In regards to the usual Marvel and DC capes and tights books. Obviously no, there are new stories out there. Court of the Owls was great, All-New X-Men is a new concept for the X-Men, and Superior Spider-Man is something no one would think to do ever since Quantum Leap.

But still, it's just fighting baddies, psyching yourself up for the next conflict, family drama and the city hating you and everything in between, isn't it? Sometimes.

Then again, "there aren't any new stories, just new characters." (Credit: Someone.) X-Men's new characters is an all-female team. Rotworld was Swamp Thing and Animal Man meeting for the first time. Guardians of the Galaxy threw Iron Man into the mix and now Angela is showing up to shake things up. Which means if something looks like a rehashed story, it will unfold in a different way.

Is that an excuse to keep reading your favorite heroes in their books month after month? Sure! But I'm starting to see the appeal that independent titles from Image, Dark Horse and Dynamite have. One friend of mine buys almost nothing but those, and I find myself longing more and more for the extra cash to pick up The Wake, Fables, Saga, and a few other unique concepts (Masks, Five Ghosts) on a monthly basis, and almost feel like dropping my Big Two titles to experience something new.

Anyone else have experience in their comic collecting? Realizing the repetition of the capes and tights? Longing for something completely out of the ordinary seen in the independent publishers? Anyone made such a switch or have great praise for their buying habits just like what I've described above?