Benefit of the Doubt

I have collected DC comics in the past but my passion was with Marvel and has so remained with them. I picked up Flashpoint #1 because then ending of the book gripped me much like a novel by my favorite author’s Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Book two became a letdown, but that’s ok because you need to drop after such a climatic first issue and build from there. The series was written like a short story with the highs and lows. The unfortunate circumstance is although you can read the five issue limited as a while story, you don’t get the full effect unless you read the side stores. Something I am not going to do.

Books I collected in the past from this company were JLA, Action, Batman, Detective, JLA Europe (am I remembering that title correctly), Captain Atom, Hawk and Dove, Teen Titans, New Teen Titans (I loved Brother Blood), Captain Carrot, Green Lantern, well I can go on. I was disappointed in the end of Flashpoint that Batman knew The Flash but in JLA he didn’t know anyone. I’ll have to see if they resolve this or if they started off with a mistake. So for the month of September I pledge to give DC a try, after all I will need wrapping paper in December.

I will pick up at least one book for each week of September. These books will be Action Comics, and Detective comics for September 7^th. I will get Batman and Robin along with Green Lantern for Week Two. Legion of Super Heroes and SuperGirl for September 21^st and the last week I will try Teen Titans and The Flash. I only picked the Flash over the Dark Knight because I want to see if they tie up the loose end I so desperately want them to tie up. If they are good, if DC winds me over, then I will stop collecting the individual books and just wait for the trades unless DC can really Wow me in September, they won’t have my business in October.

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Today is the Day

I don’t know how I feel. The DC universe is getting a do over. 52 titles are getting the reboot. I can almost feel the collective DC board hoping and praying this marketing scheme will prevail. I for one said there was no way I was going to pick up Justice League of America #1, and I meant it. Didn't I? Here I sit in front of my computer waiting for the USPS service to arrive and drop off my latest CGC graded comic book before heading to my LCS to pick up my new books.

I plan on getting Flashpoint #5 and although I have not been following the side storylines I may pick them up as trades if I really need them for the storyline. But why did I even pick up Flashpoint to begin with? I love cliff hangers. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are great novelists in my opinion and when I saw the last page of issue #1 of DC’s major story of the year I was hooked. I loved the twist of Thomas Wayne surviving and his son Bruce Wayne was killed instead after seeing Zorro.

So what am I going to do when I am in my LCS skimming through the comic book? Am I going to buy it? Will I pass? Will I love it so much I will spend my hard earned money on a copy in a CGC Gem Mint ten? As a Marvelite, I should pass. As a person who is limited in space, I should pass. My limited funds tell me to pass. But my collector’s heart scrams at me to buy 50 copies. So maybe I’ll just get one, you know, to read it.

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Comic Books or Novels?

I have been fortunate. Every week I pick up comic books. That is not the fortunate part. That part belongs to being able to afford them Week in and week out. Occasionally a novel will also be release that I was looking forward too. Normally I look forward to them, this past month I had a few surprises. A couple of authors I like are Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. They do write separately and they are good but together they are so much better.

I was able to get through Cold Vengeance in one week, and the only reason why it took so long is I didn’t want it to end. I knew A Star Wars book was to be out that I was looking forward too but a surprise manifested in a title called Choices of one. This was written by Timothy Zahn. Once again this took me a week. This took that long because I didn’t have the time. The one that I was looking for came out a week later. This was also a Star Wars title. Their latest series of Novels is called Fate of the Jedi and the book is called Ascension. I have yet to start it. For a while my expanded universe only consisted of Dark Horse comic book. I have since stopped collecting those for reasons unknown.

It is very rare when I get so many novels that I look forward to reading. I am used to getting my comic books every week, and each comic is like a chapter of a whole story. My comic books for this week will be completed before I go to bed. The novels take a bit longer and when I finish this latest one the 20^th anniversary edition of Heir to the Empire will have been released. And although I have read it before I shall do so again, this time it will be this silver covered copy.

After all these Star Wars books are done I just might go back and try to revisit the Dark Horse Star Wars universe. After all they did a great job on the Sith War introducing Bane, which also became novels, and not to mention the Crimson Empire was a great limited series. What is your favorite Star Wars expanded universe story? Is it a novel or book, Marvel or Dark Horse?

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