In Your Face Jam - Mar 20, 2013

[CBR News]

Writer Brett White addresses his comic book buying addiction and makes incredibly dated Nickelodeon references in this week's edition of IN YOUR FACE JAM.


Full article here.

[Budnball]

Try this. Buy no new comic in any form until you have read 75% of your purchases. you will be able to get anything you missed,(unless they kill another Robin), and you may get a better feel for what you really want to continue buying. Also try and limit the number of books about one group or character. how many Batman books do you need? Wolverine, Green Lantern, Avengers or Xmen? Cutting these down to one or two, can open up room for other things. Or my faverite trick, simply follow the next big event, online. Let other do the buying and reading for you. And wait until it is all over before considering to buy. Just because you can, does not mean you have to.

[ShQQta]

I had this problem too. What I've done is add *selling* of physical comics into the mix. So every month I buy whatever comics, hardcovers and trades look interesting. Also each month, I list for sale online a good bunch of stuff from recent months. I keep anything I think is *amazing* or runs/arcs in progress that I might want to complete... but the rest is sold - usually for slightly less than I paid for it - but that's fine.

This means I read *lots* , but my reading costs are subsidized by the reselling, and I have a physical collection of stuff of only what I think is *amazing* It's actually cheaper than digital.

For example, AvsX, read 0-12, decided I didn't want to hang onto it. Sold as a complete set last week. Hawkeye 1-7 hanging onto those... probably won't sell them. Superior Spider-Man #1 read and resold.... :)

[C4 Karura]

So, I guess I'm one of those "new readers" you were talking about. (The very first comic books I ever read were Batwoman #1-12 in one afternoon last September, and they pretty much single-handedly turned me into a huge comic book nerd.) I, like you, had a serious problem with buying tons of issues. I bought 2 or 3 50-issue runs a month on Marvel's "$1 per issue" sales, and would only get halfway through one run before find a new one to distract me. Fortunately, Marvel Unlimited has brought me to a complete halt on that. Why spend $100 dollars a month so I have 100 issues to read when I can spend $10 a month to get as many different stories as I want?

I've now cut every monthly title I don't feel like I need to read each month: only Batwoman, Avengers Arena, and Morning Glories are left. I can now focus my time on working through that legendary Chris Claremont 17-year run in one month for 10 bucks instead of blowing several hundred dollars on trades. There are a few interesting-but-long DC runs I'd been planning on picking up (like Geoff Johns on Green Lantern), but I think I'm probably going to wait now until DC comes out with their own rental app in a year or so and save myself some serious money.

I'll admit, I'm probably adapting to a rental system easier because I've always been a digital-only reader. (There's no comic book stores in my area, so the apps let me actually read comics for the first time.) I'd love to hear what older readers with a longer history of collecting physical issues think of an unlimited rental service.

[Alex6166]

YOu can never buy too many comics!

[Jean-Michel]

Buying to more comics ? It's the same for me... And I don't want to sell it ! Last fall, for the first time of my life, because my shelves were full, I've sold circa 150 comics. I'll never to it again, for sure ! Next time, I'll buy new shelves !

[Jared H.]

I actually had to sell a lot of old comics when the wife and I moved to a smaller apartment last year.

[LetsGetNerdy]

First lesson: I stay away from the 99 cent sales.

They make you think that there is an awesome once in a life opportunity to get these comics cheap. But the truth is: I was ending up with a higher average price for my comics owning to much comics I am not able to read because of a lack of time or I need to catch up with the ongoing series.

You will get cheaper away and more reasonable enjoy your digital comics by buying regular $1.99 comics when you got time to read them.

Marvel Unlimited on the iPad and other tables is the game changer for digital comics!

[nosocialize100]

This is a good point, "I won't go into numbers regarding my problem because they are relative to each fan's monetary situation." I recently divulged my monthly comic expense on Facebook and my friends were shocked. That said... I review comics and use that as an excuse to purchase between 50 and 80 dollars of comics each week.

It comes out of my pocket, but it's around 15% of my income. I only buy new series though. Don't dip into old stuff ever.

I think looking at it from a % stand point can help tell you if it's a problem in your life. How much should we spend on entertainment is the real question. Add it all up and if it's between 20 and 40 I say it's fine.

[Jean-Michel]

First lesson: I stay away from the 99 cent sales.

In the States, you're happy to have 99 cent sales ! In France, it doesn't exist : to read comics stay very expensive. I know only one comics shop, located in Paris, where we can find backissues for 1 euro (cir. 1.30$), but it's just for some independent titles. Impossible to find DC or Marvel series for such a prize.

[donuil23]

I have descided, for physical monthly comics, I only spend money on the comics that I love and need supporting. Will Avengers get canceled without me? no. Will X-Factor? maybe. So I spend my money there. The rest I'll wait for in digital unlimited format.

[ShQQta]

I'll admit, I'm probably adapting to a rental system easier because I've always been a digital-only reader. (There's no comic book stores in my area, so the apps let me actually read comics for the first time.) I'd love to hear what older readers with a longer history of collecting physical issues think of an unlimited rental service.

Well I collected and read a lot of comics 1980-1990, stopped for 20ish years, and then started buying again a couple of years ago. In the meantime I've carted literally dozens of sealed shortboxes of comics from house to house to house.

What I found on my return after a 20-year "time-out" was that most of my comics had changed in value over that time to become worth *less* than what I paid for them. Especially if you price in a replacement bag and board for each comic. (Exchange rate movement (I'm NZ-based) has also been part of the problem.) So apart from the fact that the uber-cool Indy books I paid $5 for in 1986 were now available in 2012 for $2 each in higher grade, I also discovered I had not much interest in rereading most of the many, many average, below average, or just random, back issues in my boxes.

So I sold 80% of them.

What's left is stuff I definitely plan to reread eventually (like Moore's Swamp Thing 20-60), runs I'd like to complete (like Love and Rockets first series) or "key" books I get a buzz from owning - like Hulk 181, X-Men 94, or Heavy Metal magazine #1.

Going forward I plan to buy a tablet for digital reading - and 99c and rental arrangements sound amazing for reading back issue runs.

SO - yeah - old fart like me thinks digital is a great idea.

BUT make sure you buy SOME physical comics and trades because it's a true pleasure to read those physical copies down the track. Owning quality vintage-type stuff that is kinda rare is fun and interesting. But I highly recommend you keep physical copies and runs of only the stuff you really love... because comics grow like moss.

These days I buy anything that looks interesting - but 90% of what I buy is resold within 6-12 months. Still keep the awesome stuff though - not letting my Hawkeye go anytime soon - that will stand a reread in 20 years :)