Final thoughts

Some thoughts:

• I started this on November 25, 2017.  My original math had this taking about seven years, so I clearly read faster than I first planned.

• Five years.  So that’s how long it takes to read my collection.  Three percent of my life for the last five years.  Not including the writing.

• I started with 11109 comics in my collection.  Ending with 11788.  Since I cut 1173 issues, I bought roughly 1852 comics in 5 years?  370 comics a year, 30 comics a month, 7 comics a week?  That sounds super high.  Though I guess I bought a bunch of trades in there too.

• The breakdown of ratings.  It’s reassuring to see that most of the comics in my collection are at least Nice.  There’d be something wrong if it were otherwise.  Note that this doesn’t include the ratings of the comics I cut.  And the Major Feels comics got equated with Pure Joy, which isn’t quite right.  (Transformers is objectively not a perfect comic…)

• 

• I don’t think I got any better as a writer from this.  If anything, my reviews got shorter and more perfunctory as time went along, certainly after my daughter was born.  But looking back at some of it, I’m still glad I did the review part of it.  It’s at least readable for me.  (And I’m really the only audience I care about for this.)

• I’ve still got a number of ongoing series that I haven’t reread.  I’ll probably review those as they finish up.

• I expect I’ll keep on reviewing new issues as I read them, as well as the odd movie/tv show here or there.

• I’m tempted to put all the Pure Joy/Really Good comics out on my shelves.  Now that I’ve confirmed what my actual favorite comics are.

• This was an amazing experience.  I stuck by my original plan of reading and writing every day.  I think I missed less than 10 days over the whole thing.  My love of comic books hasn’t wavered at all.  Indeed, it’s only reinforced my passion for this lifelong hobby of mine.  No regrets at all, I’m unduly proud of myself for doing this.  

• What’s next for me?  I’ve really been thinking about doing a little writing, maybe along the vein of Tom Beland’s True Story Swear to God strip.  I’ll give it a shot, at least.  Would need to find someone to draw it, though.  Maybe I’ll catch up on the shows and movies I’ve been putting off.  

• The only question left is: When do I do this again?  Maybe when I retire. 

Sandman

Sandman 74-75

Wow, finished this whole thing on the last day of the year.  The comics themselves are actually nothing special.  “The Wake” would have been a stronger ending for me, but I get why Neil Gaiman needed to end with “The Tempest.”  Also, I’ve had this closing image in my mind for quite some time, ever since the end of this project started coming into view:

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

I'll write some final thoughts later today or tomorrow, but otherwise that's it for now!

Last two box summaries!

The stuff that’s still on the shelf:

Time spent reading: 43 hours, 22 minutes

Issues read: 304

Issues cut: 1

Highlights (Good or better): Cross Game; Black Widow 1-5; Nextwave 1-9, 11; Secret Avengers 20; Vision; Swing; Sunstone; Fine Print; Pedro and Me; Road Trip; Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius; Saga 37-54; Lost Girls; Mary Jane and Black Cat: Beyond; Captain Marvel 27; Injustice: Year Zero; Injustice 2; DCeased; DCeased: A Good Day to Die; DCeased: Unkillables; DCeased: Hope at World’s End

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 61 days, 7 hours, 10 minutes

Issues read: 12713

Issues cut: 1173

Vertigo Box 7

Time spent reading: 28 hours, 54 minutes

Issues read: 178

Issues cut: 0

Highlights (Good or better): Preacher 8-12, 18-24, 27-48, 50-52, 54-66; Preacher: Saint of Killers; Preacher: One Man’s War; Murder Mysteries; Stardust; Sandman 1, 3-4, 6, 8-9, 12-14, 17-18, 21-24, 26-28, 31, 38, 41-51, 53-54, 57-73; Sandman Special; Sandman: Dream Hunters; Sandman: Overture; Death: High Cost of Living

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 62 days, 12 hours, 4 minutes

Issues read: 12891

Issues cut: 1173

Two other final stats:

Average read time per issue: 6.98 minutes

Percentage of issues cut: 9.1

Sandman

Sandman 65-73

The rest of “Kindly Ones” and “The Wake.”  Just so good.  Neil Gaiman ends his magnum opus with an epic arc, and then follows it up with a beautiful, quiet, contemplative coda.  Marc Hempel continues to rule, and Michael Zulli’s work is equally beautiful in a different way.

This speech defined my high school years.

So creepy and cool.

Gaiman is so good at these bon mots

I love the Borghal Rantipole from just this one panel.

Great timing in those last three panels.

Stunning profile.

So sad and lovely.

Cute callback.

And that's it.

Zulli defines the Daniel Dream.

Best name ever.  And I really want to read about his triumph and tragedy.

Goodbye, Gilbert.

So dark.  But a parent should never outlive their child.

Are these the same people from "Season of Mists?"

Why didn't Gaiman write this meeting?!?!?!?!

They should meet every one hundred years.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure joy

Just two issues to go.  And this whole project is basically over.

Sandman

Sandman 57-64

The first half or so of “Kindly Ones.”  This was where Sandman was on current issues when I started reading it, so it’s got some Major Feels for me.  Not the best jumping on point (though I think I’d read the first three trades), but I figured it out.  Marc Hempel also took a long while to get used to.  This superhero-bred kid had never seen art like his before.  (It was like listening to Rent for the first time after a life of Phantom and Guys and Dolls.)

I love all of these castles.

Hempel draws super cute kids.

So cute eating that ice cream.

A fantastic intro to Hempel's Dream.

I want that coat.

One of my favorite Dream drawings.

I can relate to this.

Beautiful use of black and white.  And beautiful subtle smile by Hempel at the end.

Hempel draws good crazy.

I really like Corinthian II.

The distinction really makes me think.

Amazing body language by Hempel.

Heh, "gravity as a law."

He looks so vulnerable.

Gaiman is so good at this kind of prose.

But now, almost thirty years later, this is some of my favorite comics.  I’ll give it a rating after I finish it tomorrow.  (Hint: It’ll be Pure Joy.)

Death

Death: High Cost of Living 1-3

This series, especially the first two issues, is a collection of perfect little moments.  Chris Bachalo draws the definitive Death, like Jill Thompson’s Delirium.  Neil Gaiman gives her the most delightful life observations.  The result is as wonderful of a time as the day that Didi has. 

Love her first appearance.

I've tried to live by these words ever since.

Random fourth wall breaking.

My favorite picture of Death.

Love the free stuff thread.

I would have liked to see how this turned out.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure joy

Death: Time of Your Life 1-3

I was so disappointed by this when it first came out.  It’s nothing like the first series, with way less Death than I was expecting.  Bachalo’s Death is a lot more cartoony here, also a departure from what I wanted.  (Though it’s still really good.)  Even worse, he departs halfway through the second issue for Mark Buckingham.  (To be fair, the transition is almost unnoticeable.)

I really like how her hair is just an outline with no additional detail.

She lacks the natural body language of the previous series.  She's a lot more posey.

Gaiman would use this again in Endless Nights...

...here.

So sad.

I had a friend like this.  To know her was to fall in love with her.

This is more The Adventures of Hazel and Foxglove than Death, and while it isn’t bad, it doesn’t hold a candle to its predecessor.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good