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Post by starfoxxx on Jan 25, 2011 17:01:43 GMT -5
I have never been a fan of the trade paperback---I like comic books--the ads, the covers, it's just what i prefer. I have a few (probably 8 or 9) trade paperbacks, but it's just not my thing.
The thing that I can' understand is why TPB's are sometimes more expensive than the total price of the actual comics. A recent arc or mini-series, say six issues at 2.99 a piece, will be put together in a TPB and sold for 19.99 (cover price) or more. I'm not talking about TPB's that contain old, hard-to-find, or expensive back issues; I mean the TPBs that come out right after the arc/series has ended.
Maybe i expect too much, but i always thought when you buy bulk, you should get a deal.
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Post by Shiryu on Jan 25, 2011 19:57:19 GMT -5
From a marketing viewpoint, I suppose it's because TPBs don't have ads, which (should) keep the price of regular comics low. Also they are often printed on better, more glossy paper and have a lower print run which could push the price up. This is very similar to what happens with manga when they are eventually published in tankobon format after the initial print on an elephant-sized magazine.
I have probably about 20/25 TPBs and overall I like them, they look like books as opposed to regular comics which look more like magazines with stapling and ads, but I agree that sometimes the price is too high, especially when they seem to include filler stories just to increase the page number
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Post by sharkar on Jan 25, 2011 20:52:03 GMT -5
Shiryu is right--there's a difference in the overhead costs of producing a trade vs. single issues. I mean, it's not like Marvel grabs 6 comics, rips out a few pages of ads, staples the 6 comics together and calls it a trade, right? ;D  (And if they did, they'd still charge extra for the staples!) Me, I love trades--they're how I brought myself up to speed on the current Marvel/DC universes when I got back into reading comics a few years ago; and I get a better sense of an entire arc (d'oh!) through trades. But I admit in the past year or so I've also begun picking up individual issues on a much more frequent basis (and usually the trade later on); and I agree there is something special about the immediacy and "feel" of the individual issue that can't be duplicated with a trade. |
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Post by humanbelly on Jan 27, 2011 7:39:12 GMT -5
I'm very apt to pick up worn-out TPB's at our library bookstore, or at the thrift store, used book store, etc-- because the bargain is too good to pass up. Ultimately, I'm in it for the primary diet of story and art. That being said-- if the choice is between a TPB collection and the original issues of anything from the period when we still had regular letters pages, bullpen bulletins, and the like, then yup, I prefer the originals 10 times out of 10. As mentioned above, that was part of the whole-comic experience that has simply disappeared from Marvel. Now it's simply in-house ads, for the most part. No sense of a readership community at all-- so in that sense, a commercial-free TPB can almost be preferable.
*Is in-book add revenue even a significant source of income for Marvel anymore? I'm sure I've seen entire issues w/ nary an outside ad at all.*
HB
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Post by sharkar on Jan 27, 2011 9:31:07 GMT -5
That being said-- if the choice is between a TPB collection and the original issues of anything from the period when we still had regular letters pages, bullpen bulletins, and the like, then yup, I prefer the originals 10 times out of 10. Well, if we're talking about the old issues, when I started reading comics again I basically bought every old Avengers, FF, and X-Men (and lot of my old DC favorites) that I could find online. Nothing beats reading those old letter columns. But I also have the Essentials...the Masterworks...the Showcases...the Archives...and so on. But for today's fare--the stuff printed after, say, 2004--I prefer the trades. Though as I mentioned I have been buying single issues on a more frequent basis--Avengers Academy; almost anything with the Inhumans; some Cap issues here and there, for example. And just yesterday I bought Fantastic Four issues #584, 585, 586 and 587. Nope, I'm not buying into that hype--not all all... . |
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kidcage
Reservist Avenger
Posts: 167
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Post by kidcage on Jan 31, 2011 16:07:56 GMT -5
In the battle of Trades versus Comics, one of the reasons I buy comics, as cheesy as it might be, is for some of the ads. Growing up and reading in the late 80s - early 90s, the ads for Nintendo, movies, etc. make it great. Letter columns, bullpens, etc. I will only ever by trades (and even then, usually only the essentials) if its for comics that I probably wouldn't be able to find in singles, or if I just want to read something. For the most part though, it's actual comics that are the way to go. Something about the feel of them, reading through them, etc. I guess it reminds me of childhood and me and my friends trading and borrowing from each other to catch up on what we all like.
Though, I do suppose if they ever put together a TPB of "Infinity War" and ALL the comic crossovers for the event... that I'd probably snatch up as a collection.
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Post by freedomfighter on Feb 2, 2011 17:35:54 GMT -5
The owner at my local LCS doesn't like to buy trade paperbacks. He says they don't grow in value. Individual issues when they become back issues, can go up by 10, 20 or 100% or more, depending on how rare or hot the issue is. But even an average issue goes up slightly- better return on his investment.
That may be part of the reason for the price uptick- gives the comic store more financial incentive to buy them.
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Post by starfoxxx on Feb 2, 2011 17:55:03 GMT -5
The owner at my local LCS doesn't like to buy trade paperbacks. He says they don't grow in value. Individual issues when they become back issues, can go up by 10, 20 or 100% or more, depending on how rare or hot the issue is. But even an average issue goes up slightly- better return on his investment. That may be part of the reason for the price uptick- gives the comic store more financial incentive to buy them. Very interesting, ff. My LCS seems to get stuck with so many back issues, they usually have a back issue sale (once or twice a year) to get rid of the inventory---that's when my cheap a$$ swoops in for half price comics. Interesting stuff in this thread--- I didn't consider the difference in glossy paper, no ads, etc. |
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Post by woodside on Feb 11, 2011 22:22:43 GMT -5
I go back and forth. On the one hand, I like having the back issues to grab and read just an individual issue if I want to. On the other hand, for an entire story arc, I'd rather have it collected and on a bookshelf instead of haivng to dig through a long box (after determining which long box contains said comics). By the way, have you guys ever looked into getting your comics bound? Almost like making your own trade paperback? It's all the rage these days. www.librarybinding.com/comic-books.php |
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Post by humanbelly on Feb 12, 2011 7:13:20 GMT -5
I go back and forth. On the one hand, I like having the back issues to grab and read just an individual issue if I want to. On the other hand, for an entire story arc, I'd rather have it collected and on a bookshelf instead of haivng to dig through a long box (after determining which long box contains said comics). Oh man, ain't that the truth. . . Misplaced my inventory/index during the ol' Christmas-wrapping frenzy down in the comic-book room, and now I'm helplessly adrift in an uncharted sea of long-boxes. . . Roy Thomas in the early 70's often made it a point to mention that he had bound editions of the entire Marvel run (well, up to that point). We have to assume that his wife finally curtailed that extravagance. Or, wait-- he & Jeanne divorced, didn't they? Hmm-- "It's those stupid bindings or ME, Boy-Genius! Which'll it be??" But wow, did you check out those prices, Woodside? I didn't do the math closely at all-- just glanced-- but I think a single long-box would run well over $1000--! (Ha! And then in their photos they use Howard the Duck and Kamandi as part of their examples! Kind of a hard investment to make there, eh? Mind you-- I admit that I do have the full runs of both of those time-lost titles. . . ;D) Ooooh it looks like it's appealing to a richer collector than I'll ever be. . . HB the Happy Miser |
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Post by woodside on Feb 12, 2011 10:08:12 GMT -5
I think it might be worth for a shorter run of books, esp. if they're unlikely to see a trade or hardcover. Or, like I was planning, for books that wouldn't be including in a trade.
(example: the X-Men crossover "Fatal Attractions" runs only five issues, but when I read it, I include at least 5-6 other books to help round it out and fill in some gaps)
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Post by badgermaniac on Apr 25, 2011 22:56:17 GMT -5
The best thing about them IMO is that my local libraries carry a lot of them. I already read or have on hold about 10 classic storylines that I have never read.
Blackest Night
Age of Apocalypse
JLA/Avengers crossover
Onslaught Epic
Some of the X-Men stuff during Civil War/Secret Invasion
TT: Judas Contract
etc.
It is great to be able to get caught up on other good books that you never had the time/money/interest in at the time (especially since it is free).
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