I found this essay about a long time reader who decided to forgo monthly comics in favor of trades. While I could have seen myself doing this before we started the podcast, lately I’ve been having too much fun reading monthly books and talking about them with all of you.
But, he does make some good points. Cheaper is cheaper any way you look at it. And I used to say that if people didn’t buy the monthlies, the trades would never actually come out. But I think that’s somewhat old thinking. I’m shocked at the stuff coming out in trade now. It’s at the point where almost everything that comes out monthly, will come out in trade. I look at this like the DVD market for comics, in that many have stopped going to the theater, and will wait to watch it at home.
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I’ve been up and down about this for a while.
The trade side:
I don’t want individual issues anymore. They clutter my house, take up way too much space, and they’re flimsy. I like trades. If comics went to trades only this site and others like it would still exist because it’s not as if marvel and dc would put out all of their trades on the same single day every month. You could still have Wednesday comics but instead of 12 floppies you’d buy 3 trades or something comparable.
The issue side:
There’s something charming about it: the floppy book, the cliffhanger. How would continuity be affected by a world without monthlies? This story takes place between civil war 5 and 6 would become more common and frankly that annoys the hell out of me. Also, how would you do events that cross over into multiple titles? That has helped marvel quite a bit this year I’d say.
The Verdict:
none
So yeah I’m torn. I think that I’d like all shared universe content in monthlies and all non shared universe stuff in trades. But that wouldn’t work either because I have the opportunity to do that with books like Fables and DMZ now and I don’t. I read them monthly. So I don’t know
I think Fred sums it up really well, and I’ve compromised by following through on his exact recommendation: reading all non-shared universe stuff (in which I include Ultimate Spider-man) in trades. I purposely don’t buy new Vertigo ongoing titles (eg, Jack of Fables, the upcoming Scalped), no matter how much I’m tempted, since they read so well in trades and they’re so reliable in putting them out. But there’s something about hitting the LCS after work on Wed, and looking forward to it, and then talking about it here, that’s too fun to give up. Besides, any decent LCS gives a discount if you have a pull list.
A brief summary of my ridiculous hypocrisy:
i just finished an email to my lcs to sign up for scalped
so ashamed
Ive been trying to mov away from singles unless the book falls into one of two categories.
A: Something that might not last or get collected. Mainly small press books and DC 3rd tier characters that I have an irrational fondness for. I’m looking at you Firestorm.
B: Something I REALLY wanna read now. Things by Brubaker, 52, JSA. Just stuff I’m generally excited for.
But since I hate to switch formats I’m never going to stop reading some books in trade or other books in singles. It took all I had to make the jump to floppies on Fables and thats only because Willingham said he’s got no end planned out. Bastard…
A couple of times, I’ve started something in trades, and caught up to the issues, such as Fables. At that point, I started on monthlies, but I think that might be a mistake. Conversely, I got to the point where I could have done that with the Walking Dead, but I decided to stick with the trades. I must say that while I love reading Y every month, I could certainly see the advantage of reading it collected.
I’m so torn!
It’s a tough transition to make. I decided I was going to switch to trades for a couple of books to see how it went, specifically Captain America and Ex Machina. I stopped reading the monthly issues, by my estimate, 17 years ago, and the goddamn trades still aren’t out for me to read. I actually switched back to monthly buying for Cap for the Civil War crossovers, because… my God, otherwise they’d never see the inside of my house at this rate.
Strangely, I loved the Scott Pilgrim books and “can’t wait” for the next one but have no idea when or if it’s ever supposed to come out. That wait bothers me not one bit for some reason. But if I had stuck to my vow to buy Ultimates in trade form, my last fistful of hair would have been long gone by now. There’s just something about the serial nature of the storytelling, I guess.
Along these same lines, I have resolved to save myself tons of time and money by switching to Comichole.com, but again I find myself unable to take the plunge. I think because it forces me to actually think about, in a quantifiable on-paper way, how many comic books I read on a monthly basis. At this point, I don’t even know.
I really enjoy the ritual of wednesday, and it’s something I would have a hard time giving up. But then, before we did the podcast, there were times where I thought I might try subscription services, but the thing I worried about is exactly what Jimski is talking about. I wouldn’t pick something up and flip through it, decided to try it or not. Everything would have to be based on internet research. And I don’t like to do it that way.
I am addicted to comics, I need my weekly fix, I am pissed because for two weeks in a row comics come ou on thursday and thats not cool. The only book I get in trade is Walking Dead, I had to start getting Invincible and Fables in singles because it was too tempting, I saw them there just sitting on the shelf and the cover seemed to give something away so I just had to buy them. I like trades because they allow me to cath up on books that I missed, like Escapists and Preacher, but I will never drop the singles format simply because trades take WAY TOO LONG to come out.
What would we talk about on the show?
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/07/ipod/index_01.htm
slide #3
who needs that?
I have long considered this issue. The pros and cons break down a couple different ways.
Comparisons
I think about this whenever I buy a season of anything on DVD. Because here’s the thing: if you have cable, you did pay for that show twice. I switched to the trades for the Sopranos, partially because the artists kept delaying new issues so much that I got fed up.
I dearly wish I could get to the point– and get there quickly– where Comichole asks me, “Exactly, without exception, what will you want to read in April?” and I have an answer I’m happy with. Especially when you look at all those “what’s on your pull list?” on-the-fence gems. Like, by the time I decide if I want Punisher War Journal #2, I’ll have to have ordered #6. I feel like my blind date is talking about our wedding invitations.
My old retailer pre-ordered and discounted for us based on that. So if I wanted to drop a book, I’d have to buy it for the next 2 months. I feel so freed now.
I like going to my lcs. I’m willing to save only 20% instead of 40% for the experience.
I’m not trying to discourage people from visiting the sponsors of this great website; I’m just saying.
At the lcs, I have people who know me and take care of me. Hey I’ll put that aside. Thanks. I’ll ask around and see if anybody has one they want to sell. Thanks. I can’t get that at comic hole.
At the lcs, I get flexibility. I can put myself on a list for a book and immediately take myself off if it sucks. I don’t have to buy the next 3. I can hold a book I’m not subscribed to and flip through it. Do I want to buy this? ah ok. I can’t do that on a website.
At the lcs, I get recommendations. I’m looking for something to read what should I get? You like blah, blah, blah and blah blah right? Then read this. OK thanks cbg. Alas advice not available online, at least not on sales sites. And even extended to here where I can ask that question most of you don’t have a real handle on what I like. Some of you may if you pay that much attention which is kind of weird but anyway. But my cbg knows what I like. He’ll even try to stop me from buying things that he strongly suspects I won’t like.
I mean saving money is cool and all but what about community and the experience?
i sound like such a goddamn hippie
Pre-ordering is the work of the devil.
“At the lcs, I have people who know me and take care of me. Hey I’ll put that aside. Thanks. I’ll ask around and see if anybody has one they want to sell. Thanks.”
I have to say, the two shops I alternate between take such good care of me it’s ridiculous. My regular shopkeep, if I tell him he’s sold out of a book I wanted, will raid other people’s pull files to get it for me right then and there. The clerk at the Borders ain’t swiping somebody else’s layaway for ya. They know me; they know my tastes; they never fail to go the extra mile for me; they all but cry “NORM!” in unison when I walk in the door.
I’ve just had a couple of weeks when my “allowance” is tapped out, and my shop involves driving through a train crossing, and I’ve had to wait for a goddamn train and I’m circling the block for the 20th time looking for parking and I’ve begun to think, “What am I doing? What am I doing with my life?” If you can get the same books handed to you on your porch and save half your cash to boot… man, that snake is offering me a tasty-looking apple.
My regular shopkeep, if I tell him he’s sold out of a book I wanted, will raid other people’s pull files to get it for me right then and there
my does that too. take that internet!
This time last year, I was giving serious thought to dropping a lot of the monthly titles I buy. The plan was to pick them up in trades instead. Then I started listening to comic book podcasts, which lead to me enjoy comics on a new social level.
Reading comics is a hobby that most of my friends have let go. We still enjoy the movies together, but for the most part I going to the comic book store alone. And as much as I love comics, there are some Wednesday afternoons when getting to the comic book store is a chore. However when there are podcasts with guys making the same jokes about Cyclops being a tool that my friends and I would make, reading comics is a lot more fun. Add to it a forum like this site where intellegent conversation on comics can develop and reading comics becomes about more than the characters and my personal enjoyment of them.
So I guess if you aren’t sharing your enjoyment of comics with anyone else then waiting for the trade works well, because it is cheaper and what does it matter when you read the thing. Just be careful to avoid internet spoilers. However, its too much fun to hear, read, and contribute to the discourse that gets generated from reading titles weekly.
Yeah, decompression makes some monthly titles frustrating to come back to regularly. I can deal with that as long as it pays off at the end of the story. I would also say buying monthly titles opens me up to trying more new titles. I am much more willing to drop $3 on one issue of a comic I have never read before than I am to drop $15 on a trade of something I have only heard is good.
also when you get your comics on the internet there are no creepy magic guys hanging around to snicker at.
every society has its pecking order
So I guess if you aren’t sharing your enjoyment of comics with anyone else then waiting for the trade works well, because it is cheaper and what does it matter when you read the thing. Just be careful to avoid internet spoilers. However, its too much fun to hear, read, and contribute to the discourse that gets generated from reading titles weekly
I couldn’t disagree with this more. I have a ton of fun talking about the books I only buy in trade. Invincible, Walking Dead, Y: The Last Man, Sleeper, DMZ the list goes on and on. The only difference is that instead of talking about the books monthly, you talk about them twice a year and you have a lot more to talk about.
It’s the same as talking about a novel.
Screw online subscription services. What we should be talking about is when comics go online. Once they do, I think we’ll see a huge exodus from the stores to downloadable comics. It happened with music and it’ll definitely happen for comics once we get the proper media device to read comics on. As for the whole talking with your shop about new comics thing, I have a feeling that could easily be replaced with message boards and virtual online worlds like Second Life. That doesn’t mean that everyone will flock to that avenue of discussion, but it’ll help push them in that direction. Once the implosion of the run-of-the-mill comic shop happens, leaving only a few boutique stores, a large number of people will only have the online venues just to discuss things like Spider-man’s new costume.
I thought the implosion of run-of-the-mill comic shop happened almost ten years ago? I, for one, would never choose downloadable comics to something I can hold in my hand, just as downloadable or audiobooks will never replace the paper version. It works for porn, but not for comics (Or so I hear.)
Once the implosion of the run-of-the-mill comic shop happens, leaving only a few boutique stores, a large number of people will only have the online venues just to discuss things like Spider-man’s new costume.
People talk about comics at their stores?
I thought the implosion of run-of-the-mill comic shop happened almost ten years ago?
From what I seen, the implosion that you’re referring to seemed to only effect the stores that popped up alongside Youngblood # 1. As for the stores that were around BEFORE that, they are mostly still here, with the rest going to the wayside. Then again, that’s only from my own experience in LA and Ventura County here in California. The implosion we will see will be along the lines of most of the mom and pop stores as well as Tower records disappearing from the music retail landscape.
I, for one, would never choose downloadable comics to something I can hold in my hand, just as downloadable or audiobooks will never replace the paper version.
I thought the same thing, too, until I actually read a bunch of Alan Moore’s Supreme comics that I downloaded awhile back. Awkward at first, but it definitely was enjoyable all the same. My only complaint was the lack of a decent program to read them on. I love to sit on the pot and read some comics as much as the next guy, but I do not love the comic collection that has taken over parts of my room. Given more living space, that attitude can definitely change.
The question that I imagine the Big Two are facing right now when it comes to downloadable comics is how to keep people from distributing them illegally. As it stands right now, most of the comics we enjoy, we have to get in paper form. If Civil War comes along and upsets you, you can just stop reading it. However, some of us have to read it because we’re Marvel Zombies that absolutely need to know how our Marvel Universe is going to be effected by this. I’m sure Civil War is available online via illegal downloading of BitTorrent, but a lot of the consumers are still locked into going to the shops and buying comics there. When the audience turns to their computer screens to get their weekly fix, they might be more inclined to download the newest issue of Civil War for free from an illegal BitTorrent site instead of paying for it from Marvel.com. I believe that is what has the Big Two a little leery of going online with their products.
Everyone is talking about a boom right around the corner, but I have a feeling that boom can be more negative than positive for Marvel and DC if they go online with their comics, resulting in the cancellation of fringe(and usually more enjoyable) titles such as Agents Of Atlas to make way for Sensational Spider-man as sales drop due to illegal downloading.
I realy could see myself going the trade route if my comic shop doesn’t get things sorted out. Diamond messed up their order and for the past month and a half I’ve been a week late getting my books. When they do come in, it’s usualy not everything that I pull or on an odd, unpredictable day. The whole thing’s infuriating and has almost driven my to flee to Amazon and their awesome trade mark-downs!
People talk about comics at their stores?
Not all stores are the mad cattle rush of midtown comics.
I couldn’t disagree with this more. I have a ton of fun talking about the books I only buy in trade. Invincible, Walking Dead, Y: The Last Man, Sleeper, DMZ the list goes on and on. The only difference is that instead of talking about the books monthly, you talk about them twice a year and you have a lot more to talk about.
I actually disagree with you on this. With trades, there’s so little speculation, because it’s a complete story. Where with monthly issues, there’s all sorts of guess work about where it’s going, and what will happen. I find it harder to talk about a larger work, like a novel, because it’s already done. Also, since things are coming out monthly, and we’re all reading them at roughly the same time, we’re more or less on the same page, where as with trades, we’re not all reading them at the same time and pace.
People talk about comics at their stores?
I generally hang out for about 45 minutes and talk about comics after my books have already been purchased and I’m not alone. I wouldn’t expect it at Midtown but out here in the ‘burbs it happens.
I used to go to a store where it never happened though because the guy who owns it is an asshole so I guess atmosphere is part of it
I read a few things in trades, but I enjoy getting my books once a week. I would never abandon the monthlys. If you are a geek you have to own it. If you only read trades your not really a comic book fan you are a trade paperback fan.
I generally hang out for about 45 minutes and talk about comics after my books have already been purchased and I’m not alone. I wouldn’t expect it at Midtown but out here in the ‘burbs it happens.
I used to go to a store where it never happened though because the guy who owns it is an asshole so I guess atmosphere is part of it
I drive 30 minutes out of the way because of the store that’s 5 minutes away makes shopping there a painful experience. God bless you, Earth-2 comics.
From what I seen, the implosion that you’re referring to seemed to only effect the stores that popped up alongside Youngblood # 1. As for the stores that were around BEFORE that, they are mostly still here, with the rest going to the wayside. Then again, that’s only from my own experience in LA and Ventura County here in California.
You live in a major city, so your view might be skewed a bit. I can’t find the exact numbers, but I know that the total number of US comic book stores is scarily low and dropping.
From Wikipedia:
“The comic book speculator market reached a saturation point in the early 1990s and finally collapsed between 1993 and 1997. Two-thirds of all comic book specialty stores closed in this time period.”
Not all stores are the mad cattle rush of midtown comics.
I’ve only been going to Midtown Comics since 2001. There were like 15 years of comic book store going before that in which I never talked comics at my stores.
I actually disagree with you on this.
We’ll have to disagree, then. I talk about trades as much as single issues.
If you are a geek you have to own it. If you only read trades your not really a comic book fan you are a trade paperback fan.
Please tell me you are kidding.
Yeah Im joking. But I do like the issues more than trades. Actually Freds comment was so well written at the top of the page I didnt have anything else too say. Damn Fred.
You live in a major city, so your view might be skewed a bit. I can’t find the exact numbers, but I know that the total number of US comic book stores is scarily low and dropping.
From Wikipedia:
“The comic book speculator market reached a saturation point in the early 1990s and finally collapsed between 1993 and 1997. Two-thirds of all comic book specialty stores closed in this time period.”
Well there you go. However, I still believe the next implosion could reduce the # of Brick-And-Mortar shops by more than 2/3s than it did in the 90s.
Most of the shops I’ve frequented (because I liked them obviously) offered a level of discourse on comics if you got to know them.
I avoid those shops like the plague.
Yeah, those shops with friendly, smart people with similar interests as me really freak me out too.
I don’t want to hang around a store and talk for an hour. I’ve got things to do.
I’ve got things to do.
like rush home and pick apart the characters facial features
?
Exactly.
Maybe he doesn’t want to talk to the comic shop guys because he’s afraid he’ll blow his wad for the podcast….? Kind of like the pre-sex handjob for the minute man.
“Woah, baby. If I wanted to masturbate, I would have stayed at home.”
Maybe he doesn’t want to talk to the comic shop guys because he’s afraid he’ll blow his wad for the podcast….?
Josh, Ron and I don’t talk about comics very much anymore until we tape the show for that very reason.
It’s true that we don’t talk to each other about the books before the show for that very reason.
Also, if we talked to someone in the shop, and then talked about it on the podcast, they might want a cut.
(a cut of nothing is nothing, btw.)
OK. This includes some assumptions and extrapolations
assumptions
1) there are approximately 500,000 regular comics readers in the US
2) there are approximately 300,000,000 people in the us
3) there are 8.15 million people that live in nyc
4) comic reader distribution is even relative to population
If there are 500k readers out of 300M people in the us then there is a comic reader for every 600 people(600:1).
By this ratio nyc has approximately 13,600 active comic readers
By this ratio my city has 135
Without discussing comics at my shop, I (and many others like me) would almost exclusively be doing it on the internet. I had one comic reading friend and we’re not friends anymore. I did the only thing possible at that point, I made a regular person into a comic reader. It’s my wife. She reads anything from Alan Moore or Vertigo, Runaways, and Punisher MAX. Without her I would have the comic shop guys and you guys.
and this isn’t just because I’m anti-social. Sure that’s part of it but I do have several non-comics friends.
see where I’m coming from?
thanks k-dizzle
happy to ruin it for the rest of you
It’s my wife. She reads anything from Alan Moore or Vertigo, Runaways, and Punisher MAX. Without her I would have the comic shop guys and you guys.
What, no Box Office Poison?
not yet
but the point really was that I can’t talk about asm or anything with her
I read some downloaded comics once. It was a painful experience that I
“I’ve got things to do.”
That’s why I’m looking into avoiding stores altogether.
“those shops with friendly, smart people with similar interests”
That’s why I’m not. I have known in person roughly five people in my life who read comics besides me. The last time I met one, he was a friend of my wife’s from work, and I felt like I’d just found a leprechaun. That’s part of why I took to this site like a duck to drugged water.
That’s why I’m not. I have known in person roughly five people in my life who read comics besides me. The last time I met one, he was a friend of my wife’s from work, and I felt like I’d just found a leprechaun. That’s part of why I took to this site like a duck to drugged water.
classic jimski
it proves a point too. the internet is awesome. With the rise of the internet nobody really has any reason to feel alone in the worrld anymore.
this is gross I’d skip it if you have a weak heart, stomach condition, are under 18, are overly religious. Whatever I warned you
*******************************************
Most disgusting recent example: I read somethingawful nearly every day. Each day they have an awful link. It’s basically some bizarre or disgusting site on the internet. usually very entertaining in an oh my god what the fuck kind of way. Their link today was to a dating site designed specifically for people that like to pee on one another. No more being lonely or awkward conversations meet people with your interests and their own tarps. thanks peeing cupid
I’m really torn on this issue. I really, really want to become a trades man, but I know that it’s a long, hard road to reach that point (what melodrama for comics!).
Losing out on the serialized nature of comics doesn’t bother me a whole lot (with a few exceptions like big Civil War/Infinite Crisis events). I have a few close comic book nerd friends and I’m pretty sure we’d gab about that stuff anyways, so I don’t feel I have to read through my books on a weekly basis. On the same token, spoilers don’t offend me horribly so I’m pretty sure I’d listen to all the podcasts I listen to, anyways.
For me, it’s mostly a money thing. Once a few of my favorite monthly books wind down (Y the Last Man, notably), I think I’ll step back and re-evaluate my monthly purchases. I’ve been cutting down a lot recently to where I have about 40 books on my pull list, and I think I’d like to reach the point where I have 20 monthly books on my list and read everything else in trades. I can have a bit of both worlds, and in the end, save a decent wad of cash while (most likely) having a few better reads through trades.
I also still buy my books weekly because I love the comic store I go to, and I know that if I switched purely to trades, I’d buy them at online at Amazon or something. I also know that there’s no way I can drop some of the ongoing monthlies out there (Daredevil, for example), so I’m sure I’ll always buy monthlies.
New England Comics lets me drop books right there on the spot all I have to do is hand it to them, their also pretty cool to me even though I’ve only been going there for about 8 months, like during x-mas week I only had 65 dollars and my stack was 80 dollars but the gave it to me anyways, I almost hugged them!!!!!
How come I always miss these quick conversations you guys have, do you plan it out? When are you on?
When are you on?
always
i’m diseased
Oh man, this is a hard one…
With trades, you of course have the collection of material that’s cheaper. Not only that, but it’s really conveniant if you’re hopping onto a series late. Another advantage is that when you do catch on to a series, it’s a lot easier to actually complete it. God knows how many times I’ve got ripped-off by comic shops on issues of comics that were only a couple years old… Not to mention its a pain in the ass going from shop to shop to try and find issues missing in your collection.
As for the weekly comics… There’s just something charming about them. Not only that, but I think we all feel a little bit of some strange, nerdy dignity in faithfully buying a comic every week/month. I guess it’s the same kind of complex you get with music when someone says that they love a certain musician because of their “Greatest Hits” CD they got, opposed to every album.
Also, the anticipation of a Comic can become totally ruined in a Trade by seeing the doe-eyed protagonist facing the shadow-y figure with their back towards the reader on the last page and wondering, “Oh man… Who could that be??” And instead of waiting with bittersweet excitement for a week or more, you just turn the page. Just makes stories have a little less weight.
So it’s a draw. Bottom Line: Trades are good for catching up, and completion in a cheap(-er) way. Comics are good for the purist and collector at heart.
Well I just know i have my books that are strickly trade :Walking Dead, Invincible, ULT. Spider-man, JLA, and DMZ.
Then I have my books that are monthly: Aston, Batman, Detective. So on. It’s just never been an issue for me, and I love that I have both formats available to me.
I loooooooooooooooove my Walking Dead trades
I like trades, but I don’t like waiting to see how things turn out, so I prefer to buy trades for old stuff. Still, I’m buying She-Hulk in trade format and I intend to buy X-Factor as a trade. I’m not sure if I’m going to try to catch up or just keep buying trades, though. I guess it’ll depend on how riveted I get in the story. I’m hoping Dr. Strange: The Oath shows up as a trade. If it does and I love it, I’ll probably buy the monthly when it comes out.
The best thing about trades, though, isn’t saving money (sometimes the cost is actually the same); IT’S THE COMPLETE LACK OF ADS. The ads in comics (especially the two page ones) are starting to drive me nuts.
If saving money was my primary concern, I’d get a subscription from Marvel…which I am considering for some titles, I gotta admit.
As for downloading, I’d only do it for stuff that’d cost too much (like, say, the entire run of Iron Man) or is impossible to find (like any freaking Force Works comic *anywhere*).
Absolute DC: The New Frontier and Lost Girls arrived today. They are fucking pretty.
They are fucking pretty.
I think that I showed the quality of the book(ANF) to my wife at least 4 or 5 times as I read it until she was like enough already. It’s really nice I get it. The front and back covers are striking. I love the built in bookmark thing that they do with the absolutes too. It’s great. And the paper and colors are so nice. I’ve done it again haven’t I?
Hey all,
Just jumping in on the Trade vs Individual Issue debate. I’m basically a retired comic book reader/collector. I read books constently for 10-15 years, and for one reason or another, eventually stopped.
But I always think back to the great stories and art, and often look at my existing collection longlingly, especially now that I’ve moved it to a more accessible part of the house. I intend to reread many of those books again, and I’ve started trying to get somewhat current again and know what is going on in the various universes.
For this, the IFanboy Podcasts have been great, as I listen to them on my daily commute, but I’m still behind, right now listening to #56 I believe.
So I’m in the process of getting back into comics, but there’s no way I’d pull this off if the only way was to get weekly issues and such. I just don’t have the time to focus or plan ahead like that. I burn TV shows like “Heroes” and “Jericho” to my iPod to watch, simply because I know I won’t catch them consistently. And that’s where Trades save me. Through Ebay, or ComicHole, or Amazon, I’m able to weed through and find the stories that I missed and always wanted to read, or add to my wishlists based on Podcast recommendations.
I just got the Kevin Smith trade for Black Cat/Spiderman that I’m looking forward to. I’ve recently added “Fable” and “Invincible” to my wishlist thanks to Ron/Josh/Connor’s feedback. (Well, 1 of the 3 on Fable anyway. 😉
Without Trades, I could not be a comic book fan right now. But thanks to them, I can research, get what I want, and then burn through them when I have some rare free time to spare. Yes I miss out on the weekly excitement, but I also don’t have to agonize about the delays.
That makes me happy. Just saying.
Keep up the good work guys.
Rando
Yeah, I do both myself, that’s why it’s a tie for me.
As far as individual Comics go, I try (and fail) to keep it to a few books like: Batman, New Avengers, Daredevil, Teen Titans, Amazing Spider-Man, and Immortal Iron Fist. I really need to switch to trades for Daredevil though because right now, ’cause the last book I bought was #45. (yikes)
But see, that’s also what’s great about Trades because after buying a couple, I can totally be caught up so I can start buying more recent DD books.
Another awesome things about Trades, is that it gives me a chance to read great runs I never had the chance to for whatever reason, like Batman: The Long Halloween, Sin City, Preacher, and so on.
You know what I heard about the dd collections? I think it was bendis on wordballoon in the four part fall interview that said they were moving from the oversized hard covers to the premier hardcovers. I was pissed. I already have a shelf full of the nicer format volumes.
“Lost Girls arrived today. They are fucking pretty.”
Conor, that’s just too easy…
That took much longer than I thought it would.
I stopped reading comics for three years, so when I got back onto the bandwagon this year I just had to catch up on some things, so I downloaded all of the Ultimate Spiderman and Xmen that I missed and House of M for free, if I was rich I would just go out and buy all of them but I only get paid 9 bucks an hour so I have to cheat sometimes, my point is that some sort of online archive for comics would be great, I would gladly pay (not much) for like a yearly membership where I could download and read a bunch of older comics.
Wow, quite a thread, but I’m surprised two key points were missed entirely, the Market View and the Artist View.
1) The Market View: Not every monthly ends up in trades, as the monthlies are still the testing waters for what will continue to sell and be big in the future. A limited series with a small but dedicated following MAY end up in trades, because the market is too small to support an ongoing series but big enough to support a trade on back order. But I am sure that the fans of the weekly buying trip to the lcs could name countless titles that never ended up in trades, or maybe not remember them because they were so forgettable.
On the other hand, weeklies allow for the breakout hit that no publisher would have gambled more on until after it proves its success as a weekly. I almost exclusively buy trades, but did buy the first or second weekly issue for a couple of new titles recently when I visited the U.S. to decide whether or not I wanted to buy the trade later. Even a store that mostly sells trades will still maintain a healthy sized weekly rack to keep tabs on what is currently selling and what could be big in the future. Conclusion; the market mandates trades, and thank goodness from my standpoint, but monthlies are far from fading. As for the commerical viability of the lcs and weeklies, people are doubtful, but just look at one example here where someone’s store allows for them to drop from a pull list last minute. Actually, what the store has there is a regular customer who may not pay for 10-15% of their pull list, but is a great regular customer still forking over a good guaranteed wad of cash on a weekly basis. Nice biz even if the market is imploding.
2) The Artist View-Just compare Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier and Bendis’ Daredevil and you see two pretty good story tellers — one in a big story fashion suited best for trades, and the other an expert writer in the monthly format. I couldn’t put down Cooke’s work, but I could put down Bendis, but always with great satisfaction and reading pleasure right where one issue left off and the next was to begin. Even in trade form, the fact that Bendis structured and wrote the story for a weekly format, and very well in that way, is extremely evident. Mignola’s Hellboy is another example — I couldn’t think of ever reading that monthly, and in fact passed on “Strange Places” when I came across it last year in a shop as a single issue monthly. But I love the trade, that (to me anyway) seems to be the best way to enjoy Mignola’s Hellboy, whereas Bendis is a great monthly writer who can give you just enough satisfaction for one month but still keep the story rolling and you waiting. Both are great, Buddha bless diversity.
I’m in Tokyo, so monthlies is out of the question for me, but still I absolutely hate online shopping for trades. Since I am very picky about artwork, I really need to leaf through a book to feel like I’m making the right purchase, even when I’ve found tons of great online advice (thanks guys). Even then, I feel let down 50% of the time. On a recent hometown visit to SF I visited Isotope to do some major catching up (thanks Ron!) and it was everything good people say about the lcs experience. All my purchases were thumbs up 100%. One measly shop in Shibuya, Tokyo with American comics has had some good stuff (got Hellboy, Marvel Earth X, JSA: The Liberty Files, Kingdom Come), but in one visit to Isotope my collection of trades increased by nearly 1/3.
You fanboys in the U.S. are so spoiled…. To those of you who predict and wish the destruction of the lcs, I would love to have you in Tokyo for just two weeks — you’ll be screaming in pain in no time. Cracked like a walnut, quivering like a junkie on both Wednesday and Thursday (Tokyo’s time zone is about one day ahead of the U.S.)
Addendum (re: digital format) – I’ve found time and again that reading comics written for the monthly format (which is probably still the biggest share of comics) in digital form sucks. It really has to be a great compelling story arc that keeps going and going or I shut down fast. “When we have the right reading device it will take off” is a commonly repeated phrase that sounds to me something like “when all cars can run on solar panels and pigs fly.” Been reading that phrase for over 7 years and many a test gadget has come and gone, never making it past the test marketing phase.
As to the big 2 switching to digital and their reservations about bootlegging, the only illegal bittorents available really are the big 2 big name titles already. Most of the really good stuff never makes it to the torrents and even keeping up with big name title current continuity is maddening. Give me 30 minutes in a comic shop to hours online anyday.
Paper’s demise is far from imminent. Surveys have shown that only about 6% of people download music and movies illegally, so don’t count on futurisitic nutrition pills to make up your entire diet yet….
As to the big 2 switching to digital and their reservations about bootlegging, the only illegal bittorents available really are the big 2 big name titles already. Most of the really good stuff never makes it to the torrents and even keeping up with big name title current continuity is maddening. Give me 30 minutes in a comic shop to hours online anyday.
To an extent that is true. It’s difficult to say find a torrent of the whole run of Strangers in Paradise. Email me if you do. Just kidding, piracy is wrong. arrr
However there are places where you can get nearly every book that comes out every week including titles from Oni, Boom, and others like them. You just need to know what to look for. Unfortunately this is the internet and it’s public so I can’t really point you in the right direction; not that I know anyway.
torrentspy.com has mundo comics. i tried a CW issues and it was stupid. So sue me.
What, me commit online piracy? Never in my life, and the parrot on my shoulder will vouch for that. But hey, if distributors in Japan won’t distribute even Buffy the Vampire Slayer past the the 2nd season here on DVD or Smallville and other US shows come out here like 5 years after they broadcast in the U.S, what’s a poor fanboy to do?… I’m sure if the police come for me, I’ll suddenly forget I speak fluent Japanese. And goodness knows the guys that run my DSL service don’t speak English (or understand English software)… No complaints here, me matie… arrr