bishop2knight

By the way, I've wanted to start a conversation about TRADES vs. MONTHLIES. I've been reading trades and loving it, and to be honest, the few single issues I've read (for example, the two latest Batman issues) aren't as good because it's hard to remember exactly what came before.

So, what does everyone else think? Trades or monthlies?

Trevor

Superfluous background: I've been a huge comic fan most of my life. Although I occasionally try to go 'cold turkey', I always end up coming back. I've been buying fairly regularly the last few years, a lot of the titles being discussed in these threads, but am years behind in the actual reading. I occasionally read a trade or single issue, and it renews my committment to keep buying and eventually catch up somehow.

So anyway, I much prefer trades. If I only read a few titles, I could see keeping up with the stories by reading single issues each month. But with the amount of material I buy, trades make it much easier to follow the story.

Sorry for the ramble....but I just discovered these comic threads and have renewed my comic interest lately.

Ralph Wiggum

For better or worse, it sure seems like more books are being written for trades (longer arcs, padding) nowadays...

I buy trades to get older stuff which isn't affordable or easily available otherwise and when the material reads better that way (100 Bullets).

I buy monthlies for almost all of my current stuff.

bishop2knight

I love the idea of monthlies, but my brain has a hard time with the longer (hell, even shorter) stories.

Ayo

me too.

I like the idea of always having something to go back to the store for...getting a "fix." But its much more satisfying to read a trade, or OGN (original graphic novel).


The topic...

The monthlies I read nowadays are:


Love Fights (Oni Press) by Andi Watson. Its a superhero-themed romantic comedy

NYX (Marvel Comics) by Joe Quesada and Joshua Middleton. Mutant kids who are street urchins, I guess. It hasn't gotten to that part of the story yet.

Demo (Alt/Planet Lar) by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan. Basically...what NYX would have been if Brian Wood had written it, as he was once slated to do. I sort of favor this one, but Middleton's art on NYX prevails over Cloonan's art here.

Bone (Cartoon Books) by Jeff Smith. There's only two issues of this comic left. I'll miss it when its gone. One of the best comics in all categories, even though many see it as a middle-brow genre work....its great middle-brow genre work.

100 Bullets (Vertigo/DC Comics) by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. I actually read this series since number 8, but dropped it in the early 30s, and sold all of my issues, but now I'm trying to get back into it. Its a good comic, but I was really put off by a lot of the racial images. But, its still quality, if one can get past those characterizations.

The Losers (Vertigo/DC Comics) by Andy Diggle and Jock. Its an okay comic, but not great. Its hard to tell people apart, and the story's pretty regular...but I keep buying it for some reason.

And, not a monthly, but the best comic you can buy: Love & Rockets (Fantagraphics Books) by Los Bros Hernandez. For twenty-one years, Love & Rockets has been the best comic your money can buy. Revolutionary, mind-expanding, genius, funny, sad, etc. Currently, its quarterly, and has been coming out steadily.

bishop2knight

Claremont and Davis are back on Uncanny X-Men early next year. Could be cool. Or not. I have no idea what they're like these days.

Sessa17

That is awesome, keep these threads going, there will be a new one this week for new books.

As for J.P.'s question about trades vs. monthlies.

Personally I'm a little anti-trade but it's only b/c of the deterioration of the current monthy comic.

First off, I'm old school. It probably comes from collecting comics since I was 5, but there I will always prefer having the monthly comic (if it is a monthly on-going title) to the trade reprinting the issues. However if it is a mini-series (which much to my dismay there are more & more of) I will almost always take the trade over the mini-series. Why, especially nowadays would I get a six issue mini-series with no letter columns or extras, when a trade will be out a month or 2 after the series raps up, for a cheaper price & will likely contain extras.

Now the reason I say I am anti-trade is b/c what they have done to the monthly publication. Now, ESPECIALLY at Marvel, it seems like monthly comics are ONLY being written for trade format. Gone are the days of epic story lines that build slowly. Now every issue of a monthly has a 4-6 part story where everything is neatly wrapped up & then collected in a trade what seems like days after the story is over. Another reason I don't like trades is because I prefer the monthlies personally & it seems like there is just less & less reason for a fan to buy the monthly. Trades come out so fast, there is less of a wait & now that almost everyone has done away with letter columns (which I always loved), that was always something extra you had over the people that just buy trades. It's why I try to really supporth the mothiles that give you extra things like letter columns. (Powers, Queen & Country, Usagi Yojimbo are just a few monthlies that have wonderful letter columns you can't read if you get the trades).

I get about 60+ plus different titles every month, & out of all of the 100 Bullets is the only title I buy in trade format. Simply b/c it's the one comic that reads better in complete story arcs. J.P. it's hard to get more titles than I do a month & I have the same problem you do of forgetting what happened in the previous issue so when I read a comic I put it in a pile in a chest I have & then when the next issue comes out I take it out & re-read the last few pages before I throw it in another pile to eventually be bagged & boarded & stored away.

But it has & always will be the monthlies for me.

Sessa17

Holy crap!!! Your really back in the swing of things, even I haven't heard that yet

Alan Davis is one of my all-time favorite superhero artist & the book has had horrendous art for years so that is great news. And ANYTHING that gets the worst writer in comics off the book is good news as well.

bishop2knight

The fact is, I love monthlies too. The covers alone make me want to buy them. But I was appalled at how many ads there are these days. I mean, every other page is an ad. I like the idea of cliffhangers and waiting a month to see what happens next, but so far in my recent re-introduction to comics, I'm yet to find a comic that keeps me "on the edge of my seat" so to speak.

However, I will admit this is because A) I've only read one or two issues and need to warm to a title for more than that to get into it, and B) as Sessa said, there are no ongoing threads, which totally blows.

Liquid Death

Don't tell me Chuck Austen is taking over!?!

Ralph Wiggum

Isn't it Judd Winick?

bishop2knight

Sessa, I demand more regular updates.

nny

Have you tried Y: The Last Man yet? It has the best endings/cliffhangers/surprises I've ever seen.

As far as ads are concerned, I think comics have stuck with around 22 pages of story and 10 pages of ads for as long as I've been reading them. I remember reading the early issues of X-men Classics and they actually had to add pages of new content because I guess back in the 70's, comics only had 17 pages of story. So, if anything, I would guess there's more pages of story now. The reason it may seem otherwise is that pages aren't filled with small panels as much as they used to be. I think in the early 90's, a lot of artists started using more splash pages.