odd question

[Dominic]

Okay, in practical terms, it is too late to actually do anything about this as I already got the kid a present. But, I was hoping for your thoughts.

My friend's youngest is turning 11 next week. The kid, for good or ill, is on his way to becoming one of us. I will not say I pushed him one way or another. But, the choice has largely been his. He is still too young to get to the nearest comic store, (a train ride from his mom's place), so I decided to get him some comics. Along with a Byrne/Stern "Capatain America" compilation, I wanted to get him some TF comics. I could not find AHM or LSotW, so I went for one of IDW's G1 reprints. Those are relatively cheap, and the content is not bad.

Remember, this kid is not likely to be hitting comic stores for a few more years.

I was torn between volumes 4 and 6, as both of those contain a solid range of the series.

Volume 4 has the "Underbase Saga" up to the early Furman run. The writing and art range from good, to bad, to better than average. And, the changes in the series over time are apparent. There are also some TFU entries in the back.

Volume 6 has the last 5 issues of the original series (considered a high point by most), "Headmasters" (a good representation of the middle run), and the first movie adaptation (an instructive example of bad comics).


Which one would you have picked up for the kid?


Dom
-just curious.

[Gomess]

Underbase.

Even though the high points of the second option are high points indeed, I think they're better left for later, no?

[Onslaught Six]

Given those choices, probably 4. 6 seems like it's too scattered to follow--the last five issues of the original series are only so praised because of all the lead-up. The entire Matrix Quest is a prelude to this, and without it you've got pretty much no point in seeing the end. It's like how I'll be on TVTropes and read spoilers for things I've never even heard of--it's not really a spoiler because I'll probably forget that Jimmy was the killer all along by the time I see that film--*if* I ever see it in the first place. Seeing Unicron get destroyed and the Autobots save a crumbling Cybertron mean nothing if I'm not invested in Cybertron's fate to begin with.

I will say this: A bin of random comics *will* make a kid of that age happy. I say this because I used to get that kind of thing from relatives. Here's a bunch of random comics! They probably came from a bargain bin at a thrift store or a yard sale, but hey, it's always a cool gift. (In fact, I still kind of enjoy this.) Maybe they won't objectively enjoy any of the stories, but simply having them and continuing interest in the medium is a gift in and of itself. (One of my favourite "mainstream" comics will always be this Sabertooth one-shot or something where he murdered all these dudes in a church at the beginning, and also that awesome comic I had where Mephisto's son gathers Wolverine, Punisher and Ghost Rider to try and get them to work for him, and they're all "Fuck you!")

If it were up to me, I'd sooner ordered AHM online, but yeah.

[Dominic]

I really do not like dealing with Amazon.

I guess I made the wrong choice. I went with volume 6. Good writing (with enough explication to fill in the blanks), and good art (that the kid will appreciate) sell the last 5 issues. And, if the kid stays in the fandom, he is familiar with a run people still talk about from time to time. He is smart enough to know that "Headmasters" will be set before "End of the Road".

Volume 4 ends with a "to be continued", which made me feel iffy about giving it to a kid who is not going to be seeing the inside of a comic shop for some time. And, his mother is unlikely to buy him a $20 compilation (let alone 2) for the sake of completing a story. But, if he gets himself to the store with some holiday money in a few years, he might be able to go back and get the other chapters.

Random comics always left me feeling cold. What was I supposed to do with them when I had read them? How many "misc" books could I really store? Even as a kid, I would have preferred a few comics from a solid run, (that I could go back and fill in easily), than random issues from runs I would likely never bother to complete.


Dom
-how to gracefully dispose of a bad gift?

[Shockwave]

I'd have gone with Volume 6. I wouldn't want to leave the kid on a "to be continued" note if he's not gonna be able to finish it.

That said, I would have driven around to other comic stores in my metropolitan area to find books from the current run or AHM something a little more recent with better writing and art. But... I also have my own car which affords me that option which relying on public transit might not allow.

[Dominic]

I checked a couple of places. No AHM. No Wreckers. Time was getting to be an issue.

[Shockwave]

I can see that as well. With the choices available I think you went with the better option. It's a good "in" to the franchise without giving him a story that leaves him hanging. Granted, he could fill in the other parts of it if you were to gift said other parts in coming years.

Shockwave
-8 years of gifts could reasonably complete the G1 compilations.

[BWprowl]

At first I was gonna reflexively say you should've just gotten him Volume 1, since I can be positively *anal* about starting things from the beginning (seriously, I won't even sit down and watch a movie if it's already more than five to ten minutes in), but then I realized that as much of a soft spot as I have for Budiansky's writing, that those are not the best comic stories to start a kid off on. So thinking about it more, I wouldn't get him Volume 4, since starting him off on the story arc where a huge amount of the cast gets unceremoniously murdered seems like a bad idea, and I wouldn't go with Volume 6 since even I can't overcome my hang-ups to the point that I think starting at the *end* of a story makes sense. I woulda grabbed one of IDW's UK compilations like Dinobots or Target: 2006. City of Fear might be good too, since I'm biased towards a lot of that story, and the kids these days like the zombies, right?

[Shockwave]

At first I was gonna reflexively say you should've just gotten him Volume 1, since I can be positively *anal* about starting things from the beginning (seriously, I won't even sit down and watch a movie if it's already more than five to ten minutes in),

Holy crap I'm the same way! When my friend got me started on Dr. Who I told him that I wanted to start at the beginning and watch it sequentially. He keeps telling me that there really is no "chronologically" when it comes to Dr. Who stories because of the time travel and also the fact that BBC screwed up and didn't save all of the episodes from the beginning years.

[Gomess]

I can be positively *anal* about starting things from the beginning (seriously, I won't even sit down and watch a movie if it's already more than five to ten minutes in)

Holy crap I'm the same way! When my friend got me started on Dr. Who I told him that I wanted to start at the beginning and watch it sequentially.

Yeah, me too. This is why I can never ever watch a soap opera. =[ Oh well!