Image Post

I posted a general question at the message boards on Comicon.com about if there were any old Image titles worth reading. Got some good responses, although one guy said to read all 120 issues of Savage Dragon by Erik Larsen. I remember getting the first three way back when Image started and it stunk. If this was supposed to be such a big deal that they had to tell these stories under a new publisher for the “freedom,” and if these first three issues were any indication of what those guys were peddling (along with the crap Spawn for the first 15 issues), then I wanted no part of it. However, some of these comics are in the cheapo racks at Mile High Comics. If there’s anything there worth reading, then I wouldn’t mind spending 75 cents to a dollar on an issue (that’s over HALF the price then originally published).

Matt, it really depends what you expect from comics. What your preference to the approach to the storytelling is. Do you like your books to have a reverence about them. Nostalgia. Do you like them to break from tradition. Big dumb fun. All of the above. None of the above.Image doesn't really have a house style so i'm sure like any publisher there is something there that fits your requirements as a reader.


That's a good question--what do I really like or expect from comics?

I just put in an order with Mile High. I got some old back issues to fill the holes in a collection that I want more of:

Some early Justice League International and Justice League Europe, you know, the Giffen and DeMatteis era. So the Formerly Known as the Justice League coming back STILL knocks my socks off. Those are my favorites, I think.

Some Superman. I just plain love Superman, in almost any shape or form since the reboot in 1986.

I got some old DCs of series that I always wanted but couldn't afford as a kid way back when. When I see the ads or the cross references in the other books now, I want them all the more. I got some HEX, that futuristic reboot. Some other Justice Leaguer inidividual titles. I like DC super heroes.

I gave HARD TIME a try in the new TPB. This was a series that when it came out, it really sounded good, but I knew it wouldn't last. And it didn't. Now I can buy it cheaper than the initial cover price (don't get me started on prices).

I got the ESSENTIAL HOWARD THE DUCK as I flippin loved those as a kid.

I got a couple issues of WASTELAND from DC's Piranha Press as that intrigued me.

You know, I think half of it is that I want to branch out. I never like what most consider mainstream. I want nothing to do with X-Men now (collected a ton of those in late 80s) or this new Ultimate universe, even the House of M. Doesn't interest me. I could never get into Spider-Man all that much. I hate it when Superman is among those must-buy books because of a hot artist. While I like art, I always look to the story first and foremost.

See, I think Image and X-Force turned me off comics for a while. I couldn't see how these books were so damned popular. I still don't see Rob Liefeld as any good. Spawn never delivered. That's why I am asking now, in retrospect. Cut through the chaff. Get only the good stuff. This may be completely against the love of monthly comics and may hurt the current industry, especially if others are following suit. But I don't care. Maybe it is an age thing. Do I like the 80s and very early 90s comics because that is when I read most of my comics, during high school? Maybe. I think some of it has to do with the fact that I don't have the money to buy a million titles every month, can't give new stuff a try sometimes.