My comic buying habits have changed. This is partly because of cost but also changes in the market and changes in my taste. I have few dollars to spend, don't like a lot of what is now being produced or how it is marketed, and so am picky. Below are some comics I currently purchase but mostly titles I read in the past and loved. My liking a book tends to be the kiss of death for it.

• Preacher, by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, was a great comic. It is availabel in trade paperback format and I wish like hell they'd publish the series in hardcover. Peacher was not a comic for the faint of heart and those easily offended. Ennis' intent seemed to be to see how far he could go and still have DC distribute the comic. I think he wanted to offend. It bordered on blasphemy. It was definitely sacrilegious, violent, obscene, funny as hell, and it only got better. Sadly, its run ended. I still sometimes wish Ennis would bring it back but I somehow know it would'nt be the same.
• Hitman was another Garth Ennis title that was so damn good it hurt. I actually liked it better than Preacher. Its kinda a Sergio Leone/John Woo/Sam Peckinpah western/superhero comic. OK try this, the hero, Tommy, is a killer for hire who sees himself as the Man With No Name and has a ethical line he doesn't want to cross, but he's also very practical. This leads to some very interesting situations. It is as irreverant as Preacher, in its own way, but not so intent to offend. The art is by John McCrea. Several of the issues were collected in trade paperback, but I do not know if they are still available. Recently Tommy returned for a two issue colaboration with the JLA. Ennis and McCrea were on hand. Good stuff, please send us more.
• Bone was written and drawn by Jeff Smith. It was full of humor, adventure and romance in a fantasy world of enormous imagination. It is no longer in production but is available in collected editions.
• Strangers in Paradise, by Terry Moore can be checked out at The Unoffical Strangers in Paradise Website. I think of it as a relationship comic with some adventure thrown in. The entire run is available in back issues and trade paperbacks.

• Ms. Tree by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty was a detective comic of the hard-boiled variety. Well written and drawn it is out of production and out of print. If you want to read this comic you'll have to hunt down copies in the back issue bins of the local comic shop. A novel of Ms. Tree, Deadly Beloved was recently published by Hard Case Crime. It uses the story line from one of the comic arcs but its still good stuff and I'll take Ms. Tree where I can get her.
• Usagi Yojimbo, by Stan Sakai. The tale of a wandering ronin rabbit in 16th century Japan. The comic offers a historically and culturally accurate depiction of the period. Usagi wanders the countryside interacting with a multitude of interesting characters. The stories range from action-adventure to mysteries, to comedic fun. Sakai keeps getting better and better. Easily one of the best comics on the market today. All of the back issues are available in collections.
• Frank Miller's Sin City is, I guess, best described as a noirish crime comic. It's released in story arcs of various lengths. There is also a strong resemblance to Andrew Vachss' work. It is dark, violent, and interesting.
• Warren Ellis is the author of The Authority, Planetary, Transmetropolitan, and a mass of other titles. All are damn good. He and Darrick Robertson created an off-the-wall and irreverent future United States in Transmetropolitan that grew on you. It has also finished its run.
• The Dreaming(The Neil Gaiman Page). Items related to writer Neil Gaiman and his creation The Sandman. The Sandman is lyrical, exciting, and, most of all, engrossing. It is available only in reprint editions or back issues, or it would be on the above list.
• Omaha the Cat Dancer, by Reed Waller and Kate Worley. An erotic (not so) funny animal comic. It has resumed production as a feature in an adult anthology comic magazine called Sizzle Back issues and collections are available.
• Milton Caniff is the creator of Steve Canyon, Terry and the Pirates, and Dickie Dare. All damn fine examples of the comic art. Caniff is an influence to most adventure strips whether the artist/writer is honest enough to admit it or not.
• I like Mike Grell. I've been following him since he was drawing Legion of Super-Heroes for DC but it was Warlord that got my attention. Grell's best work is in the adventure genre. Fortunately, at least for the short term, Grell's Jon Sable Freelance is available from IDW Publishing. You can also look up back issues of Grell's Warlord, and Green Arrow [not the current homage by Kevin Smith to the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams 60's liberal bullshit].
• Read Sluggy Freelance or Bun Bun will hunt you down and kill you. Seriously, a comic that features a amoral lop-earred bunny with a switchblade and a blackmarket franchise in Viagra is worth at least a look.
• Here are other on-line comics I am currently enjoying:
  • Day by Day by Chris Muir
  • PVP by Scott Kurtz
  • Kevin and Kell by Bill Holbrook
  • User Friendly by Illiad
  • General Protection Fault by Jeffrey T. Darlington
  • Schlock Mercenary by Howard Taylor
  • Chopping Block by Lee Adam Herold
• The Donna Barr Data Sheet. Donna Barr is the creator of Desert Peach and Stinz. Stinz is the tale of a gentleman centaur and his family in what once seemed to be a post WWI Europe but is now diverging into something else. Desert Peach chronicles the WWII adventures of Rommel's gay brother in the German Army during the North Africa Campaign. Both are among the best comics in production today. My current complaint is that her current work is available only online. The prices are extremely reasonable, but I just don t have the money