Sunday’s are known for their roundtables of experts debating hot topics on television. Graphic Policy is having some fun with that tradition, tackling a tough topic concerning geekdom. Join us for the Sunday Roundtable!

This week’s topic: At what point do you decide top stop reading a comic?

Alex: I almost feel like a broken record with this answer, but lately I’ve stopped reading comics after a reboot or a relaunch. Typically, I’ve already begun loosing a bit of interest in the series before then, and as much as the reboot provides a great jumping on point, they’re also great jumpin off points.

Daphne: It probably depends on the reboot, too. I imagine a lot of people dropped old Wonder Woman comics during that period in the 1970s when she had no superpowers and was learning martial arts and they tried to make her a lot more mundane and ‘realistic’, or whatever that was. I’d have stopped reading until that story arc ended and she had her superpowers and the character direction I like back again.

Elana: When a comic is suddenly wildly transphobic it’s easy for me to drop it (hi Airboy). But I suck at breaking up with a series in less outrageous circumstances. I get FOMO (fear of missing out)– that as soon as I stop reading a good but not great comic it’s suddenly going to improve. And then I’ll be short an issue! Darn! Help!

Katherine: For me it depends on a number of factors. Let’s assume that money isn’t a factor here, and that you can afford all the comics you want (since being on a budget and having to pick and choose which comics to keep seems to be the primary reason.) The primary has to do with problematic creators. Nothing will make me drop a comic faster than if the good hard money I’m spending is going towards a creator who is consistently racist/misognystic/homophibic/etc. We all know that the comics industry has a real problem of harboring and coddling the alpha males and I really don’t want my money going to support that.

The other thing that gets me to drop a comic is just a general drop in writing quality. If I’m eyerolling every other panel, or question why I’m reading something that both brings nothing to the table and isn’t interesting then I’m more likely to drop it. I usually don’t drop a book based on it’s artwork, since I can see beyond most of it, though. I mean, after all, I loved Charles Soule’s She-Hulk run while hating almost all of Javier Pulido’s art (I mean, he’s a good artist, but he’s not my style (plus all of his characters look wall-eyed (but at least he was better than Ron Wemberly who’s just terrible))).

Elana: Ron is Awesome! I liked Pulido on she-hulk. It was a great fit– house-style would have killed that story. Sorry to side track I just have to defend my guys!

But I agree that I don’t usually drop a book because of the art. If I did I’d have very little to read. They like to pair so many of the best writers with the tackiest artists. Think of all the times that Kieron Gillan was working with Greg Land…

Art by someone I appreciate will make me far more likely to pick up a book that has mediocre writing. It’s what kept me on black widow for so long.

Katherine: You seriously like Ron? Ron who gave us this?

Elana: Yes. The best piece by him was here his Vertigo book Prince of Cats.

Katherine: We’ll just have to agree to disagree with this one.

Daphne: Sometimes if a story feels like it’s not going anywhere I’ll take a break and wait to find out if the story gets better at some point. If something is really dragging or it’s just spinning its wheels harping on some plot point or character I don’t care about, I’ll move onto something else. I’ll also stop reading if the story takes a direction I think is stupid or just insulting. Turning Jubilee into a vampire was dumb and annoying enough for me to give up on X-Men comics for a while – she’s a much-maligned character I genuinely love and I didn’t like the whole “let’s make her DARK AND EDGY so she doesn’t suck anymore!” vibe it gave me.

I’m a big advocate of the idea that people vote with their wallets. I won’t buy something if it’s racist or transphobic or just bad and boring. I’ll wait until I find something that deserves my money and spend it on that instead, you know? I’ve also stopped reading things because I thought they weren’t funny or interesting. My funds and time are limited. I have to be super picky so I don’t waste either.

Brett: It’s usually tough for me to drop something. I’m such a completist, and I always feel like I’m missing out.

I always try to find a good ending point though, like finishing the story arc, or when a series ends and is being rebooted.

Alex: I try and do the EXACT same thing as you, here.

Brett: Anyone else have that weird compulsion to keep going, even when you know it’s bad?

Katherine: If I can. It’s that little voice in the back of your head that says that maybe this’ll get better…

Brett: Yeah, there’s definitely that.

Daphne: Yeah. Or you feel like you’ve spent so much time and effort and money on it that at this point it’d feel like a waste to give up before it ends. Sometimes I get that but it’s more common with tv shows because I’ve been watching for such a long time and I might as well see it through.

Elana: Mediocre yes. Bad no. Bad I can drop w a vengeance. But if it’s only so so and there’s a creator on it I really respect– especially from a diversity standpoint it is hard to do.

Alex: If the series was great, and has occasional flashes of brilliance amidst the mediocrity then I will think about dropping it… But I’ll still keep buying it.

Elana: Has anyone dropped a book and lived to regret it?

Alex: Yup; Ultimate Spider-Man. I kept reading after Peter died, and enjoyed Miles, but when they were putting him into every Ultimate title (that I had been dropping slowly) I just didn’t have the heart to keep going.

Katherine: Not really? I mean, usually if the book gets good again, I pick it back up and wait for the trade paperbacks for the back issues.

Alex: I wish I could do that! I’m too much of a collector – if I start a series in single issue format then I need to keep picking them up that way.

Katherine: I just can’t afford to do that anymore, sadly. frown emoticon

Alex: Honestly, it limits me to what I actually buy – I pick up maybe five comics a month, and lately that’s been even less with Secret Wars happening (and some of those Marvel titles I won’t be picking back up, because I don’t miss them).

Joe: When the creative team goes off the rails lol

Paul: When characters I’ve read for a long time get a new writer, and suddenly I don’t recognize them anymore.

Brett: So that wraps up our discussion, and we go to you the readers! When do you decide to stop reading a comic?