Chances are when your walking around your favorite comic book shop, you peruse the new issues and back issues of titles your familiar with (I bought every back issue of the green arrow once). But surely every now and again you see a comic that you have never heard of before, maybe even one that isn't backed by Marvel, DC, or Darkhorse (or popular manga company). So what makes you buy and independant comic when you do?

I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for good cover art, whether it be intense uses of color or Style with a hook; if the cover brings me in, I tend to be incredibly forgiving of the internal artwork.

what about you guys? Is it a catchy premise? cool title? Cute female protaganist?

Nothing special. Same criteria as mainstream books.

An interesting cover will make me pick it up. Good interior artwork will make me flick through it. Colour is preferred - B&W interiors will have to look very special to make me take the next step ... Finally, if the story seems cool too, they've got my money!

Subject matter, usually. Artwork also plays a big role. The last indy thing I bought was a thing about the Norse gods. It was perfect! I was looking for something about mythology and there it was!

The same reason I bought Age of Bronze waaaaaaaay back when. I was looking for something classical in its focus because I was fiending for something to fill space between the P. Craig Russel comics about the Ring of the Nieblungs, and there it was ... Age of Bronze, beckoning me over. It was fate.

Other times though it's just some really catchy artwork that does the trick.

And still other times, it's because I meet the creator (I used to go to SPX every year, so a ton of the indie stuff I read came out of meeting the people, like Linda Medley, and seeing the work and really liking it and sticking with it).

It's really kind of interesting with me ... I have pretty narrow tastes among mainstream big company comics. But with indy stuff, I'm very open and very intested in a wide variety of topics and genres. I'll read an issue of Dirty Plotte or Eightball as easily as I'll pick up Stray Bullets or the latest PVP collection.

recommendations by other people... and yes I'm also a sucker for coverpages.

Interesting plot, good art, and an interesting cover. I also tend to be favourable to multi-paged comic books.

Mostly word of mouth for me, from people who's comics opinion I respect. I try to stay away from the spoiler aspect. I will try to google some pages of the story to find out if the art is good, first though. Also the story has to be extremely interesting

I buy mainstream books mostly because of the characters I'm interested in, then art, then name on the book (because if they've done well by me in the past. I have faith in their work, not because Wizard tells me they're the "in" writer/artist. Which is why I'm not that in to Warren Ellis or Garth Ennis that much... not that they're bad.. just I think they're a little overrated.)

Art will win me over, but only to buy 1 issue.

It has to be the story to keep me buying.

As for color or BW, it deepends on the style and has to match the story

You mean there are comic books?! Good lord!

You mean it's not just me?! I'd go further and add Grant Morrison and Jeph Loeb to that list, too.

It's like there are all these writers who want to be the next Alan Moore and all these fans who are so desperate for there to be one that they'll proclaim anyone who's even semi-literate as the next Comic God. In most cases, as you say, they're okay but nothing special.

Sorry - gone off topic a bit there!

Here, here!

To make this post legal-ish, back to the topic at hand...

I usually get weirder stories out of indies than the "Big Three" (Marvel, DC/Wildstorm, Image). The big thing I always like about indy comics is that the stories are usually either self-contained, or limited to that title. I like to be able to read a comic without having to go out and buy several-billion OTHER titles just to find out what happens. That's part of why I LOVE Dark Horse. Hardly ever any company-spanning crossovers. I sort of make it a point to go through the indy rack every time I pick up my comics...it's usually the titles that draw me in. Then I flip through it and, if I like it, I buy it.

The other reason I make it a point to pick up indy titles is solidarity. Us indy folk don't have a marketing juggernaut promoting our comics. I just feel like if I want people to take a chance on my comic, I should take a chance on others'. Sort of a self-serving-karma kind of reason, I know.

For me, it's just how original it is - I read indy comics because I don't want the typical guy-in-tights scenario that plagues the pages of Marvel and DC. Of course, good art and an interesting-looking story don't hurt, either.

I was thinking the same thing.

...

But if I do buy a book, I often look for one that looks good, then I'll just scan through a couple of pages and see if it's for me or not. If it is, I'll probably come back and buy it.

My comics-buying criteria can pretty much be summed up by "do I think I'll be entertained by this?". Mainstream or indy, that's what I look for in a book. Art and an interesting premise are generally what I use to answer that question.

Because (generally speaking) indie comics are more experimental and original than mainstream comics because the creators (generally) don't care about sales. I guess you can say it's the difference between making what generates revenue and making what comes from the heart.

Ahhhhhh... I know that circular karmic cosmic cycle of comic reciprocity well. I spend a lot of time at conventions having a palaver with other poor independent creators in order to "network", so to speak. Especially if their stuff rocks out with it's....um, rooster out.

Although some times I find that some independents use "weirdness" as a shield to hide the fact that their writing or artwork isn't all that good. The sad thing is that it seems to work, because many readers think that "Weird" is synonymous with "original and creative", but in my experience some titles are just weird for the sake of being weird.



I'm glad you put the "(Generally)" modifiers in their, because, trust me, Indy comic makers do care about sales; at least to the degree that they need to sell enough books to cover their costs and move on to the next book, which can be harder than alot of people give it credit for. But, you're partly correct, the indy writers are less confined by bosses and editors, and can really put out whatever they want, so long as their disposable income holds out.

Good word of mouth or good reviews for it.

I'll pick it up if it looks interesting (good/eyecatching art on the cover, an intriguing title) and then I'll flip through it to see if I like the style. Read a few pages in the beginning. If it hooks me, I'll buy it.

Same criteria as when I'm buying novels, really.

At conventions I'm a sucker for anyone that's nice to me and if the price is really cheap. At Fall Con I got convinced to buy an indy comic just because the guy had a remote control robot come up to me an ask me to buy their comic. Wow!

Also at anime cons, there's little secret rivalries going on between the webcomic people so we buy each other's comics to see what the others have in store and compare to our own works.

I guess lastly quality art and story is good. I tend to avoid anime fan comics and pointless chibi anime comics. I am interested in the drama genre ones myself.

A good story line and decent art. I can put up with lame art if the story is good, but no amount of great art is going to save a bad story.
What's a good story? One that has interesting characters, an understandable plot and a theme I like. And it's NOT about directly about superheroes. The most super hero themed book I read is Astro City and it's more about the people on the edge or on the fringe, and not about the heroes themselves.

1st what defines an Indy comic would Image Comics and Darkhorse be considered Indy comics???

I know some people say that they are independant labels, but I think they're way to big and well known to still carry that mantle.

What makes a comic Indy?
well for the spirit of this thread, an independant book is a title you're unfamiliar with, from a label you've never heard of (Or something to that level of obscurity). To me I guess the easiest way to lump Darkhorse and Image in with Marvel and DC, would be to say, "If the label has produced a live-action/animated television show, or hollywood motion picture they're not Indy".

I'm sure that some of you are going to disagree with me on this point, and I understand why.

Here is my break down Ready... Marvel and DC are the 2 local lions and they split most of the prey in the area. Dark Horse and Image are the 2 local packs of Dingos and have 1st dibs on leftovers and they wind up with a good portion of the meat. Then you have you're cats rats and squirrels etc. (Indy Books) Small and usually hiding in the shadows. They know enough not to feed on the carcass until the Lions and Dogs are long gone. They are usually the ones that work the hardest and get fed the least.

Oops I almost forgot the Vultures the webcomic creators and print on demanders those people will eat anything

(Just kidding folks)
Byron

You typed a whole paragraph without saying nothing.

What makes you buy an independant title?

You think that's bad you should see my comic

I'm sorry that was the wine ranting...I love Indy books and they make up 90% percent of my collection. I don't know I just find the storylines more intriguing. I'm not a cape and tights reader (Unless it's done on the Darker Side) The Boys Garth Ennis (Dynamite pub.)Black Summer Warren Ellis (Avatar pub) It just seems all the good Horror and Crime Noir books are to be found in the Indy Books section so that's where you'll find me.

Oh..and I also find Indy books are geared more toward the adult reader another aspect that draws me in.

Byron (fellow Vulture)

If I buy print comics at all, I choose them based on cover art or interior artists. (Alex Ross always pulls me in.)

But generally I don't buy print comics any more often than once in a blue moon. There just seems to be too little creativity out there. You can say what you want about the quality of art in webcomics, but at least they are alive. They are produced by real cartoonists; they are not "product".

So you're saying you judge a book by it's cover???

Don't we all? Art's not really important to me, tis all about story. but even I can admit certain art works better with certain titles.