Buying Habits

I usually buy the first issue, read it a couple of times, and decide whether I like it from there. If it hooks me from the start, I'll continue buying the individual issues. If not, I'll either wait for the trade or drop it.

Right now it's about 2/3 in favor of single issues. That does count for the tons of singles I picked up when I was a kid and didn't know about TPBs, though.

I'd say a good 50% of it is DC, 20% Marvel, 10% Dark Horse, and 10% random other stuff. Virtually all of it is superhero, and I only own 1 manga.

I always make sure to pick up Action Comics and Detective, and I try to get at least a couple issues of other books when they're getting a new writer (ex: Simone on Wonder Woman) or in the middle of a big event (ex: Sinestro Corps War). I've been really put off by Marvel over the last year or so, so I don't buy much from them except for the occasional trade of Ultimate Spider-Man.

I buy comics to read them, though I try to keep them in at least decent condition. I move around a lot these days, so that hasn't really been possible.

 

I usually try to buy the individual issues when they first come out. If the book falls off my radar after the previews, and I forget about it, I'll pick up the trade to catch up.

I'd say 10% of the book I buy are trades, and the other 90% are single issues.

60% Marvel (all superhero), 25% DC's mainline (also all superhero), and 15% independent. I only pick up one Vertigo comic (Y: The Last man in trades), and I own only one volume of a Tenchi Muyo manga.

There are roughly 10 comics I always buy. I really don't care which publisher they come from, although I mostly pick up Marvel and DC books due to their higher exposure. Also, whenever I want to start reading a book that's been ongoing for a while, I join in purely through trades. Consequently, I'll never be up-to-date on stuff like Runaways.

My trades are neatly stacked in the corner of my room, save for the few I keep in my car to read while at work. My single issues are stored in 4 shoeboxes (I've only been buying comics since January 2006) that I keep under my bed and desk.
I'm a reader, not a collector.

 

1. I'd buy the individual issues.

2. Probably 80% issues, 20% trades. That's an estimation.

3. I'd say 75% superheroes, 15% Vertigo, 10% indies, and maybe some small fraction of a percent for manga. I own far more comics and trades than any other type of book.

4. I buy whatever I find myself enjoying primarily. The only real sacred cow I have is Thor--I'll buy anything with him. But everything else depends on the creative team, the story, and whether I enjoy it. Publishers don't matter to me; I've been buying indies without even looking at the publisher marking lately. I've borrowed a few trades from the library, but I like to own my comics.

5. I buy comics purely to read, then I just keep them. I treat them as well as I can without putting them in bags and boards, although I have a few hundred in bags and boards in about 8 longboxes. The rest are strewn all over my room in piles because I'm too lazy to actually organize them. I don't consider them disposable, and I don't fold the cover back or anything. The trades I've read are all on 3 shelves of a bookcase.

 

1.I'll wait for trade, unless something awesome is about to happen and then i get a sneak peak of an issue.

2.I used to collect a sort of trade book in the uk called 'Astonishing spidernman', 'essential x-men', 'wolverine unleashed' where they collected two current story arcs and one classic into a lil collector's monthly book. I stopped that a while ago and now only collect random trades and ultimate timeline stuff in trade.

3.pretty much all superhero stuff.

4.most marvel, mostly ultimates now but wanting to persue some classic dc trades as marvel has been putting me off. Will return to get world war hulk in trade and see what the big fuss was all about.

 

1/ I buy the individuals....I never wait for trades....

2/ I have a couple of dozen trades, that's it...99% + of my collection is individual

3/ 100% superhero.....probably 70-30 Marvel vs DC All time....as of right now it's probably closer to 50/50

4/ Like most, I have a pull list and two suppliers.....I deviate from the pull list for special minis et al "Silver Surfer Requiem"...but not often. I buy from both Marvel and DC

5/ I buy comics to read, not collect. If a series I'm currently reading tanks (ASM for instance) I have no problem taking it off my pull list and waiting till it gets better...I'm not a so-called completionist. I bag and board all my comics.

 

I pick up the comics... the only time I get trades is if I heard of a series too late and then I get the series in that format.

I have over 30 long boxes of comics (approx. 300 issues per box)... so about 10 000 comics (98%), and I probably have about 150 trades (2%).

I get 37.5% Marvel Comics, 25% DC Comics, 12.5% of Image Comics & 12.5% of Dark Horse Comics, and 12.5% Independants.

Of that, 55% are superhero books and about 20% are Vertigo style comics.
I do not own nor buy any manga comics.

I buy core titles and tend to stick with them unless they get extremely bad... and I'll wait out bad times because after 33 years of monthly comic buying, I've come to realize that good times are just around the corner.

I buy all the books I need and only use the library for reference material whenever it's required (I don't use it for comics)

I buy everything to read... nobody should buy them to collect... collect only what you want to read. I bag all my comics (very few of them are boarded) and put them in boxes afterwards, and I keep my trades on shelves, and I take more liberties with them, meaning I'm not as carefull with them as I am with my comics.

 

I'll buy the individual issues.

99.9% singles. I have 6 Essentials. I'm not too fond of trades only b/c they're pricey and more often than not I find it's easier and cheaper just to buy the singles.

99.9% Marvel, with a little DC and DH mixed in. Currently I'm only reading Marvel. My DC and DH stuff was all given to me, and they're old.

I only buy Marvel b/c that's where my interest lies. Right now I'm reading Ghost Rider, Captain America, and Thor. I read any extra books associated with said characters. As far as random titles go, I may pick up Cable & Deadpool every now and then. I don't go to the library much.

I buy comics for both reasons. I read them, and anything valuable I put in mylar. I treat my comic with the utmost care. Everything is always bagged and boarded. I never leave them sitting unprotected. I keep them in boxes like the ones found in dealers' shops.

 

1: Individual issues.

2: I buy 10-15 comics each month, and probably average one trade every two or three months.

3: Usually about 50% DC, 20% Dark Horse, 20% Marvel, and 10% other.

4: I have my mainstays, like BPRD and Action Comics, which I always buy. Then I have traditional favorites which I'll buy if I like what I see. And then others which interest me at the moment, but I keep buying if I'm satisfied. I don't buy late books, and I'm less inclined to buy stuff that crosses over into a bunch of different titles. I do occasionally check out trades from the library.

5: I read everything that I buy. I have sold comics or given them away, but for the most part, I keeMost of my books are bagged and boarded. If they're not stored in some kind of box, they might temporarily be stacked in a small pile, somewhere.

 

1) Usually single issues. I'll buy the trade if I only have a moderate interest, or if I forget about the series for a few months.

2) Around 70% single issues.

3) A good 75% of my collection is DC. Dark Horse is another 10%, and Top Cow is 5%. The last 10% is random independent publishers. I was surprised when I found out that I don't own anything published by Marvel.

4) I'm very selective in what I buy, it's usually only a couple series a month. Occasionally I'll try out another series if it catches my interest. I like reading book from issue #1, so I tend to pick up the trades first before I get the current issues. Specific characters or genres are my main factors in buying books, much moreso than publishers, writers, or artists.


5) I read everything I buy. I like collecting them too, so I bag/board everything and store them in comic boxes.

 

1: Wait for the trade, unless I think I'll love the new series.

2: Issues--60% Trades--40%

3: All the ones I buy monthly are superheroes, and most of the trades I own are superheroes. I own about 85% Marvel and 15% DC/Dark Horse.

4: I usually collect 4 or 5 series. Two or three are monthly, one is not monthly, and one is a mini-series.

5: I'd say I buy them to read, but I do keep the single issues in bags. I don't bag the trades, but I take good care of them.