Post by G on Mar 21, 2011 23:19:23 GMT -5
You can't tell me as a comic collector, you don't do this.
You go to a LCS and you see all the new comics on the wall or racks. As all the covers, colors, poses and fan outs vie for your attention, your mind maybe becomes blurred as to which one is really worth your time and more importantly your money.
Suddenly, you see one that looks a bit interesting. It has somehow managed to make itself appear more appealing than the surrounding books. You grab the book and start thumbing through the pages. You aren't reading it, you're getting a feel for the art and what appears to be the story inside. You're making a snap decision. Finally after giving it a good 30 seconds to a minute, you've decided it's not up to snuff and it's taking up too much of your time. You aren't sold. You put the book back.
You repeat this dance in front of the comics until you find your suitable few for purchasing. You go and pay, head home and read the comics that passed inspection.
This brings the question. We all get told quite often we can't judge a book unless we actually read it.
Really???
Didn't we already make initial judgments about a lot of books already? Didn't we already pass judgment that plenty of them did NOT meet inspection?
Well, certain people will tell you a couple of books you put back are actually great. They may even have convincing and knowledgeable arguments that one of the books you put back is a real gem.
You then recall your moments with the book. You recall judging how well you thought the art was. Personally, that alone for me can sometimes make or break it. If the art wasn't appealing to you before, is it somehow going to be MORE appealing if you go back and buy it and read it? I know, sometimes you may not think much of the art until you read it and then you realize that the art was a good matchup with the story. But how often does that REALLY happen? How often do you feel like your initial looks misled you?
Then you may, if you have deep enough memories....you may recall some of the scenes you were looking at. Isn't the comic really a collection of art and scenes? Did those scenes look interesting the 1st time you looked at them? Do you think if you read it, those scenes might look more interesting? Do you think the art will suddenly flesh out those scenes you so quickly passed up the first time?
Truly, there are times we are wrong and perhaps later we are lucky enough to find that out. Maybe by accident. Maybe somebody let you borrow the comic. Maybe someone else had it in their collection and you heard some good reviews of it and now you really did recognize that you missed the boat.
But again....how often does this REALLY happen?
How often do you go back and just find out you were completely wrong about those fast glances of a comic?
Me personally, I feel it's probably less than 10% of the time. Although I've personally thought shoddy art may have appeared to fit the story better once I read it, its rare that I think I missed the boat on art. Art to me is generally pleasing or puts me off almost instantly.
I also feel those glances at pages give me a rough idea of whether I would enjoy the comic or not. No, I haven't read it....but I think I can gather a feel of whether or not I'm interested.
So, I think I become a bit inflexible once I've given a comic a bit of my time. I think I'm far more prone to be swayed by a comic I haven't seen, then one I've seen before and decided to put back. That in reality, I've already passed real judgment on the book. It failed to get me to buy. I wasn't impressed.
So I present this thread.
As comics fans......do you REALLY need to read a comic to know whether or not you'll like it?
You go to a LCS and you see all the new comics on the wall or racks. As all the covers, colors, poses and fan outs vie for your attention, your mind maybe becomes blurred as to which one is really worth your time and more importantly your money.
Suddenly, you see one that looks a bit interesting. It has somehow managed to make itself appear more appealing than the surrounding books. You grab the book and start thumbing through the pages. You aren't reading it, you're getting a feel for the art and what appears to be the story inside. You're making a snap decision. Finally after giving it a good 30 seconds to a minute, you've decided it's not up to snuff and it's taking up too much of your time. You aren't sold. You put the book back.
You repeat this dance in front of the comics until you find your suitable few for purchasing. You go and pay, head home and read the comics that passed inspection.
This brings the question. We all get told quite often we can't judge a book unless we actually read it.
Really???
Didn't we already make initial judgments about a lot of books already? Didn't we already pass judgment that plenty of them did NOT meet inspection?
Well, certain people will tell you a couple of books you put back are actually great. They may even have convincing and knowledgeable arguments that one of the books you put back is a real gem.
You then recall your moments with the book. You recall judging how well you thought the art was. Personally, that alone for me can sometimes make or break it. If the art wasn't appealing to you before, is it somehow going to be MORE appealing if you go back and buy it and read it? I know, sometimes you may not think much of the art until you read it and then you realize that the art was a good matchup with the story. But how often does that REALLY happen? How often do you feel like your initial looks misled you?
Then you may, if you have deep enough memories....you may recall some of the scenes you were looking at. Isn't the comic really a collection of art and scenes? Did those scenes look interesting the 1st time you looked at them? Do you think if you read it, those scenes might look more interesting? Do you think the art will suddenly flesh out those scenes you so quickly passed up the first time?
Truly, there are times we are wrong and perhaps later we are lucky enough to find that out. Maybe by accident. Maybe somebody let you borrow the comic. Maybe someone else had it in their collection and you heard some good reviews of it and now you really did recognize that you missed the boat.
But again....how often does this REALLY happen?
How often do you go back and just find out you were completely wrong about those fast glances of a comic?
Me personally, I feel it's probably less than 10% of the time. Although I've personally thought shoddy art may have appeared to fit the story better once I read it, its rare that I think I missed the boat on art. Art to me is generally pleasing or puts me off almost instantly.
I also feel those glances at pages give me a rough idea of whether I would enjoy the comic or not. No, I haven't read it....but I think I can gather a feel of whether or not I'm interested.
So, I think I become a bit inflexible once I've given a comic a bit of my time. I think I'm far more prone to be swayed by a comic I haven't seen, then one I've seen before and decided to put back. That in reality, I've already passed real judgment on the book. It failed to get me to buy. I wasn't impressed.
So I present this thread.
As comics fans......do you REALLY need to read a comic to know whether or not you'll like it?
