Comics or Trades?

[CJAotssE]

I have been buying comics since the early 60's when the idea of waiting for a trade was non-existant. I will buy a trade now if it reprints something I missed when it came out in monthly format, but I prefer to buy the comics even now, when it is often like buying a five-part trade in installments. I do not deliberately avoid the comic and buy the trade later.

My question is should die-hard comics buyers/collectors be buying trades or should they only buy the comics and show the support to the medium that creates the possibility of trades existing at all.

Are Trades a non-comic book way of introducing non-comic book readers into the hobby after which the readers pick up comics?

I'm not advocating that you have no choice but that comics need the support of those who believe in the books/publishers/characters/creators, and I wonder if we would see quite as many Trades if the comics didn't generate the initial sales.

Peter.

[davidb]

I've seen this a lot and want to throw in my two cents.

I know that waiting for the trade's gotten really big these days, and I suspect that the reason why is the change in storytelling. Over at Marvel these days it seems like no story can be told unless it's either 3 or 6 issues long, regardless of how long the story really takes. They've slowed the pace of so many stories down to such a crawl it's difficult to read unless it's traded.

I myself don't buy trades unless it's a)something I missed the first time around or b)a book I really want accessible or want to protect my copies. The last few trades I've bought have been mainly Silver Age JLA (Zatanna's Search, for example). I'm also looking forward to picking up the New Teen Titans TPBs as they're released and one of my long-time goals is to finish my Starman run in TPB.

My opinion on trades is that comic companies look at how trades do, but DC and Marvel also have cut-off points which is where cancellation hits. If a book drops below this point, it's pretty well gone. Granted, the numbers are low (I believe DC's is around 10,000 copies a month) but the numbers don't lie. If enough people wait for the trades, the company doesn't see that the book's selling, and down comes the axe.

Now, I'm not knocking anyone who waits for trades, but that's just the way I see it. Like I said, I enjoy being able to go to my bookshelf and have the books that easily accessible instead of digging through boxes. On the other hand, I'd feel like I was cheating myself out of the excitement that come from cliffhangers if the first time I'd read the story was in a collected format.

Oh, well. Apples and oranges...

David B.

[whetteon]

davidb really hit on all the major points. I personally prefer the comic book over a trade paper back. I have bought a total of 8 tpb in my lifetime mostly because I heard good things about the story arc and wanted to read it for myself but was totally uninterested in it as a collectible. Examples like the Ultimate Spider-Man Venom tpb come to mind.

If tpb reach the kids and sell more copies then I'm all for it. Whatever it takes to keep the hobby alive and well. I'm curious as to when tpb will be considered collectable in and of themselves. I don't think we are quite there yet but I wouldn't be surprised if a few tpb are starting to gain back issue $$'s
.

[400yrs]

I think david is correct in many ways. I only buy trades if it's for books that I can't get or want to keep my issues in good shape.

Comics have become watered down. Pages probably average, what, maybe 3 panels per page nowadays? It takes far too many issues to tell a simple story. Most comics that come out today, I can read in 10 minutes. If you pick up an older book (even in the early 80s) the books told a full story and had about 4-6 panel per page WITH WORDS <gasp>. That is one reason to pick up a trade instead of paying $3 for a third or a quarter of a story.

[davidb]

I think david is correct in many ways. I only buy trades if it's for books that I can't get or want to keep my issues in good shape.

Comics have become watered down. Pages probably average, what, maybe 3 panels per page nowadays? It takes far too many issues to tell a simple story. Most comics that come out today, I can read in 10 minutes. If you pick up an older book (even in the early 80s) the books told a full story and had about 4-6 panel per page WITH WORDS <gasp>. That is one reason to pick up a trade instead of paying $3 for a third or a quarter of a story.

I just wanted to touch on something 400yrs said here. One of my favorite books of all time is the Keith Giffen run on Legion of Super-Heroes that started in 1989 (#1-38). Every page was a 9 panel grid. The story was so thick that the letter cols have letters from fans who had to keep notes on what was going on - not because it was confusing, but because there was so much happening!

It really saddens me to see what some comics have become today. I'll spare you all my rant about how it took Ultimate FF 6 issues to tell a story that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby told in 1.

David B.

[slym2none]

My big problem with TPB's nowadays is that they seem to be on the shelf as soon as the last issue of the comic the trade is collecting hits the shelf! Davidb makes many good points that I agree with (I am NOT a fan of the 6-issue story arc just to be able to make a TPB of it) but the fact is you really don't have to wait for a trade to come out anymore. It's right there, in your face on the shelf at your LCS without any time passed to see if the story is even worth collecting (which goes back to the whole 6-issue story arc complaint.)



-slym

[riftt]

I dont buy issues of new stuff period - only trades. Why buy something just to ferret away in some hole in your closet when you can put something nice on a bookshelf for all to see?

I think the accusation of stringing along stories just to fit trades to be b.s. marvel and dc have been stringing out stories loooong before the current trades craze (can you say round robin: the sidekicks revenge anyone?).

Plus with the better paper stock and enlarged area for art, trades are just a better presentation of the comic medium.

[Redtrax]

I don't know. With some series, especially those I like best, I still prefer to pick up the loose issues and not the tpb's. However, with series I don't always read or are very much story arc based, I tend to buy tpb's. Some of my most favorite (canceled) series I buy in HC form if they are available, Sandman for example.
The main problem with tpb's is that they do not have the charm, loose issues have, may sound weird, heck reading what I just wrote, I think it sounds freaky.

[tcolli]

I collect certain books that I buy the actual comic monthly...if it is something I don't collect but want to read the story, I buy the trade! Simple

[whetteon]

One bad thing about tbp's is the fact that they are hard to sell and take up alot of space. I didn't see anyone talk about those two points yet.

[jcdenton]

One bad thing about tbp's is the fact that they are hard to sell and take up alot of space. I didn't see anyone talk about those two points yet.

Considering they don't have ads, editorials, letters pages, etc. and you don't have to bag and board each issue separately, I would say they take up a lot less space than the individual issues.

Hell, take a look at the Bone TPB, 13 years of comics in one volume.

[tcolli]

One bad thing about tbp's is the fact that they are hard to sell and take up alot of space. I didn't see anyone talk about those two points yet.

Most TPB you are hard to sell. The Magnus vs Predator sells for about 10-15 times the cover price!

[CJAotssE]

I think david is correct in many ways. I only buy trades if it's for books that I can't get or want to keep my issues in good shape.

Comics have become watered down. Pages probably average, what, maybe 3 panels per page nowadays? It takes far too many issues to tell a simple story. Most comics that come out today, I can read in 10 minutes. If you pick up an older book (even in the early 80s) the books told a full story and had about 4-6 panel per page WITH WORDS <gasp>. That is one reason to pick up a trade instead of paying $3 for a third or a quarter of a story.

Interesting about the panels.

I have just picked up the Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks volume 7 and the number of panels then was around 80 for a 20 page story. I compared that to Amazing Spider-Man 519, guess what, 89 panels in a 22 page story. So an average per page of around 4 panels.

Because there are only dialogue balloons these days there isn't as much scripted scene-setting, the art is telling more of the story. Read an old issue and see if all the words were needed. If you know someone will extend their Adamantium claws, do you need telling as well as seeing? Was that a good use of the words or were you just used to it as a storytelling device?

Peter.

[Todd Luck]

I have been buying comics since the early 60's when the idea of waiting for a trade was non-existant. I will buy a trade now if it reprints something I missed when it came out in monthly format, but I prefer to buy the comics even now, when it is often like buying a five-part trade in installments. I do not deliberately avoid the comic and buy the trade later.

My question is should die-hard comics buyers/collectors be buying trades or should they only buy the comics and show the support to the medium that creates the possibility of trades existing at all.

Are Trades a non-comic book way of introducing non-comic book readers into the hobby after which the readers pick up comics?

I'm not advocating that you have no choice but that comics need the support of those who believe in the books/publishers/characters/creators, and I wonder if we would see quite as many Trades if the comics didn't generate the initial sales.

Peter.

I buy the issues themselves, both new and old. Trades have several things going against them:

1) In some comics you'll miss some great editorials, articles, inciteful letter-columns. This happens mainly in older comics.

2) $10-$25 is a lot to ask for me pay for one story without trying it out. With individual issues I can try out the story and drop it after havng payed only a small fraction of that.

3) Sometimes trades are more expensive than the individual issues' combined cover price. Unless the issues are hard to find or went up in value, there's no way I'm buying that trade.

4) I have to wait for a trade, I can read the new issues now.

5) It's easy to plop $3.00 down for a new issue or some loose change down for a back issue without even thinking. Casually plopping down $10 to $25 a pop is a little harder.

6) Worst of all, they're usually something I'll buy when I get the money for it later. As any salesman will tell you, if the customer's going wait for the "right time" to purchase something, chances are it's not going to happen. I can't tell you how many trades I've been wanting but never got around to buying.