How do you feel about comic books being renumbered?

How do you feel about comic books being renumbered?

Bump.

@rabbitearsblog:

Very well done. You bring up some good points.

I'm an older reader, so I really wish they would stop with the re-numbering. To me, a workable solution would be to simply indicate the actual number of the comic elsewhere and put the new number in a conspicuous place for the newer readers. I get that they are trying to get new readers, but I don't think they necessarily have to sacrifice the old. It's impressive when you see issue 300 of "<place character's comic here>", as you indicated in your video.

What are your thoughts on citing previous issues in continuity? I know it might be intimidating for newer writers, but...to me it shows respect for what other writer's have contributed to the character as well as any of us "old guys" that still read comics.

Thoughts?

It can get really annoying.

@blackstaroblivion: Thanks!!! I agree that it's disappointing that with all the renumbering, we may never get to see a comic book series reach a milestone issue (like issue 100 or issue 200). As for my thoughts on having issues cite previous issues in continuity, I do kind of miss those since I could go back and read that issue to find out what really happened in the story. The only time that can get so tedious is if the previous issue dated 50 issues back and they could be impossible to find afterwards.

As a completionist, I find the renumbering to be a complete pain in my a**!

It can be tedious. But at least it gives the option to the reader to decide whether or not they want to order back issues from mycomicshop.com or comixology. I've found those two entities helpful to me when I'm looking for older issues.

sad because for the most part its only to "catch new/non comic" readers. never understood this since most companies that renumber are superhero comic company's and these writers always have a recap page and it sucks even more now since point 1 issues are also to help new readers

I think its a good thing, with comics reaching the thousands in issues it can get pretty hard to keep your place.

I think renumbering is nothing but a transparent marketing ploy. A pathetic attempt to get new subscribers; who will desire a "hot" number 1 issue of some comic, either for financial reasons or to break into a character's story. However the market is overly saturated with reboots and the value of owning a number 1 anything since the 1990's is marginal.

With the exception of creating a brand new universe/continuity such as the New 52 or the Ultimate's, there really is no reason we need multiple volumes of a popular character such as Captain America or comicvine's character of the month, Moon Knight. Each one of them is on what... volume four or five?

It is not as if the character's histories, powers or relationships have been reset. So the ease of 'breaking into' a character's story is also marginal, unless you want ignore decades of established tales.

My suggestion: If a character's title isn't selling, work harder or suspend it until someone more creative or talented comes along with the ability to get those comics purchased. And just pick up the numbering where ya left off. My guess is that there are fewer fresh comic book buyers than collectors, so I'd cater to the collectors.

Renumbering is.... okay I guess. I don't like it and it shouldn't be done as often as it is now. Every book should have a solid recap page. That would solve most of the problem. Adding the big #1 to new story arcs with the pccasional variant cover is a better way to grab new readers without renumbering the series.

@xwraith: Yeah, especially when they start renumbering the issues before the story had a chance to wrap up.

Really doesn't bother me much, and if it's helping them sell comics I guess it's cool.

I am not thrilled with the practice, but it has become a way of life, so we just have ti accept it.

I think renumbering is okay if its done once every couple of decades or if the series is totally and completely new (such as Teen Titans) from previous incarnations and thus important to differentiate. But I also find it annoying because even as a new reader, it can become hard figuring out what goes with what if you want to read older comics and even graphic novels (I never understood why Marvel just calls some of their books Vol. 1, 2, 3 rather than give the book a title followed by Vol. 1, 2, 3 etc especially the Fantastic Four books which gave me a couple of problems in the past). They claim its to make things more reader friendly but if anything, it just makes it harder.

No need for them. Just have "jump on point" on the cover.