but after seeing how awful the new Strange book was, I dropped it without hesitation.

I always loved Spidey because of his sense of humor. I hope that part of him never changes. I stopped reading him in 2006 right after Civil War, but bought everything I missed and am again caught up. I'm glad I did, but with the whole "Global Spidey" thing going on, I'm not sure how good this new title will be. I'm sad that the first issue of the new Dr. Strange title was bad. I bought it, but haven't read it yet. I'm sure by now you've seen that Silver Surfer is coming back in January. I am excited for that news. The Slott/Allred Surfer was really awesome.

[Darthkostis]

I always loved Spidey because of his sense of humor. I hope that part of him never changes. I stopped reading him in 2006 right after Civil War, but bought everything I missed and am again caught up. I'm glad I did, but with the whole "Global Spidey" thing going on, I'm not sure how good this new title will be. I'm sad that the first issue of the new Dr. Strange title was bad. I bought it, but haven't read it yet. I'm sure by now you've seen that Silver Surfer is coming back in January. I am excited for that news. The Slott/Allred Surfer was really awesome.

I used to love his humour as well back then, but honestly, I really don't anymore. I find it immature that he constantly makes goofs or screws up everything and then makes a clever joke. And honestly I got bored of his stories. It's pretty much the same thing over and over. Down on his luck, villain emerges, defeats him, rinse and repeat. We get a few "breaks" from the mold like Superior or the new direction, but they don't last. You can say that you can summarize pretty much all super-hero titles by that description, but I find that while others try to pick a new direction once in a while, Spider-Man's mostly stuck in one particular status-quo that I just don't enjoy anymore.

Yeah, I saw it. It's not my favourite version of Silver Surfer, but I'll add it in my pull-list a bit later. I'm just waiting to try Deadpool/Ultimates/UX-Men/Carnage, so I can choose which ones to drop when BP and MK hit as well. I'll also wait to see how the 1st issue is and then I'll get the issues I missed through the net. But while I didn't love it, it's a pretty good Dr. Who-esque book, so I'll probably add it.

[steeplejack2112]

I used to love his humour as well back then, but honestly, I really don't anymore. I find it immature that he constantly makes goofs or screws up everything and then makes a clever joke. And honestly I got bored of his stories. It's pretty much the same thing over and over. Down on his luck, villain emerges, defeats him, rinse and repeat. We get a few "breaks" from the mold like Superior or the new direction, but they don't last. You can say that you can summarize pretty much all super-hero titles by that description, but I find that while others try to pick a new direction once in a while, Spider-Man's mostly stuck in one particular status-quo that I just don't enjoy anymore.

Yeah, I saw it. It's not my favourite version of Silver Surfer, but I'll add it in my pull-list a bit later. I'm just waiting to try Deadpool/Ultimates/UX-Men/Carnage, so I can choose which ones to drop when BP and MK hit as well. I'll also wait to see how the 1st issue is and then I'll get the issues I missed through the net. But while I didn't love it, it's a pretty good Dr. Who-esque book, so I'll probably add it.

I can understand your frustration with Spidey. You are not alone in your opinion. I guess for me the formula has always worked when it comes to Spidey stories. No problem in liking what you like.

I am not a huge fan of Allred's art, but I liked the story. You don't see a lot of comics that are fun to read these days, but the Surfer was one of them. I look forward to the new series. I am going to try Deadpool and Carnage for sure. I'm kind of on the fence about picking up the new X-Men titles. I haven't read them in quite some time, and I'm not sure if I can pick up on everything that has come to pass in the last 8-9 years. I do miss the X-Men though.