The Beat is running a poll called You are what you read, asking about people’s comic reading habits from a company perspective. I used to read mainly DC, but in the last 10 years or so I’ve branched out a lot, to the point where actual DC-labeled books are less than half of my current reading list (though if you factor in other DC-owned labels like Vertigo, it climbs to just over half).
Last month I went into why I read what I read, but I didn’t run any numbers on the list. Before filling out the Beat’s poll, I figured I’d break them down by label and see how they turned out:
7 DC: Flash, Secret Six, Tangent: Superman’s Reign, Final Crisis, Rogues’ Revenge, Legion of Three Worlds, and All-Star Superman.
3 Vertigo: Fables, House of Mystery, Madame Xanadu.
3 Image: Noble Causes, Gemini, Dynamo 5. (Yes, they’re all written by Jay Faerber)
2 Marvel: The Twelve, True Believers.
1 WildStorm: Astro City.
1 Dark Horse: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
1 IDW: Fallen Angel.
So that works out at 7/18=39% for DC proper, or 11/18=61% for all DC-owned books.
Of course, a lot of those are miniseries, and All-Star Superman just ended. Looking only at ongoing books:
3 Vertigo
2 DC
2 Image
1 WildStorm (that’s counting Astro City, since it’s an open-ended series of mini-series)
1 Dark Horse
1 IDW
Now Vertigo gets the plurality at 30%, and there’s no Marvel at all, though DC-owned labels still manage to net 60%.
This will change a little next year, since Noble Causes is ending and I’m planning to check out Zatanna and Velocity, which will result in no net change for Image, but one more DC.
Another way to look at it would be by genre:
Fantasy/Horror: Fables, House of Mystery, Madame Xanadu, (Buffy, Fallen Angel)
Super-Hero: Flash, Secret Six, Astro City, Noble Causes, Dynamo 5, (Buffy, Fallen Angel)
As you can see, there’s some overlap there.
Of course, this doesn’t count series that I read in book form, like Scott Pilgrim (Oni), or the Dark Crystal prequels (Tokyopop), or A Distant Soil (Image), since they come out so much less frequently.
What do you think of True Believers? I’m really digging it so far.
I’m liking True Believers a lot. The one thing that I think is missing is more background on the other members of the team. It looks like there probably won’t be a lot of time to focus on them and still tell the main story in the next two issues.
Agreed. I have no idea how well it’s selling, but hopefully we’ll get another mini, if not an ongoing, to explore the rest of the team.
I haven’t read a non-DC title in years. Right now I’m reading:
The Flash (of course), Rogues’ Revenge, Final Crisis, Secret Six, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Justice League of America, Justice Society of America, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, Action Comics, Superman, Batman, House of Mystery, Madame Xanadu.
Also would like to get into Legion of 3 Worlds but I haven’t been able to find the issues. I’m picking the JLI hardcovers as well if that counts.
i also have not read a non-DC book in many a year…
i read (ongoing): Rogues’ Revenge, Flash, Green Lantern, and Final Crisis. (i’m thinking about picking up “Nightwing R.I.P.” as well…)
fun, huh?