Comics: Floppies and Stiffies

Well, hello there double entendre blog post title. For the record, floppies are single comic book issues, and stiffies are trades (or trade paperbacks, also called graphic novels). Now that we have that out of the way...

I've been a comic book reader and collector for about 28 years. I started out slow with just a few titles, went into high gear later (reading 25 or more monthly titles), and then got more refined (down to about 10 monthly titles or so). Now, those 10 books are still things that I want to read, but I'm facing several problems:

Time
I'm married with two first-graders and a video game habit. I barely have enough time to write the occasional blog post, let alone read a stack of books.

Price
$3.99 for a single comic book? Are you serious?

Storage
Over the years, I've collected thousands of comics. Unless I open a comic store within the next few years (not likely), I'm going to have a real issue with comic storage space. and at this time, I refuse to start getting digital comics. I mean, this is one of the only hobbies I have that don't rely on anything electronic; I don't want that to change.

Crappy Comic Retailers
There was a store in Utah called The Paper Dragon. I found it when I was stationed at Hill AFB in 1994-1998; it was run by a guy named Jerome, and it was the best store on the planet. Never a missed book in my box, always excellent recommendations. Then Jerome sold the store, and it went into the crapper. That was the last great comic store I've run across.

So, I've decided to cut back to only 2-3 monthly floppies, and get the other titles I want to read as stiffies. It won't give me any more time, but it will definitely save on money and space. One of the downsides is that trades are less "collectible" than single issues, but I think I'll be able to look past that; I've always been a reader first, and a collector second.

Has anyone else out there faced the same turning point in their comic collecting lives? What was your solution?

Skylanders Tech: Whats next?

I got a copy of Skylanders for my kids on Black Friday. The reviews have been good, and I was personally impressed when I played around with the game at PAX Prime 2011, but I've recently started to wonder where that technology will turn up next.

And there's no doubt that we'll be seeing this tech turn up somewhere else--we're talking about Activision here. The company that milked Guitar Hero until the teat fell off.

What's effectively been done here with Skylanders is convert DLC into a retail store purchase. Will we soon find ourselves going to Toys R Us to buy a new avatar for COD? Maybe even buying prime gear at the same time? Or maybe the next stinker of a Spider-Man game will encorporate the tech somehow.

Is this even something that we as gamers want to see happen? For single player and couch co-op games like Skylanders, it's not a huge problem. But, would that change if you're online getting smoked by someone who was just lucky enough to find the most powerful action figure in stock at the toy store?

These are the questions that we need to explore, because like I said earlier, this is Activision: they can't NOT milk this idea dry. All we can do is hope that the next implementation makes sense.

Walking Dead Spoilers...

It has been a LONG time since I have seen an episode of Television that really blew my mind. Lots of shows are great - and I enjoy them. However only one episode of one show is THE show; that show is Season 1 Episode 5. If you have seen it you hopefully know what I am talking about - if you have not then do yourself a favor watch Dexter Season 1.

How does this relate to The Walking Dead?

Because I had that moment again on my couch this week - She was in the barn - Season 2 Episode 7:

Mind = Blowed.

The show has been dancing around the central problem of the main character which is that he is an optimist beyond all reason. Weaving an intricate portrait of a reality where human resources are so scarce that the waste of them is the only true remaining capital crime. Rick (our fearless leader) is simply not connected to the reality of this as he attempts to search for a little girl in the woods. All the while the camp they are staying in -which seems so safe - is teaming with walkers.

Painting Rick as trapped in a safe bubble of reasonable days and insulated from madness while taking the time to paint Hershel with the only true remaining insanity - That Walkers are "Sick People" - was genius. In one scene of the complete full circle of madness Hershel attempts to garner Rick's understanding by supporting a Walker capture. Hershel tells rick to "Lead it"; literally telling Rick to use HIMSELF as bait...

It all serves to set you up for the climax: a pressure drop that has only been replicated one other time for me - but I will tell you this - it was riveting.

The Walking Dead is HOT this season - make sure you are up to date!