Trading single issues for trade paperbacks: Is it worth it?

pxots

If it's material I'm likely to read and re-read (such as THE INVISIBLES, which I just finished over the course of the last few day), then trades are the only way to go. However, reading the digitized KAMANDI with the letters page and ads has reintroduced me to the joys of reading the material in its natural environment as it were.

You are, however, likely to get a better return from Ebay, and not from your local Android's Dungeon.

http://www.comicspriceguide.com/p-issues.asp?t_ID=13545

Fables

http://www.comicspriceguide.com/p-issues.asp?t_ID=12168

IMHO; Trades vs. Single Issues: whatever the cheaper. If they are equally expensive, then I'd get the single issues; I'd rather pay 2.5 dollars a month than 20 dollars at once.

2. Buy trades in addition to the singles, as trades make excellent transmission vectors for new readers and (when gathered in sufficient quantities) look intimidatingly cool on your shelf.

3. (This step specific to certain extremely orthodox fans of the antiquated singles format) Threaten to kick Jordan out of the house if he ever trades in comics and comes back with books.

Whatever. I'm either going to keep them or find someone who will do an even trade. Or set them on fire, I haven't made up my mind.

I actually think the Invisibles letter column was the only decent one for the last 10 years. Mind you, I'm not sure I've read one in 5 years (Brian "Noize" Bendis aside).

1) I don't have the patience to bag and board anymore, and I hate how beat up the comics get unless they are stored correctly. Trades fit neatly and sturdily into one's bookcase. They are also better suited for lending to friends.

2) No missing issues in the middle of an arc because God forbid you were busy with life and couldn't get a hold of a copy.

3) Waiting a month to see cliffhangers resolve is dud.

4) Fuck collecting.

Really, is there anything good about singles except for the fact that they instantly gratify you? I know it's tempting when you see the new issue on the shelf at the store, but it just seems like such an inferior way to buy and consume comics so long as you have a modicum of patience.

single issues means i am constantly supplied with something to read, and less outlay per week.

p.s. i am a shopaholic.

Laura, as to your point 4), in some cases the frustration of the wait is perfect for the cliffhanger -- it's the whole reason for being for serial stories. And sometimes if you go whole hog and read/watch something all at once that's usually served in serial installments, you see the repeated weaknesses clearly and you end up loathing it.

But, if you ask me, from the consumer's economic standpoint, it is indeed a better idea to *invest* in trades instead of floppies, because they are priced better. Maybe the expenditure is more per trip to the store, but you end up making less trips to the store as well.

However, that's beside the point, for we are comics people, and thus by default lead arid lives.

I have seen you buy records!

And sometimes if you go whole hog and read/watch something all at once that's usually served in serial installments, you see the repeated weaknesses clearly and you end up loathing it.

I don't think I can justify buying singles on the basis that it will make weak books more readable. I appreciate Huk's point, though. I remember how great it was in high school to look forward to new comic day during shitty times in my life, knowing that it would make things slightly brighter, if only briefly.

Also, now that some series are being collected in (sometimes colorless!) digest format, you can't always rely on the trade! And if it comes out in hardcover first, then you have to wait foreeeevvver for a reasonably priced copy.

Gotham Central is the only exception to that, I guess. Unless you count the Batman stuff, but I don't, because the Bat-Trades I read, I'm pretty selective about. By which I mean, I select them and then I buy them. ALL.

I know you're right about this... it just drives me crazy sometimes. I hate it for the same reason I hate the Spiderman comic strip in the newspaper (aside from it being total shit)-- it's tiresome to have a narrative broken up so frequently, and it encouragers writers to constantly regress into synopsis instead of using that precious space to move the plot forward.

The serial nature of comic books is especially irritating when I don't feel that a great deal has happened in the book, and then it's over. It's also more difficult to become totally engrossed in a story, which is sort of my optimal comic book reading state. When books are substantive and well-paced, when the cliffhangers don't feel totally contrived, and when the writer doesn't constantly exposit the content of previous issues every time a character blinks or takes a shit, all of this bothers me a lot less.

Also:
- I have many comics that I bought 30 years ago that are still in very good condition. No boards, very rarely bagged.
- Letters pages can be a bonus feature.
- Double-page spreads work better in the comics than in a TPB
- I don't always want to wait six months between issues.
- My local shop (Gosh) saves what I ask them to so I don't miss issues.

I'm often happy to trade in single issues for trades if I also end up with money, or a complete run where I had missing issues. I've sold lots of my '60s Marvels, which were never in complete runs, and I enjoy the Essentials much more.

I'm not clear how it counts as 'collecting' any more if I buy the comics or the TPBs.

Ooh, this reminds me. I love the letters pages in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but I only have 4, 5, and 6 in issues form. I assume issue 1 didn't have a letters page, but does anyone know if issues 2 or 3 did?

More like buying a Greatest Hits comp vs buying loads of chart singles, maybe - most singles are sold on their merits as discrete packages, rather than a serialisation of another group of work.

Buying indie EPs with lots of different songs and a particular design aesthetic you could associate with buying issues of much of the 80's-90's US indie comics school, what with their back-up stories and letter columns and guest strips and whatnot.

really? even without colour?

* I wonder if they have thought of an intermediate format, like the essentials but with colour, at a somewhat higher price?