I could blame Joss Whedon. Technically speaking, this *is* All His Fault.
I mean, lots of people tried. Neil Gaiman. Terry Moore. Allan Moore. Frank Miller. Harvey Pekar. None of them succeeded before. Nope, it was all Joss.
It wasn't until he announced that he'd be releasing a Season 8 of Buffy as a comic book that I started buying single issues. Then DC/Wildstorm released the Supernatural mini-series, and I had two comics I was reading. One day, while picking up these two books, a cute employee dude at Midtown comics talked me into buying the first issue of Omega: The Unknown, which was a pretty easy sell, given that it's written by Jonathan Lethem and all. Then, IDW released Angel: After the Fall (their Season 6).
Today? I bought Buffy: Season 8: #13, Angel #6, Omega: The Unknown #7, AND two new books - American Splendor: Season 2 #1 and Terry Moore's Echo #1. In two weeks, DC/Wildstorm will release Supernatural: Rising Son, another mini-series, this time focusing on Dean instead of John. (Hopefully with better art than Supernatural: Origins. Then again, Dark Horse's first Buffy series were terrible art-wise, so I suppose they need time to grow, too).
redstapler loaned me her Runaways hardcovers, which I've started and really like so far.
ozzdo enthusiastically recommended Fables (and several other titles). I'm still hoping to get either more issues of or the long-promised trade of Local, my all-time favorite indie comic. When I give
whtegrlwthehair back the copy of American Psycho that she lent me, I'm going to ask to borrow some of her Adrian Tomine stuff.
It used to be that I felt lost when I walked into a comic store. I would say, "I'm really a 'graphic novel' person." Now, I'm making sure that I have boards and bags. I don't call them "comics" anymore, I call them "books." I am keeping track of when the books I read are released. I'm going to comic-con. I'm thisclose to needing a long box. I imagine that this post will bring even more recommendations, which I will welcome. The stories that I'm finding in here are sometimes so much better than what I can find elsewhere, that I'll keep reading. I guess most of the cool, creative kids are involved with comics these days. (But we know that already).
As if I didn't already have enough to read!