Creating a Pull List

The hardest part of getting into current comics, I've learned, is creating the Pull List. Which titles do you want to pay money for? Which ones could you do without? Which ones are you going to kick yourself for missing? Can you wait until the trade comes out, or are you collecting individual issues?

Honestly, it's all a shot in the dark. You can never know which titles are going to be good. Even when you know that a title has been good, there is no guarantee that it will continue to be good. So you don't know if something is worth your money until it's spent.

With this fact in mind, I have created two limits for myself. One is Quantity based, the other is Monetary based. I will refrain from exceeding either limit, or suffer the consequences of getting carried away in the long run. ("Death by a thousand cuts" was the perfect analogy that somebody recently threw my way.)

Quantity Limit: This is mostly setting a framework of what I should aim for. Honestly, I believe this limit should be more strict. However, I know that I'll end up wanting more leeway in the end. Undoubtably, this limit will end up being tweaked (reasonably, not on a "I really want one more book, so I'm changing my limit" basis), but for now, this is a good middle of the road goal to shoot for.

15 Main Titles

1 Event Series

1 Maxi-Series

1 Trade per month

(When applicable and always adhering to the Monetary Limit.)

Monetary Limit: This is the more reasonable of the two limits, and as noted above, this is what it comes down to in the end. If I got 10 titles, an event, and a maxi that I want all on the same day, I best hope they come out to be within my Monetary Limit. My cap is set at this amount, because it comes from outside of my paycheck. My bank card will not be used for this hobby; to do so would be signing my self up for dangerous circumstances. The prepaid card I will use is funded by going to the plasma center one a week. This will keep myself from cheating. Of course, there is the matter of rollover funds, but I'll try to stay away from that by taking most of the leftover money off the card at the grocery store.

< $30 per Week

Ok. So I've set my limits, and they may be high to some or low to others, but I'm being completely honest here: I have no clue what I'm doing! Haha, that about sums it up. The biggest point of reference that I have is the shop owner who said he, in his prime, was reading 70+ titles at once. I'm nowhere near that, and I think I'd like to keep it that way. All I know, is that I'm itching to read all the titles on my list, and from what I've been told, that's the overall goal. Only get what you have to, and only take chances when you can.

With all that said, my Pull List is located in the side bar. Clicking on the titles takes you all my posts on that title. (So only the Convergence link works right now.)

And yes, I know there isn't any Marvel on my list. I'll get to why that is in my next post.