As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

Format Wars: Issues Vs. TPBs

SeravenSeraven Registered User regular
edited June 2007 in Graphic Violence
I'm uncertain if this topic has been brought up yet, so I've decided to make a thread dedicated to its discussion. I've been thinking a lot about my monthly expenses lately and inevitably came to the conclusion that the majority of my spare money goes towards comic books. Now, I love comic books just as much as the next guy, but I think we can all agree that the price for such a small piece of entertainment (however entertaining it may be) is rather steep. I'm not here to debate that fact, however; I'm here to discuss the formats of the comic book industry itself.

I imagine trade paper-backs are a preference, right? But why? Personally, I find them a lot easier to store and are generally cheaper than their single counterparts. (Keep in mind, I mean they're cheaper if you purchase them from an online outlet, such as Amazon.) With those two points aside--and the obvious advantage of having an entire story arch in front of you without having to wait another month or two for the next part ignored--what exactly makes singles appealing? Maybe I should ask if they are at all?

Do we purchase singles because we want to get our hands on the next part of the story as quickly as possible? Or do we purchase singles because we're collectors and want to harvest the series in its pure, raw form? The more I think about it, the more I see the benefit in collecting the trade paper-backs instead. Does anyone think differently? I understand that shirking the singles hurts the industry, but is it really that selfish a desire? I'm presently on the edge of canceling all of my subscriptions and collecting the trade paper-backs instead, but I can't help but feel really, really guilty.

Also: what's your opinion on online vendors? I would love to support the small businesses and comic shops that rely on my business (and others'), but I can't help but feel like I'm being ripped off royally. I'm not even going to get into the American to Canadian conversion rates here. Does it make me a bad person to want to find entertainment at a cheaper price? I don't exactly make a lot of money, but I could afford to give said shops more business. I suppose this is really more a debate of morals, but who honestly thinks supporting Amazon over a small shop is likened to that of devil worship?

So what's everyone's opinion? I realize this wasn't as narrow a topic as I would have enjoyed it to be, but I think the two issues are inherently intertwined. Feel free to argue for otherwise.

Seraven on
«1

Posts

  • MalkorMalkor Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I get DC stuff in TPB because I usually don't follow DC's universe as much as Marvel. I get issues because one of the fondest memories of my childhood were going through my grandparent's, father's, and uncle's comics collections. Most of its gone because of my Mom though. I plan on keeping up the tradition for my kids newphews, nieces, and grandkids.

    Malkor on
    14271f3c-c765-4e74-92b1-49d7612675f2.jpg
  • unpurposedunpurposed Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I think that there is simply something much different about buying single issues than TPB's. It is probably the collector inside of me that enjoys keeping that one issue.

    That's not to say that TPB's aren't pretty cool, specifically because they present one single story arc in a convenient setting (as you said).

    I get some Marvel TPB's simply because of the convenience. For example, I have the Iron Man Execute Program TPB because I loved the story arc (not as much as the Extremis arc but still) and it had the variant covers in the back (which by the way make the collector inside of me say YES!).

    I just wish it wasn't so expensive.

    unpurposed on
  • ShimShamShimSham Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I personally love Trades, mainly because I can't make myself keep up with things over such a long period of time. I either forget or stop caring and then I'll miss like two issues and don't want to go buy the new issue because then I'll be confused or something.

    Same thing with TV, I usually watch a series til I miss an episode or two by mistake then stop watching all together til the DVD comes out.

    So yeah, I definitely prefer trades and for the most part that's all I buy now. I don't really collect comics anymore but I still like some of the popular stories so yeah I'll pick up a trade every now and then.

    ShimSham on
    QcGKhPm.jpg
  • Garlic BreadGarlic Bread i'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm a Registered User, Disagreeable regular
    edited May 2007
    I bought trades to catch up on stuff and now I buy monthlies

    except for Fables. I just enjoy that more in trades

    Garlic Bread on
  • hughtronhughtron __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    I useually prefer trades to singles, because typically singles, especially from Marvel and DC, offer little to no incentive to buy, other than getting the story six months sooner. I think most people just buy them out of habit. There is certainly little value in them, and unlike a trade, that you can typically stick on a shelf or place somewhere, singles get bagged and boxed when you're done with them. I actually just posted about this earlier today on Matt Fraction's message board. I'd love to see companies invest in quality singles.

    The Comics Single was a perfect little pop paradox: it can be a cheap, disposable piece of entertainment, and yet at the same time it can also serve as a wonderful little piece of art. A good single is something I want to have sitting on my coffee table for people to see, pick up, and read/

    -Follow Warren Ellis' lead on Planetary; make every issues a unique object d'art, that people want to pick up and hold and touch, like a record sleeve only with punching. Comics are way radder than EPs, so they should look just as cool. The average Marvel or DC cover is boring, generic and lifeless. Look at how Planetary changed its logo every issue.

    -Have you ever seen Corey Lewis' PENG! It's about 90 pages. It's nearly trade-sized, but formatted like a floppy, with cardstock cover. Make more books like that. Comic 'novellas'. (Incidently, I think this is how the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is being released.) Slightly bigger and longer, but still floppy enough to be cheaper than a trade. I've got PENG! sitting in a little pile of stellar floppies on our coffee table, along with my favorite issues of SOLO (Cooke, Pope and Allred, in case you're interested), and the Comics Festival Free Comic Book Day issue, because these are all floppies that feel like something more.

    -Make more Slimline books. When I pick up an issue of Casanova or Fell, I know I'm getting a complete object, something that exists as its own little piece of pop culture. It's short, it's fun, it's a perfect radio single in comic book form. On the opposite end of PENG!, I'd like to see smaller comics, that deliver done-in-one bursts or energy, for a smaller price-point. Fast, fun, and well-constructed.

    -Phonogram's Keiron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie were talking recently about 'comics as magazines'. Do this too. Fill up singles with text and art and pictures. Cram them with information. One of the main reasons that Fell and Casanova and Phonogram are so great is the backmatter in the single issues (which, incidently, is not included in the trades, giving more value to the single issues). Comics needs to get the zine-kids and the webcomics kids together. Why not a monthly music criticism magazine, done as a comic?

    -Finally, follow Jeff Smith's example: KEEP THEM IN PRINT. Part of the reason that Bone is so popular is that Smith made damn sure that anybody could start reading it at any time, and the issues were always there to pick up.

    Give people a reason to pick up a single issue. Make it something they want to keep and treasure and lend to their freinds. Give them value, and not in the CGC 9.8 'mint-in-bag' sense. I've dropped pretty much every single issue comic that isn't giving me a reason to buy it in the singles, because the trades are so much better economically, and as a nice, solid, THING that I can put on a shelf and show off and pass around to my friends.

    hughtron on
    minisy3.gif
  • MunchMunch Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I only buy singles because A) I like to get the next installment of the story before it gets the fuck spoiled out of it somewhere and B) I never know if someonthing will be put into a trade or not. Marvel and DC are both extremely erratic when it comes to putting some of their less hyped stuff in trades. Son of Vulcan? Doc Samson's mini? Deadshot's mini by Christos Gage? All excellent comic books, but all things that I have to keep around in single issues since the companies decided they couldn't turn a profit putting out a collection of the material. Shit, I own a full set of Green Arrow trades, and I'm still missing a bunch of issues since DC decided that a bunch of fill-ins weren't worth collecting.

    I wouldn't be the least bit disappointed if comics were distributed solely through OGNs. No more shitty ads, no more getting half a story, waiting a year, and then getting another part, and no more crusty longboxes filled with comics that need new bags and liners every few years.

    Munch on
  • TerrorbyteTerrorbyte __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    I get floppies even for stuff that I know I'll get in trade, partially because I want the content right the fuck now and also because I do like the format. Generally, the stuff that I also collect in trade is stuff that I want on my bookshelf or that has some added value (see: Absolute editions).

    Terrorbyte on
  • Munkus BeaverMunkus Beaver You don't have to attend every argument you are invited to. Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    edited May 2007
    I prefer buying trades.

    But I get monthlies for the two comics that I want off the presses (ultimate spider-man, deadpool)

    Munkus Beaver on
    Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
  • BlankspaceBlankspace __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    I buy TPB's for stories that I feel deserve them. I'm going to buy the Jeff Smith Shazam story in Hardcover, same with Justice.

    For my normal month-to-month titles though, I go to the shop. I love coming home every Wednesday with a pile of books to read.

    Blankspace on
    SIG.gif
  • The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I will buy trades to get caught up on a title I just got into, but once I am caught up, I just buy floppies.

    I do, however, love, buying trades of series that have finished up. Just because I like having a few trades and saying "this is all of it"

    The Lovely Bastard on
    7656367.jpg
  • noir_bloodnoir_blood Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Huh, I was just thinking about making a thread about this very subject, namely because I'm moving, and have way too many single issues to lug around. My tpbs on the other hand look great on my new bookcase. I keep buying single issues because I want the story now, and not even a collector, as my long boxes are jammed with comics. I do have the full run of USM though, complete with the white issue, but that's mainly because I like the series, and I used to work at a hobby store where I got all my comics for free.

    noir_blood on
  • muninnmuninn Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    One of the reasons why I get floppies is the ads... Nothing dates a comic more than the ads contained within. So when I read these books few years later I can go "wtf lolz" with nostalgia. Like some of the shit I have from the 90s and 80s where there are ads for obscure genesis, Nintendo games that time has erased from the collective memory.

    muninn on
  • TerrorbyteTerrorbyte __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2007
    muninn wrote: »
    One of the reasons why I get floppies is the ads... Nothing dates a comic more than the ads contained within. So when I read these books few years later I can go "wtf lolz" with nostalgia. Like some of the shit I have from the 90s and 80s where there are ads for obscure genesis, Nintendo games that time has erased from the collective memory.

    Hell fuckin' yeah.

    Terrorbyte on
  • deadonthestreetdeadonthestreet Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Marvel's oversized hardcovers are the best.

    deadonthestreet on
  • DVGDVG No. 1 Honor Student Nether Institute, Evil AcademyRegistered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I wish I were the patient sort of person who could wait for trades. I tend to buy there series that I follow monthly every month because I feel like I can't wait 6 months to see Ultimate Spidey's next adventure or what have you.

    DVG on
    Diablo 3 - DVG#1857
  • PNT510PNT510 Registered User new member
    edited May 2007
    I just wait for the trades when it comes to most books. I don't keep very good care of my comics and I find trades are alot more durable. It's also alot easier to loan a single trade to a friend then to give them a bunch of single issues if they want to check something out.

    PNT510 on
  • SageinaRageSageinaRage Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I've pretty much switched to exclusively trades, mainly because I get tired of my singles getting bent or beat up or something, and also tired of missing that one damn issue that I can't find after I decide to start collecting a book.

    SageinaRage on
    sig.gif
  • totallymiketotallymike Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    The comic shop in my town runs its own subscription plan which basically boils down to them saving certain books for you when they come out and then selling them to you at a 20% discount. Very nice because I have enough books set aside that I can go down there every week, drop like ten bucks and stay up to date on everything I care about. In that manner I love floppies, cheap, portable, and the feeling of walking out of the store with a big stack of them is near unbeatable.

    totallymike on
    I'd like to believe that there's a step between shitting out of your vagina and lawyers


    totallym1ke.png
  • ParisInFlamesParisInFlames Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I like trades. But for the most part I just catch up to something with trades then just pick up singles.

    My only exception would be Runaways. Cheap trades are fantastic!

    ParisInFlames on
    UnderwaterUmbrellaGirlwider.jpg
    Steam id: skoot LoL id: skoot
  • ShoggothShoggoth Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I prefer trades 99% of the time.

    I would rather read a story from start to finish without waiting. If I had all the single issues of something I'd still rather read a trade because I'm lazy.

    The only time I buy single issues is to check a new series out (which I rarely do) or if it's a miniseries of some kind that I know I'll like I'll buy the single issues.

    Otherwise I wait for the trades.

    Shoggoth on
    11tu0w1.jpg
  • SeravenSeraven Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    The comic shop in my town runs its own subscription plan which basically boils down to them saving certain books for you when they come out and then selling them to you at a 20% discount. Very nice because I have enough books set aside that I can go down there every week, drop like ten bucks and stay up to date on everything I care about. In that manner I love floppies, cheap, portable, and the feeling of walking out of the store with a big stack of them is near unbeatable.

    My comic shop offers the exact same deal, actually. I have enjoyed its benefits for several months now, but unfortunately before subscribing to their shop I missed a couple of issues in a series and two mini-series (Immortal Iron Fist #3, Nextwave #11-12, and The Nightly News #2, I'm looking at you) and I still haven't been able to get my hands on them. If only I subscribed earlier... oh well, I'll just pick up the trades.

    Seraven on
  • Zeeb!Zeeb! Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    It really depends on the series. I couldn't imagine reading Punisher MAX in single issues, for instance.

    Other than that, I've mostly taken to buying single issues, though I do have quite a bit of trades for stories I've missed or really love.

    Zeeb! on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • DondumsDondums Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I only buy trades for arcs that I particularly enjoy or for series I'm trying to catch up on.
    For instance, I have all the Ultimate Fantastic Four TPB's, and now buy issues. I only bought the first two for Superman/Batman - then I stopped; not sure why.

    Dondums on
    internet
  • TylerbroorTylerbroor Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Most of the time, TPB's are really better for me. In a dorm setting, I know that my singles are being torn apart, but I don't feel so bad about letting my tpbs float around. They also look fucking awesome assembled on a shelf or two. But sometimes I wish I had bought singles rather than books; case in point House of M.

    Though for some reason, it feels fantastic to have cool singles. My issue 1 Scarlet Spider and Deadpool are some of my most prized posessions. Despite sucking. Bad.

    I also hate ads. It's like TV. And I don't know when it was, but I hated when singles changed from the softer paper to the standard stuff they use now.

    Tylerbroor on
  • SonosSonos Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I am sad I started 52 with issues 50 and 51 because it makes the Black Adam story kind of more sad now that I've gotten the first trade. Certainly less surprising. Great trade though the writers comments on each story and extra art are very well done. Okay bye.

    Sonos on
    Sonovius.png
    PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
  • SalmonOfDoubtSalmonOfDoubt Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Marvel's oversized hardcovers are the best.

    I love those things.

    SalmonOfDoubt on
    heavensidesig80.jpg
    PiptheFair wrote: »
    killing children would be hilarious
    Olivaw wrote: »
    HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE PENNY ARCADE FORUMS

    PLEASE ENJOY YOUR STAY

    AND THIS PENIS
    Man, I don't want to read about this lady's broken vagina.
    NotACrook wrote: »
    I am sitting here trying to come up with a tiered system for rating child molesters.
    cock vore is fuckin hilarious
  • amateurhouramateurhour One day I'll be professionalhour The woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered User regular
    edited June 2007
    My local shop does the same deal with the 20% discount. I also get the discount on trades and back issues too, so I definately still get weekly issues. Seriously though, support your local shops, even if you just want trades, get them from the local shops instead of amazon or overstock or something. One of the best things about getting weekly comics is catching up with the shop owners, talking moves, news, whatever..

    amateurhour on
    are YOU on the beer list?
  • AccualtAccualt Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I don't think I ever owned a TPB before going to college. After a semester of buying singles and storing them in the dorm I switched over to TPBs. Singles just take up too much space and are a pain to store. I still prefer reading singles but the cheaper cost (instocktrades.com for the win) plus added convenance of TPBs has shifted me entirely over to buying only them.

    Accualt on
  • AccualtAccualt Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    As odd as this sounds the only thing that could bring me back to singles at this point is an electronic format. I really enjoyed the free online Marvel comics that zoom in the panels instead of showing the whole page.
    I actually have a Daredevil DVD where it does that along with adding sound effects and voice acting. I thought it would be terrible but it was actually great, I'd love to buy some of the others they made (I know there was a Hulk and Ultimate X-Men) but I only saw them that one time.

    Accualt on
  • HooraydiationHooraydiation Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I love the portability of trade paperbacks, which allows me to take an entire arc anywhere I want.

    What am I supposed to do with singles? Take five bagged comics with me to the park or something?



    But while the electronic format is certainly even more portable, allowing to take thousands of pages with you in your laptop, I have to draw the line for myself there because reading a book on a screen just doesn't feel like reading book to me, and is much less satisfying.

    Hooraydiation on
    Home-1.jpg
  • MunchMunch Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I'm really wondering if DC and Marvel might decide to eventually go digital with their distribution, selling comics at a reduced price (since you wouldn't be paying for Diamond's cut, the printing fee, or the comic shop's portion of profits, which most people have said is 2/3 of the price of your average comic) buck or two online, and then putting out a trade for those who want to own a physical copy. Personally, I'd love it.

    Munch on
  • HooraydiationHooraydiation Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Munch wrote: »
    I'm really wondering if DC and Marvel might decide to eventually go digital with their distribution, selling comics at a reduced price (since you wouldn't be paying for Diamond's cut, the printing fee, or the comic shop's portion of profits, which most people have said is 2/3 of the price of your average comic) buck or two online, and then putting out a trade for those who want to own a physical copy. Personally, I'd love it.

    You'd pretty much never see a comic shop again, though.

    Hooraydiation on
    Home-1.jpg
  • MunchMunch Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    You'd pretty much never see a comic shop again, though.

    See, that's the big trouble with comics. They're stuck in these little, smelly, independently run shops that barely break even, and are speckled sporadically around the country. A lot of people don't even have a comic shop in their area, so even if they want to get into comics, they can't. And then some of the people that actually find shops go and get driven off by snobbish nerds, sweaty hambeasts, and screeching Yugi-Oh playing munchkins.

    Comics are at a weird point right now; they rely on the direct market for a large share of their profits, but the direct market's also the thing that's slowly killing the industry, and keeping it from becoming a mainstream hobby. I believe that within the next ten years we'll either see the slow death of the direct market, or DC and Marvel opening up their own "chain" comic book stores in major cities.

    And I say this as a man who loves his local comic shop. Just today I went and picked up a bunch of old Birds of Prey issues (the ones guest-starring Blue Beetle, natch) and just got to geek out as I combed through longboxes and ran across a few weird, obscure little titles in the process. It was a great deal of fun. But to the casual reader, walking into a big store with loli anime wallscrolls on every wall, shelf after shelf of action figures, and rows of musty cardboard boxes packed with comics isn't really appealing.

    Of course, I recently saw an article saying that direct market sales only earned $20 million more in profits than trade paperback sales (keeping in mind that comics are a hundred million dollar industry), so maybe in the next couple of years we'll see that gap continue to shrink until TPBs are the predominant form of comics.

    Munch on
  • wwtMaskwwtMask Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Munch wrote: »
    You'd pretty much never see a comic shop again, though.

    See, that's the big trouble with comics. They're stuck in these little, smelly, independently run shops that barely break even, and are speckled sporadically around the country. A lot of people don't even have a comic shop in their area, so even if they want to get into comics, they can't. And then some of the people that actually find shops go and get driven off by snobbish nerds, sweaty hambeasts, and screeching Yugi-Oh playing munchkins.

    Comics are at a weird point right now; they rely on the direct market for a large share of their profits, but the direct market's also the thing that's slowly killing the industry, and keeping it from becoming a mainstream hobby. I believe that within the next ten years we'll either see the slow death of the direct market, or DC and Marvel opening up their own "chain" comic book stores in major cities.

    And I say this as a man who loves his local comic shop. Just today I went and picked up a bunch of old Birds of Prey issues (the ones guest-starring Blue Beetle, natch) and just got to geek out as I combed through longboxes and ran across a few weird, obscure little titles in the process. It was a great deal of fun. But to the casual reader, walking into a big store with loli anime wallscrolls on every wall, shelf after shelf of action figures, and rows of musty cardboard boxes packed with comics isn't really appealing.

    Of course, I recently saw an article saying that direct market sales only earned $20 million more in profits than trade paperback sales (keeping in mind that comics are a hundred million dollar industry), so maybe in the next couple of years we'll see that gap continue to shrink until TPBs are the predominant form of comics.

    Yeah, I guess I can follow what you say about the shops, but the shop I go to is nothing like that. It's kinda small, yeah, but it's bright, clean, and the guy who owns the place is really friendly. He likes his place to be kid friendly, so you won't have the cheesecake figures and posters all over the place. I'd have no problem at all letting my nephew (7 years old) wander around in there.

    wwtMask on
    When he dies, I hope they write "Worst Affirmative Action Hire, EVER" on his grave. His corpse should be trolled.
    Twitter - @liberaltruths | Google+ - http://gplus.to/wwtMask | Occupy Tallahassee
  • Bad KarmaBad Karma Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Munch wrote: »
    You'd pretty much never see a comic shop again, though.

    See, that's the big trouble with comics. They're stuck in these little, smelly, independently run shops that barely break even, and are speckled sporadically around the country. A lot of people don't even have a comic shop in their area, so even if they want to get into comics, they can't. And then some of the people that actually find shops go and get driven off by snobbish nerds, sweaty hambeasts, and screeching Yugi-Oh playing munchkins.

    Man, where the hell do you live?

    Bad Karma on
    Xbox Live: Ornery Rooster
    PSN: OrneryRooster
  • MunchMunch Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I'm actually pretty well set for comic shops around here. We've got two great comic shops, each carrying toys, a large assortment of back issues, and so on. Both very well lit, staffed by great people, and aside from the forementioned prepubescent anime girls wearing bikins on the walls, not too creepy at all. I mean, check this shit out.

    17sa5.jpg
    Nerd Heaven baby.

    But I've also done a fair bit of traveling, and wandered into stores that were absolutely horrible; new issues haphazardly arranged, a piss poor selection of back issues, staffed by assholes and so on. And it's that kind of thing that makes people look at comics and say, "No thanks." Seriously, can you deny there's a certain stigma attached to comics? That didn't just happen. There's a reason for it. Pop culture perpetuates a certain stereotype about comic shops (see: The Simpsons), because that stereotype is often true. It's gotten better in recent years, as sales show, but the fact is that western comic books are still sort of looked at in a weird light, and I think that's due in large part to their distribution avenues. I think if they were something more widely available and seen in places that Joe Average frequents, they might not be looked at as things just for dudes who go into "that one store with the peeling paint and the faded Final Fantasy poster in the window".

    I'd love to walk into Wal-Mart and see an Annihilation hardback next to the newest Grisham novel, or a Jonah Hex trade beside some Louis L'Amour books. And there's progress being made there. Target now stocks Superman/Batman trades and a few Ultimate titles. But they put them right under Elmo Goes Poop pop-up books, and that does nothing to break down negative stereotypes.

    Munch on
  • SageinaRageSageinaRage Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Munch wrote: »
    I'd love to walk into Wal-Mart and see an Annihilation hardback next to the newest Grisham novel, or a Jonah Hex trade beside some Louis L'Amour books. And there's progress being made there. Target now stocks Superman/Batman trades and a few Ultimate titles. But they put them right under Elmo Goes Poop pop-up books, and that does nothing to break down negative stereotypes.

    If you go into an actual bookstore, they already carry tons of trades.

    SageinaRage on
    sig.gif
  • HooraydiationHooraydiation Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I don't think anyone who reads on more than an annual basis picks up their books from Target and Walmart. You're more likely to find those people in chain bookstores like Barnes and Nobles, and there is a section dedicated to Graphic Novels in every such place, always separate from Goosebumps and that drek.

    Hooraydiation on
    Home-1.jpg
  • wwtMaskwwtMask Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I'm gonna give credit where it's due: bookstores got me back into comic books. When I got burned out on anime and manga, I thought I was done with comics, but thumbing through some trades at Books-A-Million pulled me right back in. Once I got caught up a bit with trades, I decided that I didn't want to wait for the trades, and BAM happened to carry singles too. Since they were usually a month or so behind, I looked into local comic stores. Honestly, if BAM had carried a larger variety of singles and got them on time every week, I'd never have switched over to comic shops.

    Anyway, I'm too impatient for trades, but I'd certainly pay $10 or $15 a week for some kind of compilation comic book like Shounen Jump, with chapters of several mainstream books serialized inside. That, I think, might work, at least for those who aren't big on collecting and are budget conscious.

    wwtMask on
    When he dies, I hope they write "Worst Affirmative Action Hire, EVER" on his grave. His corpse should be trolled.
    Twitter - @liberaltruths | Google+ - http://gplus.to/wwtMask | Occupy Tallahassee
  • VirralVirral Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I want to dish out a hearty "fuck you" to everyone who lives in a country where their normal bookstores have a Graphic Novel section. In Australia half the time you're lucky to get a section for normal sci-fi/fantasy books (yay for a zillion copies of LoTRs and Harry Potter and nothing else). Forget about finding graphic novels anywhere except a few specialty comic stores, and when you do find them they cost a fortune.

    Hell, I just made a large order from Amazon, paying a small fortune on postage and it is STILL SIGNIFICANTLY CHEAPER than walking into a store here and buying the same books. Absolutely crazy.

    Lucky I'm not bitter... (you bastards)

    Virral on
    2vlp7o9.jpg
Sign In or Register to comment.