The 2013 Saga Reader Survey

Since I was just talking about writing to comics letter-pages, it seems appropriate to write an open letter to Saga, though maybe not the kind you'd expect.

Brian K. Vaughan has a tradition of doing Reader Surveys that are more slam books than actual demographic data about his audience. The questions are always fun, and he asked a bunch of new ones in Saga #14. I'm answering mine here instead of mailing them in, so feel free to chip in with your own answers in the comments or on your own blog.

Beware the Internet

1. In the parlance of these newfangled "chat rooms," what is your A/S/L?

I'm not at all embarrassed that I had to look up that term. 46/M/Saint Paul.

2. And if you don't mind us asking, where do you buy your comical books?

The Source Comics and Games.

3. Okay, but when was the last time you climbed a rope and/or used a rope to aid your ascent?

Ha! Last time they forced me to do one of those "skills" tests, so probably like fifth grade.

4. Do you believe in any kind of afterlife?

Yeah, but I'm real shaky on the details.

Tony Angelotti and Johnny Depp

5. Who's the most famous person you went to school with?

Johnny Depp's stunt double from Pirates of the Caribbean.

6. In adolescent sex talk, what does "third base" represent to you?

Anything that you can do unprotected and still not make a baby.

7. President Obama probably hasn't had too much freetime since he was elected, so which (non-Saga) comics that have been released in the last five years would you most recommend to him?

Tumor, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, the Resistance trilogy, George O'Connor's Olympians series, The Unwritten, Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites, Return of the Dapper Men, American Vampire, Kill Shakespeare, Pepper Penwell and the Land Creature of Monster Lake, Sailor Twain, Hark! A Vagrant, Planet of the Apes, The Dare Detectives, Wonder Woman, Daredevil, Hawkeye, FF (the Fraction/Allred version), Battlepug, the Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer trilogy, Templar, Boxers & Saints, and I'm kinda partial to Kill All Monsters.

8. It's your final meal; what would you like to drink with that?

Part of me wants to try something that I've never had before like absinthe, but truthfully I'd go for something familiar and comforting like Pepsi.

9. On Star Trek: The Next Generation, which two characters had a never-acknowledged love affair that only you know about?

I bet I'm not the only one who knows about Troi and Dr. Crusher, but that'll still be my answer.

I paid for this one. Promise.

10. What's the best thing you've ever stolen?

A Magnum p.i. T-shirt. Not that I got away with it.

11. Who or what do you miss?

Mr. Hooper.

12. Have you ever had a possible supernatural experience, and if so, what happened?

I'm such the opposite of having supernatural experiences that my super power, apparently, is to repel all ghosts, aliens, and sasquatches. Whenever people get around and share those stories, I just have to sit there and listen jealously.

13. Do you know anyone currently in prison?

Not currently. I've got a dear friend who spent some time in the joint, but not anymore.

14. Which field or fields do you consider yourself an expert in?

I am to Alpha Flight what Chris Sims is to Batman.

In all seriousness, I'm really proud of
the Harvey Award that Robot 6
won this year.

15. Have you ever been given an award?

Sure. I got that one Letter of the Month from Milestone. And a perfect attendance award from work several years ago. And I won first prize at a Halloween costume contest for dressing up like a scarecrow when I was a kid. When people used to pass around those blogging awards, I got a few of those too. I even got a participation trophy for being on my last-place city-league soccer team. I'm very well recognized for my achievements.

16. Has Twitter made you a happier person?

Let's just say that I'm happy to have finally figured out how to make Twitter useful for me.

17. What did your parents almost name you?

I'm named after my dad, so there was never any debate as long as I was born a masculine child. But had I been a girl child, I'd have been "Michelle."

18. Did you watch any of those videos that Chelsea Manning helped leak, especially that one?

Nope.

19. If you had to fight in any war from human history, which would you choose?

The Cold one. Armed with an Aston Martin and a Walther PPK.

Card by Witsickle

20. Isn't there someone you should finally apologize to this week?

Anyone reading this. And Witsickle for borrowing the photo of her awesome card.

21. What is the most important article of clothing that you own?

Man, clothing is so low on my list of important things, but lately, I'll go with my coat.

22. Are you happily addicted to anything?

Caffeine.

23. We're having a dance! Would you like to come to our dance?

Only if I get to DJ.

24. You have to permanently give up either movies or television, so what's it gonna be?

Movies. That would be difficult, but forced to choose, I'll keep the one that's more adaptable and conducive to long-form storytelling.

25. Finally, please draw a quick doodle of yourself, especially if you're not an artist.

Pull List | Rethinking single-issue comics

Atomic Robo: The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific #1

I recently started buying single issues of comics again. Not because I feel like I'm hurting the industry by trade-waiting (I don't), but because it's more fun that way. A lot of writers and publishers are making obvious efforts to create a more rewarding experience out of buying single-issues.

The trouble is that I've just started adding series to my pull list willy-nilly without giving a lot of thought to what I'm doing. That's where this post comes in. I'm going to start assessing what I'm buying every week and make some choices. I need some limits, not only for budget reasons, but also to protect my time.

I've decided that a pull list of 20 series is pretty reasonable. That works out to about five, individual issues a week: a little over an hour of reading time and between $15 and $20. It doesn't include graphic novels and series that read better in collected form (BPRD, for instance). I'll have to assess those separately.

Saga #4

Last week, the single issues I bought were (in alphabetical order):

All-Star Western
Atomic Robo
Aquaman
Courtney Crumrin
Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE 
Saga
The Spider

Of those seven, I know that I want four on my final list of 20.

I've been a fan of Atomic Robo since it started and though I also want the collections on my shelf where they're easy to get to, it's a comic that's really made to be read as single issues. I resisted buying both versions, but it always hurts me when I pass up the monthly version on the shelves. That tells me something.

Courtney Crumrin is another series I'm going to want to keep buying. I love Ted Naifeh's work in general and it's great to be able to read about his terrifying, but so-cool, little witch girl on a regular schedule. Plus, the individual issues feel like complete units, even though they're parts of a larger story.

Courtney Crumrin #3

I just decided last week to check out Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staple's Saga instead of waiting for the collection. I'm glad I did, because it reminded me how much I enjoyed getting a new installment of a BKV comic every month. This one is a space opera with fantasy and horror elements and there's a huge feeling that absolutely anything can happen from month to month. It's a brand new universe that needs exploring.

Finally, David Liss and Colton Worley's The Spider is a fantastic pulp-superhero series that I don't want to wait for.

The other three series are all on the bubble for various reasons. I really liked Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE when Jeff Lemire was writing it, and loved Matt Kindt's first issue for what it was. The problem is that Kindt changed some things in a way that jolted me a little. It's a speed bump I expect to be able to get over, but it shook my confidence some.

The Spider #2

I'm also generally enjoying Aquaman (I'm behind on it, but catching up), but I'm not fully sold on it yet. I'm tired of the constant reminder that Aquaman's a pop-culture joke and the series' defensiveness about that. There was also a fill-in issue in which Mera is sexually harassed in an unbelievable, ridiculous way just so she can show how tough she is by beating the guy up. In other words, the comic feels desperate; like it has to cheat in order to make its heroes seem cool. On the other hand, Aquaman's teamed up with a jungle girl, so that's pretty great.

I'm almost positive I'm done with All-Star Western. It keeps retelling the same story in different ways and after ten issues, I'm looking for something new. As I keep adding series to my 20 every week, I expect All-Star Western to fall off the list pretty quickly.

Here's how I rank these seven:

1. Atomic Robo
2. Saga
3. Courtney Crumrin
4. The Spider
5. Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE
6. Aquaman
7. All-Star Western