Finally, I came up with a system, I hope, will help me to streamline the mess. I've been using a system for 10+ years that I call the Perennial system. Only the classic volumes that are always in print:
Marvel -
- Avengers
- Spider-Man
- Hulk
- Iron Man
- Thor
- Captain America
- Daredevil
- Fantastic Four
- X-Men
DC -
- Action Comics
- Detective Comics
- Superman
- Batman
- Wonder Woman
- Green Lantern
- The Flash
- Aquaman
- Justice League
The rules are:
- Just follow the singular series
- Often get annuals
- Follow the series wherever they may go, as long as, it is a multi-part crossover.
- Get major event limited series only
This has been a great system for me over the years and works most of the time. However, it is extremely rigid in the sense that you rarely will get to try something new. What I wanted to change was the discovery mechanism and now, I think, I have finally found a solution. I call it the Silo solution, or Perennial+.
The idea is that new titles can be added as long as they follow the same rules and don't overlap. Marvel/DC love to publish derivative characters - a cadre of bat-vigilantes, spider-men, avenger teams and justice leagues, as well as, teen versions of every character they have. This is all noise I need to ignore.
Let's begin with the new adds under the Silo system:
Marvel -
- Doctor Strange
- Black Panther
- The Punisher
- Venom
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Captain Marvel
- Deadpool
- Wolverine
- (Theoretically - Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Cable, Moon Knight, Sentry, etc.)
DC -
- Green Arrow
- Shazam
- Hawkman
- (Theoretically - Atom, JSA, Legion of Super Heroes, Lobo)
Other -
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Conan the Barbarian
- (Theoretically - Spawn, G.I. Joe, Savage Dragon)
The idea was to develop a "new classics" list. Each had to exist in their own silo universe with their own main character and rogues gallery that does not rely on any other character in the silo. They have to be popular enough to support their own series for years. Another feature of this design is that I can get non-Marvel/DC characters as well.
The perks of the system:
- Allows for easy sorting as each silo is sorted linearly.
- Easy to follow each story as the story is linear within each silo.
What do I give up with this system?
- No more annuals unless they are part of a multi-part storyline. I have found over the years that those are the only annuals worth reading.
Every system has pros and cons. I needed a collecting method that was easy to sort and easy to follow in any publishing environment. In order to make the method work, I have to ignore what Marvel/DC want to do to entice me to spend more and enforce my spending pattern until Marvel/DC follow suit. Comic book publishing is small enough that individual spending patterns can have a large impact. For example, there used to be multiple ongoing Spider-Man titles for years. I argued against it for years and finally mandated to myself that I would never buy a Spider-Man series except the "main" one. Years later, there was only Amazing Spider-Man. Today, Marvel is just publishing Uncanny X-Men and some semi-random other series. The system works and it works over time, if, you are willing to play chicken with the publishers and not buy into publishing decisions you disagree with.
I want American comic books to be more like manga - linear and internally consistent. I am going to buy comics in a very specific way to encourage the publishers to publish comics exactly as I want to buy them.
