Has your reading matured?

Lynx

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So, over the past few weeks, I've been noticing a trend: I'm buying less Marvel (And DC) comics, and more Vertigo and ABC comics. The only regular Marvel titles I still read are Punisher MAX and The Ultimates, and that's probably only until Millar and Hitch are done.

Has any one else been starting to read more of these "Mature" comics and less of the standard superhero fare? I don't know if it's because I'm "growing up" or if its because I'm just sick of the crap Marvel and DC have been feeding us lately. I'm curious what other peoples' thoughts on this are, if any.
 
Hmmm...I'm actually a fan of both. I manage to enjoy Superman just as much as 100 Bullets or Sandman. Then again, I'm 16. Maybe 10 years from now, I'll decide that I'm done reading superhero comics.
 
When I first started reading I read Transformers, Simpsons Comics, and USM. I'm glad to say that my taste is much better now. I look at the first 8 or so issues of New Avengers that I bought and I can't help but think "Why?".

I've been reading less Marvel, but I've also been reading less mainstream DC. I started picking up a ton of stuff after Infinite Crisis but very little of it kept my interest. Wonder Woman, Flash,...I'm starting to get bored with Justice League and I keep on forgetting to buy Detective Comics (Not a good sign).

I'd say I spend as much, if not usually more, on trades of less recent series than I do on current issues.
 
I can't really analyze the question right now cause I haven't had my morning coffee yet...

Comics are comparatively very expensive here. I could buy a fancy meal at a restaurant at the price of one comic, maybe two if I spring for something even fancier.

But at the age of twenty-five, I've long stopped buying Marvel and DC comics just cause they're there. I don't pretend to think that buying less superhero comics is a sign of 'maturing taste'.

Comics are comics. There're non-superhero books that are just immature and downright puerile, and there're superhero books that are startlingly sophisticated.
 
I can't really analyze the question right now cause I haven't had my morning coffee yet...

Comics are comparatively very expensive here. I could buy a fancy meal at a restaurant at the price of one comic, maybe two if I spring for something even fancier.

But at the age of twenty-five, I've long stopped buying Marvel and DC comics just cause they're there. I don't pretend to think that buying less superhero comics is a sign of 'maturing taste'.

Comics are comics. There're non-superhero books that are just immature and downright puerile, and there're superhero books that are startlingly sophisticated.

Well, I meant in general. I'm not so much talking about "superhero" comics as I am talking about the standard fare nowadays. Ultimate Spider-man, the big crossovers, Superman, etc. There are a lot of superhero books that I still like, as in certain runs of superhero comics, but in general, the tripe that's coming out now. . .it sucks.

I meant more along the lines of you look for the themes and underlying messages then just buying something because it's 'shocking' or 'The Battle of the Century!'.
 
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I got into comics by collecting the Ultimate Universe in trades. Later on, I figured out how to download comics, so I downloaded a few series to see what comics were like outside of the Ultimate Universe.

They were better.

After a while, the Ultimate Universe begun to get worse and worse, and I started reading more and more stuff outside of it. I was on a Wildstorm high at one point, and planned on getting all of the trades, collected most of thme, got tired, and have now moved onto other things. I seem to have trends... and they keep revolving over and over again.

I think the more things you read, the more defined your tastes become, and you realise that the comics you were reading aren't actually as good as the comics as you should or could be reading. So you change and evolve and read better comics, until you find something better than those...

What am I talking about again?
 
I take issue with the idea of anyone's reading 'maturing.' People grow up, they change, and find new interests and preferences. To classify that as 'maturing' is a misuse of the word. Remember, many schools of thought consider reading anything in our beloved medium is an act of immaturity that must be squashed by mountains of prose and poetry.

I love reading books like Annihilation; hell, one of the posters in my room features an entire page from it. But I also love books like Fables and Sandman, which most people seem to define as 'mature' reads. I also have a supreme man-crush on Kurt Vonnegut.

Are my book choices 'maturing?' No. They're simply expanding.
 
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I had a pahse around Preacher where I read more adult stuff, like Sandman Mystery Theater and Hellblazer and I got the first few trades for 100 Bullets and Transmetropolitan, but honestly, I have a lot more fun reading super-hero comics (and Fables!) so really, by those standards, no I haven't matured any and, in fact, appear to be regressing.
 
I take issue with the idea of anyone's reading 'maturing.' People grow up, they change, and find new interests and preferences. To classify that as 'maturing' is a misuse of the word.

Well, perhaps becoming more refined in one's tastes was a better use of the word. But, it does confirm that, rather than 'maturing', my tastes are just different from what they were. That, or I really hate the crap DC and Marvel (In general) have been coming up with lately.

It's quite illuminating to see all of these differing opinions, though. :)
 
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I think that the fact that I was so excited that there was finally a Spider-man Loves Mary Jane thread pretty much says that my reading has not matured. While I enjoy a greater number of 'mature' books than I used to, I still have a fondness for books geared towards younger audiences.
 
I think I'm right on line with Sacred&Profane here, he's state a lot of things I hold true. I love a "graphic novel" as much as I enjoy a good, knock-down, 4-color slugfest. They just both have a place.

If I had to say anything was maturing, it wouldn't so much be my choices as my understanding of those choices. I read Watchmen as a kid and loved it. However, it was just a good superhero book then. It was over the years that I began seeing and understanding all the subtleties and symbolisms that made it a REALLY good piece of art in general.

I think that's what happens is that people grow up and see that a lot of their early reading was pretty shallow and straightforward stuff, and this deep-seated maturity paranoia creeps in that says they can't like that stuff anymore or people won't take them seriously. I sometimes wish we could invent a drug that would allow everyone to get over it.
 
I think I'm right on line with Sacred&Profane here, he's state a lot of things I hold true. I love a "graphic novel" as much as I enjoy a good, knock-down, 4-color slugfest. They just both have a place.

If I had to say anything was maturing, it wouldn't so much be my choices as my understanding of those choices. I read Watchmen as a kid and loved it. However, it was just a good superhero book then. It was over the years that I began seeing and understanding all the subtleties and symbolisms that made it a REALLY good piece of art in general.

I think that's what happens is that people grow up and see that a lot of their early reading was pretty shallow and straightforward stuff, and this deep-seated maturity paranoia creeps in that says they can't like that stuff anymore or people won't take them seriously. I sometimes wish we could invent a drug that would allow everyone to get over it.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking people who like the beat-'em-up comics. It's just. . .lately, I don't. It may not even because I dislike that stuff anymore, but rather, I just dislike what the Big Two have been pumping out lately. It was a question to see what people thought, rather than calling people out on "immature" tastes.
 
I take issue with the idea of anyone's reading 'maturing.' People grow up, they change, and find new interests and preferences. To classify that as 'maturing' is a misuse of the word.

I disagree. There is a definite difference in maturity between things like Maximum Carnage and Planetary. It's a perfect and correct use of the word.

And yes, I feel like my tastes have definitely matured. Or maybe it's not so much that, but I'm more aware of more "mature" comics than I was before. I quit reading comics years ago (during Maximum Carnage and just after crap like the Death of Reed Richards). I hadn't heard of Watchmen or V for Vendetta at that point. Everything I was reading just sucked.

I enjoy books like Y the Last Man, Planetary, Alias, and Global Frequency much more than anything I had read at the point I quit comics - even while I was reading them.
 
Well, I meant in general. I'm not so much talking about "superhero" comics as I am talking about the standard fare nowadays. Ultimate Spider-man, the big crossovers, Superman, etc. There are a lot of superhero books that I still like, as in certain runs of superhero comics, but in general, the tripe that's coming out now. . .it sucks.

I meant more along the lines of you look for the themes and underlying messages then just buying something because it's 'shocking' or 'The Battle of the Century!'.
Oh you misread me.

What I meant was that you can start out reading a lot of superhero fare, and then mature to um, better superhero fare, basically. As you said, you're tired of the crap that Marvel and DC have been feeding us, and the direction you took was to read more Vertigo and ABC.

I think a similar path would be to get sick of the crap that Marvel and DC feeds and pick up 'intelligent superhero-ism' from smaller publishers as well as Image and Dark Horse.

ProjectX2 said:
I think the more things you read, the more defined your tastes become, and you realise that the comics you were reading aren't actually as good as the comics as you should or could be reading.
Sacred&Profane said:
Are my book choices 'maturing?' No. They're simply expanding.
E said:
I disagree. There is a definite difference in maturity between things like Maximum Carnage and Planetary. It's a perfect and correct use of the word.

And yes, I feel like my tastes have definitely matured. Or maybe it's not so much that, but I'm more aware of more "mature" comics than I was before.
I think the reason why these answers differ is because has something to do with perceived accessibility.

It's not that our tastes are getting 'better' (a concept that is difficult to quantify/qualify) but that we realize that comics can be geared towards personal interests rather than a gut-level sense of hyper cool enjoyment (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Sometimes I get the feeling that this has to do with the fact that comics are perceived as speaking to only one 'conceptual demographic' that enjoys a limited plurality of surface cool (i.e. giant robots, plus sexy tomb-raiding witch-slaying assassins, lone warrior gunmen with shadowy pasts) rather than being perceived as capable of exciting and arousing different aspects of ourselves.

To cite an individually-specific case, I think is why I like to talk at length about Fantastic Four and Star Trek and Fullmetal Alchemist --- although they appear irreconcilably different and speak to different conceptions of what 'pop culture fun' is, they intersect as philosophical ruminations on the notion of science, progress and other forms of secular humanism.
 
Oh you misread me.

What I meant was that you can start out reading a lot of superhero fare, and then mature to um, better superhero fare, basically. As you said, you're tired of the crap that Marvel and DC have been feeding us, and the direction you took was to read more Vertigo and ABC.

I think a similar path would be to get sick of the crap that Marvel and DC feeds and pick up 'intelligent superhero-ism' from smaller publishers as well as Image and Dark Horse.

Well. . .not all of it is superhero fare. Some of it is, to be sure, and when it is, I agree with you. So, I can't entirely agree with your statement.
 
Well. . .not all of it is superhero fare. Some of it is, to be sure, and when it is, I agree with you. So, I can't entirely agree with your statement.
I'm so confused.

*puts pants back on and deletes 200MB of RuPaul pictures*
 
I'm so confused.

*puts pants back on and deletes 200MB of RuPaul pictures*

:lol:

For example, Y: The Last Man isn't a superhero comic. Neither is Fables. But, say, League of Extraordinary Gentleman and Watchman both are, although they are a bit masked.

So, yes, some of the things I've 'graduated' to are 'intelligent' superhero stories. Some, however, are not.
 
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