Switched from reading monthlies to trades

Call it impatience; call it the consequences of the binge-watching era; call it whatever you want. I don't care. I'm tired of reading small fractions of a story, once a month. It doesn't interest me anymore. Plus, most of collecting becomes habit, where you continue buying stuff you really don't enjoy anymore just to be a completist. It was happening to me for a while before I even realized it which really bothered me. I know I'm not the only one this happens to.

Anyway, I'm done with monthlies. Have been for a few weeks. Dropped everything. Am trying new things. It's so freeing!

Anyone else here exclusively read trades?

To each there own. I don't mind the wait. In fact, the waiting is the best part for ME. Before I started to read comics again, I was stressed with school, but when I started to get into comics again I felt my stress was lowering. Having something to look forward to was something that helped me get by in the first year at my university.

I only buy trades if it's something I'm really far behind on IE Fables.

I am not if it is inpatient since you're waiting longer for the story but I guess if you'd rather wait for the whole thing than wait a month for small parts then OK. I only get trades of stuff that I don't feel like buying monthly because of money. I like monthlies because I like adding to my collection and staying up to date in comics, and they also grow in value, although I don't plan on selling them. However, trades do have their advantages like being easier to read, cheaper, having the entire story, extras, neater and so on.

I only do trades or digital.

Good for you. Seriously your patience is commendable. It is not a trait I have. I trade wait on somethings like American Vampire and Invincible. Ughhh...it kills me. But once I get to sit down, read a large chunk and have a nice book setting on my shelf and not squirreled away in a long box, I know its been worth it. I just can't seem to that with the majority of my books.

dude, I agree. Comics are so expensive and you get, what, 20 pages of a story. I have been tempted myself to drop everything, but I want to support the local guys at my independent comic book store, so have carried on buying them. Trades make so much more sense however.

Yeah I guess it doesn't bother me because I just don't pay attention to single issue release dates. I'm off reading whatever trades/series I'm getting into and then when a new trade comes out for something I keep up with, I pick it up. When you're in that frame of mind, only following trade dates, you don't see yourself as behind. You're right on time.

I love Invincible too :) I'm behind, though. I still need to get Vol. 19. And I'm only on Vol. 2 for Am. Vamp. Something about Scott Snyder's use of narration in the beginning of every issue really bothers me. It's borderline formulaic for him. Sometimes I think he's just phoning it in.

shameless bump

Have thought about it. I will trade wait romita and Johns superman.

I buy digital trades because it's less expensive. It's much more convenient when I'm bored at someone's party. Also, my Siamese cat eats paper.

I utilize both. when catching up on a current series that I'm just getting into and behind a trade makes sense, but dropping all singles? I can't do it ;-)

I buy mostly trades.

I only buy trades as well. Used to do the monthly, but it's expensive, the comic store is a long drive, they're hard to keep organized and I hate not getting the full story.

Yeah, I only buy collections.

You especially save up money with archive collections.

BB

I only really buy trades too. Much easier too organise and have no adds

Nothing wrong with it. It's always best to do what makes the hobby most enjoyable to you. I love my Wednesday ritual though. It helps break up the monotony of the work week. The only true negative thing I can think of is that it's fewer issue sales which could lead to the cancellation of a series you like.

All Star Western and most of Vertigo survive on Trade Sales. So as long as you support the series in some way you'll be helping.

@dagmar_merrill: buying trades over nothing certainly helps, and especially with the Image, Vertigo creator owned books. Believe me though, initial trade sales don't factor into Marvel or DC keeping their series alive. Sure there could be a rare exception if a trade were to sell unusually well. Bottom line, a series stands a much better chance selling 20k singles and 5k trades than 15k singles and 10k trades.

I only buy trades. It much easier to have on the shelf and you can buy the good stories rather than just buy stories. The whole fetish with "new is always better" is was over swamp the market with bad stories. Instead people should be focusing on what the good stories are instead of what is the newest. American comic books has the same problems as soap operas where the focus is on quantity rather than quality. A capitalistic model where it is about creating more and more so the consumer will never stop buying the product instead of creating something with value. I would wish that instead of mothies Marvel and DC would just release the trades of the series every six month or so. Making the story released like trades would make the chance of creating a good story created form start to finish with a goal instead of just fixing the story on the go with last minute changes from editors.

Gotham Central stayed alive as long as it did partly because of the trade sales and partly because of the creative title it was. The sales should have cancelled it earlier.

Trades are more practical both financially and for the purposes of enjoying a whole story all at once (rather than reading small fractions that lose impact over time). I wish I had the patience to just wait for the trades for everything.

Sometimes, I feel like comics would be better if they were always released in Trade format (new trade for each series every 3 to 7 months rather than one small issue per month).

????? you're not doing it right!

That's pretty much the European model.

BB

Call it I'm broke n***a and can't afford weeklies or monthlies!

He's doing it right.

BB

@billy_batson said:

@humanrocket said:

@sesquipedalophobe said:

I buy digital trades because it's less expensive. It's much more convenient when I'm bored at someone's party. Also, my Siamese cat eats paper.

????? you're not doing it right!

He's doing it right.

BB

Funny...I always pictured Bats as the life of the party.

@tupiaz: Thus why I said with rare exceptions.

@billy_batson said:

They come with a much bigger rarity than every 3-7 months. A European comic is maybe released once a month.

>bigger rarity

>once a month

I think that's supposes say a year. I was referring to the fact they're released as complete albums.

BB

@billy_batson: It was don't know what happened there. Anyway I would prefer a "European model" too. I think the quality of the comics would increased.

Trades, I just enjoy having the entire story arc in one go.

@tupiaz:

Same but I think it's too late for Americans to change.

BB

I must be greedy. I trade-wait for X-O Manowar because that's how I started reading the book. I read trades for series I missed earlier. (Like Morrison's Doom Patrol or Fables.) and yes, it has advantages. Getting the whole story at once is better than getting 1/6th of it each month (or however many months it takes, i'm sure that varies.). However, I don't just read comics, I collect them, and trades rarely go up in value.

Sadly that isn't even the case with all trades. For instance Court of wols/city of owls and Zero year. Yes those stories will at some point be collected into one trade but why don't just wait until it is finished and release it as one?

@tupiaz: Well i've noticed that most volumes have a mini story arc but each volume is a chapter in the major story arc.

I read digital comics and do have lots of physical trade paperbacks too. However regardless the format, I always wait til the story is finished before reading it. I hate waiting a month for a 20 page installment.

Yes.

Since 1997-1998.

The Onslaught Saga was the last one I read monthly. Heroes reborn drove me away (almost for good) from the comics.

Since that, I (quite) only buy complete stories. Except from time to time when I have a boost of interest.

I wish I had your patience man....

I only buy the collected editions.

I don't think I've bought a floppy in nearly three years.

Correct. I would rather just have the entire story collected as one story.

my feelings exactly. People calling me "patient" for NOT having the patience for that baffles me lol.

Wait, people still buy physical comics? Why? That's like still buying CDs/DVDs, so many sites like Comixology and other similar ones have literally almost every comic ever made, all you can read, for a low subscription fee.

@force_echo: Some people believe it's more enjoyable, has value, supports comic shops and will last forever. That was the idea before Amazon acquired Comixology. Frankly, I think people are too poor for Tablets.

Plus, I believe a digital comic, you don't own. You merely are granted "access" to it.

It varies. For example you can purchase Image comics from their site and own it.

BB

@force_echo said:

Staring at a screen for too long hurts my eyes and I like to read slowly and soak in the images. Plus I like to be able to feel the texture of the pages and the weight of the book while I read it and I am also terrible at accepting change, haha. Also, as a side note, I still buy CD's and DVD's too.

Anyways, I do both monthly and trades. But I must say that trades feel strange to me. Transmetropolitan is a perfect example. I read the whole thing in a matter of a few months and so the epic buildup lost some of it's power to me. What took years of investment for some took me less than 6 months and so when it all built up to an amazing ending the pacing felt strange.

I can see where your coming from its nicer to have it all together but I'm impatient so I buy monthly

Yeah I only buy trades. It's much easier to keep track of, and far cheaper. It's such a hassle to try to get a book every month, especially when your books come out a separate times during the month. I only buy an individual issue if I want the variant.