Welcome to a new feature here, at Panel Patter, Panel by Panel. Since I'm not doing a review of everything I read anymore, I thought this would be a cool way to talk about my reading in more general terms.
My 2010 reading list (including a complete rundown of October's reads) is here.
A month of mini-comics (and Matt Dembicki)
I spent a lot of October reading mini-comics and zines. Of the 38 total things read in the realm of comics, 20 of them were mini-comics and 9 were zines. Part of this is because of my new schedule, which makes reading longer works more difficult. (I'm doing okay on book-books, but part of that is supplemented with audio books.) Part of it was a desire to start reading the indie stuff I've put together the past few years. Part of it was also being involved with Poopsheet again since the site re-opened. However, I think the biggest part was that it was mini-comic zine convention time, and my proximity to the folks making the comics spurred me to read them a bit more.
I also noticed that I read a lot of minis by Matt Dembicki, which is cool because he creates fun comics but bad because it means I'll have to wait for him to write something new.
There's several things on the mini-comic/zine list that have reviews coming up soon, including The Legettes, two more Dembicki comics, Booty, and the one on living life in Alabama.
Favorites: A lot, really. The Dembicki minis to be sure, Booty is always a great read, Chickenbot's Odd Jobs was a surprise find, and I Love Bad Movies is a favorite ongoing.
No Need to Hit the Bookstore for: Some of the Poopsheet comics were just okay or had limited range of interest. A few of my SPX grabs from 2009 ended up being less good than I'd expected. Generally speaking, if a mini-comic doesn't make it to a review, I probably wouldn't recommend it.
Where is the Manga?
I think only reading 2 mangas is my lowest total yet, not including the month I wasn't home. I have absolutely no explanation for this. While I did use my old library for a lot of my manga, it's not like I don't have plenty at home or a library with a fair selection. I'd like to change this for November's reading. I feel out of the loop with my manga-blogging friends!
Favorites: I like After School Nightmare, so of course I'd recommend this.
Top Shelf is Top Notch
I read two great Top Shelf books this month, both of which I reviewed. I realized recently that I own most of Top Shelf's catalog, and I don't regret it a bit. I didn't read a lot else in the world of non-superhero graphic novels, going back to the reduced reading time.
Favorites: BB Wolf and the Three LPs is a must-purchase. Dragon Puncher was way too cute to pass up.
No Need to Hit the Bookstore for: I was disappointed in the latest Twilight Zone adaptation I found, though I did do a review for it.
Folding up the Cape?
Though I did read all the way through Essential Daredevil and my four volumes of Peter David Visionaries X-Factor, I found that neither really captured my attention the way I'd expected. It makes me think my tastes have shifted significantly. Having less time to read means making harder choices, and as I tweeted, I'm at the point where I'd rather read a good comic than one just because it has Batman in it. That's going to bear further checking.
Favorites/No Need: Nothing I read here is anything I'd say others should pick up, not even the Peter David, sadly.
Erased the Panels
I gave up on Batman: Madness, finding Sam Keith's story boring and the art extremely self-indulgent. Young Liars wasn't for me, either. The casual violence just didn't do anything for me. It was one of those Vertigo books I know folks like, but I wasn't one of those folks. Werewolf by Night also got the boot, as I mentioned in my Halloween post. Lastly, Showcase Metamorpho went away as well. I just could not get over the awful, pale imitation of Stan Lee that tried way too hard to be hip for the times and felt dated to the point of being unreadable.
So that's October in a nutshell. What did you read and what did you like/dislike this past month?
