What makes you drop a title?

[Pookienick]

I have recently gone through and stopped getting several titles for various reasons and just wondered how everyone else decides when to drop titles. Every few months I look at what I buy (normally when i work out how much my monthly bill is) and drop a couple here and there.

I used to do it by looking at how long it took me to get round to reading each title and worked on the assumption that if I would rather do something else than read the comic I obviously didn't really want it. Until I did this with the first few issues of Runaways and when I finally did read them kicked myself for not continuing to buy it (something that has now been remedied).

Also, there are a couple of titles I will keep buying no matter how bad they get - like X-Men - as I have a complete run and from experience know they will pick up after a while.

Anyway, point is - do you drop titles if you don't like one issue or give it six months to get better? What if the art is terrible but the story is good or vice versa?

No real point to this I am just bored at work and wondering about other peoples thought processes.

[ednemo]

I follow writers as opposed to characters. If for example, JMS were to leave Spider-Man. I would give the new writer 1-3 issues to wow me, and keep me on board. Otherwise I would move on.

[Joe Acro]

I would only drop a mag for these reasons:

I don't like the direction the story is going.
If characters I don't think belong on or characters I don't like are on the team.
The art or writing doesn't make up for the other.
One of my favorite characters is destroyed for no apparent reason.

My general test time is about three issues, unless the first story arc happens to be longer than that.

[jam]

I will drop a title if I don't like the way it's been going for the past 3-4 issues. I just recently dropped JMS's Fantastic Four because I decided I just didn't like his take on it.

[Joe Rice]

I drop it if it isn't great.

[The Mirrorball Man]

I'm like ednemo: I follow writers.

In the past, I also dropped titles because I thought the art was terrible and the writing had become extremely bland (Lucifer) or because I couldn't understand what was going on in four consecutive issues and couldn't bother to wait two or three years for it to make sense (100 Bullets).

[TinMan]

Well, my reasons have changed over the years. The art is what got me hooked on comics when I was younger, so basically I followed artists to whatever projects they were doing, it didn't matter what. So, when they would go to another book, so would I, and I would often drop the previous book. Bad art always killed me back then.

Now that I'm older I've found I've become a bigger fan of good story telling and characterization/development, so I'm starting to follow certain writers as well as certain artists.

Basically for me to drop a book, I really have to lose all interest in it: art and writing.

[Majinlex]

I used to get the UK collectors edition of Essential X-men, Wolverine & Deadpool and Avengers.
I still get the Spider-man reprints because I'm not buying any current Spidey titles.
I generally stop when I'm bored (Avengers) or bad writing (X-men).
After reading New X-men, I stopped reading that title (just in time for the start of Austen's run, though I would've liked to judge that for myself)
With W&D, I'd read all of Deadpool so the only reason to keep buying was for Wolverine and I felt like a change after 8 years :D

But since I started reading the current comics I haven't dropped much. I used to get mini-series so there was no pressure but I recently started buying ongoings which I like.
I did drop Truth, Justin and the American Way after 3 issues only because I was buying too much and it didn't really do anything for me.

[Dragondragonfly]

;) When I get a certain book home and don't sit down to read it, then I drop it. I fell like if I drop something I don't really care for that leaves more money to try something new.

[alextron]

Two Words: Civil. War.

[mrc1214]

I follow writers like David and Brubaker. I drop books cause i dont like them. Like New Avengers, AMZ and FF. Ill give Mighty Avengers 2-3 issues but im not even adding to my pull list.

[Jeff-E]

A title has to get really bad before I drop it, or if it just starts off poorly, i.e. Iron Fist series from 2003-2004.(i think thats the dates). Or if it just gets to a point I'm spending too much money, I'll go through my stuff and determine which ones I like the least and drop them like Fox's fall line up.

[Pookienick]

Well, my reasons have changed over the years. The art is what got me hooked on comics when I was younger, so basically I followed artists to whatever projects they were doing, it didn't matter what. So, when they would go to another book, so would I, and I would often drop the previous book. Bad art always killed me back then.

Now that I'm older I've found I've become a bigger fan of good story telling and characterization/development, so I'm starting to follow certain writers as well as certain artists.

Basically for me to drop a book, I really have to lose all interest in it: art and writing.

I used to be the same about the art work, although it's amazing how what I thought was good art back when i started buying comics in the eighties is completley different to what I think is good now.

I remember picking a comic up years ago by Ted McKeever and thinking 'i can't believe somebody paid this guy to draw a comic' or more to the point that I actually paid for the comic he drew. These days though I actually hunt through back issue bins to try and find some of his earlier work.

Bad art is a definite turn off and a big reason to drop a book I think. No matter how good the story is I can't keep reading if the art work makes my eyes bleed.

[Cephus]

I drop any title I'm not enjoying and don't want to read, pure and simple. When I stop having fun and looking forward to a particular title, it's time to move on. That means I've dropped a lot of titles lately and have found nothing worthwhile to replace them with.

Oh well, more money for other things, I guess.

[kalorama]

Too much lotion on my hands.

[jade_nova]

Artwork is a factor for me. I have been meaning to drop X-Men since Bachalo has started. Another factor is just can't get into the storyline. For example Thunderbolts. I like Nicezia's work on "Cable and Deadpool" but I just can't get into Thunderbolts.

[MakeMineMarvel]

For me things are a bit different since I have a support group. Me and a couple of buddies got together and we swap our books so that way we have more titles to read. So basically I pay around $20 monthly yet I read 3 times that much in books, works out good for us all.
Anyway to drop a title I have to be 1-completely bored and underwhelmed by the story, 2-dislike the characters or the way they are being used, 3-art. I hate titles with bad art. It distracts from the overall story if the art is unenjoyable.

[The Fury]

I have dropped a lot of books recently. A few factors were considered in this. Main one was money. More issues I don't buy the more money I have.

Other factors recently for these books below that I dropped:

Astonishing x-men - It pissed me off to much.
Ultimate X-men - got bored of it and I had no passion for it anymore.
X-factor (dropping after #12) - no passion for story or characters.
New Avengers - instead of buying the 2 main titles coming out soon, i've decided to get niether after #26.

To many these are good books and I can see that, but they are easily dropped by me.

[streator]

i drop comics that no longer interest me.

the last book i dropped was new excalibur (with issue 7).
i wanted to give the title a shot because i like some of the cast but it wasn't really doing anything for me and i decided to do without it.

i will drop a title when a creative switch happens if the incoming team doesn't seem interesting.

for example, i dropped wolverine after millar's last issue and have yet to pick it back up.
likewise, i dropped iron-man with issue 78 of the 3rd series and have not been interested in picking it back up monthly.

i generally like to stick it out with titles that i've been getting for a while but as evidenced above i'm not bound to them.

[bloodyarts]

Good thread.

I drop books for various reasons, first and foremost, writing. Not necessarily the writers, but the story. I tried to like JMS' Spider-Man, Bendis' Avengers, 100 Bullets, Brubaker's X-Men, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, etc. but in each case, something so outrageous happens (Totem, Ronin, Vulcan, Agent Diana Prince), I can't identify with the character/team anymore. It doesn't mean I hate all change, I just hate change when it's unnecessary.

Sometimes, I get into a book somewhere in the middle of an arc that sounds interesting from solicits. I buy it, knowing I won't know 100% what's going on, but after 3-4 issues, I expect to be engrossed, otherwise I drop.

Bad artwork is a factor, too. Humberto Ramos' Llama-rine is just too damned ugly. And I hate Jim Lee-clones, McFarlane-ites and general Image holdover artists and their acolytes.

Thankfully, money is not usually an issue for me, but I've learned that maybe I don't really LOVE some of the books I buy, and I get anal with the above points. Of course, instead of saving that money for lunch or whathaveyou, it usually goes toward other books that I may or may not stay with.

[swinebread]

Two Words: Civil. War.

Not House of M?

But seriously, I’ve bailed on almost all of my marvel titles. Only she-hulk is left and I think that is only because of Dan Slott, I really enjoy his writing style.

I feel that marvel is going mostly for shock stuff now because every regular superhero story has been done and redone. I think they’re desperate to keep it interesting only it pulls the rug out from under established characters. Spiderman unmasking, please…

That's why I dropped 'em.

[hmnut73]

I drop a book when it becomes too silly to even pretend it could possibly be real. Like nothing that happens in Spider-Man could really ever happen, but when aunt may dies and comes back to life that's like so stupid even by comic book standards that I can't even read Spider-Man any more.

Another case was Nightwing, when he becomes a cop I was like cool, then when it turns out his partner is actually a super hero too, I have to roll my eyes and say "come on!"

The only other reason I will drop a book is if they change up creative teams and the new team acts like they have NO idea what the last team was doing. The Grant Morrison/ Warren Ellis days of the X-books comes to mind (although I think their are worst example I just can't think of any right now).

[Jake V]

I'll drop a book when I'm no longer entertained by it.

I'll give a book one extra issue to get back to being interesting to read, but 2 blah issues in a row is what it takes for me to stop reading it.

[Faded]

I drop it when I just REALLY dislike it or I just forget about it (and don't even notice it on the shelf).

So far, I've dropped:

New X-Men. I still keep up with it, but I do not wish to support the current direction.

New Excalibur. Its insanely boring, I dislike half the team, and the half I do like do not seem like themselves. Plus I find the art to be pretty bland (poor Runaways!)

Beyond! Simply because I forgot to pick it up issue 2 and now I don't feel disconnected. :(

I've dropped Brubaker's X-Men simply because I've grown disinterested and the summaries since I've dropped it have not convinced me to pick it up otherwise. Plus, I went from being impressed by Tan to be repelled by Tan.

Exiles. Once World Tour started I lost complete interest, forgot to pick it up when I intended to, and now with World Tour over the recent arcs have not brought me back. I'll be back by December though because the solicits really grabbed me. Not a fan of Pelletier btw.

Ultimate X-Men. Kirkman's run made me feel like I was wasting dollars on it. Didn't connect with the characters or the storyline and the Magician is probably THE most annoying Marvel character I've come across.

[Pookienick]

It's weird that alot of people have mentioned the same books they recently dropped. Especially as I like most of the books mentioned.

I think New X-men is picking up (but then I love Nimrod - the first x-men comic I read was a nimrod story 209 i think) and I like New Excalibur as well.

The main thing I hate about dropping a title is that feeling that I am missing out on something. Like, what if the next issue picks up and is really good.

I find it hard to understand how much some people seem to hate particular writer's and artists. I mean, when I read Avengers Disassembled I was kinda annoyed at Brian Michael Bendis as i love the Scarlet Witch character, but I didn't stop buying all of the books he writes. I love Powers and don't understand why people would drop one because of something that happened on the other.


But then what would I know - I own every issue of the Guardians of the Galaxy so maybe my choice of comics is flawed anyway :)

[dopexvii]

for me it's the story, if i feel it's been done to death or an over done cliche or im just plain sick of hearing about "hey remember when xxxxx happened?"
which happens a lot in x-titles *coughclaremontcough*
thats when i start dropping titles
i want fresh new idea's taken in new directions !

[Pookienick]

for me it's the story, if i feel it's been done to death or an over done cliche or im just plain sick of hearing about "hey remember when xxxxx happened?"
which happens a lot in x-titles *coughclaremontcough*
thats when i start dropping titles
i want fresh new idea's taken in new directions !

That is something I have noticed recently. Your reading a comic and you get that strange feeling that you have read it before. ALthough a few times I have bought the same comics twice because I can't remember buying it. Definite sign you should drop the book there I think. Some covers dont help either, Ultimate SPider-man covers, althought good, tend to blur into one after a while.

Same with the Civil War covers. Did I buy the Wolverine issue that was half blue with him fighting someone in the top half? Wasn't he fighting Nuke and Captain America, or was it Nitro and Namor? Aren't the other X-Men involved or are they off hunting the 198?

Just dropped Wolverine:Origins for this reason. Loved the art but the first arc didnt do anything for me.

Another reason I dropped it was that they built Nuke up to be this big bad guy and I really thought I should know who he was but didnt have the slightest clue. The following issues didnt help either. Everyone acted as though he was this major threat but I still dont know why??? WHen you reveal a major bad guy in a comic my reaction shouldnt be 'Who???'

[saintsaucey]

For me things are a bit different since I have a support group. Me and a couple of buddies got together and we swap our books so that way we have more titles to read. So basically I pay around $20 monthly yet I read 3 times that much in books, works out good for us all.
Anyway to drop a title I have to be 1-completely bored and underwhelmed by the story, 2-dislike the characters or the way they are being used, 3-art. I hate titles with bad art. It distracts from the overall story if the art is unenjoyable.

but then you don't own the complete collection. how do you sleep at night knowing there are issues you don't own.


The Fury
I have dropped a lot of books recently. A few factors were considered in this. Main one was money. More issues I don't buy the more money I have.

thats a brilliant observation and I'd subscribe to that theory if it weren't utterly perposterous, More comics equal less money and vice versa pft I am more inclined to believe that my lack of money is a direct correlation to the ssecret order of underpants knomes who live under my bed.

the two series i have dropped in th past are catwoman, seven soldiers of victory, gi joes reloaded and fallen angel...okay so thats four series. Catwomen they had her fighting a guy who's arms were like swiss army things but wood. okay sure. i dropped it and imeadiatly afetr words they brought in hush d'oh. fallen angel and 7 soldiers were dropped after the first issue just cause 7 wasn't good and fallen was a little blasphemous (says the guy who adores the movies dogma and constantine. reloaded was just not worth the money duke was working for cobra and imm not sure what the hell was up with snake eyes. hopefully the three issue dreadknock declassified will be better

[Avalanche]

Just pure enjoyment. If I'm not enjoying both the artwork and writing (including both storyline and dialogue) I'm not going to spend my money it.

[zebop]

Money is definitely an issue for me. I just don't want to spend over $25 bucks so I usually pick up only what I really like (The Punisher, New Avengers, Astonishing X-Men, Daredevil, Captain America and Y: The Last Man) and then I add around my core titles.

I gave up on The Authority because every writer since Ellis and Millar have only produced lame echoes of the past glories. I'd probably drop The Ultimates if it ever came out on a regular schedule. Nothing kills my interest like perpetually late books. Are you paying attention, Quesada?

I'm generally bored stupid by Superman and his various clones, cousins, and groupies. I really don't know what could fix the Big Blue, but the big revamp by Busiek and Johns hasn't delivered the goods. I'm more hopeful that Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert will have better luck on Batman now that the horrid Judd Winnick has moved on.

When a book like Spider-Man or Fantastic Four fall into the ruts they've been in of late, it's real easy to avoid them and I haven't read a X-Men book that wasn't written by Joss Wheldon for years. All the other X-titles are such a convoluted mess that I wouldn't know where to begin in trying to making them readable and accessible again.

[lament]

* Senseless character death ala New X-Men
* Continually boring storylines
* Continually bad characterization
* Loss of interest
* Deficit of $$$$$

[saintsaucey]

Money is definitely an issue for me. I just don't want to spend over $25 bucks so I usually pick up only what I really like

But I like everything. Im really concerned how im going to be able to drop punisher war journal and hfh once the civil war stuff ends

[DDM]

1. price increases
2. editorial politics
3. bad writer
4. bad art
5. bad or completely pointless "new direction" for the book

[Young Avenger]

A lost of interest what makes me drop a book. When I feel like a story is going nowhere and I'm not longer entertain by it it's time to drop it.

[Simpsonsboy182]

I dont try to drop titles, then again i only read about 10 different titles a month, i try to keep track of a lot of things that are going on, and like to see where some of my favorite characters are heading, even if i dont like the current stories. I read them to see what happens in the characters life, and i have yet to drop a title, but ive only been reading comics for like 2 years so yea.....Thats my method at the moment, ive continued to read ASM even tho i dont agree with some of JMS decisions, i still read it just cuz i LOVE spiderman.

[Den]

I split my subscriptions with a friend, so our 'dropping' a title is by mutual agreement.

My reasons for dropping any comics are usually:
1) Money. Poverty stinks. Something better comes along I may drop an okay title to get one I think I'll like even more.
2) Writing... some writers I like, others leave me cold. Right now, anything by Brubaker or Slott has my instant interest.
3) Worthy Characters- I like my superheroes to be heroes. As a rule, I don't buy books about jerks, no matter how 'kewl' they are. Team books can sometimes be an exception to this, as long as some good guys are in there with the jerks, but still I want my heroes to be decent human beings (or robots, or aliens or...)
4) Yes, the art. Writing is more important, but Art CAN reach a level so bad I end up running away.

[megladon8]

I have a horrible time dropping titles. Pretty much every time I have, like the next issue ends up being great. Terrible luck.

My weekly trips to the comic book store really hurt my wallet.

[Ivan Isaacs]

I have recently gone through and stopped getting several titles for various reasons and just wondered how everyone else decides when to drop titles.

a) I follow writers
No matter what people like Brubaker or Sean McKeever writes - I'll buy it.
This used to apply for Bendis, too but since "Ultimate Power" will be drawn by Greg Land I'll ignore that and won't pick it up.
The writer leaves, I may too, if the next writer isn't to my liking.

b) I follow artists
No matter what people such as Chris Bachalo, Gary Frank or Brett Booth are drawing - I pick it up. They leave - I leave, too if the next artist doesn't impress or the script is not good. See "Ultimate Fantastic Four" by Ferry.

Best example for a) and b): Wolverine
Loeb doesn't impress me and Bianchi is a artist whose art I just don't like. So I drop it.

c) Characters
I add a title to my pull list if certain characters (Cloak and Dagger, Spider-Woman II, Diamondback etc.) become a regular or are in it more than an issue. I added "Ms. Marvel" #6-8 to my list because SW II, Shroud and Wonder Man are in it. I cannot stand Carol, so I drop it as soon, as the CW tie-in is over and the characters are moved to other titles or back in character limbo.

d) The series is just self-repeating boredom
Best example: JMS' "Fantastic Four". Ugh. Mark Waid did such a good job with keeping the series fresh (and I'm not a huge FF fan, quite the contrary) and JMS added everything I disliked about the FF - thus I dropped it.

[Reptisaurus!]

When I get bored. Which happens a lot. I don't think I've ever bought more than 12 straight issues of any Marvel book. I READ a lot of 'em through vigorous use of the library's interlibrary loan system and a complete lack of shame regarding going into Barnes and Noble once a month and reading comics for six hours.

[Buddahbelly]

But then what would I know - I own every issue of the Guardians of the Galaxy so maybe my choice of comics is flawed anyway :)Hey, then mine are flawed to. Although that wouldn't surprise me. And not only that, I wouldn't mind if they started it up again.

[Buddahbelly]

but then you don't own the complete collection. how do you sleep at night knowing there are issues you don't own.
LOL... but yet it's scary how true it is.

[BigBoss]

I usaually give the comic a arc too wow me but like you topic creator theres just comics I get no matter what cause thier my favorite heros. I drop them though only if my money gets tight and they start to be really crappy.

[CyberCoyote]

* Senseless character death ala New X-Men
* Continually boring storylines
* Continually bad characterization
* Loss of interest
* Deficit of $$$$$

Word for word what I was going to say..well, with much better use of asteriks :)

[Hippy-san]

Bad writing says it all. I can stick with a lot of bad art because it changes so often, but slaughtering marvel characters isn't my idea of fun.
Money's probably going to be a big factor for me coming up though.....

[Chaosopher]

A guest appearence of Wolverine.

[Cephus]

but then you don't own the complete collection. how do you sleep at night knowing there are issues you don't own.

I sleep just fine, thanks. Completism is pretty stupid IMO.

[Sean T Collins]

Decompression


If I feel that a writer took to long to tell his story its over. I feel so cheated when I read a 6 issue ark that could have been told in 2 issues or less.For example the new ghost rider number one could have been done in one page. I will never by a comic with that hack writers name on it again .

[MakeMineMarvel]

but then you don't own the complete collection. how do you sleep at night knowing there are issues you don't own.

Well I collect the titles that I REALLY like and if one of my buddies likes that title too than he will have it on his pull list as well. So we pretty much all have Moon Knight on our lists :) But the fringe books are the ones that we generally rotate amongst one another.

Plus once the trade of a title that I do collect comes out I pick that up and than the floppy's go to my son . I like the trade format much better than the standard monthly comic.

[MakeMineMarvel]

but then you don't own the complete collection. how do you sleep at night knowing there are issues you don't own.

Well I collect the titles that I REALLY like and if one of my buddies likes that title too than he will have it on his pull list as well. So we pretty much all have Moon Knight on our lists :) But the fringe books are the ones that we generally rotate amongst one another.

Plus once the trade of a title that I do collect comes out I pick that up and than the floppy's go to my son . I like the trade format much better than the standard monthly comic.

[Hush Little Batman]

When it's no longer worth my hard earned money.

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

I've dropped or considered dropping a few. It's not always an easy decision - one can scoff at completism, but there is something of an argument for it in any serialised story. After all, comics aren't like novels, and if you stop buying a title and later start again, if it gets worth reading again, you'll have a gap in the story, be missing events that may be referred to in later issues, and getting those back-issues can be difficult and/or expensive. Plus there's good ol' force of habit. Illogical, but we aren't Vulcans after all.

So far in my admittedly brief comic-buying history, I've only dropped one title, Hawkgirl. I found the art disappointing - not without positives, but overall there was more I disliked than liked in the style - and the storytelling to be difficult to come into at the point I did (issue #51) without knowing what had come before. Nor did it tie into any larger events or other titles I knew or cared about. I gave it three issues to spark some interest, or build up a bit of exposition so I could get invested in the world of Hawkgirl, but nothing much interesting showed up. And if we're being honest, though I knew it wasn't the same Hawkgirl, I felt a bit jilted that I wasn't being given something as entertaining as the lively Shayera Hol version from TV. I've entertained the idea of picking it up again, and have skimmed over the latest couple of issues in-store, but I haven't seen anything that's convinced me to part with my money. And in the end, that's what makes a drop/keep decision - I can only afford to buy so many titles, and with new potential interests popping up, sometimes something will have to be dropped.

Similar factors come into play in the titles I'm considering dropping. Witchblade is the exception to my reading habits - whereas everything else is recent, I've been reading Witchblade for years, coincidentally also since #51 (it's now up to #101, so that's a long time). It doesn't share all of the failings that, for me, Hawkgirl suffered from. The art is sen-friggin'-sational, and I thanks to my long association, I know the history of the title well. But 50 issues is a long time to be buying a title, and recently - notably when they made a big deal about revealing the origin of the 'blade, and it turned out to be nothing that we didn't already know, and then when Ian Nottingham turned up again (Jesus Christ man, just die already) and him and Sara had lost of sexual tension again - I've started wondering if I'm getting anything from new issues that I don't already have, in all those back issues. Which I don't read, incidentally (I don't mind the cover price of a comic I read an enjoy once, but my favourites are ones like She-Hulk or Bomb Queen, which I can re-read with much enjoyment). Luckily Sara finally arrested Ian's criminal ass, and right now that overused plot seems to have been put to rest. I'm sticking around to see how this boyfriend/pregnancy/giving up the 'blade arc turns out - if it essentially hits the reset button at the end of the arc, and we go back to Sara being the Wielder, single, and not a mother, I'll think seriously about whether I need to be spending money on it. The fact that I don't read anything else really linked to Witchblade would make that decision easier.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes is the other title on my watch list for potential dropping. I started it when I was exploring DC's heroines - so, pretty much for Supergirl - and there's parts of it that grate. My tolerance for immature heroes (whether they're actual teenagers, or just adults continually acting like teenagers) is quite limited, and I need to be given a reason before I give much of a damn about any of the characters who aren't Supergirl, especially the guys, which in most cases hasn't happened yet. Plus the far-future setting isolates it from other titles, so again, I have no attachment to the world beyond the title itself. The art is good and to my tastes, if not really exceptional.

For comparison, look at a title I'd keep above all others: She-Hulk. Writing steller and accessible, characters strong and act realistically for their age/situation, art ranges from very enjoyable to oh-my-god-I'm-in-love, very strong continuity ties to a world I'm interested in (in fact it was She-Hulk that got me into the Marvel world to start with, but the example still serves). There's no other comic - and damn few luxuries of any kind - I'd allocate money to above She-Hulk.

So there's the categories that matter to me. Do I like the story and character(s), do I like the art, do I feel I can follow the story adequately without having read dozens of back-issues I don't have, does the story have continuity ties to other titles I'm reading and enjoying (those last two are a balancing act, of course). If a title has interested me sufficient to start buying it in the first place, those are the standards that'll decide whether it survives if, goddess forbid, my finances take a dive.

[Super Villains INC>]

I follow creators mostly, so they can make me buy titles I would never really buy before. Conversely, if they leave a title, I usually will give the new team a fair shot, but if it ain't happening, I move on.

Also, if a new title comes out, i'll give it a few issues to capture my imagination and interest, but again, if there isn't a direction or writers plan happenning, I'll probably drop it quick.

some titles I am loyal to, so I'll stay (usually over-stay), and hope for a rebound somewhere. Money doesn't determine my buys, though. I allow for comic purchases, so there is no problem/surprise in my visits to my LCS, and going up to the cash register....

once a title starts to get that "stale" feeling, I can usually make the cut. Recently, I already cut the Flash, (no interest in it already), and right now can't think of others...sure there are though. For Marvel, I've been buying more Marvels than in a long time, and like most everything right now.

[jsg2295]

I drop it when it is cancelled or when Ann Nocenti writes it.

[Pookienick]

Hey, then mine are flawed to. Although that wouldn't surprise me. And not only that, I wouldn't mind if they started it up again.

Of course, if they did that would I then drop a title and replace it with the 'New Guardians of the Galaxy' (and i refuse to turn this into a GotG appreciation thread by listing who my chosen creators would be) or just add it to my ever growing pull list (is 85 comics a month too many???).

Recently, I have been explaining my large monthly bill away by saying 'well, it's just a 4/6/8 issue mini series - surely I can afford to get that for a few months without dropping another title'. This ONLY works if you dont start buying every mini series released.

I recently got my boyfriend to read some of the titles i buy (in return I had to sit through several old doctor who episodes again) and asked him his opinion on dropping a few. All that did was add a couple more to my pull list that he saw advertised and wanted to see what they were like. So it ended up costing more money and several hours of my life watching really bad Doctor Who.

[curefreak]

for me it just depends mostly on the art (bad writing usually doesnt bother me unless its bendis)im also fairly loyal when it comes to the core x-men titles im usually not let down by them(at least so far im still behind on most things x-related that is in continunity:o )

[OdinSon1]

JMS writing pretty much guarantees I won't be reading a book anymore. When he does completely new characters his stories, while not anything special, aren't especially bad. But when he is given established characters....well disaster happens, see his run on ASM.

And along with that, if a needless origin retconn happens, I pretty much stop reading the book until a new writer comes along to correct things. Although I haven't read a Punisher book for quite some time since "Born," and I haven't touched a Wolverine book save for the first few "New Avengers" since his original "Origin" mini revealed him as a preppy.

[Tommy]

If I care about a title I find it hard to drop. New Avengers I keep getting despite my complete lack of interest (of course I JUST dropped it.) I am not sure what it would take to get me to drop Fantastic Four...

Titles I don't care about (Legion of Superheroes, New Excalibur) I drop after a couple of issues.

[Chachi]

1. If I lose interest in a book. - I'm real close to dropping Amazing Spiderman JMS must go! Iron Spider / Civil War sucks, The other sucked, Sins past started out good but once Norman Osborn got involved it sucked. I really dont know the last time this title was any good, but I have read continusly for like almost 300 issues, so it would be hard to drop.

2. Art - I dropped MTU after the league of losers arc because of the horrendous art.

3. Batman - this is an example of a book thats on and off my pull list. I had it on for Hush, dropped it 2 issues into Broken City, picked it back up for the Winnick / Jason Todd / Red Hood run (That was a mistake!), read OYL, and so far for Morrisons run, but will drop again for Ostranders 4 issue run.

[We R. Venom]

I have only dropped one Title. I dropped Fantastic Four in the middle of JMS' run because I didnt have enough money, and because i thought the run was not my style. It was either that or Milligans X-men. i think I made the right descision staying with x-men. Carey is the man.

Also I used to buy Transformers G1, by dreamwave, but they went out of business or whatever happened, so I never picked it up again, but i did finish the run...as much as it could be.

[Babylon23]

My reasons and examples:

1) When the nature of a book changes in a way I don't like - I dropped Avengers because I didn't like the structure and lineup of New Avengers. The elements that drew me to the book in the first place were gone, so there was no point in continuing to read it.

2) When a writer/artist I don't like comes onto a title. For me, a comic has to be a good combination of creative talents. A great writer won't draw me to a book if the art isn't visually appealing, and vice versa- I dropped Amazing when Deodato came onboard, even though I enjoyed most of JMS' stories (excluding Sins of the Past).

3) Gross mischaracterisation - see Civil War #4's evil manipulative supervillain Tony Stark. Suddenly, Stark is being written like he's Dr. Doom, and he's got Reed and Spider-Man following him on his murderous rampage.

4) Decompression. If a book only takes a couple of minutes to read, then I don't feel I'm getting my money's worth. Given that it costs $5 per issue, I want a decent read, not pages of the same panel repeated over and over. If the stoy seems interesting, I'll usually read it in trade instead. This way, I don't get too annoyed by decompression.

5) Poor continuity. I'm not a continuity slave, but I do think continuity serves an important role in serialised comics. It's the ridiculous mistakes that really get to me, like the Russian Radioactive Man in Black Panther and the "suddenly crazy" Scarlet Witch in Disassembled.

[chickrockguitar]

I usually drop a title if the following happens:

1. The stories no longer interest me.
2. When the dynamic/characters of the team changes dramatically.
3. When there's an artist change that I can't cope with. It also bugs me when there's a constant artist change from issue to issue throughout the series. Art is an important factor for me when it comes to comics.

However, that said, take "New X-Men" for example, although the title has changed dramatically since Kyle & Yost took over, the team and the feel of the title is very different, so is the art, I am still enjoying the stories. Despite the change, most of my favorite characters are still in the title, and some of my favorites have been kept/added to the main team. The art has picked up and its mostly good, so I have kept from dropping it.

"X-Men", however... I don't like the new team direction, I don't care for the main characters that much and so the stories don't really interest me. Mostly, I'm not that keen on the art either... so I dropped it.

[Nick MB]

I get my comics monthly in a parcel, after ordering and paying for them a couple of months before, due to lack of a local comic shop. For this annoying reason, if I decide to drop a series, I get two more issues afterwards. Also, I can sometimes have about three or four issues of a series piled up which I haven't read and have no strong desire to read.
That usually means it's time to consider dumping it. Iron Man went that way a few issues back. Spider-Girl was constantly on the edge, it briefly recovered interest whenever I read it, but I've decided not to bother with the relaunch.

[Pookienick]

Wow - didn't really expect this many responses when I started this thread!!

[QUOTE=Nick MB]I get my comics monthly in a parcel, after ordering and paying for them a couple of months before, due to lack of a local comic shop.QUOTE]

This must make deciding what to get kinda hard - and really annoying when you just don't want to keep getting something but know you already have issues on the way. How do manage to get through the month without spoiling any of the comics you have orderd? Just a quick browse through a couple of comic websites (and even non-comic websites these days) will spoil several stories for you. Suddenly I am grateful I have a comic shop I walk past on the way home every day.

[geordiesteve]

1. When new creative team completely ignores everything before and just goes off and tells their own story as if nothing before their appearance on the book ever happened.

2. Story gets boring, repetitive, caught up in its own cycle of rogues gallery and the superhero battling one another each month.

3. Writers not UNDERSTANDING the character they're writing. They don't have to like them, as that sometimes produces interesting stories, but they have to KNOW the character. So maybe more precisely, a writer not doing their homework.

4. Writers with agendas who use comics as a mouthpiece for their own personal opinions, not as a place to tell interesting stories. Writers who want to remake the 'universe' into their version, moulding it to fit in with their attitutes and ignoring the rest as if it doesn't exist. One recent example that has been discussed a lot elsewhere, the Black Marvel Universe starring Black Panther and his amazing Black Friends by Reggie Hudlin.

5. Promises that are not fulfilled. New Wolverine title - he has all his memories and after a dreary five issues of origins and endings and three issues of the new ongoing, I dropped it as it was just boring.

6. Lazy writers. Splash Page City. Stretching a story from 8 pages to 22, or 3 issues to 6 to fill a trade.

7. Nothing happens. With any new film I don't expect all the answers in the first five minutes, so with any new comic I want to try, I give it a few issues, say 4 or 5 if it's really good, or 3 if deadly dull. If NOTHING happens of interest and it's just treading water to the big reveal at the end of issue 6, to set up the next story arc in the new trade, count me out.

[Crimson]

I usually drop it at the end of an arc. As most arcs are 6 issues that gives writers (way) more than enough time to prove their worth and allows me to also come out with a full story.

If a new creative team takes over a book I'll give their run an arc or so, unless their premise really isn't what I'm after and I'll just avoid it.

I'm one of the fans who are unlikely to drop a book if they've been getting it for a long time however. I'll go "Theres only one more arc, I'll stick it out. I won't have a hole in my run, I'll know whats happened and in the end its more hassle to cancel a subscription and renew it in a few months anyway".

[Cephus]

It's not always an easy decision - one can scoff at completism, but there is something of an argument for it in any serialised story. After all, comics aren't like novels, and if you stop buying a title and later start again, if it gets worth reading again, you'll have a gap in the story, be missing events that may be referred to in later issues, and getting those back-issues can be difficult and/or expensive. Plus there's good ol' force of habit. Illogical, but we aren't Vulcans after all.

But comics are not a serialized story, they are various and sundry separate stories that happen to have the same characters in them. What happens in one very rarely ever affects what happens in another and because of the way the Marvel and DC universe are set up, there really can be very little long-term change that isn't eventually undone, usually badly. Now you might have a point if Marvel and DC really told truly serial stories, but they don't.

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

But comics are not a serialized story, they are various and sundry separate stories that happen to have the same characters in them.
Sometimes, but that's not always the case. Even in comics that have defined arcs, you can't be sure that events in one won't be referred to in another, and then you can find yourself regretting that you don't have the complete set, to get the full story.

I mean, take She-Hulk - the current issue is the second-last of the Starfox arc, fine. Issues #6-7 and #12-13 of the present volume. But it also draws on the Magistrati arc, #7-8 of volume one, as well as the marriage arc, vol.2 #8-present, which itself is the culmination of Jen and John Jameson's relationship, begun back in #4 of volume one. And the Matt Hawk/Mallory/Andy triangle is still going on, which began in #4 of vol.2, and vol.2 #1 started the Artie Zix thing... and so on. It's quite possible to read an issue without having the full back-issue catalogue - Dan Slott knows how to provide exposition without hurting the story for those readers who already know it - but it's better if you've read it all.

Not that She-Hulk's ever dipped in quality, let alone enough that it'd be on my maybe-drop list, but it serves as an example of what I'm saying - completism isn't just an obsessive/compulsive thing with no basis in rationality.

[Cephus]

Sometimes, but that's not always the case. Even in comics that have defined arcs, you can't be sure that events in one won't be referred to in another, and then you can find yourself regretting that you don't have the complete set, to get the full story.

Not I. In fact, I spend a lot more time thinking I wasted money on crap than I ever would wishing I had spent more to get the "whole story". And we know that the only reason they're writing arcs is so they can sell more TPBs.

Now it would be different if stories actually built on what came before, if it was a progressive process of layer after layer, creating a rich tapestry of interwoven storylines over time, but come on, we all know that hasn't happened at Marvel in decades.

[Tommy]

And we know that the only reason they're writing arcs is so they can sell more TPBs.
YES! YOU ARE SO RIGHT! Lets find those jerks John Byrne and Chris Claremont tell them off for writting in archs to sell TPBs. Or better yet get those two bottom feeders Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. They never contributed anything of value to comics.Now it would be different if stories actually built on what came before, if it was a progressive process of layer after layer, creating a rich tapestry of interwoven storylines over time, but come on, we all know that hasn't happened at Marvel in decades.
I agree 100% Stan and Jack were hacks.