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Well, the time has come for some changes. For a long time I have been really concerned about how the comic market would survive due to their shift over to trade paperbacks and how some people seemed to be moving in that direction in how they read their comics. I have thought for a while that without the regular monthly purchases of comics the companies wouldn't be able to get an accurate tracking of what sold well and what didn't. I have also been concerned by how the current trend of set stories seemed to be making the trades that much more "sensible" when it came to buying comics. The big variable of course is if a comic will be collected in a trade, but it seems that is pretty much common place with most companies now.
Recently though I have been faced with three things. First, I moved many of my comics into storage to free up space where I live and found myself noticing how different the weights of the boxes were based on when the comics were printed. Obviously today's comics are much heavier. As I was moving my comics I really started wondering what I was going to do with them in the long run and if all the bagging and boarding (which I do for most) was worth it. Second, as with all of us I am looking at my finances and wondering what is better for my wallet in terms of saving money. This varies by company as some trades are pretty much the same as buying the issues separately, but if you buy the trade at a bookstore or online many times you can save money off the price printed on the trade. Third, many titles I read lately are good reads, but they are incredibly slow reads. This is a big one for me as some of these titles I don't want to give up, but my lack of enthusiasm due to their pacing really makes me pause when I consider buying them.
Right now if I look at what I collect and what I purchased recently I can seem that going with a trade would have been easier. IDW is a company I will largely look to for trades now. I bought the Star Trek and Transformer movie prequel series and in each case the trade came out right as the last issue hit the stands or immediately after. In either case I could have had the trade in my hand before I saw the movie. Then there are titles like Black Panther, Justice League of America, and Justice Society of America that I really do enjoy, but the pacing is leading to a loss of interest for me. I have recently decided I won't be sticking with Runaways but I am willing to look at picking up a trade of the new creative team if I hear good things.
This is a very difficult decision for me as it is a complete change in how I've always seen "comic collecting." This means I will be behind in many cases and that stories will be spoiled for me. Those who know me know that I hate spoilers. I specifically don't go to comic news sites like I used to because I got tired of hearing certain things and making guesses as to what would happen in a series and those guesses turning out to be right.
I know that there are certain titles that I will stay with as I enjoy each issue that comes out every month. Those titles being the Green Lantern titles and the Deadpool titles. Of course as Geoff Johns will be writing the upcoming Flash title I will get that monthly to start, but I don't know if I will keep it that way. I will probably do Adventure Comics in trade for right from the start. Something tells me that will just be the way to go with the title containing both Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
For me all of this comes due to a major velocity shift, two actually. The first one is that I am much more patient now when it comes to my comics and I can see now that I am simply spending too much money weekly on them. The second shift is the pacing of many titles in general. The stories are good, they're enjoyable, but so little happens in some issues that I ask, "Why did it cost as much as a 'regular' issue?" That's not a good question to ask. I think that shifting over to trades for some of my titles will allow me to continue enjoying my hobby as I have in the past and stay connected to something that is a strong part of me. However, I really do wonder if this change may lead me down a road where I lose my interest in comics. Yet, to that I really do think that as long as there is quality in what is written I will gladly give over my money. I hope the quality stays. With the way "Dark Reign" is pushing me away from Marvel I have serious concerns though. At least with them.
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