Over the past year or so I have noticed a distinct change in my reading habits. While I do have a hefty weekly pull list it often becomes more of a chore each week as I attempt to keep up with those purchases. On the other hand, I find myself reading more collected editions like trade paperbacks or hardcovers.
I am on the verge of switching almost exclusively to the collected edition, minus a few one-shots or series. One of the biggest hindrances that I have found is F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out). Then something clicked in my head as I am looking at the selected books in my to-read pile from my bookshelves. I have a book featuring comic strips from the 30s and 40s, a compilation featuring golden to bronze age stories, and a few more modern books ranging from the late 80s to today. So what exactly am I fearing that I will miss out on? Even my DCUI reading is more focused on titles of yesterday than the newest releases, minus club reading.
So I think I know what I will be doing here but what are your thoughts?
I have collected single issues for so long, but wow it is so much more convenient to read and collect/store a graphic novel or omnibus. I would rather look at them in a bookshelf than another box of floppies (although the new decorated boxes are kind of nice).
At this point, I have every single issue appearance of Conan and Red Sonja (actually anything Robert E. Howard), but my pull list for other stuff is pretty small. I’ll always get Knights of the Dinner Table and Groo singles (I have all but 9 KoDT and every single Groo, because I am obsessive after all).
Anyway, it’s nice to see I’m not the only one struggling to make a final decision on this. I really wonder what the future will hold for single issues and the entire comics industry. I will say that if not for digital my reading would be seriously limited.
Golden Age Wonder Woman Omnibuses are on my wish list right now.
To make things even more fun, within the past 2 weeks I just added A LOT of books to my pull list. This was actually the catalyst to get me thinking about how I prefer to read. I will keep some monthly books, the DC trinity, DC Horror Presents titles, and a few others. However, things like the Booster and Blue Beetle books will be regulated to collected editions.
Funny that, the Golden Age Superman Omnibuses are the only collected editions on my wishlist right now. Now if they want to put out Captain Marvel Golden Age Omnibuses then we’ll break open the piggy bank.
I’m going down with the single issue ship. If DC switches to all digital or all graphic novel format, my wallet will be permanently closed.
I mostly get trades these days. I do get a couple series in single issues just to show my support for them and makes sure that enough is published to actually get trades.
I find that I lose track of some stories if I read them monthly instead of all at once. I just prefer to read them all at once and trades makes that super easy. I am running out of space on my bookshelf though, which is the only downside.
Since I am pretty new at the comic thing, I am happy to embrace the convenience of both digital and collected editions. Other than those comics I have framed in my Diana shrine (which I only bought to display the cover art rather than read), I buy the stuff I love in collections. And my subscriptions, few as the are, are digital. And then of course I catch up with some stuff on DCUI.
Yeah. I don’t live anywhere near a comic book shop or any book store that actually keeps up with current comics. So it became easier for me to collect trade paperbacks/hardcovers off Amazon.
Same issues, @D4RK5TARZ! I have a bit of both too but I realized that I prefer the collected editions because I can continue the story arc without interruption or the weird delicacy of single issues.
It is a weird thing, right? If I bought it, I will or plan to read it, but I am definitely preferring collected editions. However, I have found that I prefer digital while working. It is a lot easier to have a tablet than a book and a bookmark. In fact, that is how I have been reading Catwoman comics today.
I prefer singles and collections (regardless of print or digital platforms) on a nearly equal basis, so “both” would get my vote, were it an option.
From the options available, I went with singles. I’ve done the trades-only thing before and had an absolute blast with it, but you’re always behind the very-latest goings on and for me at least, that got tiring during my trades-only times, so I always went back to singles, so as to be up to speed with my favorite franchises, characters and titles.
Singles in the digital landscape are even better, because you have no space issues to worry about, can buy them at your leisure and can read them on screens that make Absolutes look like Reader’s Digest in comparison.
I’m a trades guy. I don’t have a comic shop in my town, and I like the convenience of having a whole storyline (sometimes in larger form with a deluxe edition) in one place. I know this isn’t great for supporting the industry, but… I also just don’t want to end up with a bunch of single issues from a pull list that I discover I don’t want after reading them. Comics ain’t cheap.
So to your point, you prefer the Deluxe Editions or omnibus as not all hardcovers are bigger like the original printings of the Earth One series.
@Vroom I thought about going the digital route but then I see the same price tag on a digital issue as I do on a physical issue. If I am going to pay that price, I might as well just get the physical copy. The CU subscription discount is the same as it is my LCS for having a pull list.
For collected editions (trades/hardcovers/omnis, etc.) I have been rocking eBay. I found a sale of buy 2 get 1 free. I have the Tomasi Superman omnibus on the way to my house along with a Harley and Batman Elseworlds softcover. Also, another downside is that books go out of print, usually the books that I am looking for so I have to find decent copies used most of the time. I am checking out that link though!
For whatever reason, none of the three comic stores I bounce between offer discounts, so CU comes out ahead of them.
Plus, the hours of those stores are sometimes inconvenient, while Comixology is open 24/7. So, another point for them.
I don’t mind paying cover, but when I get the 2021 Annuals of interest for nearly a buck off the cover price at CU, it’s kind of hard to buy them in print, given that the money saved from them will, in turn, go towards a book or two that I will buy in print.
Wow, that’s too bad. I think all of the LCSs close to me offer a pull list discount and this is the first I’ve heard of one not offering a break. My main one offers varying levels from regular subscription to pre-pay, even.
Even still, the only reason I get any singles is to have a reason to go to the store every week. I like the people there and it’s fun to talk comics and they keep me up on things I might be interested in. They’ll always make a note on my account to ask whether I’d like to add certain books (singles and collected). For everything else, though, I’ve come around to collected. More convenient, easier to store and retrieve and prettier. I find I’m so behind on reading that FOMO isn’t a worry anymore and as I get older, collecting becomes less appealing. There are certainly single issues I love, but for the most part my singles become something I need to deal with, not something I want.
This is another great point. I am in the snail speed process of bagging/organizing my comics. While it did start as a fun little project for the weekends, it is quickly becoming a chore.
I have a bit of both too but I realized that I prefer the collected editions because I can continue the story arc without interruption or the weird delicacy of single issues.
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