This made me curious- if you still read new comics, what motivates you to buy?  Creative team or characters?  Does the race, gender, or sexual orientation of a character influence your decision?  What about ret-cons?

For me, I'd say its 75% based on the creative team.  I'll try out almost any book that has an artist or writer that I love. On the flipside, there are a few creators I avoid, even if they're writing or drawing my favorite characters. One artist immediately comes to mind who is currently "hot" but who's work I can't stand, to the point where I have exited a title I liked because he took it over. 

The characters involved only account for about 25% of my buying decision.  I've never been the type of collector who obsesses over having every issue in a title, or every appearance by a particular character.

There is a short list of characters who simply don't interest me, and I'd be unlikely to buy their books no matter who was producing them- Lobo, Venom, and Harley Quinn, to name a few.  Those types of characters are simply not my cup of tea.  Other than that, I'm pretty open minded.  

If there is an artist or writer that I like, I'm more likely to try their new book if it involves characters I already like.  Ditto if the creative team is someone I've never heard of.  

Growing up, I wouldn't have been caught dead with a Wonder Woman comic, but as an adult, I am usually not influenced one way or the other by a character's race or gender.  

I know ret-cons are a huge turnoff to many readers, but I'll take them on a case by case basis.  Sometimes they turn out great.  Example: The Immortal Iron Fist created a rich back story we didn't previously know was there, and added a ton of interesting supporting characters without fundamentally changing anything about Danny Rand.  

Conversely, Secret Empire/Hydra Cap strikes me as the worst creative decision in the history of comics.  I immediately dropped the Captain America titles, and skipped any issues in my other regular titles that crossed over with the storyline. 

With independent/smaller-press comics, I'm much more open to impulse buys. If a nifty-looking cover grabs my attention and the art inside is competent, at least, I'll give the book a try. I've wasted some money with that approach, but it's also fun to discover new stuff.

This is how I feel. Heck, I may even be at 90%+ creative team and 10%- characters involved.

A: Trusted creative teams or new creators that have a concept I like.  I buy very few books from either Marvel or DC and stick mainly to creator-owned work.


Q: Creative team or characters? 

A: A little of both.  I have many go-to creators.  With characters I love from Marvel or DC, it's now usually Elseworlds/What If? style scenarios, by creative teams that I love, that drag me back in. 


Q: Does the race, gender, or sexual orientation of a character influence your decision? 

A: No, but good storytelling and art does.


Q: What about ret-cons?

A: If the ret-con is something that reflects the way I perceive the character and resonates positively with me, then yes.  

On that note, I've noticed that some people cannot differentiate between an Elseworld/What If? style story and seem to get upset if their hero if their hero steps outside his usual boundaries and is portrayed as a villain.   

Conversely, if Hydra Cap had been a What If? story, I'd be cool with it.  As a piece of his continuity, not so much.   I guess that's why I mainly stay away from Marvel and DC - too many writers think "shock and awe" is the only way to do mainstream super-hero stories.  That said, I'm loving the current Defenders mini-series.

I did get to the point where it was more the creative people that you knew could deliver good and entertaining work.

Writers like John Ostrander, Mike Baron, Chuck Dixon and Mike Grell (his art as well) on their DC and Marvel titles encouraged me to look at their works from other publishers, so I became a fan of Grimjack, Nexus, Badger, Airboy and Jon Sable as a result.

(I do read the Archie horror books, which are probably the only company-owned books I read with any consistency. Those I buy because the line overall has mostly worked for me, so I'll try the new books too.)