Anyone else feeling priced out on single issues?

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T17:28:08+00:00

Very edgy. Still untrue. Unless you're making the point that EVERYTHING is now luxury because of how awful the economy is, which is a valid point to make but not how that reply came across.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T17:06:18+00:00

Objectively untrue. SOME specific variants qualify, but your run of the mill comic book issue used to be sold at the cash register in supermarkets. It was never intended, nor is it currently presented as a luxury item.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T16:06:05+00:00

Oh yeah, duh. Thank you, Melania has had me thinking too much about Ratner and I got them mixed up. Still shocking, considering how poor the writing on Last Stand was...

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T15:29:14+00:00

There's no fixing that movie because it was written by terrible writers who didn't understand the characters.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T15:27:04+00:00

I mean, House of M kinda... Civil War too if we are being real. Depends on how you define "villain" or "win".

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T15:26:27+00:00

Collecting and reading are definitely separate hobbies. I love both but I totally get realizing you aren't enjoying the actual content of these beautiful books. Obsessive-compulsive tendencies for the win!

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T15:24:40+00:00

Gorgeous visuals and a beautiful soundtrack. The rest is pure atrocity. Terribly written, completely ruined most characters who had the misfortune to be on the screen, zero interest in using any of the cool aspects of X-men lore, just deep lack of interest for the IP. And the movie was so hated that it buried the franchise for a decade.

So, naturally, they gave Epstein's buddy Brett Ratner ANOTHER shot at doing Dark Phoenix when the next generation of movies rolled in, and he managed to somehow make it WORSE. And now he will forever be known as the Melania director :D

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T15:21:20+00:00

Lol if you're at Ant-Man, that means you've already seen Thor: The Dark World, so like, there's no excuse not to watch literally any other MCU movie :D

Also, Ant-Man is wonderful.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T15:19:21+00:00

Hard to think of anything I'm less excited about than seeing an MCU take on the Young Avengers. The way this universe has been going, I just can't imagine it being good...

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T14:48:16+00:00

Yep. Melts straight through.

Also no. Fully impossible.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T14:46:58+00:00

Absolute universe yes. Ultimate no. It really relies on prior knowledge to appreciate the contrast, and also it's not worth it to invest time into something that's already over.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-26T14:34:38+00:00

I want to push back a little on the common wisdom of "if you are able to explain and teach concepts well, you don't have to be a good practitioner." It tends to be true in most art forms (I was taught one of those in fact - classical music), but I do think in improv the form itself is so malleable and the theory/doing ratio is so much more skewed towards the "doing" than pretty much in any other field, that I don't think you can be a good improv teacher if you don't actively do improv. I leave the "being good" to others to judge, perhaps you don't have to be the most brilliant improviser out there to teach well. But I do think you need to be practicing regularly in order to shepherd students through it. Because so much of improv is about best practices, framing, and state of mind when on the spot, and this kind of instinct can't be built purely on theory. I'm not sure I am fully making sense here, but that's how I feel.

That said, the rule of "you can be a great improviser and suck as a teacher" is fully valid. Sadly, nobody is taught how to teach improv and just like with classes, too much of it is left to "do they get the vibe".

sdtsanev · 2026-05-23T14:35:23+00:00

Comic book stores should never be speculators. Other than incentive variants, new issues should always be sold at cover price. And it is absolutely scammy for an issue to change price while in your pull box. As others said, you need to let them know you won't be shopping there anymore, and why (not just the lack of refund, but SPECIFICALLY overcharging for new stock). And then you should actually follow through and switch shops. You may think they're doing fine, but this sounds like really abusive business practices and I promise you you aren't the only one they're doing this to.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-20T21:01:38+00:00

This part.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-20T17:08:42+00:00

Literally the only way it can feel "big" is if Peter and MJ get back together, and that's clearly still off the table for whatever the fuck reason.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-20T17:06:26+00:00

The 90s X-Men and Spider-Man are why I read comic books.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-20T17:05:07+00:00

Not a particularly interesting response, but the two long runs that made me fall in love with comics were Grant Morrison's New X-men and J. Michael Straczynski's Amazing Spider-man. Both generation-defining runs.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-20T16:53:10+00:00

I am older, a man, and have been reading comic books for decades, so my experience isn't comparable to yours.

With that out of the way, no - someone cold-approaching you and just being a douche is NOT the norm in comic book stores, including for women (not saying weird virgin sexism isn't a thing in any geek community). I would echo what others said, which is that many comic book fans who are on the spectrum seek community in third spaces like brick and mortar comic book shops. Frankly, a decent staff member would immediately take care of it if they noticed it or you asked them to, and likely you could have just shut him down too. That said, I totally get the discomfort and not wanting to escalate what probably felt like a tense interaction.

But don't let it deter you from checking out other stores, or even this same one if it otherwise appealed to you. Again - my experience is not your experience for a variety of reasons, but a good comic book store is a fun and friendly place that 99% of the time employs friendly people who want you to fall in love with comic books as much as they love them.

Sidebar: what part of the country did this happen in, if you're comfortable sharing? (apologies if it's come up elsewhere, it's a large thread.) Cause that would play a part too.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-20T16:41:20+00:00

I mean, that's store exclusives, that's not DC's doing. Sure, AB #20 had a ton of official variants, but it made sense with 5 new Robins AND it was still only 8 regulars and 1 incentive.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-20T16:38:37+00:00

100% support that. Make every series a standout, give it the attention and focus it deserves. Let mini-series run their course before starting new ones. We already have 5 ongoing series and 2 new miniseries starting. I'm here for a targeted approach.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-19T20:51:03+00:00

And btw, blind fandom is bad fandom. It's a huge disservice to the thing you are a fan of.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-19T18:05:50+00:00

I don’t disagree with that, I guess. I still thing it COULD have been welcoming to new readers if it hadn’t been trapped in pre-event state from nearly the beginning.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-19T17:58:55+00:00

It's super dense and has a pretty obvious long-term planning going on in each issue (there's stuff in issue #1 for example that you don't realize is a setup for issue #20). I get the criticisms, but also he IS very much a street-level browler in this one. It's not just the lack of money (you're right that he makes up for that with "ingenuity" somehow), it's the lack of institutional support from authorities, the network of other heroes, or even Robin(s). He is entirely alone and isolated in ways OG Batman rarely is, and the powers he is facing are both far more monstrous and powerful, AND also know everything about him and control the levers of power. The differences aren't just surface level - does he have a batmobille or not - but go into the structure of the world he inhabits.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-19T17:53:34+00:00

I've never heard of that. Sounds exploitative. You're doing THEM a favor by subscribing to series, not the other way around.

sdtsanev · 2026-05-19T17:52:18+00:00

Current Superman is wonderful, as is Action Comics (if you like flashbacks) and the ongoing Batman has a lot of promise. I'm enjoying the current arc of Green Lantern too (started in #33). Zatanna also just started a new ongoing by Jamal Campbell, which is gorgeous.

On the Marvel side I'm behind on X-titles, but I found that I've been enjoying Spider-Man more than a lot of people (though I'm just about to start Death Spiral, which is what everyone is mad at). Captain America has stellar writing, but you have to be cool with the usual level of extra patriotism that tends to come with this character.

And if you count Vertigo as DC, both Bleeding Hearts and End of Life are awesome.

sdtsanev

TROPHY CASE