Marvel: How Much Are You Reading?

[Citizen V]

Let`s take a look at what Marvel has done recently.Civil War,The Initiative,Planet Hulk,World War Hulk,Annihilation and Endangered Species.All of these events,with Marvel`s new out look on its characters and Universe.This asks the question,are your reading more Marvel Comics because of this?Or the same,for your reasons..or is all of this causing you to read less?

[drwho]

I get almost every marvel title released monthly including the marvel adventures line. I dont really get ultimate titles monthly but i do get them in trades from time to time.

[ScottySummers]

I'm reading more Marvel now than I have done in the past but I'm reading more comics in general than ever before.

I was always a fan of the X as a kid and they continue to be the area of the MU that I feel most at home but since Civil War (which I picked up after the event) I've made an effort to branch out and try a lot of new titles, all of which I'm enjoying.

Planet Hulk made me interested in Hulk and I read that in trade as well, which I'll continue to do so.

I'm not much of a fan of the cosmic side of Marvel so I haven't been drawn into Annihilation although I have been enjoying the monster and magic side of things.

[Raker Q.]

For me its more...I never cared for the Hulk before Planet Hulk...when I read they were going to do it I picked it up from the begining and loved it ever since even now thats its spilled into World War Hulk...I buy all the extras like the X-Men World War Hulk etc......and for the X-Men I was only reading Uncanny and Astonishing but now I'm picking up all of the titles dealing with Endagered Species....hoping it pays off....too early to tell.......I picked up Civil War for obvious reasons...it making such a big deal....thought it was ok....the ending was bit lacking for me though.....I don't pick up all of the Initiative though....one or two and of course I love all things cosmic so I eat up all the Annihilation stuff. .....so for me Planet Hulk and Endagered Species has made me pick up more.

[Pach!]

More. Civil War made me more interested in Avengers characters and WWH did the same for the Hulk.

[The Scribe]

I'm reading a lot more.

I collect comics from different companies. This Saturday I spent almost $80.
But, I did buy a Silver Age comic that was only $6.
(Adventure comics #349, Featuring, Superboy and the Legion of super-heroes)

[Beast]

More. Before I was a predominatly X-Books only reader. Then Civil War dragged me into the Avengers sphere. So now in addition to most of the X-Books, I'm getting New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Avengers: The Initative, and Avengers: Classic. And last but not least, New Warriors. :)

[Kevinroc]

I'm reading more. I'm a big Hulk fan, and I was curious about some of the Civil War spin-offs. I think Marvel did a better job with the Initiative banner than they did with Civil War itself.

Then of course, there are titles like Iron Fist. I am loving Iron Fist.

[Angel of Death]

I'm reading more Marvel now than I have done in the past but I'm reading more comics in general than ever before.

I was always a fan of the X as a kid and they continue to be the area of the MU that I feel most at home but since Civil War (which I picked up after the event) I've made an effort to branch out and try a lot of new titles, all of which I'm enjoying.

Planet Hulk made me interested in Hulk and I read that in trade as well, which I'll continue to do so.

I'm not much of a fan of the cosmic side of Marvel so I haven't been drawn into Annihilation although I have been enjoying the monster and magic side of things.


GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!! STOP STEALING MY THOUGHTS!!! [/pulls hair out in clumps]

But yeah, you hit the nail on the head, that's EXACTLY how I feel and buy!

[DaeJi]

More. Much more. I've always been a Marvel Zombie, and there's just so much to get; thank god for trades! Having dropped all DC titles after that mess they made with all the Crisis stuff and OYL and 52, there's more room than ever for Marvel stuff.

[jackolover]

Much more reading. Reading stuff I never read before, because of these stupid human events. HULK IS GETTING ANGRY!!

[Dagger]

Oh, god. Much more. I'm getting close to 20+ titles! I'm a big fan of the Marvel Universe characters, and now that we're getting more focus on characters in all of the genre's I'm loving it even more!

[reddog]

Im reading the same amount of books. I've always been a more non X title person. Avengers have always been my cup of tea and find the current events extremly irratating.

[Babylon23]

I'm reading less Marvel titles now than I have in 25+ years of collecting. I began to lose interest with Disassembled/New Avengers and HoM, and the number has continued to drop since Civil War. Most of what I'm reading now are miniseries like the excellent Agents of Atlas and Annihilation. I'm down to 5 ongoing titles, all of which I buy in trade because the monthly issues aren't holding my attention: X-Factor, NEX, Captian America, Mighty Avengers and Daredevil.

[mrc1214]

More there is so many great books from Marvel I can pass them up.

[Ullar]

more. i buy every tie in of CW and WWH. I am getting the Endangered Species tpb but i will have to get all the Messiah Complex issues if i want to keep reading Uncanny. I am also getting Mighty and Initative Avengers in tpb aswell as DC books and Invincable.

[Chiasm]

More comics.

Less Marvel.

While Marvel's quality has gone up lately I'm really not caring about the Initiative and after the mediocre Civil War X-men and Runaway tie ins I'm not even considering the WWH tie ins.

[Deep_Sleeper]

I'm finding Marvel to be a really exciting place to be, right now. I'm reading more comics now than ever before and majority of that has to do with the stuff that Marvel is putting out.

In all honesty, I think Marvel is making the comic industry a more competitive place to produce work than any other companies. They are making the air more exciting.

I'm loving the stuff I'm reading from Image (Walking Dead, Invincible, Ultra, Girls, etc.), Dark Horse (Conan, Fear Agent, etc.), DC (Planetary, 100 Bullets, etc.). I don't want to attribute the quality of great work that other publishers have to Marvel, but I feel Marvel is really spurring the industry to produce better work.

[Expletive Deleted]

About the same, really.

I'm reading far, far less DC than I used to, though.

[Diablito]

I read the same amount of comics as I used to. However, I only buy X-Books, and the events such as WWH and Civil War are not really making me buy non X-comics.

[Dusty.]

I'm enjoying them more now, in general, but I stick to about 20 titles a month, so I'm not really reading more books. .

[The Shadow]

Overall I'm getting more comics that in the recent past.

About 1 year ago I was reading 18 monthly Marvel books, 18 monthly DC books and 2 indy books. The number of mini series' usually pushed my monthly total in favor of one company or the other but never by too much.

Now I'm getting almost 32 Marvel books, 12 of DC books and 4 indy books.

There are a few DC books on the chopping blocks as I have been really disapppointed with a lot. Starting with Identity Crisis until OYL... my DC interest has really dropped as have the number of books.

While House of M wasn't awesome, what has followed has really peaked my interest. I usually only get issues related to an event if they were already on my pull list... but I have found the Marvel books to be interesting all round and that has gotten me to try new books and add them if liked.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

More. I had to start picking up everything WWH related. The Silver Surfer mini. I was only getting Amazing Spider Man and Captain America but got back in the X-titles because of Endangered Species, Sinister/Exodus returning, Monet, and Magneto returning in October.

[Joe Acro]

If you're just talking about events, of course I'm reading more Marvel stuff than I was before. I'm following World War Hulk proper and most of the Annihilation: Conquest stuff. Outside of events, I'm really not sure.

[streator]

i'm reading about the same number of comics overall.

[rZi]

im reading more now than ever i think...i mean im picking up all event tie-ins as well as the main book itsef but actuay enjoying them too. Ontop of cw/wwh/es/ti their is aso spider-man omd and bnd which will be taking my money too.

[eyril]

I am reading more now. Becaue of Annihilation I picked up Nova, and am loving it. I'm also reading all of theAnnihilation/Conquest mini's

[CaptainCanada]

I'm reading more as a result. Endangered Species caused me to pick up X-Men and X-Factor. I'm reading the main WWH title as well.

[Chris S.]

More. This is not do to any of the major events you mentioned though. I went from growing up in a town with a bunch of comic stores to moving to a town with none. For the last two years I have remedied that problem by subscribing to just Spider-Man books. In June a comic store finally opened in my town. I intend to keep them running while I live in this town. Thus I buy a lot of books, but probably not more when I lived in a town with a comic store.

Endangered species did get me reading X-Men though. In the past the over abundance of characters kinda put me off. I picked up X-Men 200 for ES and loved it. I think I'll prob be an X-Men reader for the next couple months.

[brundlefly]

More, due to World War Hulk, Annihilation: Conquest, Endangered Species, etc. None of the post-Civil War/Initiative launches (unless you count Thunderbolts but I was reading that before the revamp). I was reading less Marvel during Civil War (Didn't interest me and I didn't care for how it bled over into all the other books), but more titles now that it's over and because I'm enjoying the WWH crossover.

[Retrodork]

Eh...I'm not really buying anymore than I usually do. In my 30 years of collecting, I've cut down on my overall intake just out of necessity. I read more DC and independent stuff now than Marvel. I pick up FF, Avengers, Exiles and Cap just like I've always done and that's mostly what I religiously stick to. I like the Ultimates though and I'm not above picking up a handful of other random Marvel titles that look interesting each month. I bought Marvel Zombies because...well, its zombies. You gotta love the ravenous dead, y'know? And Civil War was not to be missed. It totally blew away Infinite Crisis by a mile. CW also reawakened my interest in Spiderman, so I've been picking him up again. I lost interest in the X-books sometime ago, but the Morrison run drew me back into their fold somewhat. I'm also picking up WWH, but that's mostly just to see the Hulk kick Iron Man's treacherous ass all over Manhattan.

[Calybos]

I'm buying considerably less, and avoiding the mainstream Marvel Universe entirely. With heroism outlawed and Cap dead, it's just not worth my time.

Plus, the stench of "realism" has been getting WAY out of hand lately.

[rogerio]

less than never:
Captain America, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Criminal, Thunderbolts, Punisher Max, Mighty Avengers, WW Hulk and two non-Marvel titles.
I'm becoming more interested in TPBs....

[Beast]

I'm buying considerably less, and avoiding the mainstream Marvel Universe entirely. With heroism outlawed and Cap dead, it's just not worth my time.

Plus, the stench of "realism" has been getting WAY out of hand lately.
Marvel Comics have always been heavily steeped in realism. So not sure if that's a complaint. ;)

[a-spidey]

i can say i read more or less the same. The 3 regular spidey titles, the 2 Avenger books 2 of the x-men titels and DD. Thats my list for quite a while now.

[Retrodork]

I'm buying considerably less, and avoiding the mainstream Marvel Universe entirely. With heroism outlawed and Cap dead, it's just not worth my time.

Plus, the stench of "realism" has been getting WAY out of hand lately.

Yeah, that's pretty much my feelings on the matter too. The Marvel Universe is looking way too much like a fascist state to me right now. Yeah, I know that's Mavel's political statement and all that, but I'd like some of my escapist fiction to be a little brighter, a little more idealistic. I'm all for realism, but I honestly didn't see the 'good guys' winning in Civil War. I saw a triumph for Corporate Amerika (ie. Tony Stark). Sorry, SHRA supporters. I respect your opinions, but that was a real turn-off for me. I mean, I teach history. Every chapter in U.S. History is riddled with corporate greed and somebody being oppressed, screwed over or outright killed due to the 'good intentions' or 'higher wisdom' of some governing body, legitimate or otherwise. We've done miraculous things, but we tend to ignore or downplay the crap we've pulled at the same time. The fictional heroes of the Marvel Universe were to me, a literary allegory for something better, an ideal. It might not be real, but it was admirable. And I'm not seeing that right now except in certain characters like Ben Grimm, the Falcon, Spiderman and Luke Cage and a handful of others. Cap's assassination put the nail in the proverbial coffin for me. So yeah, I guess my buying habits have slacked off mainly due to the current state of affairs. The magic is gone for the most part.

[DaeJi]

May I suggest Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest for all those tried of the main Marvel universe. Heroes vs. villains, incredible stakes, brilliantly done characters and romances; everything great epics should be.

[Retrodork]

Y'know, I did glance at that and it looked pretty interesting. I always liked a good cosmic scale space opera. Thanks for the suggestion.

[leebrown1990]

I'm trying to catch up with everything going on in marvel right now after just getting back into comics after a while. So I'm reading a hell of a lot of comics, old and new. Plus some just for fun.

Note I'm not reading every issue but heres what I'm reading atm: astonishing x-men, x-treme x-men, adjectivless x-men, new x-men (plus new mutants v1 & 2), uncanny x-men, runaways, amazing spider man, avengers dissembled, civil war (+ the majority of the tie-ins)

I'm also reading some ultimate titles, as I say just for fun
ultimate x-men, spider man and fantastic 4

plus on top of all that I plan to add new avengers, avengers the initiative, world war hulk and house of M.

Reason for getting back into marvel: civil war!!!!!

[Decepticons_Rule]

As much as I hate Marvel for killing Captain America, I love Marvel even more for giving the intrigue of Hulk smashing the entire Earth.

F U Marvel, and also Make Mine Marvel? :confused:

[Karl H]

Less as singles, a lot more as trades. I'm going travelling soon so I reckon I'll switch to trades entirely around the time of the Messiah Complex Crossover.

[Trogdor The Burninator]

I'm reading much more now that WWH is taking place and the Civil War and Planet Hulk trade paperbacks are on sale. I had missed those two series, so I was glad when those came out. I love what is happening now. It's giving the universe a different feel.

[cable guy]

Let`s take a look at what Marvel has done recently.Civil War,The Initiative,Planet Hulk,World War Hulk,Annihilation and Endangered Species.All of these events,with Marvel`s new out look on its characters and Universe.This asks the question,are your reading more Marvel Comics because of this?Or the same,for your reasons..or is all of this causing you to read less?

I'm reading more, due to the crossovers you mentioned. Not alot more, but more. I'll get the core titles I already get, but then the main story book; like WWH #1-6.

But I also haven't missed many months lately.

[Craig T. Nelson]

I just pick up TPBs every once in while. Cable/Deadpool, Astonishing X-Men and WWHulk are enough Marvel for me.

I'll pick up less recent comics once in a while too.

[PCPaperbacks]

Right now I'm more hooked on Marvel then DC. With the most recent Crisis I picked up lots of cross overs as well as Action and Superman for the first time since I was a kid and I got 52, but since the end of 52, my DC stuff has dropped to Batman, Detective, All-Star Superman, All Star Batman and Scalped. Marvel has increased, but I will be cutting back, After WW Hulk, I'll drop Avengers, Ghost Rider and soon I will drop Mighty Avengers, Moon Knight(Only got because of Finch). But it goes in cycles for me, the only consistant stuff for me since I was a kid has been X-titles.

[scottv]

I am reading a lot more.

[Citizen V]

Wow,the poll does not lie.It seems like Marvel's doing something right.

[g-dawg]

before CW, I only bought one comic every few months just for the pretty pictures. After CW, no matter how sucky the ending, it gave me and other newbie comic readers a brand new jumping point into reading comics.

Now I read 400% more comics than I have ever read in my lifetime, and I'm absolutely loving Marvel for it.

[seeso]

I am also reading more. I've always been a Marvel guy, but I haven't been this interested in the 616 universe since the 80's. I took most of the 90's off. In the early 2000's, I only read indies, Vertigo, and Ultimate titles, but since Dissassembled, I'm back in the 616.

I'm also reading the new Annihilation titles. I didn't buy the last Annihilation event, but after reading a friend's trades, I couldn't resist the new event. It may be even better than the first so far!

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

More. It's a bit difficult to quantify, seeing as Civil War was around about when I was getting into Marvel and trying new titles anyway, so I can't definitively say "I bought so-and-so titles pre-CW, and so-and-so many more after." But I feel confident in saying that Civil War presented the Marvel world to me in a way I found compelling and interesting, and afterwards I felt like I had a decent grounding in the basic world all the individual titles existed in. Titles like Avengers: The Initiative and The Order grew out of CW, and they're both favourites of mine now.

Annihilation is more nebulous for me, seeing as I didn't read it. However good word-of-mouth about Annihilation helped convince me to get into Annihilation: Conquest. I probably would have anyway, seeing as Phyla features prominently and I adore her, but the rosy glow of praise surrounding Annihilation certainly helped me feel that the cosmic side of Marvel was worth exploring for its own sake, not just to see a favoured character. I'm seriously considering buying the three Annihilation TPBs.

World War Hulk is, for me, a model of how to run an event. The core miniseries is self-contained - I have no doubt that I could read that and nothing else, and get a fully satisfying experience. I'm not reading all the tie-ins, but the ones I have read have been quite good, excellent in the case of Incredible Hulk. And I like that the effects of WWH are felt in other books without there needing to be tie-in issues - there's no tie-in Avengers, or She-Hulk, or Ms Marvel and so on, even though all of those characters and groups are involved. It means that, if I didn't want to read WWH, I wouldn't have to, but there'd still be the impression that the Marvel world is a world, with occasional big events that affect its inhabitants, not just a static setting for individual titles to exist in.

That's the best thing about Marvel for me right now: I feel that the Marvel world has a living story in and of itself. The Illuminati kicked off Planet Hulk, then got embroiled in Civil War, which brought about the Initiative, which is the stage where World War Hulk is now occurring. And in the future, we have whatever fallout will be from WWH, and then the Skrull situation coming to a head. This is the 'backbone' of Marvel - I think it's working really well.

[rilokyle]

I find myself reading less and less Marvel titles lately. I used to pick up all the x-books (well, a majority of them anyways), but now I'm only buying X-Factor and X-Men. There are a few reasons, but mostly my lack of money is a big one.

However, events like Civil War, WWHulk, and Annihilation do not interest me one bit. And I know that if I succumb to buying one issue, I'll want ALL the issues, and that doesn't fit my budget.

[Eumenides]

I hadn't been reading any monthly comics in years, and now this month I started buying three titles again. Can't say it has had much to do with Civil War (which I didn't buy), or World War Hulk (which I'm not buying). Marvel simply started putting out comics with characters that I like, like Nova and Avengers: The Initiative. So I have a reason to buy comics again.

[Magneto Rocks]

Let's see.... pre Civil War I was reading about three comics.

I bought every CW tie -in.

Midway through, I was determined to only buy EIGHT Marvel comics per month after Civil War- had em all worked out and everything.

Right now I probably buy about eighteen marvel comics per month, give or take- sixteen or so without a crossover.

Most definitely more. Thunderbolts and Iron Man are two comics I would not be reading without Civil War, not to mention The Order, Avengers: The Initiative, Mighty Avengers etc which spawned as new series' that I'm reading.

[Kevinroc]

Wow,the poll does not lie.It seems like Marvel's doing something right.

I think this really does surprise you.

[g-dawg]

I really think events (pre and post) are good jumping on points for newbies. It just so happens that CW was an event that literally shook the status quo...it made for new outlooks on characters and concepts, and basically are perfect points on which to jump on the bandwagon, so to speak.

[BouffonVert72]

Let`s take a look at what Marvel has done recently.Civil War,The Initiative,Planet Hulk,World War Hulk,Annihilation and Endangered Species.All of these events,with Marvel`s new out look on its characters and Universe.This asks the question,are your reading more Marvel Comics because of this?Or the same,for your reasons..or is all of this causing you to read less?

More and more and more comics in general :

- More and more DC/Image/Dark Horse/Indies...

- But almost same Marvel.

I don't buy/read all these marketing comics events. I have tried... For me, all these things are, to stay polish, very very bad... I hate them...
Where is the Mavel Way ? Since the 60's until 80's it was the true Marvel... After... Grim&grity... SiGh.
I had the impression that from 2000's that went by improving... But not in fact... I don't want to do JQ bashing... But, well... Who is responsible for this disaster ? :(

I read the sollicitations/previews/reviews... And I feel what the Civil War, etc, is about of in the ground... Perhaps not fascisme, but maybe about a totalitarian state, a "police state"... Not interests me.

And I have droped, since 4 years, all the Spider-Family (well, except when there is the Green Goblin... Because I'm fan of him), the FF, and a part of the Avengers Family (Avengers/Captain America...).
Feeling bored and not interested any more... Because misdirections, out-of-characters, grim&grity, more and more stupid deaths/resurections/redeaths, bad things...


So, how can I buy/read the almost same number of Marvel Comics each month with all these drops ?

Well, I have not droped my usual titles which I like or wich I don't want to stop : Iron Man (well I don't like that my Iron Man is a tie-in of the events... But, well...), the good mini-series on Iron Man (Joe Casey...), Thunderbolts (well I hope that Fabian or a guy like him will get this title again... With fun, etc...) and the mini, Hulk (well I don't know yet how to avoid the Event... Perhaps to wait a moment...), and Powers in tpb.

+ I buy the fun mini-series like GLA, Defenders, Docteur Strange (Vaughn/Martin), Mystique, X-Statix Presents Dead Girl...

+ I buy Tom DeFalco-Verse (Spider-Girl, mini-series...). Aaaah, the Marvel Way still exists ! :)

+ I buy the old stuff (60/70/80's) in tpb like Captain America, Iron Man, Champions, Devil Dinosaurs, Killraven, Masterworks Iron Man/Hulk/Docteur Strange, Amazing Fantasy, Integrales Avengers...

+ the Masterworks Era Atlas : Tales to Astonish, and have ordered Tales of Suspens and Strange Tales (I can't wait !)...


So in the end, I have approximately between 10 and 15 Marvel titles each month... But I completely avoid the event...


BV72 who doesn't like marketing-events-licence comics... :evilangry

[Sam T.]

I buy about the same amount I've always gotten. Marvel forever!!

[Babylon23]

Wow,the poll does not lie.It seems like Marvel's doing something right.

As one of the few people who is buying less Marvel comics, it's obvious from the sales figures that they're doing something right in the eyes of a lot of fans. While I don't like most of their books, it's impossible to argue with the numbers.

I still look in on the books from time to time in the hope that I'll find something I like, but it's clear I'm just not part of Marvel's target audience, so I stick toteh few books that I've found here and there that appeal to my tastes.

[Will.S]

I'm buying and reading more Marvel but at the same time I'm trying to cut down to getting trades for mini's instead of individual issues.

It's an extremely hard habit to kick.

[Eumenides]

I really think events (pre and post) are good jumping on points for newbies. It just so happens that CW was an event that literally shook the status quo...it made for new outlooks on characters and concepts, and basically are perfect points on which to jump on the bandwagon, so to speak.

Not really. They just started publishing comics with characters that I like again - Nova, Avengers: The Initiative (Yellowjacket and Henry Gyrich in the same book! What more could you ask?) - so I have a reason to start buying Marvel comics again after a long hiatus. I hated Civil War - read the mini in a bookshop and was appalled at the bad dialogue, the schizophrenic characterization, the amount of action in a supposedly 'thinking' book (Quesada and Millar's words), and the ridiculous amount of splash pages (mostly boring wow moments without substance) that made me finish the book in 30 minutes - haven't bothered with World War Hulk, House of M is anathema to me (like all things Bendis), and I only find Annihilation: Conquest worth reading of all recent events; ironically, it's the one doing worst in sales and being ignored by most.

[Magneto Rocks]

and the ridiculous amount of splash pages (mostly boring wow moments without substance) t

Er... what? Civil War didn't have many splash pages. Not compared to anything else Millar's ever written. There was a one page splash to open each of the last six issues, and exactly three double page splashes across seven issues- the destruction of Stamford, the unveiling of 42 and the Final Battle. (Which is hardly excessive) Plus a few very occasional others.

I've heard many complaints about Civil War but I don't see how anyone can say there were way too many splash pages...

[Eumenides]

There were some really big panels there wasting a lot of page space for no reason, and pages with just 3 and 4 panels. For instance, one big panel just had a huge Captain America head turning back and saying, "No, Frank Castle is insane". The 'Close your eyes; this is going to hurt' panel was just pointlessly big. I don't have a copy (didn't buy it), or I'd show more examples to make my point. It was really a quick read for a 'thinking' book.

[Niro]

im readin more comics than i've ever done before, i had been out of the comic scene for years so civil war was a good jump on point for me to get restarted.