I feel the need to express my opinion on monthly comic books you should be reading, if you are so inclined.

There are little expressions of recommendations all over this board, in the Diddy, in the threads that are devoted to one title. These are the ones I dig out and read first, with no real effort required to remind myself to read them.

Here I will post when I think a comic book goes on or off "the list." You do the same. Reviews are fine, but I don't intend to do it unless somebody has questions.

For now, I recommend:



[Historical list when thread was created, things drop off and get added]:
Fables
House of Mystery
Unknown Soldier
Criminal
Age of Sentry
Thor
Kick Ass
Fantastic Four
newuniversal (currently in limbo with one shots coming out sporadically)
The Twelve (added by first edit)

Captain America
Daredevil
Criminal
Amazing Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man
Invincible Iron Man

I would add Invincible Iron Man, Daredevil (current arc with Lady Bullseye is wicked cool), Amazing Spider-Man (depends on the writer, but has been close to perfect for me... first read every week), and The Twelve (mini).

I get Fables in trade form. Thor bored me, dropped it. Kick Ass I buy for the art only. Frankly, I think it sucks. Age of Sentry, while I like Jeff Parker, is more than a little goofy. Aping the Silver Age with none of the charm.

Next year, the ongoing Agents of Atlas will be on my hitlist fer sure.

These are my monthly reads...

Amazing Spider-Girl -- Ending at #30.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight -- Love it. Recent arc was lukewarm.
Criminal
Daredevil
DMZ -- Might drop after the current two-issue arc.
Fantastic Four -- Read it out of curiousity more than anything.
Green Lantern -- On life support. Dropped it, came back, might drop it again.
House of Mystery -- Like it, don't love it.
Invincible Iron Man
Justice Society of America
Runaways -- Like the Terry Moore stuff, don't love it. Art is a turn off (Ramos).
Star Wars: Legacy -- This has been enjoyable... but the last few issues have lost some momentum.
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Twelve
The Uncanny X-Men -- On life support.

All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder (well, bi-annual read)

I'm also giving Unknown Soldier a chance.

I forgot to list the Twelve. Edited my top post just this once.

And by the by, this is not my monthly read list. I read some things that I have mixed feelings about. Invincible Iron Man was a borderline call. Booster Gold is in limbo right now until I see was Dapper Dan can do.

My monthly list is pretty tight, so that's why I showed it. I dropped Booster after GJ left. Like Dan Jurgens quite a bit, but (1) issue 13 was a good exit point and (2) I expect the book to be cancelled regardless.

I'm still reading Captain America but it's on the chopping block. I chopped the Spirit recently. I read HULK. And we won't mention the Event Titles.

I chopped the Spirit too.

Walking Dead
Ex Machina
Fables
Jack of Fables
Iron fist
Captain America

Ooh, Ex Machina. I'm a trade waiter so far on this one, but I recently began storing up monthlies for switchover. So I have 36-39 stockpiled. As soon as I read the latest Vol. 7, I may have to recommend it for the monthly.

Crankypants and I have a similar philosophy on what to purchase, I think. It goes like this:

Step 1: Try some stuff.
Step 2: Notice which ones you tend to dig out right away, and read first.
Step 3: Chop all the other ones.

It's a simple test. I can tell myself over and over "Brubaker's Cap is good." But if it doesn't pass the "I can't stop thinking about it being in the house until I've read it" test, then CHOP. And right now, Bru's Cap is failing that test.

Stick with Bru's Cap thru #50. No?

Oops! Ex Machina and Walking Dead are purchased by trade by moi.

By the way, I think House of Mystery will read very well in trade format. Most (quality) Vertigo stuff does.

Current favourites:

Northlanders
Green Lantern
Invincible Iron Man
Dynamo 5

Bru is amazing on Cap and DD these days..in fact DD is my favorite monthly bar none. Criminal is brilliant as well (love the backmatter articles).

Andy Diggle's Thunderbolts is off to a promising backstabbing start too.

I would say you are correct. I come it much the same way. I'm willing to give new stuff a chance. If the hook is good, I'm essentially saying "show me the money and I'll show you my money". Put it this way: if there was more good stuff out there, I'd probably be buying more.

Where I do tend to fail is chopping books that I think are under-achieving. DMZ is a perfect example, since I've probably considered dropping it a dozen times, but keep coming back.

I am the first to admit I have an addiction to getting a weekly fix. I do prefer trades, but I'm SO damned impatient. And needy.

Prowl, what direction has Northlanders taken? The first one or two issues didn't hook me.


By the way all, I feel I should be reading Scalped. Thoughts?

And... I'd be buying Astro City daily if it were available.

For me, it's the desire to carry these stories around with me on an ongoing basis. It's just not the same reading a block of them. They are my soap operas.

The soap opera parallel is obvious, but so true. I can't miss my "shows".

Superhero stuff, which is definitely soap opera-esque, is less effective in trade form IMO. Trades work best for me with more "weighty" works or at least books with something to really chew on. For example, I prefer Ex Machina in trade and can't imagine buying it monthly. The trades read so well in a single sit. Its engrossing. Likewise, the recent Grendel miniseries would be better in trade form I suspect. The monthlies brought me out of the tension and depth to what I was reading, then as the next month's book came out I had to "re-engage" so to speak.

Walking Dead is a counter-example though. Kirkman's cliffhangers, I imagine, are huge fun when reading the monthlies. I loved that about Y:TLM. You lose that in trades.

There was an article on CBR recently about this...how the weekly/monthly fix is more fun than reading in trades due to the anticipation, the monthly wait between chapters/mysteries, the reviews, the online debates, chats, etc..it definetly adds to the experience (i for one really enjoy it and read most of my books as singles).

I'm collecting--

Superman
Action Comics
All Star Batman
Thor
Hulk
Savage Dragon
Madman Atomic Comics
Final Crisis
Secret Invasion

I think that's it.

The 8 issue trade contains a complete story. It reads really well in trade form. Good enough that I want to buy it in singles as well, but I hate the paper Vertigo uses, so I'll just stick with trades (same crappy paper, but at least this way I'm only irritated once instead of twice).

Not sure what the next arc will be about, but the first one was a great read, IMO.

And it was pretty cheap. 11bucks US I think, for 8 issues.