Due to poverty and an urge to buy better comics, I have decided to be super-selective about which superhero comics I read. Harnessing the Awesome Power of Maths, I have determined that I can afford to read 10 ongoing titles. So I get to read 10, and only 10, titles published by either Marvel or DC as well as one trade paperback a week of my choosing.
A complication of this is that I am forced to drop an on-going title if I want to try reading a new on-going title, an act of very tough love. Being financially responsible is the worst.
I will be adding The Movement and dropping The Indestructible Hulk.
Why The Movement: Gail Simone and Secret Six. Secret Six was this absolutely perfect moment of a comic: twisted, perverse, hilarious, and heartfelt. It was great and now it is gone. And with it a giant Secret Six sized hole opened within me that goes un-filled week after week and month after month. It is my hope that with some room to grow The Movement may become something nearly as good as Secret Six. It has a diverse cast of outsiders fighting back, in a super-heroed-violenced-up-Occupy style, against authorities who have ceased to care for their people. Which is an interesting concept. But what really nabs me is the potential: I see moments of Gail Simone's amazing humour, sharp dialogue, and fantastic compassion. I see characters capable of profound empathy and passionate infighting and startling psychosis. I see the bones of a comic that is good and, if it can sort out its growing pains, could be fantastic. And I would like to be reading it when it does.
Why not The Indestructible Hulk: Too much Hulk, not enough Banner essentially. Mark Waid absolutely hooked me with the his take on Banner as a Science guy who just wants to make a contribution to humanity when he isn't giant and green and smashy. And so each issue followed, in a very loose way, something about Banner and his Science-team and something about Hulk breaking things. And for a while it was exactly what I wanted. The trouble is that Hulk kept getting in the way of the Banner sections I was more interested in... and at a certain point, since I'm only allowed to read ten on-going comics, it just wasn't enough of what I wanted. It didn't become the Banner centric thing I was hoping it would. Also, Lenil Francis Yu, the starting artist who was a big part of my jumping on board The Indestrutible Hulk, was moved onto other projects at Marvel which also contributed to this comics shrinking stature. It is still good comics, great comics even, just not what I had hoped it would be in a time when I'm only reading ten comics....
Previously:
Atoll Comics Round 8: The Indestructible Hulk and FF in and Uncanny Avengers out
Atoll Comics Round 7: Young Avengers in and Winter Solider out
Atoll Comics Round 6: Either The Indestructible Hulk or FF in and Batwoman out
Atoll Comics Round 5: Avengers in and Fantastic Four/FF out
Atoll Comics Round 4: Avengers Assemble in and The Invincible Ironman out
Atoll Comics Round 3: Uncanny Avengers in and Ultimate Spider-Man out
Atoll Comics Round 2: Hawkeye in and The Flash out
Atoll Comics Round 1: Captain Marvel in and Thunderbots/Dark Avengers out
Atoll Comics Round 0: The originals
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