June 6's "Comic Shop Comics" canceled...

...on account of there not being any comic book-comics released today that I wanted to buy and read.

But, in the interests of checking in on the make-up of the direct market and the things I don't like about it (Spoiler: $3.99 comics, writing-for-the-trade and geography/shop coverage are big factors), and in the interest of having a post for Wednesday night, let's take a look at the comics I might have bought. In a better world....

Action Comics #10:This is one I would have been reading monthly if it were $2.99, but it’s $3.99, so I’ve been trade-waiting this series.

Animal Man #10: I’m trade-waiting…but not as enthusiastically as I’m trade-waiting Action Comics, as I’m pretty sure that after 90 or so issues of the original DC/Vertigo series, I’ve probably read all the Animal Man comics I need to read in my lifetime, unless they are totally awesome Animal Man comics (I sure would like to see the old, pre-Morrison Animal Man strips some day, though…DC should consider putting together a DC Comics Presents almost-trade featuring some of ‘em to try and capitalize on the relative popularity of Jeff Lemire’s new volume of the series.

Creator Owned Heroes #1: This title is pretty funny given the book is shipping the same week as the first More Watchmen books. I know absolutely nothing about it though, other than the fact that it costs $4 and is from Image Comics.

Dark Avengers #175/Hulk #53: Two Jeff Parker-written series (I think; Hulk means Red Hulk, while Incredible Hulk means Green Hulk, right?) that I’ve found too complicated to follow/keep track of. I hope to read ‘em both in trade…probably once Parker’s runs on them ends.

Defenders #7: This is one of those Marvel comics I would have been reading all along if Marvel priced it at $2.99 instead of $3.99. The ideal price for it, I've found, is fifty cents.

Dial H #2: I’m maybe trade-waiting, depending on how reviews are (If bad, I’ll at least look for a trade through my library). I really like the conecept of the hero dial, and enjoyed a few of its iterations in the past, like the original strips collected in the Showcase Presents: Dial H For Hero trade, and Mark Waid's use of it in the (still-unpublished?) Silver Age event series and the character Hero from the late, actually-pretty-great Superboy and The Ravers series (By the way, if I'm remembering correctly, Hero was a gay, Puerto Rican teenage hero with the world's greatest superpower who hung out with Rex, The Wonder Dog in the 1990s DC comics. How is it he's not still around, but we get all these 90's-style Image heroes in the new DCU like, I don't know, Bunker, Skitter and Tom Ridge?). How was the first issue, by the way? Did any of you particularly dig it…?

iZombie #26/Sweet Tooth #34: Two Vertigo ongoings I’m waiting to end before checking out in trade; I like the artists drawing both of those series a whole lot.

Mudman #4:I wanted to read the first issue of this series, but my old, bad shop didn’t order it (“We don’t order rack copies of Image Comics unless someone pre-orders them,” was the rationale, I believe), so I decided I’d just have to wait to check out and read it in trade format someday.

Popeye #2: I was really impressed with the review copy of the first issue I read (and shared that enthusiasm here), but not so much that I’d pay $4 for the second issue. I’ll likely check out the trade when IDW eventually publishes it.

Super Dinosaur #11: Trade-waiting. Robert Kirkman's public persona sometimes makes me feel pretty weird when approaching his comics work, which usually results in my simply not really approaching it. That said, this is entitled Super Dinosaur, and its title thus has two of my favorite words in it.