Issues or Paperback?

[PyroChamber]

Do you prefer to buy comics issue by issue or do you prefer to wait until the issues are together in paperback?

 

[SouLeSS]

Issues.

People who wait for trades are the reason things like Blue Beetle was canned.

Although, I do pick up trades of things I missed, like the first 2 arcs of X-Force. I plan on picking up the trade(s) when I can rather than the single issues.

 

[Jack O Lantern]

It depends on the comic. With Amazing Spider-Man coming out 3 times a month I buy single issue's. But with DD, Captain America and ULT. Spidey I'm starting to go trade

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Issues. I generally only pick up trades for comics I didn't get into from #1, and even then, I usually buy the issues once I've caught up.

 

[K.B.]

Great idea for a thread

(and thank god PyroChamber used the proper term "trades" and not "graphic novel".....dumba**es.)

I buy both but if I absolutley had to pick, hands down it's issues.

It is so much better to buy issues over trades for a number of reasons and here is mine..

First, its so great to just be able to hold a single issue in your hands and take it in. While yes, you might be reading the same thing in the trade, it's just a little different to have that single issue in your hands. Maybe some of you know what I mean, but back to this in a second....

With buying the single issues your supporting a book and if you love it,that can be a good thing. As others have said, low sales means cancelation and sometimes it's the real gem of a book that gets the chopping block. If you REALLY love a book and it's under the radar then please show your love. Write to the companys, post on their messege board, buy copies for friends, tell them about it. Basically, get the word out. For some odd reason comic companys still don't understand that not every book sells Spider-Man or Batman numbers and that just because those characters issues sell big, dosent mean those stories are actually any good. In fact it's safe to say that the reason Superman, X-Men, Batman and Spider-Man sell so big is only based on the recognition factor.

With a new issue it's great to read and your up to date. You can now go on to discuss the issue and storyline etc with your friends and other fans in person or online at places like the hype. Your up to date with the current goings on in the title and therefore nothing has been spoiled for you by the time you get the trade which would only hinder your reaction to the events because its already in your mind.

Now back to that first point of it being great to hold that single issue in your hands in your hands. Anyone whos been here will automatically know what I mean...

If it is a back issue, something you have sought out andspent your hard earned money on, then nothing is more gratifying then being able to sit back and read that single issue that has eluded you. Call it the thrill of the hunt if you want. And if it's a book of particuler historcal merit, then god man thats livin'.

Example: My education went like this..as a kid I was always reading comic books. Always. I also spent a lot of time at my uncles house and he kept all the comic books from when my dad and his brothers were growing up so I would go there and read something like Amazing Spider-Man # 2, then go home and read my own copy of his current book done by Salicrup, McFarlane etc. To me, as a kid (and today, as I got the collection when he passed) there was something so awe inspiring to actually hold a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #2 in my hands. How many people get to do that in their life and how much do they have to pay to get the book?


I buy trades if it's something I find interesting and either missed out on, am now missing the issues of, or it's been suggested to me. And I especially buy trades when they are cheap. Conventions are great for this.

The comics I buy in hardcover are things like the Absolute DC titles that I love or anniversarry stuff like Arkham Asylum or Year one that came out a few years ago. I hardly ever buy Marvel hardcovers because frankly, Marvel sucks at it. I think the only ones I own are the black and white editions if things like Sales stuff and Bianchis Wolverine run.

(Sorry DC kicks butt at putting out great trades that are worth the price tag)

 

[Addendum]

I buy trades. I've never been the type of person who has to swing by the comic shop once a month or so, to pick up a stack of issues. The bookstores are closer, though I will pop in if the Borders doesn't have what I'm looking for.

I also enjoy sitting in my recliner or sofa, with a drink on the table, and kick back and have a good read. In that sense, the trades offer me a similar experience that I have when I read a regular book: be it fiction or nonfiction. I've never gotten that same experience with individual issues.

Another reason is aesthetics. Trades look nicer on a bookshelf that individual issues.

Plus, almost everything that I tend to read has already been collected into trades. The only series that I read that still release stuff monthly or so are Fables, Rex Mundi and The Walking Dead. And even with those, I stick to the trades.

 

[DJ Kornphlake]

Trade. Less expensive, I can read the whole arc at once, and they look nicer on bookshelves.

 

[Mogwai]

trades for me. just can't get to the comic shop once a week for the few series i collect.

 

[Max J Power]

Usually issues, because I like to read the stories as they come out and not have to wait for the trade. The only exceptions books that are really decompressed or come out really late.

 

[Manic]

Both, but it depends on when I started reading the comic.

I always read long ended series as trades. I didn't pick up Alias until the hardcover omnibus came out, and I'm currently picking up Dennis O'Neil's old The Question trades as they come out.

Also, if I jump into an ongoing series at the wrong time, I'll be stuck picking up nothing but trades. I started reading Ultimate X-Men when the 'Return of the King' arc was still being released as monthlies. I had to pick up the trades to catch up, but because the latest trade is always a few months behind the current monthly issue, I had to make the choice between either switching to issues and missing half of an arc, or sticking with trades and staying a few months behind everyone else. I stuck with trades. I did the same with practically every DC title I was reading until OYL, when I switched to monthlies.

If the comic is being published by a publisher outside of the Top 5 (Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, IDW), then I'll almost always wait for the trade. That's how I read The Boys. That's how I used to read everything by Virgin Comics (when they still existed).

I also trade wait everything I've ever read by Vertigo or Wildstorm. Fables, Y the Last Man, Ex Machina, Welcome to Tranquility, ect.

However, I currently buy the monthly issues of everything I read by Marvel, DC proper, and IDW. I've got a pull list of about 18-20 titles.

 

[StreetWarrior]

I prefer trades, but I realize that issues are a necessity for a book's survival.

 

[Ipodman]

Trades for mua. Altho i wanna read the latest issues right away, i somehow prefer to enjoy them as an arc

 

[E-Man]

It depends on what the status of what I'm reading is.

-If I wanted to catch up on an old storyline, then trades all the way. Hunting down back issues can be a drag sometimes compared to just getting a trade. This is where trades shine. If you want to get into a character that's a little far along in their series, you can picks up trades of the earlier issues if they have them.

-If it's a current comic, then that's where things get interesting. If it's one of the major characters that appear in a million books a month, then I'll prefer to wait for trades of the more important and interesting storylines. There's no way in hell I'm buying every single appearance of every X-related character. I love the X-Men, but this whole thing of having 15 different teams and what not can go to hell. I'll just pick up an X-Factor, or solo trade. If something big happens, then I'll pick up the trade instead of buying 10 different issues.

-Now if it's a character that's limited to one book, then it depends on how much I'm into the story. If it's Captain America, or something like Invincible I'll pick up the individual issues. If I find myself not liking the story, then it's trade for me. Hudlin's Black Panther got the trade treatment for me early on. Black Panther's my favorite character, so I'm going to buy his issues no matter what. But with Hudlin's writing, I got tired of being disappointed after an issue, and then having to wait with that anger for a whole month. So I just decided to ignore the title until a new trade was out. The new series I have picked up the single issues so far though.

-If it's an indy title, I will 99% of the time go for single issues. You never know how long an indy title will last, so if it's something that catches my interest I'd buy it. There's also the fact that there's no guarantee that it will be reprinted in trade form. Indy titles are also usually 4,5 or 6 issues long, so buying it monthly has a good anticipating vibe for them.

 

[Lucien]

If I could afford it i'd definately buy issues, I totally get the appeal. But I can't so I don't. All but a few of my comics are trades, which do look nicer collected on a book shelf. It does though eat away at me waiting for the trade to come out in paperback. I've only just started getting some ongoing titles in hardback, but even then only those I have a particular affinity for and that i'd find impossible to wait the extra half a bloody year to be released, such as Green Lantern, Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

[Lobo]

Issues. I buy trades for things I wasn't on board with from the beginning. If I like the first one, I'll catch up, and then, from there buy single issues.

 

[Comics N' Toons]

I collect comics in trade or HC form, frankly because there's more bang for your buck, as well as the impressiveness of how it appears on shelves.

But I collect things that not a lot of people do: The Phantom, Philip Marlowe GN's, Dick Tracy Volumes, The Shadow etc.

I also have a lot of the run of the mill Batman books and a host of other superheroes

 

[NDX]

I prefer trades because I only pick up one monthly usually (Ghost Rider, since Eternals was cancelled and Man-Thing never gets more than a mini).

I'm a big fan of The Walking Dead. I can't go back and track down the last 10 issues easily, let alone the last 60. The 12 issues hardcover trades are blessings. Not only do they have a nice overall clean look, they have a decent collection of extras, as well as the covers (which from what I read the 6 issues trades do not have).

Trades also allow me to follow other characters easier, as well as read stories like House of M, Annihilation/Conquest, and the Return of Superman (if I could only find Funeral For a Friend collected and not as an omnibus). Soon I'll be picking up some Punisher MAX, Captain America's omnibus and Y: The Last Man. It just makes it easier to keep up.

Plus, in the end, I tend to bend pages when reading single issue comics, that's why I don't even read the one comic a month I buy. I find other ways.

My trade collection is small right now, but I expect it to to double by the end of the year.

 

[Dark Victory]

It depends on the comic, but most of the time I'm going to go with the trade. The only comics I buy monthly are Batman, Detective Comics, Ultimate and Amazing Spider-Man, Dark Avengers, and Deadpool. Trades are always easier to get, like nicer on a shelf, and usually offer a discount compared to buying an arc monthly and there's also Ebay and Amazon where I've payed $5(including shipping) for a $25 hardcover.

 

[Lord Valumart]

i like issues better than trades personally but i do pick up trades of somethings that i've missed and can't be bothered looking on ebay.

i get the Dark Tower HC's cause personally i think thats what they should be, proper hardback books and i look at them differently to other comics. i get the classic dr who trades casue thats the only way you can get the comics as they were first printed in dr who weekly/monthly/magazine, without being recoloured by marvel or IDW, but i buy the IDW new series stuff in issue form due to the amount of one shots. i've also started picking up the new BSG trades since i missed them completely and onyl got into the series with series 4. i also have the indiana jones omnibus volumes form dark horse. and if it's a mini series i missed then trade is ALWAYS the option, like ghost rider road to damnation or 1602.

everything else is issues cause thats how they were intended to be read, as singular issues.

 

[louiebling$]

Issues...... if i start on a series late i usually will catch up and get the issues i dont have at Wonder con.... the only paperback i have is Watchmen cuz the issues were too damn expensive at WonCon.

 

[AlteredEgo]

depends on how the issues are being written, ive found some series (Walking Dead) to be more enjoyable when i can sit down and read an arc from beginning to end, without the start/stop of waiting for issue after issue.

 

[random_havoc]

tpb. Sturdier format.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

I buy issues, but as books go up in price I'll be pickin' up a lot more trades, especially minis.