Over at The Savage Critics, retailer Brian Hibbs of Comix Experience in San Francisco has discussed the recent double-shipping policy with several Marvel books. From a purchaser standpoint, I have had to make decisions of what to keep reading. In the past month or two, I have started to whittle down my comic book purchases. I have cut several DC books that no longer were interesting me after the new 52 relaunch, but I have had to take a second look at my Marvel purchases as well. I have loved Ed Brubaker’s Captain America run since the beginning, but at this point, each month, there are basically six Captain America books. And I don’t have the time or interest in reading all three series twice a month. The first Marvel book I bought was Fantastic Four because I loved the characters in principle. But again, the book has been split into two series and there seems to be anywhere between 3 and 4 issues per month. The same is true of X-Factor, which I have enjoyed since the Madrox miniseries by Peter David. I already dropped Superman for the first time in the fifteen years that I have been reading comics and now Marvel is making me decide which books I can continue reading. And some of the longest running books may not be making their way home.
The only saving grace is that I am saving money for other books to buy at my local retailer, Comix Revolution. Right now, I’m slowly saving some money to buy a Moebius book that someone ordered and never picked up. Maybe I’m not really saving much money…
