6 months..progress?

I thought it would be interesting (for me) to assess how many comics, books and trades I've read compared to what I've bought as we reach the halfway point in the year

The numbers;

New back-issues purchased      26
New trade collections                 9
New copies of Masterworks       7

Back-issues read                       44
Trades read                                 7
Books (novels)                            2 (and 100 pages of my current Robin Hobb)

AND: Movies watched at the cinema    3

OK, the Robin Hobbs I've read this year are @700 pages each and been pretty meaty but most books are these days, but it looks to me like I'm buying more than I'm reading.

Looking at my budget I'm planning on purchasing 2-3 trades or masterworks each month for the rest of the year, I need to get a bit quicker or make more more time for my reading to at least break-even.

To be fair though I am catching up with my masterwork collecting and my back-issue list is fairly small these days so, with a big effort, I hope by the end of the year I will be reading more than I'm buying.

Looking forward to getting the following in the next few months

Morning Glories Vol 3
Fatale by Brubaker
Iron Man Vol 9
Star Wars Agent of Empire
Tomb of Dracula Vol 1
Thor Masterworks vols 10 and 11
Cap America Masterworks Vol 2
Iron Man Masterworks Vol 2
Rex Mundi Omnibus Vol 1

Added to My Collection...Team-Up and Dracula!

Three back-issues, great condition and amazingly cheap from Ebay with combined postage all from the same seller. Dracula 99p and the two Team-Ups bought as a lot for £1.50. The Dracula is one from my wants list but I couldn't resist the Team-Ups.

A nice surprise was that No. 140 was a Tom DeFalco/ Ron Frenz collaboration. They are a favourite partnership when it comes to Spidey.

Criminal by Brubaker and Phillips

This week I've read two Criminal trades. Vol 5 The Sinners and Vol 6. The Last of the Innocent.

Really enjoyed both. The Criminal series of books has been consistantly good. Now looking forward to "Fatale " which is due out mid-July.

Next to read: Robin Hobb "Fools Fate"

Added to my collection...Defenders!

Wow. A whole bunch of Defenders back-issues have arrived today and yesterday. No. 4 featuring the return of Valkyrie is written by Steve Englehart and was picked up in VG+ condition for approx £2.50 which was pretty good. The later issues are all Steve Gerber and are FN/VFN for £1.77 each. Some nice copies and I'm looking forward to reading those sometime.

Not too many Defenders issues to get now. I've noticed #10 with it's classic cover and Avengers x-over going for a fair price (£40+!!) so I'll probably not bother with that one but others I will continue to pic up cheap. The priority issues are No. 30 and 38 which are need to fill two conspicious gaps.

Wants Lists

I keep posting comics that I've added to my collection but I thought it would be worthwhile posting actual Marvel wants list as per today's date for posterity!

Hulk	153
Hulk	159
Hulk	180
Hulk	182
Hulk	190
Hulk	257
Iron Man	46
Iron Man	47
Captain America	177
Captain America	178
Captain America	179
Marvel Team-Up	8
Marvel Team-Up	11
Marvel Team-Up	37
Marvel Team-Up	38
Marvel Team-Up	73
Tomb of Dracula	10
Tomb of Dracula	21
Tomb of Dracula	30
Tomb of Dracula	33
Tomb of Dracula	64
Tomb of Dracula	66
Tomb of Dracula	67
Tomb of Dracula	68
Tomb of Dracula	69
Defenders	30
Defenders	34
Defenders	35
Defenders	36
Defenders	37
Defenders	38
Defenders	39
Defenders	40

Added To My Collection

Two comics arrived in the post today as my recent EBay purchases continue to arrive in dribs and drabs.

I'm pleased with Daredevil #99 as it's a cross-over with Avengers #111. In fact it's even reprinted in the Essential Avengers volume. I got it for £1.99 + £1.50 post. It was only the only week when a £3.50 bid of mine for this issue was out-bid so it was nice to pick it up so soon afterwards at half the cost.

The Iron Man #44 is a bit ropey. VG- probably. I took a bit of a gamble with it but it's a bit watersoaked although still readable.

Added to my collection...(part 2)

I should have blogged that I received these during the week. Ooops!

Captain America 173 is a hard to find and usually expensive ND issue but I managed to acquire this from EBay at £3.99 so I was very happy. This completes the Secret Empire storyline (issues 169-176) which I was collecting.

The FF Masterworks vol 7 reprints issues 61 to 71 plus the annual. I'd originally had some of the original issues from this time but I've sold them on EBay for approx £35 and bought the reprint from Amazon for £12.15. The profits have gone towards getting the Cap issue above as well as Defenders issues etc. which I discribed yesterday.