Heather's Comical Resolutions Revisited

Last year, I posted my resolutions for the comics in my life and as 2011 is coming to a close and 2012 is fast upon us, I thought this would be a good time to revisit how I did this year.  The original resolutions are posted just as I wrote them a whole LONG year ago with my evaluations in bold.

1. Step outside of my comic reading comfort zone. I admit it. I have a comic type. It involves cute animals and chick characters. Thor the Mighty Avenger was my toe in the water stepping out of my type and Marvel responded by cancelling it. (Yes, Ted, I’m still complaining about that. Damn it, people, put down the Deadpool and read TMA.) Thanks to the lending library of Brandon (Big Dog), I have read more comics outside by type, the Walking Dead for example. However my purchases for 2010 stayed clearly within my comfort zone. In 2011, I will make an effort to add different comics to my personal library.  I knocked this resolution out of the park.  It helps to be married to the warehouse manager of Heroes Aren't Hard to Find, who is always bringing home comics for me to read.  It also helps to have friends who are happy to reach into their own collections and lend me books like Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (Thanks, Brunner, that book is awesome, in fact, so awesome I added it to my own collection).  I also picked up a lot of independent comics at Fluke and SPX this year. My pull list at Heroes has grown from just Buffy to include titles from DC's New 52, Roger Langridge's Snarked, as well as several Dark Horse titles. Wolverine and the X-Men is on Seth's pull list, but it is becoming one of my favorite titles. 

2. Write more reviews for the Dollar Bin. I read a number of comics in 2010 that I really enjoyed and fully intended to review so I could share stories that I enjoyed. Like Cragmore by Pat Lewis. I will finish that review and post it along with others this year. (I am revising this resolution to posting reviews here as well as the Dollar Bin.)  I didn't do quite as well on this resolution.  I did review a few books more on here and the Dollar Bin, but not as many I would have liked.  This just leaves more room for improvement in 2012 as there are a lot of comics I truly enjoy.    Look for new reviews here in 2012.  

3. Do more interviews. I love talking to artists and writers. Off the record, I have some truly ridiculous conversations with creative people. I want to channel that into interviews. Interviews get me interested in reading new comics which will be very helpful for resolution number one.  I totally bombed on this one, but I can blame Adam, right? He's the one with all the recording equipment! Of course, that doesn't mean that I couldn't have changed mediums to do written interviews like the great ones you can find over on the Heroes blog which feature artists and writers from the comic industry.  

4. Go to more conventions. To date, I have only been to Heroes Con and SPX. This year the Heroes Mini Con (January 22 in Charlotte, NC), Fluke (April 23 in Athens, GA) Fanaticon (May 21 in Asheville, NC) are all on my calendar. My con ventures are still on the smaller side, but perhaps I will attempt some of the larger cons as well. If this was an actual list with little boxes, it would be full of check marks.  I started the year the Heroes Mini Con which is a great one day show and followed it with Fluke, Fanaticon, Heroes Con, SPX, and ended the year with a one day hotel show in Atlanta, Georgia that I spent most of the day working at the Heroes booth.  It's a good experience to see shows from both sides of the table.  It's interesting to watch people dig through boxes looking for comic treasure.  I plan to hit all the above cons and maybe some new ones this year as well. 

5. Venture out to more comic shops. Granted this venture may have me scurrying back to Heroes, but it can’t hurt (or can it?) to check out some of the other shops. I did enjoy my visit to Richard’s in Greenville, SC for the Chrissie Zullo signing, but my few other non-Heroes experience have been less positive. I can’t possibly be the first chick in some of these places, right?  Heroes is still very much my home shop, but I did enjoy visiting a few new places this year.  Most of my visits were contained to the South.  If you're in North Carolina, you should check out Ssalefish Comics in Winston-Salem.  If you're in South Carolina, check out Borderlands and Apocalypse Comics.  In Georgia, do not miss Bizarro Wuxtry.  In Maryland, while it's not a just comic shop, hit Atomic Books. 

6. Write more lists. Who doesn’t love a good list? They have numbers and some times a heading. Everything is nice and orderly. My comic goals for 2011 are laid out for me to check off. I shall have a feeling of accomplishment come December.  There's no such thing as too many lists! The end of a year is the perfect time for lists like which comics you enjoyed the most, the events you're looking forward to in the coming year.  There are so many possibilities!