It's that time of the year for me to look at the massive amount of money I am spending and to trim the list of titles that are meh for me. Yes I know some titles are going to finish or are almost finished but hey, it took me that long to realize I was wasting money on them :D

Titles to Drop

Aquaman - can't stand it anymore
Warlord - can't follow it anymore
Superman Confidential - art and story does not grab me, i might pick up arcs on this one
Ion - need I say more
Trials of Shazam - I'm iffy on this one I may keep it, I love the idea of the avatars in this new magical world
The All new Atom - bleh, stuck through the first arc not impressed bring back Ray
Creeper - why? actually I dropped it after #2 I think....
Shadowpact - Not even the Blue Devil can save this title
Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters - meh
Supergirl - an emo super heroine? No thanks.
Martian Manhunter - TRAVESTRY!!!!
AllStar Batman - is this even coming out any more?
Omega Men - okaaaay
Mystery in Space - When exactly does this take place? If what I see is correct in 52 #31 Captain Comet was killed by Lady Styx which was the beginning of this mini series, maybe there was some time lapse, i don't know maybe I will keep it......
OMAC - what's the point is he going to be a good guy or a bad guy, hard to follow the progression on this title

Titles I am going to keep

JLA - My fav title ever since I can remember reading comics
JLA variant covers - Im a sucker, yes I know, I really suck
JSA - OMFG! this will be an awesome year!
JSA Variant Covers - See above for JLA variants
Wonder Woman - awesome start
Flash - has promise now that the first sucky arc is over, plus ZOOM is coming!
JSA Classified - Dr Mid-Nite has some awesome stories so far
JLA Classified - kinda meh, but hey it's another JL title
Brave and the Bold - Not out yet but OBOY!
Superman/Batman - My only Batman fix other than JLA
Teen Titans - Johns rocks
Action - good so far
Superman - ditto
Green Lantern - OMG Johns actually made me like Hal again!!!!!!
Green Lantern Corps - Guy ROCKS!
Hawkgirl - okay this title was heading for the chopping block BUT the crossover with JSA Classified heralding the return of Hawkman kept me, plus the next story line the Hunt for Hath-Set looks promising We'll see
Blue Beetle - ok so far not a disappointment, not Ted, but not a disappointment
All-Star Superman - classic
52 - in it till the end!
Helmet of Fate One shots - I always liked Dr Fate
Dr Fate - Not out yet but it will be on my pull list
Tales of the Unexpected - I like it, this Spectre is better than the last
Firestorm - New team starting, I think sales may kill this book first rather than me chopping it
Checkmate - two words - the Wall
Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes - roller coaster ride of excitement, if only they could get rid of that emo chick (although she has a better personality in this title, go Waid!)
Ultimate FF - The ONLY Marvel title I get I will keep
Justice - almost there, great story

who else is looking to trim?

For me:

Dropping:

• Flash....Please bring back Wally!

Riding out:

• Creeper and Martian Manhunter........Not bad, not great IMHO.
• All-Star Batman...........Don't Ask!

Keeping:

• Superman Confidential....Loving this!
• Trials of Shazam!..........Interesting to me so far, in premise.
• JLA..............Meltzer is doing a great job so far, and despite the grumblings of a few people, ther were enough changes done to this team.
• JSA...............In no time at all, should get back to being the best team book out there!
• Superman/Batman.......Verheiden shows promise and consistency!
• Superman..................It's a GREAT time to be a Superman fan!
• Action Comics............Johns, Donner, and ZOD!
• All-Star Superman........Great Title!
• 52............................I've yet to be disappointed! Possibly the best undertaking ever!
• Justice......................Incredible!
• Batman.....................Morrison and Kubert! Should be a great ride when they get back.
• Batman Confidential.....To new to give up on.

Picking up:

• Superman & Batman vs. Aliens & Predators...this just sounds fun!
• The Helm of Fate...........I'm a HUGE Fate fan!
• Dr. Fate......................looking forward to this!

We'll see if I got them all. If not, I'll add the rest!

I did my trim around the beginning of the Fall. Shaved off the titles I wasn't enjoying as much as the others (not to say I didn't like them) in order to save money.

Though I have a couple of questions and suggestions for you.

Creeper ends in January, Uncle Sam in February, Ion and Omega Men in March, Mystery in Space in April. If you're not hating any of them, you may want to consider sticking with those ones until the end. That's the reason why Ion, Creeper, and Uncle Sam are still on my pulls list. I wouldn't keep (all of) them if they were on going series.

I think that it's still on the schedule (but not on schedule), in theory at least. It's on my list since it's not much of an investment if it only comes out two or three times a year.

Out of curiousity, does your shop charge cover price for the variant covers? I think the stores can get only 1 variant for every 10 or so normal covers that they order so my store prices the variants at two to three times normal.

Well I think I stopped getting Creeper and Uncle Sam after #2, I will ride out Mystery on Space. Ion, maybe just to see what the spectacular ending is. Omega Men I just picked up #1 so I really can't consider it a pull. most titles my comic guy auto pulls for me and I have to tell him I want to keep them. He's really good at guessing what I want.

And yeah I pay 9.95 for the variants. Sometimes more depending on the number available i.e. if it takes more than ordering ten to get the variant. But luckily so far its 1 for every ten for JLA and JSA.

Can't think of what I'm dropping but I need to be more diligent on picking up the minis, that's what kills my budget. Next time I go to the store I should look over what I get and assess what could be dropped.

Definitely dropping Ms. Marvel.
Came close to dropping Legion when I heard that Supergirl was going to be in it but Mark Waid is doing an excellent job.

Ah, gotcha. I assumed that you've been getting all the issues of those books up until just now.

With Ion, I'm actually the most interested in January's issue and the return of Tangent Universe characters. I've been waiting for this since Tangent GL's lantern survived Infinite Crisis. Since they're being vague about what'll happen in the grand finale, the only thing I'm hoping to see is an explaination about the Monitors.

Keeping:

Teen Titans
Manhunter (so good, new arc w/ Wonder Woman....GET IT!)
Superman Confidential
Aquaman (for now)
Batman
Detective (w/Dini on it)
All Star Supes
Fables
Ion

Maybe:
JSoA

Dropping:
S/B
Batman Confidential (had one issue, it wasn't good, not coming back)

I've never understood this line of thinking. How could you base whether or not you're going to stay on a series, with only one issue's experience?

I figure that an arc or two gives you an idea as to whether to stay on, but 1 issue? That's not even enough time for development, much less for a plot to unfold. All it does is set the stage. From there it could go anywhere.

Well the current arc in Superman Confidential doesn't really grab me , but I'm sure they will have future arcs that will be better than the current one.

Oh forgot, Y the Last Man seeing this till the end

It's all preference baby. Nothing writing or artistic wise brought me on board in the first place. Just loyalty to the Bat. And I thought this sucked. I like Batman. I like killer robots. Or killer robot suits. Or killer Batman.

But this blew goats. And Lex Luthor? I guess that works for this but I really thought it was pedestrian. If this is the launch story from this writer, I'll stay off of it until something new comes along.

I'm not saying it can't win me back (it can), I'm saying I'm off the bandwagon right now.

And all it took was one issue! I'm getting off cheap!

I'll continue on with the following:

Justice League of America...it's been awesome so far.
Civil War...really enjoyed this.
Civil War Frontline...was afraid to drop it and have it not suck...seems it's just turning the corner now (finally).
Ghost Rider...only if they go back to Texeira as the artist. No matter how good the story is, I hate the new artist.
52...also in it `til the end (it would be a waste of money to stop now)
Wonder Woman...impressive lunch, if only a bi-monthly (or tri-monthly ) series.
Justice...as much as I hate this much Alex Ross, it's an awesome story.
Bullet Points (love it!!!!!!!!!!)

And all the goodies my girlfriend has...Martian Manhunter, Tales Of The Unexpected, Green Lantern, GL Corps, Flash...

Adding:
Thunderbolts
Dr. Fate (when the time comes)
Omega Flight...if it doesn't suck
The Spider-Man "Back In Black" arc that's on the way.
Pirates vs. Zombies
Robots vs. Ninjas

Want a monthly Wonder Woman fix? Check out Manhunter. She's in it and it's probably one of the best takes on WW in quite a while.



Yeah...I'm a broken record.

Another addition to my Picking Up list:

Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil

Man I just have the hardest time dropping a book completely. Good luck to everyone on dropping some books they don't really need.