First, read Ed Cunard’s post criticizing the Independents’ Day campaign (read the comments, too), then read my intro to yesterday’s On the Shelves. Both got me thinking about the comics I currently buy and enjoy, how they compare to what I was buying and enjoying this time last year, and offered a bit of insight into why my to-read pile is growing out of control.
In the comments to Cunard’s post, I mention a conversation I had the other night:
…about the cyclical nature of comics buying, how some of us move from nostalgia/habit to experimentation to comfort, while others get locked into a particular mode, by choice or lack of awareness. Where I think I’ve been shifting into comfort mode recently, only buying comics I enjoy regardless of what genre or publisher, this Independents’ Day is a great idea for those stuck in nostalgia/habit mode.
Ed and others have issues with the Independents’ Day idea, some valid, some overly nitpicky. In the end, though, I’m a believer in taking action, and if there’s a group of fan/creators who see the ID campaign as a rallying point that will inspire them to taking action, more power to them. IMO, it’s similar to The Hive, except the ID campaign focuses on the Direct Market while The Hive is attempting to look beyond it. Both are valid concepts with great intentions, and you could nitpick either of them to death if you have nothing better to do, but they can really only be judged by their end results.
Anyway, the buying habits thing jumped out at me in the midst of all of this as I’m on the verge of drastically overhauling my pull list. Again.
When I started this blog, I was on the fringes of “nostalgia” mode, enjoying some of the stuff I remembered from my youth, but starting to seek out new things to read. Overwhelmed by the variety of comics on the racks every Wednesday, I did what I do in mainstream bookstores when I’m looking for something new: I browse until I find something that strikes my fancy. Sometimes it’s the author; sometimes it’s the back cover copy or a blurb from a writer I like; sometimes it’s the cover image itself (though that’s more often a turnoff than an inspiration, especially with genre fiction). It’s certainly never the publisher. In fact, of my favorite writers — Larwence Block, Matt Ruff, Carl Hiaasen — I have no idea who publishes their work, nor do I care.
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