Hulk smash: Free Comic Book Day is Saturday, May 5

For the past year my inner self has been writing a series of posts called Hulk vs. Batman.  The blog posts would consist of a review of each month’s issue of Batman and Hulk.  In reality it was just an excuse to try to deduct the cost of my comic books as a ‘business expense.’

After being informed from our accountant that this would not be a valid deduction I fully embraced the fact that I still read comic books.  It was that, plus the fact that The Hulk would’ve won every single time last year.   It was a tragic mismatch in that The Hulk was having a great year and Batman Detective Comics was having a very bad year.

DC Comics: The New 52

In August, 2011 every DC title was reset to 0.  Almost all of the characters were tweaked in one way or another, except for Batman, he stayed the same.   I tried some of the new DC titles and still read Detective Comics and Justice League.  Both of the titles started out very strong, but the last two issues have slowed down quite a bit.

The need to reset stories in order to gain new followers is understandable.  I’ll continue to give those two DC titles some slack, but they don’t have an unlimited amount of time.

Hulk

I was drawn to Hulk because I found out a friend of mine from college is writing it.  Hulk is enjoyable because the story is weird, creative and always different.    Sometimes he’s on alien planets, fighting an opaque woman who controls people or battling little people with very big heads.    Hulk is also red, that’s a whole different story about how General Ross became the Hulk.  Whoa, General Ross is the red Hulk?  Then where is Doctor Banner?

I also started reading The Incredible Hulk.  Doctor Banner and the Hulk (green) were physically separated, with Banner going 10 degrees of crazy on an island with freaky creatures.

The story and artwork is still more enjoyable in Hulk, but they’re both fun titles.  If comics were eligible for a tax deduction I’d get more, but four is a good round number to settle on monthly.

Hulk comes to the house through a subscription.  The other three I pick up at the comic book store.  It would be cheaper to get them through a subscription, but there’s a certain feeling going to the comic book store.  From an entrepreneur level it helps support small business and that’s a good thing.  You can also look at other titles that might interest you.  For us The Simpsons is always a close 2^nd.  If any of those DC titles start to crap out we’ll be coming for you Homer.

The first Saturday of May is Free Comic Book Day at your local shop.  You can locate your closest comic book shop here.  They’ll have a nice variety of starter issues or damaged ones (with the front cover removed) so that you can get a feel for the comic.  If you have kids, especially boys, it’s a good rite of passage that they may keep and enjoy for years to come.