An interesting article at the Pulse on the DC series Manhunter lead me to go over to the Manhunter message board at DC Comics, and, of course, to a board topic titled "Will this book be collected as a trade?" As an Identity Crisis tie-in, I'm certainly interested, so let me answer a resounding "I hope so," and invite any who're interested to reply like-wise to this topic, and I'll send the petition to DC's Letters to the Editors if I get enough responses. And, for that matter, let's see a trade of the new Firestorm series, too.
At the same time, let me answer the comment of "rjdroll" on that thread, who said "Morons who are possessed with the 'Wait for the Trade' mentality are what is killing this industry." Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion, but I'm reminded of what Joe Casey wrote (I think. I could be wrong), that it's not the fault of "wait for trade-ers" if the industry's going bad (if it is at all. Of which I'm not convinced either. But.). Consumers are allowed to want what they want. In a (very) rudimentary form, that's "demand." If waiting for the trade is hurting the industry, it's because comic book companies aren't meeting supply — that is, maybe the fact that all the (hypothetical) people waiting for the Manhunter trade and not buying the monthly issues will ultimately cause the series' (or Fallen Angel's demise, but if there's enough people waiting for the trade to save the monthly title, that's DC's fault for not coming up with the marketing research and strategy that puts the trade out there, despite low monthly sales. I know I'm talking about something of an overhaul of the comic book industry, but that's not the consumers' faults; that's lack of imagination on the part of the companies. Marvel, at least, seems to have something of the right idea in that you can count on their trade schedule like (most of the time) the Long Island Railroad. They're making trades the means, instead of leaving them for the end. DC's gotten better — highly, extremely better — but they still need to find a way of tapping the trade market with these new, do-or-die titles like Manhunter.
So come on — let's see that petition grow!
Manhunter is a great comic. The writing is clever, amusing, and interesting. The artwork is quite fine. The use of color and light is unusually good. I've bought every mothly issue so far. Should there be a TPB of Manhunter? Sure. Would I buy a trade even though I have all the monthly issues? Sure. Trades are great because they give potential new readers a complete crash course on a monthly title and get them hooked on it. I'm a monthly collector of several titles, but I also buy the trades of those titles. Trades provide extra-nice print quality, durability and convenience whenever you want to re-read issues. I can't "wait for the trade", because I'm following my titles like soap operas. I want to stay current and I need my monthly fix. But I'll also buy the trade when it comes out for archival purposes. Your monthly copies can remain near-mint in plastic sleeves in comics boxes as you refer to sturdy trade editions on your bookshelf. It all costs less than buying two copies of your favorite titles. And the comic book industry can certainly use your support. This art form could die without it (horrors)! -- Thomas
ReplyDeleteNow Thomas is correct -- buying the regular issues and the trade is cheaper than buying two issues of the comic. To wit, one issue of Teen Titans is $2.50, so two issues is $5. However, for the Teen Titans: A Kid's Game trade paperback, at $10, dividing the total by the seven issues included equals about $1.43 per issue. So that's about a buck savings.
ReplyDeleteHowever, and you all undoubtedly saw this one coming, $1.43 for an issue is also less than paying $2.50 the first time, if you can stand to wait for the trade. And that's about a buck savings, too. And let's say that savings is true for all comics-to-trade (which it's not. It's probably on the low side). And let's say you buy five titles a month (also on the low side). At the end of a year, that's about $60 you've saved by buying the trades, that you can spend on more comics (thus helping the industry!). And the figures are probably higher, more like $120 a year. So I do see what Thomas is saying, but I'm not sure that double-buying convinces me.
I've been hearing how great this book is, but missed out on the beginning. I'd love to see a trade of this book so I can jump on the title.
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