Subject matter - check
That Zombie example also works for me. I generally don't like Horror, Crime and Spandex. Everything else goes, though I do tend to like stuff better that has at least some kind of humor in it.

Artist - check
I'm a visually oriented guy. If I can't bear looking at the pages because I perceive the art as "bad", then what good is the best writing? If the art is "good", I at least have some pretty pictures to look at if the writing is only so-so. Of course those are the extremes, but generally that's how my taste works. (I used quotation marks because I'm not a critic and I don't want to be, but I just read that 180-comments discussion about objectivity/subjectivity).

Writer - not so much
Most of the time I don't even notice them, because most of what I read is by artist/writers, so it's not something I normally have to seperate out. Also see above, in that I look at the art first.

Favorable reviews - only as a last resort (or if they have lots of pictures)
I prefer to sample the work itself. If there are no sample pages for a (new) book before the preorder is due, then that's too bad, but I won't order it (if I'm not feeling adventurous and order on impulse, which I sometimes do).

Publisher - sometimes helpful
There are publishers (like Oni, Antarctic Press or Viz) where I'm more likely to find something to order and others (like Wildstorm, IDW, Avatar or Devil's Due) that I can generally skip without any fears I might miss something I'd otherwise want to order.

Money - sometimes
I'm so used to small-press-pricing that I don't really look at the $$ anymore unless the deviation from the norm is up over 50% or something. If I want it, I get it, as long as my budget still holds.

Format - not really
I have no preference in formats of presentation as far as I can tell. I read manga in bunko-format and BDs in oversized album-format and everything in between.

Concept - not as such
I fold that into subject matter.

Art style - there is that
I do tend to go for certain aesthetics. Perhaps art styles is the wrong term here. Examples of works I like sometimes don't have anything in common in terms of style, but I suspect that they all have certain common aesthetic elements or at least a sense of innate consistency. I haven't found the time (and interest) so far, though, to formulate that more clearly. I have listed a number of series and creators I like on my comicspace page instead.

To get those considerations into some kind of order, it'd probably be best to follow my monthly Previews order process. I live in Germany, so I have to preorder *everything* I want to buy, because 90% is stuff no retailer in their right mind would order for the racks over here (and probably in the States as well).

These are the things I check:

1) Names of running series (yes, I like to do my own pull-list instead of leaving it all to my LCS-guy). Is there a series that was so bad recently that I need to stop ordering it?

2) Names of creators (mostly artists, sometimes writers), assisted by internet sources / the blogosphere, so most of the time I know when to look for certain new projects from known names.

3) Covers or titles or descriptions that catch my interest. Which I then try to solidify by finding as many sample pages as possible on the internet... if there are none, I probably won't order it, even if there are the most glowing text-only reviews.

4) Is my expected enjoyment worth the price-point (relative to certain industry standards)? Am I still in budget? The budget, BTW, is around $100 a month for Diamond, mostly floppies. I get my manga and trades elsewhere since Diamond's international shipping (and the insurance, which the retailers have to hand down to the customers) doesn't make it a viable choice for anything I can get through book market channels.

5) If I'm on the edge: how long is the series supposed to be? (Sometimes short is good, as I can't lose too much money. Sometimes short is bad because with a monthly 3-issue mini I have to order all issues before the first one ships.)

When I want to see a pleasant alchemy of story and visual, not hampered by run-time constrictions of TV or movies, then I go to comics. Any comic I read must completely interest me on the writing and visual level, or to me it is simply a malformed, failed comic; at best, interesting in its failure.

To be honest, interesting art and writing is all that I require. Sometimes reviews will sway me that something may be of interest to me, though I care more about what the review says than whether it's favorable or not. A truly well-written review can let you clearly know if a book would interest you even if the overall review is ambivalent or negative.

More than reviews is premise, the 'high concept' of the work. For instance, Bone was an homage to Barks's high adventure done with original characters (or so it seemed to me); and I loved Barks's comics as a child, so I began picking up Bone. As the story developed I found it a truly rich and rewarding work, but it was the premise that initially drew my interest. So, I tend to find superheroes most interesting in limited-storyline form, your Watchmen and Marvels that have definitive high concepts.

Other books I more or less judge by the strength of the premise before I move on, because I've long since learned that technical craft on the part of a creative team can't redeem a deficient premise in my eyes. The high concept of a book to some degree encapsulates the story's goals and ambitions, and so I simply find slogging through point-missing or actively disagreeable premises like The Boys a waste of time. I would much rather spend my time with Age of Bronze, or Monster, or Sandman, some other comic book that was actually about something worth talking about.

Also, I will generally give precedence to any properly structured work-- say, a limited series or one shot with a properly defined beginning, middle, and end, over some godforsaken regular series whose plot events are all likely to be disrespected by later writers. A story without a true ending cannot have a truly coherent narrative, and to my mind, is not really worth reading about. Often I find myself more interested in given comics after they've ended (or after particular creator runs have ended), and they have some sort of actual structure worth deciphering.

Because of tight budget I don't buy much these days, so as above I have a few different criteria,

1. Subject matter and genre. Before I buy I want to know that the subject will interest me. ie Religion, thats how I tried Lucifer, Rex Mundi, Preacher, Light Brigade, original Battle Pope etc.

2. Writer, you need to have experienced the writer before you can pick this first, so the above has to come first. Now after reading for some time and established a familiarity with a lot of writers this becomes more important, ie I wouldn't have picked up Fell if not for Warren Ellis.

3. Character, I know that its frowned upon here but I buy Amazing Spider-man and Conan on a monthly basis. As discussed above; to know whats going on, familiarity, (to keep my run going), and I generally enjoy most issues. That doesn't mean I will pick up any other title with the character in it, but I will read the solicits and reviews to see if they sound interesting.

4. Reviews, I like to follow the review boards and after having done so for some time, I have found a number that can influence me into looking into something. Greg, Savage Critics, Fourth Rail crew etc.

5. Publisher, I generally like to check out Vertigo stuff.

6. Artist, not so much these days, but I do enjoy nice art, and will check out stories by classic Vertigo artists ie Gross, Snejbjerg, Dillon etc. I also think Hitch can draw.

1. Writer - there are certain authors that will get me to buy at least one issue of anything at this point, namely Ennis, Carey, Ellis, and Matt Wagner. There are plenty of other authors that will get me to look at a series and make it far more likely to buy it, such as Morrison, Brubaker or BKV, but they're not at the point yet where I'll buy anything by them. It doesn't necessarily have to be a comic author to grab my attention, as I bought both Richard K. Morgan's Black Widow and Daniel Knauf's Iron Man based off the strength of their respective work in cyberpunk novels and TV.

2. Characters/Universe - Certain characters and premises are inherently more appealing to me. For example, given the choice, I will be far more likely to purchase Mike Carey on X-Men than Mike Carey on Wetworks, and I'm more likely to buy a Wildstorm relaunch like Wetworks or The Authority than I am to buy a DC relaunch like JLA or The Flash. However, most of my established character preferences are due to the work of writers I follow.

3. Presentation/Concept - when looking for new series to get into, I'm more likely to go with something with a unique artistic style or story concept that grabs my attention, with recent examples being Jonathan Hickman's The Nightly News and Ben Templesmith's Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse. I'll be more likely to go for something offbeat or blackly humorous than something earnest or autobiographical, so when it comes to stuff like indies, I'd much rather read Eightball or Hate than Blankets.

4. Reviews - If I see something I wouldn't normally check out getting good reviews from peers or on the internet, I'll be more likely to look into it. Recent examples of this include Moon Knight, The Killer, and the Hector Plasm one-shot.

5. Artist - Though I tend to be far more motivated by writer, there are a few comics I've gotten into based mainly off of the artist, a good example being most of Steve Dillon's post-Punisher Marvel work. Another example would be the complete series of Wolverine/Havok: Meltdown I picked up for $8 at a con recently based solely off of the prospect of John J. Muth and Kent Williams sharing art duties.

There's other factors in what I buy, but these are probably the main criteria.

2) Writer -- I might check out less favored works if the writer is critically acclaimed. Anything Moore, Morrison, Miller, etc.

3) Does the Library have it? -- Almost listed this first since it's the defining criteria for me. But I won't read EVERY comic just because the library has it. I don't purchase any comics anymore. The whole "collecting" part of my former hobby is alien to me. If the library doesn't have it, I don't read it. And it really kills me that they don't have the entire Bone saga yet. Must check out inter-library loans.

4) Nostalgia/Character/What's going on with... Gotham Earthquake + Clone Saga = enough superheroes for me! But still, with all the buzz about HUSH and JMS, I still wanted to see if I still had any affection for Batman and Spidey. Nice reads, but really can't put up with the spandex soap operas anymore (except in occasional small doses). Like someone else said, "what's going on with" can be satisfied solely with the internet if one chooses to do so.

Genre is almost completely irrelevant when it comes to comics and films for me. I'll try anything if it has critical acclaim. But I can understand only being in the mood for certain kinds of material. After reading the first volume of Peaches, I would be a little wary of picking up comics aimed solely at the young female audience, but would still try it if the library had it and it was critically acclaimed.

Art would have to really interfere with storytelling for me to care about it whatsoever. I probably just have a really poorly trained eye when it comes to art. I have some preferences when it comes to art. But I would never choose a comic based on the artist (anymore anyway).

As for your contention about new readers, I agree. Like I said, I got into comics because of the characters, not because of who was writing or drawing. Some people hate Starlin as the writer of Batman. He wrote it when I started buying the books, and I didn't care - it was frickin' Batman, for crying out loud! My point was that these days, that's less of a concern, and I think for anyone who is already involved in comics, it's unfortunate if THAT'S the biggest reason you follow a book. It's not the worst thing to do, but it allows DC and Marvel to get away with publishing crap because they know it will find an audience. If a kid today starts reading a Spider-Man comic because he or she loves Spider-Man, that's great. But sooner or later they're going to realize that the comic sucks (I'm just using Spider-Man as an example, because I don't read the books, so they might be awesome). DC and Marvel then count on the familiarity to keep the book going.

I'll answer a) with, "Really, it's the exact opposite. It's the young, new audience of kids who haven't yet developed an interest in how different writers treat the same characters who go straight for the title because it's got, say, 'Spider-Man' in it--and it's telling that DC and Marvel now promote writers and artists just as heavily, if not moreso, than they do their stable of characters. It's because new readers aren't getting into comics. Your point of entry into these things tends to be familiarity, and there's nothing wrong or shameful about seeing the 'Spider-Man' movie and wondering what the fuss is about."

As to b), one of the dumbest things Marvel and DC have done, from a business standpoint, is promoted creative teams as a point of interest over their characters, from the simple point of view that they don't own creative teams. If you promote a stable of young, hip, hot artists as the best thing about Marvel and what makes Marvel comics worth reading, and then they all jump ship and form their own company (y'know, hypothetically speaking, of course) you've just essentially told everyone, "Go read our competitors' books!" DC and Marvel are trapped having to pay out very large sums to their creative teams because they've set up a system in which people follow those creative teams--the writers and artists are, in effect, holding them hostage. Now, I'm not going to insist that DC and Marvel go back to oppressing creators, and I'd hate to see big companies profit at the expense of the people who made the characters they use, but there has to be a happy medium, and DC and Marvel should ultimately do what's smartest for them, which is promote the assets they have and can rely on rather than fickle individuals who go from one company to another every few years.

Does this mean that Marvel should go to a policy of "print any old crap with Spider-Man's picture on it?" Of course not. They should be selling quality product. But they should be making sure that people are interested in Spider-Man, above and beyond the person who's writing and drawing his adventures. Because that person is going to be gone in five years, but Spider-Man will still be around.

1) Genre. I'll buy any comic with pirates and dinosaurs in it. I know what I like.

2) Format. In the superhero milleu, specifically, that means team-up books. I've bought stuff by, like Gerry Conway and late period Carmine Infantino, 'cause it's a team-up book and I like team-up books. I'm actually trying to collect 'em all, though I grantcha it's a couple-year-long project. (There's... I think... 641 of them.)

3) Concept. Is it an idea I think is cool? (This might be # 1) The incredible journey with killer cyborgs? Awesome! The Justice League with characters from Victorian literature? I'm there. A memoir about growing up in a funeral home? Interesting. All over that.

4) Writer/Artist. Probably artist over writer, 'cause I don't impulse buy 'cause I flip through the book and like the writing. Unless it's a comedy.
But there's both that I follow, although the majority of my favorite creators do both. There's some folks who's stuff I'll buy when they're doing either. Say, Chynna Clugston whatever-her-name-is-nowadays or Joe Kubert.

5) Reviewers making a good case for "THis is good." Or stuff that people with good taste like.

6) Price. Ohhhh yeah. I've walked away with 16 bucks wortha comics out of the three-fer-a-buck box.
(And THAT was being selective.)

7) Characters. I like Spider-man and Wonder Woman and Daredevil, but I don't gotta have there every appearance. But there's a few B-listers I'll buy anything they show up in. Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, Stegron the Dinosaur Man, Klarion the Witch Boy.

Company. More likely to pick up a book from Fanta or Drawn and Quarterly than from Marvel or DC. More likely to pick up a book from Marvel or DC than Image or AIL/PlantetLar. Just based on how much of the past stuff from each company I've read that I've liked.

1) Is it critically discussed?

This so comes from being a journalist/critic/whatever. If something is being talked about in comics conversation, as long as it's something which sounds worth having an opinion on, I'll buy it. It could be a story about the isolation of dogs in Newfoundland scrap-yards. If enough people say it's worth buying, I'll buy it. Not that because they say it's worth buying - but rather that I know I want my own opinion on it.

2) Writers.

Clearly, this can be writer/artist. What matters is who has the ultimate direction in the exercise - in fact, with some artists, even if someone else is writing, in terms of a work of final art, they still have the final say. If it's someone who's worldview I'm interested in, I'm in. If it's someone who I'm really interested in, they have to go some to make me not buy it.

3) Is it interesting?

Which sounds utterly brain-dead, but is really the final core of things. Certain comics scream energy - even if I hadn't heard of The Nightly News, it's immediately sommething different from a look at it. And part of me will be slightly bewildered that something that looks this interesting hasn't been discussed more widely - see point 1 - but it'll still gather by cash fairly easily.

4) Am I rich? Am I bored?

If i have spare change in my pocket, and want to buy something to distract myself from the horror of existence, I won't leave a shop without buying something. That's why I walked in there in the first place, after all. In which case, anything goes. Comics Slut, looking for trouble.

KG

I just can’t believe some people would rank subject matter or characters before the writer.

But that's how people FIND writers. We're not talking about how you decide if you LIKE something -- or *I* wasn't, anyway -- I was talking about what prompts the buying impulse.

Sometimes you buy a book because you have a vague notion what it's about and you are intrigued by that, not because you've read stuff by that guy before. In comics, sometimes that means you're risking two or three dollars on stuff from a guy who's disappointed you before because you want to know what he's going to do with a premise that SHOULD be bulletproof. The thing that makes that last part embarrassing is because in my experience I don't think the disappointing guy's ever pulled it off and I'm out three bucks. Hence, trying to quit. But I thought it belonged on the list of things that trigger a buying impulse.

Choosing a comic book because you like a character is like selecting a work of literature because you really like a noun. 'Yeah, I’m a big fan of the noun "sidewalk," and this book seems to use that word a lot, so it must be good.' That kind of logic makes no sense."

Comparing a character to a noun really doesn't make logical sense to me either.

Choosing a comic book because you like a character is like selecting a work of literature because you really like a noun. "Yeah, I'm a big fan of the noun 'sidewalk,' and this book seems to use that word a lot, so it must be good." That kind of logic makes no sense.

My main three criteria are creators, subject matter, buzz and characters. I'll buy anything my favorite creators do, I'm more willing to try comics by unknown quantities that sound interesting and have good reviews, and I do have favorite characters whose stories I am more likely to be interested in if they are not terrible than I am with stories of similar quality featuring characters I don't give a crap about (I'd read a decent Spider-Man comic before I'd read a decent Spawn one; and, if I'm being honest, I'd read a good Spidey comic before I'd read a good indie/small press book). I'm not big on autobio/confessional stories, at least in comics, but like Greg, I'll read a really well reviewed one. I actually borrowed Pesepolis from another teacher's bookshelf.

Format and history of the medium are in there; I want to read the clssic strips and comics that are considered part of the "canon". I don't seperate form from creators, because I mostly admire creators for their formal skills. I do have to say that there are many excellently made comics I have no interest in reading at the moment (Chris Ware's work comes to mind). Now I have to read Joe's thing, because I am fascinated with subjectivity, and his take on is usually interesting.

Next is the concept-- does it actually sound interesting? I'll keep an eye on anything Matt Fraction does but, honestly, Casanova sounds like a wildly better concept than another Punisher title does. Therefore, Casanova gets my money while Punisher War Journal doesn't.

Following that up is the buzz behind a book. This helps mostly non-Marvel/DC books. Whether in reviews, blogs or just word of mouth, what books are people excited about? Mouse Guard and Rocketo are two of the best examples of buzz books from the past couple of years. Enough people were excited about those books that I felt I had to check them out.

Lastly, history is starting to play a part in what I'm buying. Of course, this doesn't relate to the latest Civil 52 Infinite War crossover but books like the Peanuts, Steve Canyon or EC reprints. I'm starting to get these books because I want to get into the history of the medium and find out what was going on pre-1963.