How Many Issues Would You Give a Comic to Prove Itself (Reminisce, Too)?

[BDiogenes]

Whether starting new from a number one or in the middle from the newsstand as many of us had to do with the established titles. For the former I would say 5-10 issues and at least 3 for the latter, barring the discovery of anything dreadful in the comic or it turning out not to be what I had thought. At Megacon I bought "Spawn" 1-3 on the strength of past oral interviews of Todd McFarlane and 200+ issues in an independent not being likely wrong, and "Fathom" 1 based on excerpts of later issues I'd read and a shapely, underwater heroine probably amounting to the right prescription for my fannish woes, limiting myself to only the one issue due to the variant covers aspect, which I regard as a double-edged sword, and to the incompleteness in availability of said covers and my ignorance thereof that day. In other words, I went for Spawn story unheard, figuring I could trade the well-priced issues if I don't like it. If any of you are moved to recommend an independent title, I would examine it but not Dark Horse; you might wish to know me better first, especially why I quit the big two. I would prefer a hero title and one that has or could have some longevity but would consider anything, particularly if I love the covers.
_____Slipping back to the old days, I began steady in Sep. 1966 with Thor (acquired from a Greenwich Village newsstand after school, to my mother's disappointment) owing to the slide-show cartoon, maybe two issues, but couldn't hack the Norse mythology on top of the sf with my 4th grade reading level so I switched to items more digestible when soon I could see what was available in "Heaven", where the coms were displayed in a pile and oh, the ecstasy of going through that stack! Initially, I must have thought I would buy random issues if I liked certain covers, but that approach quickly gave way to following titles as I discovered I loved some for their insides. I could probably establish a concatenation of those early purchases, and naturally, at one time, such resided in my memory bank. I never tackled anything which went back extant before 1950 except WW and in her case I needed only go back to where Charles Moulton ceased, as I despised his art to the point his issues were a nullity. WW was too good to pass up (both the mythos and the art), but I never deemed it officially part of my collection. Too inconsistent, including the changes wrought on her as in divesting her Amazon nature for a moddish kick - ridiculous! In my personally drawn coms (later) I don't think I gave her her own book despite her JLA membership.
_____The covers originally, as I've said, and later the appearance of one hero in another's title (GL in Flash, e.g.) or in B & B played a major role in my selection process. Perhaps "The Superman-Aquaman Adventure Hour" contributed, but I think my playing field was already established by its advent. DC emerged as my original stomping ground, and once I began to frequent back issue outlets for coms, already doing so for FM, etc., I would choose titles for their old covers (when the display at venues permitted observation or via ads in old issues) and nature and such became the rule. As you know, this was a period of upheaval for DC and the new issues were in flux after a very long duration of stability. I also bought nonhero titles, of course. Let me add that the two years beginning Sep. '66 were not a good period in my life, and coms constituted a remarkable haven.
_____Except for WW, which I did eventually stop years later, I never quit an established title as long as it didn't metamorphize. Of the ones I bought brand-new from #1 or the equivalent, none looms memorable in my consciousness for my relish except "The Hawk and the Dove" and "The Creeper" (actually bought used) whereas I did buy many new titles, Hero for Hire, Iron Fist, Doctor Doom, and of course, SS; maybe others. "Swamp Thing" was perhaps too new to have pinned itself, but I do love those covers. I'm not counting my last two years, when I did purchase much new stuff but didn't necessarily read it, given my situation. With regard to matter I borrowed from my friend, I quit quickly on Ka-zar, and Dr. Strange as being too murky or unreal and eventually on Tomb of Dracula, which he began from #1. He pretty much bought all the Marvels except the romance and I all the DC's 'cept the Bats and Supes related and a few of the miscellaneous or upstarts. I recall not digging his later Avengers and X-Men, perhaps because the drama was too diffuse and complicated when one couldn't read and reread passages at will or maybe the characters were subpar, at least for the former, but we did trade 2-5 issues of a title at once so short-term continuity per se wasn't a factor. Our time together included the era of "relevance", which largely hurt the Marvels I myself didn't buy, in both our views. Any questions on individual titles?

[shaxper]

Just got home after a week away (and w/o internet). Probably won't get a chance to check back on what I've missed anytime soon, but I saw this thread, and it's an issue near and dear to my heart because I have no solid answer.

I think the problem is, if you quit early on, there's always that lingering doubt about whether or not you judged too quickly and missed out on something great (I did this with Don McGregor's Black Panther run and will probably eventually go back--just in case it gets better). On the other hand, if you give a book too many chances, you'll probably be most of the way through a creative team's run by the time you've managed to convince yourself that it won't get any better, so you might as well finish up anyway.

Generally speaking, I don't start reading a series unless it's been strongly recommended or gives some other indication that I will truly enjoy immersing myself in it. Under such circumstances, I usually buy all the issues before beginning to read them so that I can burn through 20 in a day if I'm enjoying them enough (which rarely happens) and so, if I have good reason to suspect the series gets better, and if I've already bought all or most of them, I generally push through to the end just to see. In the case of Killraven, this worked out well. Truly, most of the series was terrible, but the final handful of issues rocked my world. Generally though, it just ends up being a bunch of garbage that I can at least be confident in knowing didn't possess any sudden redemption at the end that I missed by quitting early.

As of right now, I'm in a particularly unique situation with my Planet of the Apes reviews. I'm in the middle of the Adventure Comics run, and it's simply awful, but I keep pushing on because 1) I hate the idea of giving up on a review thread, 2) I've read everything before this series and want to read everything after, so it seems silly to skip it, and 3) it's still Planet of the Apes, and I love Planet of the Apes, even in spite of terrible terrible writing. So I push on no matter how bad it gets.


Anyway, great question. Curious what others think. I'd imagine I'm pretty far on the "just push through" side of the spectrum and, as a result, probably miss out on a lot of other great stuff I could have been reading had I given up sooner.

[BDiogenes]

^I figured you'd been away and hope you enjoy what I and others have done in your S. vs. J. thread. Soon I'll have to take a breather from this constant posting, too.

[shaxper]

^I figured you'd been away and hope you enjoy what I and others have done in your S. vs. J. thread.

I'll give it a look as soon as I can find a spare minute. I never think of threads I start as being mine, though. I get a random thought in my head, start a discussion if one doesn't already exist, and keep reading until my mild ADHD draws my attention to a different topic.

I believe there's a thread still going on the DC boards that I started four years ago about how Green Lantern should be handled by Warner Bros. Suffice to say, I don't check in on that conversation very often.

[Alan2099]

As a general rule, every issue I pick up should entertain me. If it takes more than one issue for me to decide whether or not I like something, I'm probably not going to like it. Granted, there are exceptions. Some series take longer to reach their stride and I may come back to a lackluster series a few months later to see if it's improved but I don't thin that's something I should encourage. When it comes to stories that only come out one part a month, you either hit the ground running, or you fall flat on your face.

Basically though, you've got ONE shot to catch my attention. One. I don't care if you're in the middle of an eighteen part crossover. I don't even need to understand everything that's going on. I just need to be entertained by it.

[MDG]

Basically though, you've got ONE shot to catch my attention. One. I don't care if you're in the middle of an eighteen part crossover. I don't even need to understand everything that's going on. I just need to be entertained by it.

I agree--if the first time I'm not intrigued I don't know why I'd keep buying something, especially today (unlike through the 80s where, if you missed it off the stand, something could be hard to find).

I've had friends who would pick up a book and say, "I'm giving it 6 (or 12, or 18) issues to see if I like it." I could never understand that. Even if a writer has a huge epic planned and is just laying a foundation, if s/he can't make that interesting and engaging, it's bad writing.

[Dizzy D]

On average 3 issues, but I don't have a rule. It's more of a checklist:

- If I disliked the issue, did I see anything that makes me think subsequent issues will be better? If not, 1 issue will be enough for me.
- Do I see that impossible-to-define something that would capture my interest even if the current issue was not capitalizing on it?
- Is it a writer I like and thrust to bring up something interesting or new?
- Is it a new writer, which may still be finding his voice on this comic or series? I am more lenient with new writers.
- Is it an artist that I like? Not often, but there are titles that I have bought purely for the artwork.
- Is it a concept that intrigues me?

+1/-1 issue for every yes or no. (except I'm not actually making that calculation).

[berk]

Nowadays, I suppose about six, since that's the average number of issues that appear in trade collections, which is how I read most new comics.

Back in the day, probably only one or two.

I also agree more or less with much of Dizzy D's checklist.

[Slam_Bradley]

Nowadays, I suppose about six, since that's the average number of issues that appear in trade collections, which is how I read most new comics.

Back in the day, probably only one or two.

I also agree more or less with much of Dizzy D's checklist.

This. This is pretty much spot on for me.

[Elsa Hulkinaskirt]

I don't tend to think in terms of "how many"... What works for me is just wondering, after reading the first issue, "Do I really want to read the next one ? I am hooked ?". If the answer is no, well, I won't buy the next one ;)

On the other hand, the first issue of The walking dead is not great at all for example. And it got incredibly better with time...Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad either, but if I hadn't buy a trade paperback I wouldn't have bought Issue number 2.

[dupont2005]

One issue. If the first issue I read isn't good, I don't read it again. If a series I've been reading for a long time changes creative teams and I don't like the next issue, I'm done with that comic. If it's a creative team I've been following for a while and I don't like an issue then I'll give it one more. Sometimes even the best have an off day. I absolutely do not give it six or eight issues just to see if I'm going to like it. Why would I read a comic I hate for a year?

[Jezebel Bond]

I fluctuate. I gave up on Avenging Spider-Man after 4 copies and just read my dealer's if I'm in the mood. But that can change if a new writer or story arc of interest comes along, then I'll jump back on and maybe order back-issues if I spot a good deal.

I've stuck with 8 of the new DC 52 books, mostly because I like Superman and Batman and would buy the first 10 books of their series' even if they weren't so good (but I do like them so that's a plus).

But things can change in a flash too. If a shoddy (in my opinion) artist comes along, I drop books without flinching. I'm probably one of the few Spidey fans around here who doesn't fancy Todd McFarlane's Spidey and don't care to own any of his books...and that's after almost 300 other issues proved themselves.

[berk]

I can think of at least one instance when my habit of trying only one or two issues didn't work: Love and Rockets. I'd read a couple non-consecutive issues, I think somewhere around #s 10 to 15, as well as a coloured story of Jaime's excepted from the L&R series, and was intrigued, but didn't become totally hooked until I read a couple 1988 collections of Gilbert's: The Reticent Heart and Duck Feet (not the Collected L&R volume #6 of the same title, but an earlier, smaller format book). Reading just one or two issues really wasn't enough to give me a feel for the world(s) Gilbert and Jaime were creating, and if I hadn't immersed myself in those two early collections of Gilbert's I might never have grown to appreciate their work to the degree it merited. As it was, I started reading the series regularly and was soon hunting for back issues and thanking the comics gods when the Collected L&R started up.

[Shawn Hopkins]

I usually just buy the first trade for newer comics. That gives you a chance to check out the first storyline and if you don't like it you don't need to go any further. I don't really buy new comics as they come out any more, unless it's something I already know I'll like.

[edhopper]

Really BD, Strunk and White. I couldn't get through your first graph. :D