Been awhile since I got down to the comics of the week. Actually wrote a couple, but...let's just say that I have about three times as many posts in my draft folder than I have in my published folder. Sometimes...whipping post....
ANYway...I just (literally literally) finished reading Injustice 2 #69 (which can be yours for a mere 99¢ at comixology.com), and I just have to say...THIS IS A GREAT FUCKING COMIC BOOK! Tom Taylor always has his high points, as in every issue, but this time around it's HIGH POINTS, and a whole lot of them. It's actually funny...and in a way that is not abusive and degrading--you know, the way that most humor in the 21st century is. And get this: the ending of this chapter actually makes you FEEL GOOD.
Are you still here?
Well, okay. Then while I'm at it, I'll also mention that I bought my first The Walking Dead e-comic book. Oh, wait a minute...I never did get around to publishing that post, did I? Hang on a sec...I think I left it in my other suit.... Ah, here it is:
I just bought issue #178 of The Walking Dead today.
And you know, I've been reading this book for a long time. Started with issue #83 and worked my way back (Compendium One got me from #1 to #48--what a deal!--, and I managed to get hold of collections to fill in the gaps from 49 to 82 by reading them in Barnes & Noble . . . and, as I recall, I even read a few issues (79 to 82) online in video and pause form because I was so desperate to get up to the current issue). And I've been happy with the book. Happier than I've been with the television show, actually, even though watching that first season (after not watching it for a season) was what drove me to the comic book.
And you know, I've been reading this book for a long time. Started with issue #83 and worked my way back (Compendium One got me from #1 to #48--what a deal!--, and I managed to get hold of collections to fill in the gaps from 49 to 82 by reading them in Barnes & Noble . . . and, as I recall, I even read a few issues (79 to 82) online in video and pause form because I was so desperate to get up to the current issue). And I've been happy with the book. Happier than I've been with the television show, actually, even though watching that first season (after not watching it for a season) was what drove me to the comic book.
And in addition to enjoying the book, I've also always felt that I was getting my money's worth out of it . . . until recently, when the price went from $2.99 and issue to $3.99 an issue. I know that that's not exactly an anomaly these days, but it's pretty close to an anomaly for me. It's one of the reasons (though there are others) that I am currently buying 0 Marvel comic books fresh off of the stands. $3.99 is a lot for a comic book. Especially for a black and white comic book. And it kind of galls me that there wasn't even an attempt to soften the blow with an explanation--it was a $2.99 one month and $3.99 the next month thing. And the comic book has been doing really well of late, like top ten and sometimes better, so it's hard not to see the price hike as anything other than greed, you know?
But I love the book, so I kept buying it.
But I noticed that on Comixology, when the new issues hit the stands, the previous issue goes down to $1.99. Mmm-hmm. See?
So after giving the matter a great deal of thought, I am going to bail. And go to the Comixology Day Old Bread Alternative.
It will be hard to go a month without a shot of TWD, I have to confess, but for $2 a month, I can handle it. (Well, really $1.66, because The Great Escape gives you a discount if you're a holds customer. And that bothers me. I don't like cutting The Great Escape out on a purchase. But you know, I would rather buy another DC book for $2.99 and keep things copacetic that way. Or start buying a used vinyl album every week or something. It's not like there's any lack of things I want to buy from The Great Escape, after all. I just don't like the feeling that I'm being exploited, and the $3.99 price tag on The Walking Dead comic book feels like exploitation.
But I also want to keep reading the story, and waiting six months for the next collection to come out isn't a viable option for me.
It will be hard to go a month without a shot of TWD, I have to confess, but for $2 a month, I can handle it. (Well, really $1.66, because The Great Escape gives you a discount if you're a holds customer. And that bothers me. I don't like cutting The Great Escape out on a purchase. But you know, I would rather buy another DC book for $2.99 and keep things copacetic that way. Or start buying a used vinyl album every week or something. It's not like there's any lack of things I want to buy from The Great Escape, after all. I just don't like the feeling that I'm being exploited, and the $3.99 price tag on The Walking Dead comic book feels like exploitation.
But I also want to keep reading the story, and waiting six months for the next collection to come out isn't a viable option for me.
And there was this bit, too...also from Unpublished Drafts:
This just in from the There's Something Happy And There's Something Sad Department:
This will be the first week in over seven years wherein there was a new issue of The Walking Dead on the stands and I didn't buy it. (I bought my first in April of 2011--issue #83.)
So that's 😢 for me. But that also means this:
So that's 😢 for me. But that also means this:
The Walking Dead
Issue #180
$1.99
You feel what I'm sayin'? That's right: ☺. Which =
That's $2 less than I paid for my last (in both the relative and [absolute] senses of the word) print issue. Which means that now I can read issue 180, as I've been anxious to do for a month, and I will be able to read issue 181 next month..."on time" (but a month old) for $1.99 instead if $3.99. That's $24 a year (assuming twelve issues per year; it's not uncommon for TWD to put out more than 12 issues in a year, though. In fact...7 years and 3 months, that's 87 issues...plus 83 = 170...they'd only be on issue 170 if they'd stuck to monthly. Instead of 181. Oh. I guess that's not all that dramatic, is it. ANYway....
I'm going to go read issue 180 right now. 🚬 'em if you got 'em.
22 pages later...
Well, THAT was a good comic book. And hey, get this:
0 zombies.
0 punches thrown.
0 sex scenes.
0 exposed tits.
Most of this issue revolved around two scenes: Michonne getting a new job and apartment (that must sound very surreal if you're a tv show only person, but I shit thee not 1 ) and Rick discussing the superiority of communism to capitalism (again, I shit thee not 1). Man, this is SO my comic book. The genius of it is that Robert Kirkman uses the bullshit zombie coating to get away with all kinds of cool shit. When's the last time you read a comic book without a fight scene? Or without some overtly sexual scene--invariably one which reduced at least one female character to a pair of tits? Yeah. The show does a bit of that as well, but it is nowhere near as bold as the comic book.
I am really glad that I only have the usual one month wait for the next issue. Though it might be hard to wait knowing that that next issue is RIGHT THERE if I want it. But ahmo be strong. And save $24 (or more!) per year.
So this was kind of a big fucking deal for me. And the waiting was over. And I bought Issue #181 for $1.99. Minus 20¢ because I still haven't cancelled my Comixology Unlimited subscription, and they give you a discount on your purchases...which might make the whole thing basically free if you buy much. Let's see...15% discount, and the subscription costs $6 a month, so you'd have to spend about $40 a month to hit freebie status. I doubt that I'm there...but if I keep switching books to e-buys, I might could get there, I think. At any rate, I think it's a great deal.
Meanwhile, back at The Walking Dead #181...20 pages of plum pleasing pleasure, I'd say. Though there were some zombies this time around. No tits, though, so there's that. And I have to say...saving $2 on this didn't hurt my feelings. And best of all, I'm now back to a monthly cycle. Win win win. I hope I don't get tired of all this winning.
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