Pop Culture Chronicles

Digital Versus Paper Comics

I never expected to enjoy digital comics, but I’ve actually found some use for them. What follows is a list of advantages for digital comics versus traditional paper comics (sometimes referred to as “floppies”).

Digital Comics Advantages

1) Potential Savings: If you don’t mind waiting, or being behind on the latest story arcs, new digital comics usually drop in price after they’ve been out a few months. This is an important consideration in light of what comics cost these days. Moreover, digital comic sites like Comixology often have .99 sales and sometimes free issues so readers can try out a title. Free digital first issues of FF (vol. 2), All-New X-Men, and Captain Marvel (vol. 8), got me interested in these titles that I would not have tried otherwise. Sales on collections got me the classic Dark Shadows series without having to pay a prince’s ransom. Rare back issues and classic reprint collections are relatively inexpensive on digital. Plus the expense of boards, bags, and boxes don’t apply to digital comics.      

2) Easier to fill Gaps in a Run: I recently went to a dollar sale and bought runs of several titles, but a few issues were missing. Instead of having to search for the missing issues at future visits to comic shops, sales, and shows, I simply went online and downloaded the missing books. I can now enjoy complete story arcs without having to wait, possibly months, before tracking down back issues to fill in the gaps. And most parts of the arcs were only a dollar each, which would have been $4 each if I were subscribing to new paper copies.

3) Save Storage Space and Manual Labor: Having once moved three times in two years, I moved over 30 boxes of comics three times. It was back breaking labor and my knees were about to give out from carrying boxes up and down stairs. As my collection grows I risk running out of storage space (or shelf space for graphic novels and collected editions). This is not an issue at all with my digital collection which goes where I go on a small lightweight device.

Paper Comics Advantages

1) You own an actual book that can later be resold. You may not get back what you paid for it, but you’ll at least recover some of the cost.

2) Owning an actual book, in some cases, means owning a collector’s item that could increase in value. Digital is a good option for some newer comics that are not likely to appreciate.

3) Comics are an art form that can be displayed and shared with others.

4) There is still the thrill of finding that long sought-after back issue in a long-box at a convention. Simply downloading takes the thrill out of the chase.

5) Reading paper is generally easier on the eyes than reading off a screen, especially as folks get older and their eyes produce fewer tears. But I found that reading off the retina screen on my ipad is much easier on the eyes than reading from a computer monitor. 

Floppies or Trades?

As most of us are painfully aware, comics have gone up yet again. While some titles still retail at 2.99, the average single issue comic is now 3.99. While I don't read many new comics I'm thinking of scaling back yet again. Six titles are currently on my pull list, four of which are limited series that will eventually conclude. I might have purchased others if not for this price increase. 

So what to do, what to do. How can I keep up with my favorite characters and not spend a fortune? Some have gone to buying "trades" instead of "floppies." When I was a kid, missing an issue meant you just missed it. Or you could track it down through comic shops or mail order and pay a higher price--much higher if the issue was significant. But that was before "trades." Now the conclusion of one or two story arcs usually means the issues or limited series get reprinted fairly soon.

This occurs in trade paperback format, i.e., "trades". Some publishers do second or even third printings of popular titles as well. With so many trades and hard cover graphic novels featuring everything from Golden and Silver Age reprints, to original material, to reprints of recent stories, some have given up buying "floppies" (regular monthly comic books) altogether. 

But how does this save money? The trades cost money too, right? Yes, but more and more are making their way to public libraries. I live in a fairly small town (40,000), but our library has a better selection of trades and graphic novels than what I've seen in most other libraries. This being a college town might help explain that. So if budget cuts to libraries don't keep getting worse, maybe I can wait for some titles to come to my library. So all you comic fans need to support your local library!!!

Another upside of waiting for stories to be reprinted in trades is that you can read an entire story in one or two installments as opposed to waiting a month (or longer if the title is behind schedule) to find out what happened, and possibly forgetting what happened.

The downside of waiting for trades is that you have to wait to read what everybody's talking about and hope you don't accidentally overhear too many spoilers. There is also the chance that your library won't get the titles you want and you'll have to buy them anyway. 

Just as I don't usually pay full price for new movies, but wait for them to come to the dollar theater or DVD rental, some are now waiting for "floppy" comics to come to trade before reading them. If your favorites wind up at the library, you can save a lot of money. Downsides to reading library copies is you don't get to keep them (which could also be good since you save shelf space) and library copies aren't always in the best shape thanks to abuse by irresponsible geeks who've spent most of their lives reading comics instead of getting a real job--they give the rest of us geeks a bad name.

In conclusion, I will likely continue to buy some "floppies" since there is nothing like the excitement of finding a latest issue waiting for you at the comic shop. But I will put quite a few stories off until they're in the trades and at my library. Comics have improved tremendously since the 90s and there is just too much good stuff to read. I can't buy as many floppies now as I could when they were 75 cents and I was single. The question will be which to buy in floppy, which to wait for in trade, and which to purchase as opposed to checking out at the library.

What say you in regard to new comics? Floppies or trades.

Comic Collection Essentials, Part Four

I continue my posts on what I consider essential for a serious comic collection:

17) A few comics in which a Celebrity Appears as Him or Her Self. One of my favorites is Action Comics # 345 from 1967 in which Allen Funt catches Clark Kent on candid camera changing into his Superman attire. Another issue of interest is Avengers # 239 from 1984 in which the super-hero team appears on Late Night with David Letterman. These two are just too funny. 

18) Holiday Comics. While Christmas issues  have been plentiful in the past, the Justice Society actually celebrated Thanksgiving with the Justice League in JSA # 54. 

19) A good sampling of issues from some Favorite Writers and Artists. Some of my favorite writers include Stan Lee (of course), Denny O'Neil, Roy Thomas, and Geoff Johns. My favorite artists include George Perez, Alex Ross, and Dale Eaglesham. 

20) Marvel and DC Crossovers. As a child I recall the tabloid-sized one-shots of Superman vs. Spiderman and Batman vs. the Incredible Hulk (DC Special Series # 27). DC and Marvel together was a dream come true that up until then I could only experience by teaming up my Mego Men. Since these two milestones, the X-Men has met the Teen Titans, Superman has teamed up with the Fantastic Four, and Batman has appeared in one-shots with Spiderman, Daredevil, the Punisher, and Captain America. The real dream come true was the four part series from 2003 in which the JLA met the Avengers. Now if we could just have the Golden Age JSA team-up with the Invaders. Or how about Two-Gun Kid and Jonah Hex? The possibilities are endless. 

21) Some hardcover Archive or Masterworks editions. Experience the history of your favorite DC and Marvel characters. 

22) Collect some Action Figures of your favorite comic book heroes. Nowadays you can get just about anybody. While not comics, these items are comic-related. 

23) Other Comic-Related Collectibles include games, toys, movies, statues, and the list is never-ending. My comic-related items mainly consist of Batman items. Limiting myself to one character makes the collecting a bit more manageable--although I have a few other items I could not resist. 

24) Sports-Related Comics. My personal collection includes the series in which Sports Illustrated teamed up with Kellogg's cereal and DC Comics to produce the biographies of Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Ozzie Smith, and Nolan Ryan.  

25) Some Black-and-White comics. My collection includes Batman Black and White--of course. And these days a lot of Golden and Silver Age runs have been reprinted in black-and-white trades like DC's Showcase and Marvel's Essentials. It's a relatively inexpensive way to research your comic book history. AC Comics has also reprinted some Golden Age super heroes and westerns. 

So there you have it. My top 25 essentials to a comic collection in no particular order.                                      

Comic Collection Essentials, Part Three

I continue my list of 25 essential items to any comic collection:

 

12) Newspaper Strip Reprints. Newspaper strips are very essential to comic history since they are basically where comics got their start. I have actually belly-laughed at a collected edition of Popeye comics from the 1930s. The strip began as Thimble Theater in which the main characters were Olive and her family. But the sailor man came along and stole the show. I also enjoy reprints of Batman strips from the 40s. I have three volumes of dailies and one volume of Sunday Batman strips. 

13) Comics of Various Shapes,Sizes, and Formats. These days we have everything from trade paperbacks, to digests, to hardcover Archives, Masterworks, and graphic novels. As a kid I was especially fond of the tabloid sized comics from the 70s including reprint collections, movie adaptations, DC/Marvel crossovers, and sometimes entire Golden Age reprints including original commercials. Two of my favorites are DC's Famous First Edition reprints of All Star Comics # 3 and Detective Comics # 27. Even these over-sized reprints are worth something now.

14) Comics based on Classic Literature. Of course Classics Illustrated, reprinted many times, is the granddaddy of this genre. I understand that Roy Thomas is doing a great job as of late adapting classic literature for Marvel Comics. 

15) At least one comic signed by the writer or artist. Comics in our collection include the signatures of Dick Giordano, Dennis O'Neil, and a few others. My elementary-school-aged daughter was especially pleased to meet the creative team of Tiny Titans at a comic convention last Fall. Of course they signed our kids' comics and the artist even sketched and signed a picture for each of them. My girl requested a picture of Robin and our boy got Cyborg. 

16) Book and Record Collections. When you hear the beep it's time to turn the page. Anyone out there still have a working phonograph? 

What formats do you particularly enjoy? What have you enjoyed in the past? What would you love to add to your collection? 

To be concluded.       

Comic Collection Essentials, Part Two

Okay, I'm back--still determined to post more regularly, but still catching up.

I was talking about comic collecting. So here are a few more essentials that I think a serious collection needs:

6) A Sampling of Various Genres including war, western, horror, and funny animals in addition to super heroes, sci-fi, and fantasy. I just realized that the photo here is of the only war comic I still own (not counting nazi-fighting super heroes).

7) A Few Disney Comics featuring the likes of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and others. Boom Studios is currently doing a lot of Pixar characters.

8) Samplings from the Various Classic Companies including Marvel, DC, Dell, Gold Key, Charlton, Harvey, and Archie. Most of my boxes are DC, but I have about five boxes of Marvel, and one box which collectively houses exhibits from the other aforementioned publishers. IMO, Dynamite Entertainment is the best new publisher we've seen in a long while. My collection of their stuff is growing. 

9) At least a few comics with Celebrity Photo Covers. This was a big thing in the 50s-60s (and to a lesser extent in the 70s) when every popular TV series or movie became a comic. My collection includes Maverick, Hogan's Heroes, the Monkees, Bonanza, Merlin Jones, Davy Crockett, and others (click on photos for larger image).  

10) Related to the above category, Comics Based on Classic TV series. I have Adam-12, the A-Team, Dark Shadows, and others.

11) A Few Movie Adaptations. My collection includes some of the Marvel Super Specials from the 80s like James Bond, the Muppets, and Krull. I also have the Marvel Special Edition of Close Encounters and the original Return of the Jedi mini-series. 

More later    

Comic Collection Essentials, Part One

It's been so long since I've posted here that I almost forgot my password. But I've had a good reason for the long time in between posts--like having had four addresses in the last two years. Since my last post our family has moved for what we hope will be the last time in a long time. So being somewhat settled will mean more regular posting. Since my last post we have sold one house and bought another.  

Pictured is my comic collection in the bonus room over the garage of our new home (click photo for larger view). My wife informs me that the collection will not be staying there, but this gives an idea of the size of it. I'm currently going through and weeding out as well as making a want list to fill in some gaps. 

So I thought that now might be a good time to talk about comic collecting in general. Some time ago, several bloggers were listing their ideas of top 50 items that should be essential to every comic collection. So I've decided to finally get in on this. But I couldn't think of 50 items, so I'll list 25--in no particular order. 

So you can take all these ideas and have a massive variety filled collection. Or just take one or a few of these ideas and collect very selectively. So here are some collecting ideas: 

1) A run of several years of a favorite title. I have some pretty long runs of several Batman and Superman titles including every issue of the Shadow of the Bat series. I'm missing just two issues of the JSA series that began in 1999 and ran for 87 issues. 

2) Public Service Announcement Comics. Usually giveaways in which Smokey Bear may teach us how to prevent forest fires or Spiderman might warn against the hazards of smoking. 

3) Comics starring Hanna-Barbera characters. These comics were mainly published by Dell and Gold Key in the 60s and by Charlton in the 70s starring the likes of Scooby Doo, Huckleberry Hound, the Flintstones and other current residents of the Boomerang network. 

4) Comics featuring Looney Tunes characters. These have most recently been produced by DC Comics, but in the past Dell and Gold Key had the market cornered. These include Warner Brothers cartoon stars like Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig. My personal favorite is Daffy Duck of whom I have several Bronze Age issues.    

5) A few 3-D comics complete with glasses. My collection includes several Gumby 3-D comics, a few Superman one-shots, the more recent Final Crisis: Superman Beyond two- parter, and a Batman one-shot.         

More later.