For example, I might feel like a title is mediocre, but still good enough to merity a three-dollar purchase. I'm not necessarily in love with it, but I don't hate it either. I like it just enough to spend three dollars on it, but I'm not so in love with it that I can't criticize or find some errors with it.

It's sort of an "on the fence" situation.

When a title clearly jumps the shark, it goes from being truly outstanding and obviously worth a purchase, to simply worth a purchase but not fantastic. Then finally, it devolves into utter garbage. By the time you've reached this last stage, it would be insanity to continue reading, but those middle stages are when you might soldier on, despite the drop in quality. Not everything you buy will be 100%... in fact, not everything you LIKE will be 100%. Sometimes it's just 75% or so, and you continue to buy it, despite the shark jump.

Personally, I think the entire Ultimate line has jumped the shark and outlived it's original intent. The purpose of the Ultimate line to begin with has been used up... it was a fun ride for awhile, but now it's nothing special. I think the Ultimate Universe truly jumped the shark when Millar left. He was pretty much the architect of the whole thing. What made the line so special was Millar's vision of superhero comics that had relevance to today's world, and incorporated socio-political themes cultivated from today's headlines.

Newer writers don't seem to understand this, and the titles wind up being just more generic superhero comics as a result. Witness THE ULTIMATES, for example. Jeph Loeb promises to turn this book into another "summer blockbuster" superhero beat-em-up. That's boring and goes a long way to kill the destinction that separated THE ULTIMATES from THE AVENGERS to begin with.

After Millar left ULTIMATE X-MEN, it just became more teenage relationship histrionics, with an occasional cool story or bit of thematic power... however, Millar's original run would never be duplicated.

That doesn't make it any less stupid.

I know, I know. You say The Big 2 would never cancel a comic about one of their iconic, recognizable characters just because it sucked so bad people stopped buying it. To you I say Flash, Thor, Ghost Rider, Punisher…"

No, I wouldn't say that. I'd say that you're crazy if you think cancelling one of those character's books means the end of that character. Namor hasn't had a long-running, well-selling book in a long time. And he's still a Marvel mainstay and has another new book starting up soon.

Flash, Thor, Ghost Rider, and the Punisher all illustrate that fcat perfectly.

I finally gave up on JSA a couple of issues into OYL. I kept expecting Johns to resolve certain plot threads, especially since those plot threads occasionally still made their way into solicits. For instance, the solicitation for JSA #76 said "the JSA must regroup and reassess their purpose — but Hawkman harbors a secret that will change the JSA's role in the DCU forever! Plus, Mr. Terrific begins his hunt for Roulette!" When the issue finally hit stands, it featured the JSA fighting an OMAC.

I should've quit Flash after "Ignition," returning only for the Rogue profile issues. "Rogue War" did not live up to its promise.

In retrospect, the bloom came off of Loeb and Kelly's Superman runs (especially Loeb's, and ESPECIALLY OWAW) much earlier than I realized at the time. I quit Loeb's after the terrible #175 Doomsday issue.

I gave up Ultimate Spider-Man after the Hobgoblin arc, I think. Sometime around #79. About a year late, I think.

Yeah, I think I completely dropped the medium in '93. It just didn't feel worth the trouble. I had enough chrome-covered issues, I guess.

I also stuck with JLA thru Obsidian Age and up until it was relaunched. I like the relaunch but I could have saved some money on the last volume, I guess I kept with it because I like seeing all the characters together.

I stick with TV shows that used to be great too, and I try to eat a shrimp every time its served because I keep getting told how great they are but I never like them. But its like I have a compulsion to test it. At least I don't buy them.

At least I was smart enough to dump the DCU in protest after they killed off Superboy... but then I do like Green Lantern and got drawn back in toSuperman with Richard Donner on, but I'm not buying the fill-in and I'll probably leave Wonder Woman after Heinburg. I really only bought it because I like him and the idea of him writing Diana Prince but she just doesn't have that interesting a supporting group.

No-Mans-Land is probably the single best big bat-crossover that's been done.

My "carry on buying" crimes are:

Swamp Thing - I bought this all the way through Doug Wheeler's abysmal run and then shortly after Nancy A Collins actually made it half decent I wound up dropping it for money reasons.

Superman - I carried on buying this for about 5 years after Byrne left and there really weren't that many decent stories - actually within the ongoing titles there have barely been any decent stories since then (Reign of the Superman excepted).

JLA - I should have stopped the moment Casey came on board, but then a few months in he came out with that excellent Batman + Plastic Man story which game him a stay of execution. In the end I stayed all of the way to the end of The Obsidan Age - what a waste of money!

JSA - I stayed with this for a couple of years after James Robinson left - that was a couple of years too long.

The Flash - I'm still buying it! I would probably drop it now, but there's a new team coming on board.

The JLI books certainly declined in quality before Giffen and DeMatteis left, but I don't think they quite jumped until the Death of Superman tie-ins.

I read New Titans well past "Titans Hunt," and I'm pretty sure the book jumped at "Who is Wonder Girl?" and that hideous Troia costume.

Totally agree with General Glory, even though I didn't stick around for the rest of the series - his first appearance was the last issue I got.

I dropped Uncanny X-Men around 280-ish, it had been about 3 years since I had actually enjoyed an issue.

My last Amazing Spider-Man was the one where he proposed to Mary Jane.

Last Doom Patrol was the first post-Morrison issue. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the same series.

Got Thor until Simonson quit writing it, should have dropped it when he had quit drawing it two years earlier. I like Sal Buscema (it was Sal wasn't it?), just not on that.

Daredevil - Nocenti's last issue was mine as well, I think it jumped after Romita Jr left.

In retrospect, all these books jumped the shark for me in the 3 - 4 year window when I "graduated" to primarily reading non-superhero comix.

Everywhere else, people make it very clear what they like and don’t like, by watching/listening/eating what they like and avoiding what they don’t.

As has been pointed out, this statement would be terrifically difficult to prove. Our responses to entertainment media just aren't that simple.

People attach themselves emotionally to characters, to writers, to concepts...even to the coolness points they figure they're earning...then stick with them regardless of surrounding quality.

The 'Wheel of Time' book series is an excellent example; so is the fact that 'Lost' is still on TV. (Just on a personal level, so is the fact that I stuck with the awful early-nineties TV revival of 'Zorro', even still have it on tape somewhere, just because I loved the main characters.)

I have never bought an X-man comic...

With food, you don't have to worry that if you stop eating the meal that tastes bad, no one will ever make you a meal again.

I know, I know. You say The Big 2 would never cancel a comic about one of their iconic, recognizable characters just because it sucked so bad people stopped buying it. To you I say Flash, Thor, Ghost Rider, Punisher...

Comics are the only artistic medium I know of where this behavior even occurs.

Um. No. Similar behavior occurs with pretty much all media, I think.

I don't know how many times I've heard people talk about how they've kept watching TV shows that they didn't like anymore, because they used to be so good. And, let's see, in the world of books of the non-comic variety, Robert Jordan's interminable Wheel of Time series is a good example. Everyone complains about how, while the first few books were great, in the later books nothing happens, and they're so terribly awful and disappointing...and yet those same people who are complaining about the books keep on buying them. (Or did, anyway; maybe he's finally finished the series by now...or gone on another indefinite hiatus. Personally, I wasn't even all that enamored of the first few books in the series, so I didn't keep up with it myself.)

It's a very common phenomenon, and it's by no means limited to comic books. Not even close.

I agree that people shouldn't buy stuff that they hate.

Other than that, Point by point:

People (including me) will buy stuff for reasons other than pure craft or concept. I'll buy any comic with pirates in it, no questions asked. Some of this is simply that I'm a fan of pirate stories, and am more likely to enjoy 'em then stories in other genres. I'm not looking for quality, per se, just the kind of stuff I like.

Some of this is satisfying an anal retentive collectors impulse.

But satisfying an anal retentive collectors impulse IS something I enjoy.

And some of it's a kind of historical/literary interest in seeing how different creators utilize similar elements over time. Even if the book isn't GOOD, it can provide an interesting basis for comparison with what other people have done over time.

And the "I'm still buying in hopes it gets better and in the mean time I'm gonna bitch about it" phenomena is certainly not limited to comics.

I've heard the same sentiments expressed by fans ("fans") of Miles Davis, the Rolling Stones, Joseph Heller. I know a dude who buys all the albums by the Ferguson brothers but says he can't bear to listen to them anymore. Same deal.

Don't get defensive, Greg. This prefectly illustrates what I don't understand about it. This idea that being a discerning comics buyer is some kind of special trait is ridiculous and nonsensical. That's NORMAL. Most people in the world don't buy things that they know they won't like. And they rarely continue to patronize a business that has disappointed them.

And the "hope they'll get better" argument makes absolutely zero sense. Why don't you stop buying the book while it's bad and hope it gets better? At least that way, you'll be sending a message in the only way the publishers really notice. If a comic's not selling well, you can bet that book's editor is gonna be trying to figure out how to fix it. And that includes shuffling the staff.

You guys remember that the big two are businesses, right? They want to sell the most books. If you keep buying shitty books, they're going to keep making them, because they're SELLING.

It boggles my mind that this concept doesn't set in for people. It's so basic. Comics are the only artistic medium I know of where this behavior even occurs. Everywhere else, people make it very clear what they like and don't like, by watching/listening/eating what they like and avoiding what they don't.

Actually, eating is a good analogy. If you start a meal, and it tastes like crap, are you gonna keep eating it, in the hopes that it'll get better? Or would you stop because it tastes like crap?