So, for those of you in the know (i.e. nerds), Wednesday is new comic book day. All the new books come out and all of us who love a man with nipples on his batsuit swoop in and buy the latest issues of our favorite titles. I am usually equipped with the knowledge on Tuesday night of which books are coming out the next day so I don't forget anything when I head to the store. I go to the DC Comics website tonight and I look to see what's coming out tomorrow.Nothing I get. I have no reason to go to the store tomorrow.
Wow.
I have noticed over the last year or so that while I still go weekly, I have been collecting less and less individual books (or floppies) and more trade paperbacks (tpbs), which for those of you not familiar is when a group of floppies are collected into one book - usually it's a story arc or mini-series within the book. It's a trend that many collectors have been doing, and it has allowed me to start to collect some titles that I would have never thought about trying, including The Walking Dead, Ex Machina and a few of the Marvel books. I guess that my TPB habits have caught up with me, as I have am looking at what I do collect anymore, and the floppy list is getting scarce, with only about five titles or so a month (and one or two of those I am planning on dropping soon.)
I am one of the few dinosaurs at my store (which I have been going to since August of 1991, when I moved down here) that has his books "pulled" for him, meaning I get a 20 percent discount. The guy I buy from (sounds like a drug dealer) said that a lot of his regulars have disappeared over time, and he doesn't offer the discount to people anymore, that I have been grandfathered into the program. He also comments a lot on my "thin stack of books" I have when I go to the cash register. The store I go to is a great store, and I don't want to give up the discount. Plus, not to get all head-shrinky, there is something about not collecting comics anymore that says to me that I have grown up, and that simply will not do. Plus, while I can get some of the TPBs for a bit cheaper at the Amazon, I like the idea of supporting a local business. But a lot (not all) of the passion for comics has left me, and I am not sure what I can do to get it back....the last few "big events" of the publishers I collect have left me jaded and a bit put off. What do you think, kids? Is it time to pack it in?
3 comments:
Long time reader/listener, first time commenter.
You're not alone. Not by a long shot. As a card-carrying nerd (I wrote my masters paper on Batman and as a 23 year old woman I still get a phone call from my mom at back to school time asking if I need more comic character folders) I continue to be saddened by what I see as a slow death for the weekly (even the monthly) issues. I tried to get a job at DC in their marketing department to help out...but my ideas were too revolutionary, too scary, and they offered me a sneeze as a salary. Comic book makers rely on the old truth that they do well in recessions...but with the internet universally available (or close to it) they are in trouble.
What I've decided on is that I'm not giving up on my regular issues...and I'm branching out to some new ones, especially the independently published stuff that's usually in the back. It's always great writing, sometimes great art, and I end up with new monthly issues to pick up, which makes both me and my dealer (hehe) happy.
So, from a fellow dork, please don't give up! Trust that, like the ill-advised Bat-mite era, this too shall pass.
Cheers
Kit
(VIVA LA NIGHTWING!)
So is THIS what happened to Dial H??
No, Dial H is just sorta on hiatus right now...I think.
And I ended up going to the store just to kill sometime, and actually, one of my TPBs (Jack of Fables) came out, so I got that - half way through it now, and it's pretty good stuff.
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