TPBs or singles which do you prefer??

[mrc1214]

The topic is in the thread title. Im kinda a little of both but im thinking or swithing back to just singles for back issues. Its also something about the color. Dont get me wrong Essentials and Showcase are great but its just not the same. So how to you prefer to buy your books??

[shaxper]

I prefer individual issues for three reasons:

1. Author intent -- This is the format in which the comics were intended to be read. When you play with color adjustments, remove those two pages of advertisements that build anticipation (continued on third page), and even sometimes make it unclear where the first issue ends and another begins, you're ruining part of what was intended to be included in the reading experience. Most comics were not written to be read in a TPB format.

2. Covers covers covers.

3. Nostalgia -- I'm the kind of guy who goes to a museum and leans over the velvet rope to touch old things. I don't know why. It just makes the past more palpable and fascinating somehow. I feel the same way about comics. I love to feel the crisp, grainy pages of a sixty year old comic book and truly experience the comic as it once was. I love pulling out old first appearance issues and actually looking at the REAL panel, paper, ink and all, of when a cherished character made their debut. To witness that in reprint form is more scholarly and detached. You can still see exactly how it happened, but it doesn't make you feel like you were there as it occurred.

I hope these ramblings made some sort of sense ;)

[mrc1214]

I prefer individual issues for three reasons:

3. Nostalgia -- I'm the kind of guy who goes to a museum and leans over the velvet rope to touch old things. I don't know why. It just makes the past more palpable and fascinating somehow. I feel the same way about comics. I love to feel the crisp, grainy pages of a sixty year old comic book and truly experience the comic as it once was. I love pulling out old first appearance issues and actually looking at the REAL panel, paper, ink and all, of when a cherished character made their debut. To witness that in reprint form is more scholarly and detached. You can still see exactly how it happened, but it doesn't make you feel like you were there as it occurred.
;)

I feel the same way I just couldnt put it into words. I also love going through 50cent bins looking for good books. It is just something about it being the original that makes it worth it.

[ducbanguyen]

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=213559

This thread also addresses the topic of Singles vs Trades

[The Confessor]

I'm the kind of guy who goes to a museum and leans over the velvet rope to touch old things. I don't know why. It just makes the past more palpable and fascinating somehow.

Ha ha...me too! I actually got chased around the Naural History Museum once by a security guard who spotted me leaning over the ropes with my hand outstretched. I'm sure there must be places where people like us can get help!

Anyway, as to the question in hand, I'm much more of a single issue guy when it comes to back issues for a lot of the same reasons that shaxper listed. If I do buy a trade then it has to be in colour...I just don't get the whole Essentials/Showcase thing. The colouring is really important to the whole comic reading experience to me (unless the comic was originally in B&W, of course).

You know, I still can't quite believe that they put an Essential Doctor Strange out there. I mean, how can you possibly reprint those classic Stan Lee/Steve Ditko with out the colouring?!! :eek: Talk about missing out on half the experience.

[mgs]

singles, especially for the indies. you never know if they're going to make it to trade status, so caution is the word. ;)

[dan bailey]

Singles, definitely. I buy TPBs only if they collect older stuff I'll never acquire otherwise (like the Essentials, Showcase Presents & some of their shorter, full-color brethren) or if they offer me a crash course in a long-running series that I've heard great things about & want to look into but never got around to reading & thus am already hopelessly behind on (Powers, Astro City, Invincible,Walking Dead & Noble Causes, for instance). In the latter case, once I've caught up via trade, I start buying the singles as they come out.

Looks like I'll probably have to go the TPB route as well with certain series that I already mostly own in singles form but am missing certan ridiculously high-priced ishes of (Birds of Prey #8, I'm looking at you ... or rather, your absence from my collection).

[dan bailey]

If I do buy a trade then it has to be in colour...I just don't get the whole Essentials/Showcase thing.

One word:

Money.

[adam_warlock_2099]

Definatly a singles issue buyer. For me TPB are for issues that I can never hope to afford, or spend the time searching for. You don't get the same read out of a TPB as you do a single.

Plus, just holding comics that are older than me, and some of them in better condition that I am (lol) is just something a TPB can never deliver.

[Gilda Dent]

I guess I'm the first here to prefer trades and hardcovers, though only slightly, primarily because of storage and durability concerns, but also because it's generally easier to get classic material in this format.

I do have preferences regarding how the trades are arranged, however. I want to see the cover presented at the beginning of each issue with clear chapter/issue breaks and issue numbers identified, not everything blended together. Cover galleries at the end of the book are better than no covers, but not as good as those joined to the book they covered. Marvel's oversized hardcovers and both DC and Marvel's deluxe color editions do a good job of arranging the material.

In addition the art reproduction in collected editions of older material tends to be more vivid than the reproduction technology of the time of the original printing allowed, at least when well done. DCs Archives have done a very good job of this from the beginning, as do their Absolutes. Marvel's Masterworks were inconsistent in the quality of their reprints, partly as a result of the quality of the source materials, and partly as a result of poor quality control, for quite some time. It's only in the past few years that they've really caught up, with both Masterworks and Omnibus editions, which have been consistently good quality for the last two to three years perhaps a bit longer. The switch to thicker matte paper was a big improvement.

One interesting compromise was the EC collected annuals in the 90's. EC reprinted their entire line of classic horror, war, sci-fi, crime, and fantasy comics in single issue form, reprinting them exactly as they first appeared, including text pieces. The annuals were nothing more than four individual issues bound into a single edition, including the covers of the four issues.

That said, sometimes you can get long runs of individual issues for cheap, and that's hard to pass up. I've gotten full runs of Suicide Squad, L.E.G.I.O.N, Shang Chi, and Teen Titans from early on for about a buck an issue, which is significantly less than what a trade costs.

[Reptisaurus!]

Whatever's cheapest, 98% of the time.

All else being equal, though, I generally prefer trades.

[TVComicsFan]

Both. I prefer done-in-one stories. But what bugs me is when I have bought
every issue of a long-running story arc only to later find out that I could have saved money by waiting for it to be collected in a trade paperback.

[mrc1214]

Both. I prefer done-in-one stories. But what bugs me is when I have bought
every issue of a long-running story arc only to later find out that I could have saved money by waiting for it to be collected in a trade paperback.

In some cases thats definitly the case. Like for early FF, Spiderman, Hulk etc. But for some books like Gilda Dent mentioned you can find them cheaper than it would be for the trade. And in other cases i find that you can really just choose which you like more cause the prices are pretty much the same

[DDM]

The trades lack the letters pages which I like to read; I also enjoy reading Stan's letters, & other things from the individual comics. However, the TPB's are easier to carry around than individual comics.

[Slam_Bradley]

It's a rare day that I buy a single issue any more. And then only if it's something I'm pretty positive won't ever be in a trade (Charlton books). Floppies are fragile and are a pain in the ass to store. I much prefer to pull a trade off the bookshelf. I sometimes miss the ads, but since I've almost never read letters pages, I'm unconcerned about not having them.

[scratchie]

In terms of "something to read", I'll go for trades 90% of the time, if they're available. I even buy trades of issues that I already own if I think it's going to warrant frequent re-reading, just for the convenience factor (e.g. Engelhart/Buscema Captain America, Fleisher/Aparo Spectre, Claremont/Cockrum/Byrne X-Men, Kirby's Fourth World, and I'm drooling with anticipation for the Kirby OMAC hardcover due out later this year).

I just find it a lot easier to grab a trade paperback and read through a complete storyline rather than messing around with a bunch of single issues. Even though I usually like the look of the original comics better (the original four-color printing vs. the modern re-colored version), and I do miss the vintage ads, letter columns and bulletins, the convenience factor usually wins out. I don't consider myself an "obsessive" collector, but most of my single issues are bagged and boarded -- not to preserve their "value" but to preserve their appearance, which is more important to me -- so digging out a whole storyline and then reading it one issue at a time is a bit of a production. I like to have a trade paperback that I can read on the bus, or that I can leave out on the coffee table and not worry that someone's going to set their drink down on top of it, or whatever.

[Senormac]

Singles for me......theres just something about the feel of holding a dated book. Theres a connection to the times I suppose.......to what was going on in the world when the story was conceived and illustrated......and the people involved.

[Reptisaurus!]

The trades lack the letters pages which I like to read; I also enjoy reading Stan's letters, & other things from the individual comics. However, the TPB's are easier to carry around than individual comics.

Pretty much my philosophy in a nutshell. If there's something cool in the singles like letters or Super Turtle, I prefer them. If I just want something I can read easily, I'll buy trades.

P.S. I'd totally buy "Classic Letter columns" and "Super Turtle" in trade,

[Senormac]

MAD magazine has the best / funniest letters column I have ever read !! Nuff said :biggrin:

[Eumenides]

I prefer singles. If it's not good enough to be read on a monthly basis, reading it in one sitting won't be any different. I make exceptions solely for Essentials,Showcase Presents, or trades collecting material no longer available.

[Kirk G]

MAD magazine has the best / funniest letters column I have ever read !! Nuff said :biggrin:

No...National Lampoon has it beat!
I'll never forget the ongoing fued with Liza Manelli!
What a hoot!

[dan bailey]

Trades do have a decided advantage when it comes to being read anywhere outside the house. When I eat out (something I do less & less often as my digestion gets worse & worse, as it appears to do virtually by the week, alas), I'm almost always solo, & I've been known to skip a planned restaurant stop if I neglected to have something stashed in the car to read. A TPB -- especially a digest -- is ideal for such situations.

For that matter, assuming I'm not in the company of someone else, I'm one of those sad cases who can barely abide the thought of walking more than a couple of blocks without reading something. (Why I haven't been run over long before now, I haven't the slightest idea.) Again, digests in particular are tailor-made for that purpose.

[Reptisaurus!]

I prefer singles. If it's not good enough to be read on a monthly basis, reading it in one sitting won't be any different. ]

Not, in my experience, true. Cerebus, for instance.

[scratchie]

Not, in my experience, true. Cerebus, for instance.Or almost any mini-series. Or most titles published by Marvel these days, for that matter.

[GreatLakesAvengers]

I prefer singles ... don't like to read comics with a spine that I feel like I'm going to permanently damage. However, I don't read my singles until I have the complete storyline or sometimes the writer's complete run. It makes for a better read!

[InfoBroker]

am already hopelessly behind on (Powers, Astro City, Invincible,Walking Dead & Noble Causes, for instance). In the latter case, once I've caught up via trade, I start buying the singles as they come out.

Course I don't have much room to talk when it comes to being behind on reading. I'm still unpacking comical book boxes from my garage, and I last month was my one year anniversary in my new home.

But gosh Dan, how can you not be caught up on Astro City? Being behind on that is like being behind on breathing or some other similar life sustaining activity.

Are you missing some issues and if so which ones?

-jb the "at least I found my Sub-mariner comics last night and that will soon make you very happy" ib -

[CaptChucky]

I prefer the hardcovers, when I can get them. They have reliable spines. I don't miss the ads. I find when reading individual issues, I get sidetracked by the ads, letters, etc., and end up spending more time on that stuff than the story. I prefer the story without the interuptions.

[dan bailey]

But gosh Dan, how can you not be caught up on Astro City? Being behind on that is like being behind on breathing or some other similar life sustaining activity.


Well, see, that dirty scoundrel Busiek insisted on starting pumping issues out back some 8 or 9 years before I got into comics, & by the time I realized I probably should look into the series, something like 34 issues had come out.

Luckily, I got all the TPBs in one fell swoop from an eBay seller a couple of years ago, plowed through them as quickly as possible, & since then have been buying the individual ishes as they come out ... which as you well know isn't very often. I guess writing stories about that Superman guy pays better, or something.

(As far as I know, I've now got everything, thanks to my discovering on some CBR thread or another a few months ago that the Visitor's Guide was uncollected, which sent me scurrying to either Mile High or Lone Star ASAP so I could remedy that hole in my collection.)

So, actually, in the interests of clarity I should've said I "was [rather than am] hopelessly behind on" the series I cited.

I'm still unpacking comical book boxes from my garage, and I last month was my one year anniversary in my new home.

And I've been here for 6 1/2 years now & still haven't come across the first comics I bought off eBay back in North Little Rock in probably '99 or 2000, back when my recollections of particularly favorite comics from childhood were just starting to stir nearly 2 decades after I'd ditched my entire collection (except for my Sgt Furys & Not Brand Ecchs, of course) -- Superman #202 (the "Bizarro World" 80-Page Giant) & about 8 or 9 Captain Americas from '68-'69, most notably at least 2 of Steranko's 3 issues. *sigh*

-jb the "at least I found my Sub-mariner comics last night and that will soon make you very happy" ib

Why, sir, whatever could you mean (battng my eyelashes coyly & adopting as Southern an accent as I can manage)?

[Ryan K]

I have my own little system that nobody but me seems to understand completely. All sorts of little considerations go into whether I'll buy a book in trade or singles, I don't think I could explain it all, I just know. Maybe that's weird, I don't know. But basically:

The majority of superhero stuff I buy I buy in singles. A couple reasons why: 1) I don't want the unremarkable pulp cluttering up my bookshef. 2) When it comes to superhero books, I do prefer the experience of holding a single issue in my hands; nostalgia in a nutshell. 3) There are several books I collect as well as read; Superman books, X-Men books, Legion of Super Heroes, Avengers, Justice League, etc. Because I have so many of these in the singles format, I prefer to continue buying them in this format.

As for what I buy in trades, the biggest determining factor is creator. For lack of a better word, I want auteur's works on my shelf. So the majority of indie/art comic I own are in tpb or Hardcover format (Ware, Clowes, Crumb, Los Bros. Hernandez, etc.) This criteria extends to the Vertigo types and the auteurs of mainstream books (Morrison, Moore, Miller, Mignola, Vaughan, etc.). Unless one of the works falls into the singles criteria (such as Morrison's X-Men, JLA, and All Star Superman), I buy their work in trade.

Older comics are a bit trickier. I'm a HUGE fan of the Showcase Presents/Marvel Essentials lines. For stuff I collect like Superman, X-Men, and Legion, I'd obviosuly prefer to own the original issues. But costs being prohibitive I'll settle for reprints.

[TVComicsFan]

Right now I am reading Dark Horse's Harvey Comics Classics, Vol. 1
(devoted to Casper, the Friendly Ghost). It brings back a lot of memories for
this baby-boomer. If you only know Casper from his animated cartoons, you need to check it out. In its heyday (the 1950s), Harvey produced some fine stories and art.

[dan bailey]

Even as a kid who read probably his fair share of Harveys, I never was much for Casper or his pals. Little Dot, Little Lotta & probably Little Audrey (I just don't remember her books as well as I do the others) I would love to see collected, though. Maybe even Stumbo & Baby Huey.

And Jackie Jokers, of course.

OK, maybe not that last one ...

(In the meantime, I really need to start keeping an eye out for a cheap copy of the Richie Rich TPB.)

[SeritoNiN]

I enjoy comics, I look forward to them weekly, tpb's, since they collect the full story, take too long to come out, and buying 8 trades @ $20 a piece in one day vs. 8 comics @ $24 a week helps with my financial responsibilities as well.

I do buy a few trades of comics I don't collect. I've heard great things of messiah complex, I hate x-men, but this week, I will pick that HC up out of curiosity.

[TVComicsFan]

Even as a kid who read probably his fair share of Harveys, I never was much for Casper or his pals. Little Dot, Little Lotta & probably Little Audrey (I just don't remember her books as well as I do the others) I would love to see collected, though. Maybe even Stumbo & Baby Huey.

And Jackie Jokers, of course.

OK, maybe not that last one ...

(In the meantime, I really need to start keeping an eye out for a cheap copy of the Richie Rich TPB.)

I just learned that HARVEY COMICS CLASSICS, VOL. 5 will be devoted to the
Harvey girls (Little Audrey, Little Dot and Little Lotta). Here's the link ...
http://www.animationshow.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3943

[dan bailey]

What cool news! Thanks for the heads-up, TVComicsFan. From looking at the link, I see I wasn't aware that vol 4 spotlights Baby Huey, about whom I must confess I'd totally forgotten. Those comics were quite fun, too, if memory serves.

I wonder, though, whether that implies that Baby Huey is perceived as having been more popular (i.e. having sold better) than the girls? If so, I'm sort of surprised. Casper, Richie Rich & I suppose Hot Stuff I can see, but Huey, not so much.

[joku2]

for mainstream comics i prefer both singles and TPB's but for indies i prefer singles