Since the debut of the DC Universe app, I have found myself drastically cutting down on my comic book purchases. So much so, that I don’t even buy them any more. I might buy the occasional HC, but mostly in Omnibus form, and it has to be something I really love.
So the question is, do you still buy comics if you are a subscriber here? Do you purchase less? Thoughts?
I just started again last week, actually. I’m concentrating on stuff that won’t be here, or, at least, I don’t think will be. Black Label, mostly, a few M-word titles.
I definitely have a “want to read now” and a growing “this is great but I can wait” list
Yes, I still purchase comics every week.
I still hit up my LCS every week to grab my pull! Actually, in the first year of DCU, DC Daily had a heavy hand in increasing my purchases quite a bit lol I have since cut down a good amount seeing as how I can read so much here, but it’s more to do with wanting to support the talent involved in my favorite books (White Knight is a good example) and my undying love of physical print media.
But space is also a huge factor, so if I’m not seriously pumped for something (or have a prior hardcore addiction… I’m looking at you Batman), i try to hold off for either the trade, or in the case of DC, for the books to show up here.
But I think I’ll always buy comics, it’s in my inky blood 
I went from buying hundreds of used comics a year to about twenty used comics. If I still saw an insane deal, I’d probably take it.
Oh wait, I’m forgetting the insane deal that happened last year where I bought a few hundred for like twenty-five bucks. Okay, except for the insane deals, I’ve stopped buying them even when I get really good deals.
I have more here than I’ll ever read and they come with me every day in my pocket. You just can’t beat that. Also though I have an insanely large collection, I bought when I saw deals which means they were scattered issues, so I rarely got complete story lines much less runs. This is just way better.
Side note, that deal last years had virtually every DC Star Tres comic. Pretty sweet.
I bought less used comics, and that’s good, but I did buy more and more new comics because my love for comics increased when I bought DC Universe.
I have not bought a comic in over 20 years, but read them quite a bit now on this app
When DC Universe first started, i bought most of the popular Trades because comics were mainly one issue advertisements and Batman and Teen Titans issues were being offered and then pulled.
I still go to Comixology for their sales especially Vertigo.
I still buy current comics each week and report what I bought in Vroom’s current comics post.
I am extremely disappointed in most of what is being puplished by DC. I had such high hopes when Rebirth started but now Action Superman Aquaman Batman Detective Wonder Woman Nightwing Batgirl Red Hood Green Lantern have fallen dramatically from the beginning of Rebirth.
When I was in high school I used to buy them a lot. I took a long hiatus from comics after that and only renewed my interest in them after learning about/subscribing to DCU, because it was new and exciting! There was news about DCU for like a year before it became a real thing. Thanks to some new enthusiasm I reignited my interest in comics. And yes, I have bought a ton of new ones since this service began. I learned about some good ones through DC Daily. Even after they greatly expanded the DCU comics library I’ve still been buying them. And if they keep featuring my favorite characters I will keep buying them.
Yes, I still purchase comics. I receive them once a month in a shipping from Westfield Comics out of Wisconsin.
I still buy and collect pretty much the same new comics month-to-month that I did when this service launched. My desire to collect the print comics hasn’t really changed, but I now have the ability to read far more than I can afford to collect.
What has changed is that I don’t buy nearly as many back issues. I just try to fill the gaps left by the collection on the service (i.e., find copies of the issues I want that are not yet digitized).
I’ve never really gone the collected edition (trade paperback or hardcover) route, so that isn’t a factor for me one way or the other.
Westfield sent me comics every month back in the late 80s when I was stationed in Germany. The Stars and Stripes bookstore had comics, but it not everything and you couldn’t be sure month to month if they would have your title or it would sell out. Loved getting that boat of comics.
I am still buying physical comics monthly. I’m glad the online reading is available (and I have partaken of some early issues of Action Comics and stuff like that) but thus far I like to stay on top of the recently-released issues of things.
I still have a weekly pull list at the LCD for about 10-15 per month. I still do purchase others often with suggestions from DC Daily or from the forums.
I have read comics since I was a kid so the physical copies are always going to be my favorite type. But with the library here I have gotten to read so many more than I would have otherwise.
I often end up buying physical copies of back issues I have read on here.
Simple answer: I seldom purchase physical new comics. Why? I’m 65 years old, my wife is 68 and I need to pay off some debt over the next two years so I can go to part time and retire. Buying over $200 a month in new comics can’t be part of that plan sanely. Also, our current house, while adequate with a home office for me and a “craft room” for my wife, has no room for more and more long boxes of comics.
What few I maybe quarterly purchase is through mycomicshop.com for things like TWD (now over) or Black Hammer-related series. So maybe $20 every 3 months for new comics, and even those are mostly 3 or 4 months prior. I also purchase a very rare occasional digital Comixology copy, like the recent Metal Men #1, the two issues of Millenium Legion and I’ll pick up #1 of the new Legion Nov 6 I guess. I picked up Marvel Comics #1000 digitally, even though I assume it’ll be on MU in a year, but have only read like 4 pages of the 80 pages so far
I have been on a personal journey to move my comic book purchases from physical to Unlimited Digital since early 2015, when Marvel Secret Wars #4 came out. At that point, I went “cold turkey”, no longer buying new Marvel issues but instead waiting 9 months to see how Secret Wars and later Battleworld turned out. It was not easy, I still recall the cravings.
As other digital platforms came up, I would immediately jump on, and abandon purchasing that publisher, which seldom turned out well. Scribd, the digital book platform, offered stacks of Dynamite, Boom etc as part of their $46 a year all you can read offering around the same time. But by early 2017 they abandoned it, leaving me scrambling for physical copies I missed (I still subscribe for the unlimited novels, sheet music etc). Then Comic Blitz rolled out, I became a beta tester, and even was awarded a free year’s subscription for helping out…but that stopped a year ago (now is part of Con TV).
Around that time, Comixology started their Unlimited service. I jumped on, wasn’t impressed at first, but it’s gotten quite good. Some publishers like Boom, IDW, Dynamite, Archie and Valiant are 'all in", while others not so much. Of course, DC Comics has jumped in as well in a big way over there, and I get my Vertigo over on CU.
So DC Universe going crazy and opening their 21,000 plus comic digital library a la MU to us has been a dream come true. The main driver for me signing up for this the summer of 2018 was the hope of reducing or halting the purchase of physical DC comics that I craved (as the comic book addict I am).
But, as you, dear rare reader of this long rambling discourse, probably have guessed by now, I view most digital comics platforms like walking on thin ice: I’ll believe they are still here in 2 years when I see it.
I also still buy the occasional older comics that aren’t digitized or Archives / graphic novels that aren’t digitized. Yesterday my wife and I drove 2.5 hours into Canada from where we live in NY State mainly so I could buy some graphic novels, hardcover DC Archive editions etc at less than half price Canadian (then further savings as their dollar is only 77 cents or so US money). I picked up Blackhawks archive hardcover for what amounts to $16 US, sealed and crisp (and three volumes of Alien Legion, also not digitized).
I’m in the same mindset. I prefer digital these days because my apartment can’t fit a fraction of the books I’d like it to, but when I see a story arc or collection I’m a fan of, I’ll sometimes splurge because I’m worried it won’t be around on the platforms later.
As of late, I’ve been buying physical copies of Black Label titles or the occasional alt universe story, though.
DCU and Marvel Unlimited have only cut down on my buying in terms of back issues from years and years back. I took an extremely long hiatus from comics and only recently got back into them. Now, I’m slowly making my way through. Prior to these platforms, I was mostly relying on buying cheap used copies online, or taking advantage of the random comixology sale.
A. Do I still buy comics as a DCU subscriber? I surely do. Brand new comics and their Wednesday debuts are a huge part of my fan experience. There’s always a fresh batch of brand new action, adventure and fun to anticipate every week.
B. Do I purchase less? Here and there I do, but that has nothing to do with DCU. It has more to do with titles I may have lost interest in, or needing to cut down on comic spending due to other financial obligations. In all honesty (and this is the part that would make the Sales department at DC smile), I’ve bought some titles because of their being on DCU and it being an excellent “try it before I buy it” platform. So, on occasion, DCU has increased my comic spending.
Everyone has their preferences, and that’s fine. We all do what works best for us. For me, I just can’t wait a year for something to show up on DCU when it’s available now and can be re-read many times over by the time said something hits the service.
I enjoy being up to speed on what the current goings-on in the DCU are as they’re happening, so for me it’s important to read new comics either as they come out or when they are (in the case of contemporary trades) relatively recent.
I actually stopped buying comics a decade ago. I was working so much I never had time to read them. I’d occasionally by a trade, but that wasn’t very often.
Now my financial situation has worsened due to disability and I finally have the time but not the money. (Go from a $140k a year job to federal disability, which is less than $40k a year. It impacts discretionary spending a LOT.)
So I’m glad DCU exists and the 22k comics drop was a dream come true. I’m ok with being a year behind the latest stuff. It’s either DCU or no comics at all.
I love reading the Digital Library on DC Universe but I also love reading the latest releases. I buy books from my LCS weekly. I just enjoy the book in hand.