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My End-of-May Bargain Acquisitions (part 1 of 3)

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Walt

A couple weeks ago, I went to the comic shop with the intent of buying just two comics. Of course, I just had to look at the bargain bins. And long story short, I wound up walking out with this box of comics…

boxinsteadofbag

The core of the bargain-bin purchase (other than the new comics, I’ve stuck to the 25-cent bins) was the majority of Batman #401-491; a solid run from #432-onward:

batmanmostof401to491

I also scored a handful of Detective Comics issues…a couple from earlier in the run as well as some early 600s+. This was a small-ish stack, but until now, it’s seemed MOST of my “main title” Batman acquisitions have been Detective.

detectivestack

I snagged the entire Camelot 3000 run since all 12 issues were there. Been meaning to read this in one format or another for awhile…this should help accelerate my getting around to reading it. And definitely can’t beat the price. Nothing like finding an entire maxi-series for the same price as (or less!) than most current comics.

camelot3000

I grabbed these 6 Brave and the Bold: Green Arrow/Butcher/Question issues since it looks to be the entirety of a mini-series. While I’m not a fan of mini-series for newer comics/off-the-shelf purchasing…I quite appreciate them when I find complete minis in the bargain bins.

braveandtheboldmini

I figured I’d fill out a new copy of my Comics’ Greatest World collection…here’s the “regular edition” Sourcebook, as well as the Dark Horse Insider “magazine” with some stuff about CGW.

comicsgreatestworldpitbullsghostmonster

More Comics’ Greatest World:

comicsgreatestworldrebelmechatitancatalyst

…even more Comics’ Greatest World:

comicsgreatestworldbarbwiremachinewolfgang

A complete mini-series..and this’ll go well with my expanding on my ’90s Superman collection, as it’s a “tie-in” mini of sorts… I don’t consciously recall knowing about this series, even back then. So finding the entire thing in one place…for half the cost of a $2.99 comic…another great find!

starcorpsmini

For the price and starting at #1, grabbed these first seven issues of Sandman Mystery Theatre:

sandmanmysterytheatre1to7

Another complete mini-series. No clue what it’s about, but it’s early Vertigo, and it’s a 4-issue mini, so why not?

millenniumfever

And yet another complete mini-series. Notice a trend? Same as above: no clue the premise, but all 4 issues and it struck me as also being “early Vertigo” even though it doesn’t seem to carry the logo…

misteremini

Along with the “runs” and complete minis, I snagged some randomish issues, including two different printings of a glow-in-the-dark Ghost Rider issue, and a Spider-Man issue with Thanos:

miscbargainbins0515

 

 

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Skipping Wednesday

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Walt

batmaninc009onipadFor the first time in I-don’t-know-how-long, I’ve actually “skipped” a Wednesday trip to the comic shop.

The last few weeks have been expensive. I’m pretty sure the entirety of my actual pull list is all $3.99 comics–Valiant, TMNT, All-New X-Men–and even some of the stuff I’ve been getting “on the side” withOUT officially adding to my pulls have been $3.99 stuff.

And along with the high pricing, it seems that things CLUSTER. Leading to weeks like this–where the only two issues I’d be picking up are not even part of my pull list–FF and X-Men Legacy; two of now-all-too-rare $2.99 books. As neither title seems to be particularly integral to any other title or ongoing events, and I’ve not had any trouble tracking either down, I figure even if I wait til next week or have to swing through another comic shop, not gonna be any real problem getting them. And though I’ve been passively enjoying both titles, neither has me chomping at the bit to read “the next issue,” so this MIGHT even be a test for myself if I even want to continue with them (I didn’t even notice I’d missed issues of Thunderbolts until 2 or 3 came out after my last issue, so I’ve let that one go).

I did (digitally) buy the new issue of Batman, Inc. to read. I’ve rather firmly opted to stick to digital-only for the Requiem issues, specifically AVOIDING the hassles of not being able to grab ’em off the shelf myself for “collectors” snapping them up cuz of the whole death-of-Robin thing (or just fellow readers also checking things out).

So…no comic shop this week, at least not the “regular” or “usual” comic shop visit. Maybe later I’ll touch on that issue of “clustering,” particularly where if the Valiant books were actually spread out more, even one more book planned for print-edition purchase would’ve justified the trip to the comic shop.

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Batman and Robin and the Library

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Walt

After the death of Damian Wayne a couple weeks back, I put several requests in with the local library system. A number of the books came in at once, and I’ve been really enjoying the recent read-through.

For “free” I’m getting to read the entire original run of Batman and Robin, as well as the first volume of the New 52 iteration of the series. I’d actually forgotten how short the first run was…later this year the New 52 run will match the original.

Sometimes I get so caught up in fleshing out my own collection that I lose sight of the fact of what an AWESOME resource libraries are. Of course, if you don’t turn the books back in by their due date, you open up a whole other kettle of issues…

batmanandrobinfromthelibrary

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Digital Transition: Requiem and The Walking Dead

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Walt

brucemourningI bought into the hype and had the foresight to email the local comic shop the Monday morning the week Batman, Inc. #8 came out.

However, I did not display the same foresight for any of the “Requiem” issues that have come out since then.

I’m not particularly interested in Detective Comics with a $3.99 price point, ditto for Batman itself.

Much more interested in the Batman and Robin title, but as stated…I managed to lack the foresight to request a copy of the latest issue be held, and it’s not part of my pull file.

But I’ve also been–increasingly seriously–considering a transition to “going digital,” and I’ve been somewhat experimenting with that. This weekend feels like it definitely bore fruit in that regard.

digitalbatman018I get tired of wasting time and gas running around to various comic shops for an issue I may have missed (I hate using the phone, but that’s an issue entirely its own), especially when it often leads to me buying other stuff I normally wouldn’t, out of some kind of “guilt” of spending a lot of time in a shop and not wanting to walk out empty-handed; or even simply of reaching a minimum  purchase price for using a card.

There’s also the “immediate gratification” thing as well as “convenience,” to say nothing of the mere fact of owning a tablet now and being able to view full-page comics at almost “normal” size.

So in one quick expense, I was able to–at about 10pm Saturday, long after any comic shop would be open, and from the comfort of the chair I was sitting in, having just finished an episode of Person of Interest–purchase Batman #18, Batman and Robin #18, and The Walking Dead #108.

digitalbatmanandrobin000and018With The Walking Dead, I decided after all the stuff with #100 that I was gonna go back to waiting for the collected volumes. But then decided I was going to miss the experience of the monthly single issues, of fully keeping up with the story.

So, since I was then grudgingly willing to consider an ongoing prospect of purchasing twice…why not try buying the single issues as digital, and saving the collected volumes to be my sole print purchase for the series?

I’ve yet to make the follow through on print–I don’t think I’ve bought a collected volume since 13, as I’ve been keeping up with the singles–but I’ve followed one entire 6-issue run of the series now digital-only, and don’t particularly miss the print.

digitalwalkingdead103to108Yet another benefit to going the digital route–the issues are basically “always available” and never “sold out.” I don’t have to race to the comic shop ASAP on Wednesday to buy a digital copy of whatever issue; and if I don’t decide til late Saturday night that yeah, actually I DO want to go ahead and read that after all…I don’t have to wait til Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday to get back to a shop and hope they even have the issue in stock TO buy.

Also keeps me clear of the speculation side of things. I want to READ the issues. If I was in it for the speculation, I probably would’ve sold my Batman Inc. #8 already–but having been spoiled, I wanted the actual issue as a piece of history in the Bat-story. I don’t yet know what all the Requiem stuff will be–so far it doesn’t seem to be a single arc or such, so it’s kinda nice to hold off on purchasing until I’ve thought about it.

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My "history" with Robin and dead sidekicks

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Walt

ghostrobinMy earliest experiences with “current” Batman comics was back in Spring 1989, and involved the end of Batman: Year 3 and the start of Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying, as well as The Mud Pack that ran in Detective Comics.

I remember being surprised to learn that Robin had DIED. Here on the cover of Detective #606, we see Batman before the grave, Robin’s ghost pointing accusingly at him.

In the issue itself, it turns out that Batman’s facing a shape-shifter, momentarily rocked by seeing Robin “alive” before the realization of a shape-shifter kicked in.

For me, as an 8-year-old, this was Big Stuff, though. I knew there was a gap between my grandfather’s comics and these…and the fact that Robin had died since Grandpa’s comics really illustrated (to me) that this was an older Batman. I didn’t know much about “continuity” at the time, but I “got” the passage of time and “knew” characters had grown/changed/etc.

I gradually pieced things together from Continuity (yeah, even an 8-11 year old could do that, back in ’89-’92!) and learned that 1. this was a SECOND Robin, that had died–the original had gotten older and became Nightwing; and 2. he’d been beaten to death by the Joker.

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Thanks to the local library system, I was eventually able to access and read the tpb of A Death in the Family, witnessing the death of Jason Todd for myself.

Meanwhile, though extremely sporadic, I was around for Tim Drake’s introduction as Robin–first in A Lonely Place of Dying, and then in 1992 where he was still fairly inexperienced, shortly before Knightfall and his rapid growing up and graduation to his own solo book, etc. (I’d missed much of his training and officially taking the name Robin in the DCU, though.)

II got the Robin III: Cry of the Huntress mini-series, and the first couple issues of the ongoing series, and had picked up the Eclipso: The Darkness Within annual.

I got back into the series a few years later around #50; backtracked immediately to #46 or 47 and kept up with the title; a couple years later I bought a set of the first 40 issues, and tracked down the intervening specific issues, such that by the time the series hit #100 I had the full run to that point. I fell away from the title for a couple years, but again tracked down the back issues to fill in the gap, and kept up for several years.

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I was there for the all-too-short span of time that Stephanie Brown was the “first” female Robin, and her apparent demise in the War Games event. I read Identity Crisis as the issues came out, and was horrified and moved at the death of Tim’s father.

I used One Year Later as a jumping-off point, but got sucked back in around the Batman: RIP story, and yet again filled in the gap. I then continued into the first year or so of the Red Robin series, when Damian Wayne was made the new Robin for Batman and Robin, when Dick had taken over in Bruce’s absence. I’ve yet to track down the latter half of the Red Robin series, though it’s on my to-do list.

I picked up the first several issues of the New 52 Teen Titans run specifically for Tim Drake/Red Robin, but for a number of reasons basically gave up on the New 52 as a whole.

And now, this week, I picked up Batman, Inc. #8, and witnessed the death of another Robin.

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It’s been a long run. I started out 4 years younger than Tim Drake, and now I’m 2 1/2 times the age he was in Lonely Place of Dying. I’ve seen him grow into the role, and learned of Jason’s past, and saw the interaction/brotherly relationship develop between Dick and Tim. Saw Tim leave the role for a bit, with Stephanie Brown stepping in; then her “death” and Tim returned to the role.

batman676After the supposed “death” of Batman in Final Crisis when Dick took over as Batman, it seemed like Tim was kinda shoved out of the way so that the then-still-fairly-new character Damian could officially be Robin.

And now Damian’s dead, and I’m curious about where the Bat-books will go from here, how Batman will be portrayed in light of this new loss.

While we didn’t know at the time that Stephanie Brown wasn’t dead, not much was really done in light of her death; not the way there was with Jason Todd died. No Robin suit in the Batcave, and not much seemed to be done showing Batman without a Robin (Dick and Tim were still around).

But this seems likely to be more on the scale of Jason’s death.

batmaninc(vol2)008In the “meta” sense–interviews, rumors, hearsay–it seems likely this character death may be pretty final. At the least, this is rather sudden–seems just a couple weeks ago Death of the Family ended, we saw that Damian (and the others) were (physically) ok, and it seemed a bullet had been dodged–no major character in the Bat-family had been killed.

Then the “news” broke the other day, Batman, Inc. #8 spoiled quite handily DAYS before the issue went on sale.

So there’s the marketing, the hype, the spoilers, the speculation (I emailed my LCS Monday morning, so a copy of the issue was waiting for me at my convenience Wednesday).

Yet, there’s that Death’s Revolving Door in comics…a character dies only to be back within a few months or a couple of years.

Shamefully…I’m finding myself with a rekindled interest in Robin; in all the Robins…and especially in the idea of catching up on both iterations of the Batman and Robin title; possibly other Bat-books in general.

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Batman Incorporated #8 [Review]

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Walt

batmaninc(vol2)008The Boy Wonder Returns

Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Chris Burnham
Art (pgs 6-9): Jason Masters
Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Associate Editor: Rickey Purdin
Group Editor: Mike Marts
Covers: Chris Burnham with Nathan Fairbairn
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99

DC suckered me.

I’d read and heard rumors throughout the Death of the Family stuff going on that we might get a “big death” in the bat-family, and it seemed like most guesses were going toward either Alfred or Damian. Of course, that proved to be yet another Major Joker Story where the scary madman doesn’t actually kill any major characters.

Then I caught wind of this issue–and as the bulk of the comic fans On The Internet learned a couple days ago…this issue gives us that “big death.” Thanks to DC, the “news” was out days before the issue, SPOILING its otherwise surprise for many comic readers–myself included. I’m almost ashamed to say that the spoiler/confirmation of the “big death” prompted me to get this issue.

I recall picking up the reprint of Son of the Demon a few years back, when Morrison‘s run started–and I’m pretty sure I picked up the first couple issues, at least, of his run, not long after Infinite Crisis. With this slightly-muddled memory of being there at the beginning, I wanted to be here at the end. And…my very first Batman comics were less than a year after the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd.

So, Batman Inc. #8…that’s what this review should focus on, right?

This is my first issue of the title. Batman Inc. was not part of the first wave of New 52 titles, and so I gave it a pass when it did premiere. I don’t think I even got around to reading any issues of the original iteration pre–New 52. So other than the loose concept–that Batman has agents all over the place in a more formalized structure–I come to this cold.

This issue opens with Robin (Damian…I’m still not totally used to Robin NOT being Tim Drake) flying into an ongoing battle, and connecting with Nightwing. Meanwhile, Batman is fighting against Talia al Ghul (Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter, mother of Damian). Red Robin’s part of the mix, fighting elsewhere. Nightwing and Robin have a moment–the original Robin and current Robin, on their own time as Batman & Robin. Enter an armored warrior from Talia’s end, and the two realize they’re in trouble. Nightwing falls, leaving Robin to stand against this Goliath-figure.

As Robin leaps to the attack, agents outside the fight interfere, and the boy is wounded numerous times, while calling out to his parents to stop this fight.

And for the third time…Batman finds himself with a dead Robin…perhaps the most personal of all, as Damian was his own flesh-and-blood son.

Story-wise…this is a painful issue. Most of the fighting fits, and seems like just another large-scale incident with superheroes involved in some city-wide invasion or such. But the scene of Damian’s battle is just…brutal. Despite all I know of the character–and the character certainly being “old before his time,” this is still a child…and it’s (to say the least) not at all a comfortable scene. I have no idea what Batman and Talia are fighting about this time, the details of their present issues…maybe I’ll find out via Wikipedia or listening to the inevitable podcasts covering this issue, etc.

Visually, I have no problem with the art–even the multiple artists didn’t throw me at all. Reading the issue, I just kinda sped through, taking in what’s going on, and honestly would not even have NOTICED there were multiple artists had I not specifically read the credits to list above for this review.

It was probably a mistake for me to give in and allow much weight be given to this issue. “The death scene” is only a couple pages, and easily recapped. Unlike 1988’s A Death in the Family, I’m reading only a single issue, so it’s not like this is the culmination of several issues’ reading, building to a climactic moment. This is me having a specific moment spoiled by mass media and deciding to read the issue for myself rather than simply read ABOUT it.

As a standalone issue, I’m not all that thrilled with this. I didn’t really pick up on much context of the “why” to the fighting or other context (I’m sure this’ll make more sense read in a collected volume, in-context). But sadly…I got what I paid for. I witnessed the brutal death of another Robin…a visual I’m uncomfortable with, yet get to live with today, and moving forward.

Filed under: Batman Incorporated, DC, DC Universe, New 52, The | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Too many covers: Variants are an ANTI-selling point for me

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Walt

toomanycoversbatman13to17I’ve long been frustrated with variant covers. They’re actually a turnoff to me, these days–comics that I would OTHERWISE try, if I know ahead of time or see in-person there are variants, I might avoid them. Case in point: this week’s Justice League of America #1.

There are over 50 covers for this issue–a standard US flag, all 50 states, and I’m not even sure what all else (Guam? Puerto Rico? Washington DC?). I actually picked up the sole remaining copy at the LCS this week with the Ohio cover, and thought about it. Ultimately, I decided: nope. Not giving in, on principle.

And because I’m not buying the first issue, I’m not going to try the second, and so on. One cover, one comic…yeah, I probably would’ve given it a try. But as with other series I’ve passed on a first issue due to variants: someone buying multiple copies will SURELY make up for me not only not buying any of this issue, but make up for my not buying any subsequent issues…right?

I’ve also long recalled with fondness several comics from the 1990s that came with TWO covers. You might still have a 50/50 split–half the printrun has Cover A on top, half the run has Cover B on top. But for someone like me–if I don’t like the top cover, I could pull it off and voila! Cover I want. Or even if I don’t have a problem with the “top” cover, I also HAVE the other covers.

The closest I have seen with this lately is with digital comics. From what I’ve observed, it seems that digital comics (specifically from Comixology) load with the “standard” cover. However, either as the very next page(s) or at the end of the issue, one might be treated to the other cover images associated with that issue.

I particularly noticed this recently with the Batman: Death of the Family arc. Along with each “main” or standard cover, after the issue’s content, each had several more pages–the issue’s variant covers.

I’m pretty sure I’ve noticed this with several Boom! issues and possibly also Valiant. Truly, for me this would be the way to go if I actually had an interest in the covers. (Though I suppose ideally, with the digital one would be able to select which cover to display in their app).

Combine variants with $3.99 and I’m even further put-off from purchasing the issue.

My attitude toward variants extends to actually avoiding certain news or entire sites. I don’t even bother with DC‘s The Source blog anymore, because I got frustrated with the endless posts touting the next VARIANT cover. See so-and-so’s pencils for [Series] #whatever Variant cover. See this artist’s extra-“rare” ratioed variant. Check out the awesome colors on the final version of such-and-such’s variant for whatever series.

Whenever I browse the latest solicitations, as soon as I start seeing all the “This issue will ship with multiple covers” declaration…I just start scanning on past. Maybe the story, or the start of a new arc would be something to get my attention with to try or give another try of the series…you lose me as soon as I see the variants as a “selling point.”

Granted if I held 100% to avoiding anything with variants, I’d have nothing to buy, so I attempt to turn a relatively blind eye to some titles; particularly the Valiant and TMNT books. However, I have specifically requested my pull list be fulfilled with whatever the Standard or “A” cover is; and I’ve started double-checking anyway to make sure that I do NOT wind up with any specifically marked AS a “variant cover.”

I have a pull list for all the Valiant titles…but even there, I don’t want the pullbox variants. I want the cover that’s used with general marketing; I want the cover that is shown in the “next issue” box or page, and I want the cover that is shown on the back of that month’s issues’ covers as a “checklist.”

I also like the consistency that USUALLY comes from sticking to the standard covers. I like my issues to look like they belong together. I don’t want “naked covers” with just an image (how do you tell what issue it is months or years later going back through a collection or trying to ID it in a longbox at the shop?) or fancy logo placement or stuff like that. I’m paying full price for the issue, so don’t “short” me on the colors, or give me an incomplete pencils-only cover or such. That sticks out like a sore thumb! If you want to show off pencils or black and white…make it the back cover or an inside cover or page!

I liked the way Devil’s Due handled early issues of their GI Joe series–you’d get a “bonus image” as the back cover of an issue. Often it seemed this “back cover image” would be SWAPPED for a 2nd print/variant…and I didn’t really have much of an issue with that.

Or back in 1995 (yeah, almost 18 years ago!) I remember some of the Age of Apocalypse 2nd printings having a faded out image with some of the background to draw more attention to the main character(s) or something to that effect–but the back cover was the original cover.

To a certain degree, I also don’t have as much problem with 2nd/3rd/etc. print variants in general; it’s a new edition, a new printing, so…can’t argue too much. I’m even more forgiving when there’s only some color alterations–maybe a white background’s black, or blue, or red; or maybe the cover’s logo changes color–this comes in handy for identifying a different printing at a glance (Superman #75 from 1992 with a green “Superman” logo is the 4th print, for example).

Below: a larger look at 21 covers for only 5 different issues of the current Batman title from DC: captured via screenshots as I read the digital issues.

toomanycoversbatman13to17

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The Difference in 24 years

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Walt

In the spring of 1989, the first two Batman comics my mom ever bought me were Batman #439 (Year 3 part 4) and Detective Comics #604 (The Mud Pack part 1).

24 years later, I have the Batman issue on an iPad…and sadly, the Detective issues are not yet available digitally.

fullcircle

This photo also shows how close in size the ipad is to a comic. While it’s considerably smaller…this is still significantly better than trying to view the comics on my phone!

With the iPad, I can actually read a comic in full-page view, zooming in for the occasional small caption. But it’s really no worse than reading any of the Marvel digest-sized TPBs.

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Recent ‘Tec From the Bargain Bins

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Walt

A couple weeks ago, I managed to snag quite a few mid-late 1980s issues of Detective Comics from the bargain bin…including three of the four issues of Year Two. This leaves me on Detective with tracking down that first chapter of Year Two, and the run leads into my earliest experience with the series–and fills in a huge gap up to Knightfall/etc.

tecrun01

tecrun02

tecrun03

tecrun04

tecrun05

Continue reading →

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Binge Consumption: My Experience With TV and Comics

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Walt

houseofcardsI’m seeing a bit of chatter lately about “binge” consumption–specifically referencing Netflix and their having released an entire 13-episode season all in one go–the same time the first episode is ever available, all the episodes are available.

And I’m definitely in the camp of seeing that as the way to go. I hardly ever even BOTHER TRYING a new show–I’ll just wait for the entire series, or entire seasons, to be available.

A couple years ago, I went through 7 seasons of Buffy and 4 of Mad Men and a couple seasons of Felicity. Last year, I finished the final 2 seasons of Felicity and 4 seasons of Breaking Bad. I also at some point took in an entire season of Doctor Who–whether 2011 or early 2012 I don’t recall. I just this week finished the third season of White Collar and have no clue how much/what’s available thus far of a fourth season.

I’m also noticing myself REALLY going this way with comics, though (if only to myself) it seems this is a new phrasing for how I look at it.

Last year, I snagged near-complete runs of Batman: Shadow of the Bat, of Birds of Prey, and of Nightwing, early-on. I also picked up a small stack of Detective Comics. Last week, I acquired another small stack of late-80s Detective Comics. Foolish or not, I have this vision of reading the entirety of the ’90s Batman saga, beginning with a complete shot through Batman and Detective Comics from shortly after Crisis on Infinite Earths (tentatively aiming at starting points of Batman: Year One and Batman: Year Two).

I also got into Valiant in a big way last year–first discovering a larger assortment of Valiant books already in my collection than I was aware, and taking advantage of some excellent deals at the local comic shops. I presently have at least 3 shortboxes of ’90s Valiant waiting to be read–though I’m determined to fill in some holes yet, so I can ideally start at the VERY beginning and go all the way through, with ALL the titles, to a point.

And my Valiant acquisitions got sidetracked when I pulled together all of my X-Men comics and got several great deals at the local comic shop to fill in further gaps. My goal there is to pick up with Uncanny X-Men as far back as I have a solid run into the ’90s, the entirety of X-Factor, and then the ’91 stuff through to the 2001 stuff with Morrison‘s New X Men and the corresponding run of Uncanny, at which point I’ll probably see how far I can get on the two core titles.

Even with ‘spoilers’ (after 10, 15, 20+ years, eventually a “spoiler” simply becomes “common knowledge”) there’s the enjoyment of the journey, of the details.

And with this week’s announcement of six more New 52 books getting cancelled…well, I know the old Valiant stuff includes 3-5 year runs for several titles, with multi-year runs on more. I’m looking at 8-10+ year runs on much of the X-Men stuff. And similar multi-year runs for the various core Bat-books (even Azrael made it to 75 or 100, no?).

Maybe I don’t get THE MOST CURRENT stuff this way…but it’s still a heckuva lot of story to be (eventually) consumed in a much shorter span than the original releases. And far more satisfying than waiting weeks between issues. Not to mention knowing the finite runs and what gets finished rather than having a new series just start to hold my attention only to be cancelled (I’m looking at Boom, with Extermination and Higher Earth!).

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