How often do you re-read your favorite classic comics?

[spoon_jenkins]

The other day I was reading the introduction to the Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller vol. 2 TPB, and something struck me as strange. The intro's writer, letterhack turned editor Diana Schutz, noted that she re-read the comics contained in TPB for the first time in 19 years in prepping to write the intro. Since her intro is dated Nov. 26, 2000, that means she was re-reading the stories for the first time since they were originally published.

That surprised me because I tend to re-read my favorite stories ever once and a while, and 19 years seems like a very long time. My X-Men: From the Ashes TPB (perhaps my favorite story arc) is beat-up from multiple readings.

So I'm curious about how often other folks re-read their favorite comics? Just once? Once every few years? Dozens of times? Would you rather read something that's new to you then re-read one of your favorites? I've read very few Claremont X-Men comics this year because my stockpile of unread Essentials is my big project.

[kello]

I think about this a lot, given the time I spent amassing boxes of comics I've only read once. I'm ok with reading something once and storing it, as long as it was mildly entertaining.

The stories I find myself rereading are often those that have some effect on the current storylines, or those that have so much story that I might have missed something the first time. I've reread Kingdom Come about 3 times, each time looking at the little nuances Alex Ross put in there. Good trades are like good movies in that sense, you notice more each time you sit down with them. The other stories I'll reread are those that are concise. The Superman/Batman arcs by Jeph Loeb are pretty good examples of these kinds of stories, as they have a lot of action and a clear ending point. Superman: Up, Up, and Away is another trade I've read multiple times.

I'm in the same boat with the essentials. I bought the first 6 volumes of essential Amazing Spider-Man and have yet to read them all, but only because old comics can be so tedious to sit through sometimes.

[prince hal]

Not as often as I'd like.

Sometiems, If I have a vacation coming up, I'll go through some of my boxes and just start grabbing batches, but I never seem to be able to read them all.

[jackdaw53]

First time I read John Ostrander's Suicide Squad I'd not got the Janus Directive tie-ins. That made following a fair chunk of the series akin to a detective feat Batman would not be ashamed of. This year I got the tie-ins, and decided to re-read the entire run.

I was surprised just how much I enjoyed the re-read. Think probably got even more enjoyment than the first read. So I tried re-reading Hitman... same result. I just got a lot more of the small fun details. Are comics (well the good ones anyway) more difficult to take in fully at one read than prose novels?? (I don't often get much enjoyment from re-reading prose novels.)

Now I think I'll re-read at least a couple of my favorite runs each winter. Next up... maybe Mike Grell run on Green Arrow.

[Cei-U!]

I generally don't buy comics unless I intend to read them more than once. I'd guesstimate I cycle through my entire collection about every five years, re-reading my favorites once every 18 months or so. A handful of books--the Fantagraphic Pogo collections, the Lee/Kirby/Ditko Silver Age Marvel stuff, scattered work by Ross, Perez, Rude and, of course, the Haney/Aparo Brave and Bolds--I may dip into at any time if the spirit moves me. And yes, I *do* have a lot of time on my hands.

Cei-U!
I summon the reruns!

[Ryan K]

Not as often as I'd like.

There's so much out there. So much I want to read for the first time. And in this Golden Age of Reprints, I'm just trying to keep up aquiring and reading all these wonderful comics. Every week sees the release of a new classic strip reprint book or an EC Archive or a newly translated manga masterpiece or an omnibus of some previously rare comics or some completely new stuff. I don't have time to reread much.

I'm only 28 though. The best comics I've read I've read in the past 10 years (cause lets face it I read mostly shitty comics those first 8 years of reading). Maybe I'll eventually reach a stage in my comic reading where I feel I've "caught up" and want to start rereading all my favorites and can discover new things about them.

[The Confessor]

It varies how often I re-read my comics, depending on what comics they are. For instance there are some issues that I bought back in the 1980's that I probably haven't read for 15 years or more but then that's possibly because they're not actually that good but I like to hang on to them for sentimental reasons.

Of the comics that I love and rate highly, I probably only read them once every 18 months or so really. I certainly don't really find myself reading the same issues or graphic novels twice in the same year.

Those comics that I enjoyed and think are good but maybe not quite as good as my all-time favourites, I tend to read once every 5 to 6 years I guess.

[Babylon23]

It really depends on how much I love the series and the number of issues involved. Books like Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four, Claremont's Uncanny X-Men, Kirby's 70's work, Starman, The Question, Sandman, All-Star Squadron, Watchmen, Dark Knight, Crisis on Infinite Earths and Miller's DD get read about once every 2-3 years. I read Astro City from scratch about once a year. Other books will take longer.

[The Infected]

On a fairly regular basis, actually. I don't want to re-read something I bought a month ago. I end up reading a lot of Spider-Man back issues at 3 AM when insomnia prevails.

[spoon_jenkins]

I don't re-read on any regular schedule. I've probably re-read the comics I enjoy the most about a dozen times, and I started collecting in 1985. The comics I enjoy the most are Claremont's original X-Men run, Englehart/Staton on Green Lantern, and Louise Simonson on X-Factor. Those are the ones I re-read the most. Other comics I re-read less frequently.

Jackdaw53 mentioned re-reading Suicide Squad after getting the crossovers. I also tend to re-read comics after I buy a related back issue (e.g. if I buy an issue numbered just before or just after an issue I already have, then I'll re-read that one).

[Bicorn Halfelven]

I generally have way too many comics I've bought and haven't read for me to go back and look at stuff i've already read. I can't justify reading the old ones to the new ones sitting in the "unread" pile.

[zilch]

When i index a series for either GCD or Unoffical Guide to the DCU i plow through them. Same for Whos Who entries for UGDCU. I'm working my way through doing entries for all the principals of the Boy Commando series so that run will get a good pouring over soon. And All-Star Squadron too.

[x_goalkeeper]

Even for the non-favorites, I believe I've read those at least 5 times. For the ones near and dear to my heart, I think three times that many (15+)!