Making the Cut

It's time like these when I look at my finances and realize that my saving account has been growing at a slower pace then it should. Now, I'm not saying it's comic books fault, but is a contributing factor. This is a cyclical phenomenon in my budget. I cut back on the books I buy about twice a year, and a few months later I'm spending too much again. The process of cutting back is almost like looking through a year book or photo album for me, remembering the good and not so good time I've been having reading all these 22 page delights. Now, I'm not going to list all my drops and all my keeps here just some highlights, keep in mind that my goal budget is about $15 or 4 comics week.

"Wednesday Comics" with it's high relative price point of $15.96 a month puts it squarely on my chopping block. $3.99 a week does take up a large percentage of my allotted comic money, but with only one month to go on this revolutionary series I can't give up on it now. Also, the amount of talent and enjoyment on each wonderful page is well worth it. I have taken more time reading and staring at the beautiful art in a single Wednesday Comic, then some week reading the rest of my comics' stack.

Major cross-over events, such as "Blackest Night" have caused me to spend more then I normally would and cuts will be made here. Just the shear number of book coming out with a "Blackest Night" banner on the top makes my wallet cringe. On the other side it allows me a one to two month reprieve from a series I normally pick up. When "Teen Titans", "The Justice League of America", and "The Outsiders" have their own tie-ins I can safely leave those books on the self without missing too much in the ongoing stories. As for the tie-in mini series, I have to make the difficult choice of not picking up any. I really enjoyed the first issue of "Blackest Night: Batman", with the way Peter Tomasi has a grip on the character of Dick Grayson, though I'm already picking up three series all dealing directly with "Blackest Night". If I cannot get a full story from reading "Green Lantern", "Green Lantern Corp" and "Blackest Night" then DC Comics really doesn't deserve the rest of my paycheck.

With the recent "Batman: Reborn" shake up, the amount of Bat-books I was buying also went up. "Batman and Robin", "Detective Comics" and "Batman" all seem like a premier book. The amount of talent and unique feel of each is making it impossible for me to choose between them. Not to mention the Paul Dini books and "Red Robin" that have been stellar as well. So who wins, other then myself after all I have six great books to pick from? So, I go to the upcoming schedule for release to see if some if not all come out on "slow" weeks. It seems the only way I can make this work is to drop "Red Robin" and "The Outsiders" along with some non Bat titles... "Secret Six", "Justice Society of America", "Justice League: Cry for Justice" and "Justice League" (until James Robinson takes the reigns).

I believe now that "Superman" is no longer on Earth, I no longer need him in my stack. Honestly, it was only Geoff Johns that was able to muscle Supes' into my stack in the first place. Though, James Robinson and Greg Rucka have made a compelling argument in their "World of New Krypton" series for me to keep buying Big Blue's books. The pair are writing an intriguing take on a man stuck between two cultures and two worlds. But, I just can't anymore the "Superman" books are crossing over with each other so much that they are an event onto themselves. I only can allow for one at a time right now, so "Up Up and Away" from me with all these titles.

Alright so I've only just been through the DCU so far and some deep cuts have been made. Maybe I'll be posting another article soon about books that I'll be dropping from the other comics companies, but for now I'll see if this can keep my wallet a little more full.