I loved comics. Really really did. usd to look so forward to friday, because my dad would bring me home a mr.pib, a candy bar, and two comics. ( all for a buck)
for decades, I followed my favorites. then, something happened...
comics began to suck.
there are some good stuff still out there, and sometimes, i pick up a issue of something that looks cool, but the days of serious collecting are gone for me.
First, cost. yeah, they got better paper, glossy covers, but really, I cant AFFORD what comics rose up too.
Second, , comic writers lost all respect for their creations. totally freaking up origins, stupid cruel plot twists to character lives, for shock value, and worst of all, "red shirting"  as I call It.
DC Is real bad about It, but marvel does more then it's fair share. In fact marvel started It for me.
the hellions. a group  of young mutants, that were somewhat foes of the new mutants. all b or c level characters, mind you, but still, established and had backgrounds, history, some decent characters.
on one page, in one issue marvel killed
every
last
one
not In battle, but their life force absorbed by a lame ass new bad guy, to show how bad he was.
sorry guys, and any fans you had, we needed cannon fodder.
That rubbed me the wrong way. they were freaking TEENS!
marvel did it again wasting the new warriors, to start civil war.
red shirted guys, hope you had no fans !
DC does it non stop, with superboy prime (emo bitch) normally being the guy wasting them.
people, these are COMICS. they are made for KIDS, and the kids inside adults.
I have no desire for body counts, of characters, Iknow and may  even like, because you wanna "shock me', or show guy-x Is so strong.
used to, a death in comics was a big deal and it MEANT SOMETHING!
Now, anybody, not making the company money through merchandice, or movie deals, Is likely to get killed off any time.
third:, , fixing things that ain't broke ! I did not NEED a complete wolverine history. I LIKED him having some mystery about him.
spider man was fine, using web shooters, but they changed  that to match the movie ?!
yeah, blade was a cool movie, but changing the  comic character, to be the movie ? couldn't you had someone new take the name ?
But most of all, comics just aren't fun anymore. too serious, too bloody, every story tries too hard to be "epic"all flash, no substance.
When I was a kid, yeah heros had problems, some even died. yeah some characters were lame.
but at the end of the day, you could sleep easy, knowing superman was going to be there, to protect tomorrow.
nowdays, he'll either die, and be resurrected as a"black launtern",or turn evil, and kill all around him, or develp some drinking problem, and spend months In rehab.
comics stopped being comics, and became soap operas, or big budget movies on paper.
now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna dig out my stuff from the 80s, and read some REAL comics

It's weird that none of us here are actually buying comics regularly. XD

I'm out of the loop because I'm not happy with either of the local shops. Both places just aren't customer-friendly for different reasons.

One for judging what you buy and being generally disrespectful, the other for being lax and - for example - having a half-hour conversation with someone while you're waiting to pay for a comic.

I would be collecting but im moving to Hawaii soon and don't want any comics i might get damaged by the move. I already have a ton of DVDs to move. Although I did order and received Graphic Novel 4...
 

I read comics because I like them, and we have at least one great, great comic shop in my area, run by great people. In my opinion, DC is still doing some good stories. Marvel isn't doing much that's good, but Marc Silvestri's drawing the Hulk now, so I'll be reading that.

Besides current DC and Marvel back issues, the majority of the comics I read are indies, most of which I review here.

(</plug>)

Most of the time, I'd rather write comics than read them. It's odd that most of the comics I read involve superheroes, but I don't write in that genre too much.