Support NeoGAF

[ScepticMatt]

I've concluded with dismay that american comics are too rich for my blood, unless I'm missing some crazy digital deals.
Well, other than Marvel Unlimited if I can find enough comics that interest me for a month or two.

A trade paperback gives me similar entertainment value to 1-2 TV episodes, and 10 trade paperbacks similar to a novel.
Yet TPB cost $10 or more which is comparable in cost to one physical book or two eBooks.
TV shows cost in the order of $1.5-2 per episode, and manga volumes go for ~$7 and have twice the length.

I can understand that it costs a lot to make comics with coloring, print etc. but I don't have enough disposable to favor it over other media.

 

[wetflame]

I missed all the talk in here about Hawkeye #22 a few pages back but I just wanted to chime in to say I straight up cannot wait. Book of the

Spoiler

taking

forever.

 

[Tizoc]

Hey ComicGAF. I need some opinions: Is the Convergence event worth reading? In the sense that it's a good story in its own right, even if I am not terribly concerned about the DCU as a whole? Or should I just skip it and read a synopsis somewhere?

Nah Convergence felt real dull to me :/ If you want a good DC 'major crossover' read 52.

 

[Afrodium]

Damn, the two-part Superman Beyond tie-in to Final Crisis is absolutely bonkers.

 

[whatsinaname]

I've concluded with dismay that american comics are too rich for my blood, unless I'm missing some crazy digital deals.
Well, other than Marvel Unlimited if I can find enough comics that interest me for a month or two.

A trade paperback gives me similar entertainment value to 1-2 TV episodes, and 10 trade paperbacks similar to a novel.
Yet TPB cost $10 or more which is comparable in cost to one physical book or two eBooks.
TV shows cost in the order of $1.5-2 per episode, and manga volumes go for ~$7 and have twice the length.

I can understand that it costs a lot to make comics with coloring, print etc. but I don't have enough disposable to favor it over other media.

Go to your local library and spend $0. Yes, comics are expensive but there are lots of other options where you can legally read them without spending too much money.

1) Library
2) Marvel Unlimited
3) Look on Craigslist. If you are near a reasonably large urban center, there are lots of tpbs being sold for cheap.
4) Look for used trades on eBay. People are always upgrading to hardcovers/better editions and complete lots go for reasonable prices.

 

[arkon]

Digital sales also help e.g. the current Dark Horse sale on comixology. The sales often have recent-ish books for 99 cents/ 69p a pop

 

[Mindwipe]

Digital sales also help e.g. the current Dark Horse sale on comixology. The sales often have recent-ish books for 99 cents/ 69p a pop

Yep. CMX and Humble Bundle when they have a comic deal.

 

[Hellers]

Digital sales at CMX and Humble have been excellent for ages. I think I got something like 21 volumes of the Walking Dead at Humble and CMX sales are lethal to the wallet purely down to how much good stuff gets discounted

 

[tim1138]

I've concluded with dismay that american comics are too rich for my blood, unless I'm missing some crazy digital deals.
Well, other than Marvel Unlimited if I can find enough comics that interest me for a month or two.

A trade paperback gives me similar entertainment value to 1-2 TV episodes, and 10 trade paperbacks similar to a novel.
Yet TPB cost $10 or more which is comparable in cost to one physical book or two eBooks.
TV shows cost in the order of $1.5-2 per episode, and manga volumes go for ~$7 and have twice the length.

I can understand that it costs a lot to make comics with coloring, print etc. but I don't have enough disposable to favor it over other media.

Repost from earlier in the thread:

My best suggestion is to hit up your local public library and pillage the graphic novel section. They will be in one of two places (or both depending on how good the tech services people are), in the Young Adult section organized alphabetically by title and/or adult nonfiction in the 741.xxx call number range. Find books and creators you like without making a huge financial commitment and then you can spend money on stuff you know you'll like.

 

[ScepticMatt]

Go to your local library and spend $0. Yes, comics are expensive but there are lots of other options where you can legally read them without spending too much money.

Repost from earlier in the thread:

My best suggestion is to hit up your local public library and pillage the graphic novel section.

Thanks, but I'm not from the US. Comic book stores don't exist and the libraries and general book stores have manga but not american comics.
Ebay/willhaben.at offers are rare and/or more expensive (e.g. Batman )

Online physical or digital are the only options as far as I know.

 

[LaunchpadMcQ]

Online or digital are the only options.

Still a valid option. Those Usagi Yojimbo volumes give you almost 2000 pages for a few bucks, for example. There are some pretty stellar sales out there from time to time.

 

[tim1138]

Thanks, but I'm not from the US. Comic book stores don't exist and the libraries and general book stores have manga but not american comics.
Ebay/willhaben.at offers are almost non-existent as well.

Online or digital are the only options as far as I know.

In that case stick with digital sales, there is so much on sale right now on Comixology, it's crazy the value you can find. For example you can get all twelve volumes of Hellboy for $72USD, that's over 1600 pages of some of the very best comics ever published.

 

[Horseticuffs]

Yeah, as a new reader (And not a rich man by a long-shot) digital is badass. I just bought 600+ pages of the Strand for like $12, and I bought pretty much everything but the newest arc of Baltimore for $16.50. These Comic Con digital deals are insane.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

How can anyone think this is a bad panel of comics.

How can anyone like Doge? That's the real question.

 

[Xis]

In that case stick with digital sales, there is so much on sale right now on Comixology, it's crazy the value you can find. For example you can get all twelve volumes of Hellboy for $72USD, that's over 1600 pages of some of the very best comics ever published.

Pretty much this. The DC events sale is pretty bonkers too. I picked up all four volumes of 52, all three Batman: Knightfall trades, and Batman:RIP for $40; that's like 3000 pages of content. Considering double-dipping on stuff I already own in print (Green Lantern, Final Crisis) just because it is so cheap.

Hoping there's a big Valiant sale, finished most of the trades from the Humble Bundle from last year and now I'm ready for more.

 

[Shin Johnpv]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=21&v=yKkxhcqzCL4

The Zatanna BtAS figure will be mine.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=21&v=yKkxhcqzCL4

The Zatanna BtAS figure will be mine.

That BTAS Etrigan tho

 

[ScepticMatt]

Digital sales it is then.

So any way to create wishlists and deal alerts like with Steam?

 

[Horseticuffs]

Digital sales it is then.

So any way to create wishlists and deal alerts like with Steam?

On Comixology, at least in-app, there is indeed a Wish List function. Now, as to how folks are made aware of new deals, I stick to this thread and following stuff on Facebook. CMX is REALLY good about detailing sales on their store front, whereas the Dark Horse app pretty much just tosses you to the bloody wolves. DH does a pretty good job of beating you over the head with mention of sales on their FB page, though.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Digital sales it is then.

So any way to create wishlists and deal alerts like with Steam?

Wish list yes. Alerts no.

But I post almost all of them when they pop. Also they follow a fairly standard cadence. Also all new popular series get a sale if you wait long enough

Monday - Marvel does a one day sale
Tuesday - DC does a larger 7 day sale
Midweek - Image sometimes does a Monday - Thursday sale
Friday - The second Marvel one day sale
Weekend - Smaller publisher sales like IDW, Oni, IDW, etc
Monthly -Viz does collection sales for manga runs

Since Dark Horse is new to CMX I don't know their sale patterns.

 

[Xis]

Wish list yes. Alerts no.

But I post almost all of them when they pop. Also they follow a fairly standard cadence. Also all new popular series get a sale if you wait long enough

Monday - Marvel does a one day sale
Tuesday - DC does a larger 7 day sale
Midweek - Image sometimes does a Monday - Thursday sale
Friday - The second Marvel one day sale
Weekend - Smaller publisher sales like IDW, Oni, IDW, etc
Monthly -Viz does collection sales for manga runs

Since Dark Horse is new to CMX I don't know their sale patterns.

More detail:

Marvel always has a sale (99 cent per issue) on some random series on Monday ("Marvel Monday").
They sometimes have additional sales, like another 99 cent sale on Friday, or a week-long deal on trades.

DC has frequent sales, but they aren't as predictable. When they do run a sale, it's usually a lot more material than Marvel.

A lot of sales will tie in to the release of TV shows / movies etc. Like Marvel had a big Daredevil trade sale when the Netflix show came out. And DC had an iZombie trade sale when that show came out.

 

[joelseph]

Having bounced around in Marvel Unlimited for a few months now I have settled into reading Bendis Ultimate Spiderman. Good stuff!

 

[gabbo]

Just read that Dark Horse is going another arc of Lady Killer, and that's some damn fine comic news to me. The first story was really good, like Velvet with a much bigger sense of humour and more 60's colour

 

[Kipp]

So since Filthy never posted the pics of him and Kipp, am I going to get to see Serp and Kipp in a photo? Plus everyone else?

It will be done. And this time it's going on my camera, not someone else's. So there will be no excuses for it not to get posted. Haha

Yooo, I have the pics on a now-dead phone (they're amazingly terrible and purple) and I'm really hoping this weekend I can show you guys. Also, If I had known Kipp was packing that much of an ass, I would have made him turn around and do a headstand during the shots.

Hahaha
To be fair, that phone kind of needed to die. It was a pretty miserable thing.
Good luck recovering the photos though. I believe in you. I'm not sure anyone will truly believe that you didn't put some outrageous vintage filter on the photo to make it so purple and terrible though.

Life and Times of Martha Washington:

Spoiler

Fuck you Moretti, that's what you get. Those two pages with the panther attacking the hunter were so gorgeous (and satisfying). Don't really know what to feel about that last page though.

It is also interesting that at this point in the story, I can't really tell what kind of a person Martha Washington is. Everything that happens is her reacting to external stimulus or following orders. Maybe it was intentionally written that way and it would be very interesting if that theme continued through the book.

Yess. What a great book. So glad you're enjoying it.

 

[Owzers]

I hope you and everyone else got bprd in omnibus when available. Make sure you ain't double buyin!

Also YES to scary godmother

Is the BPRD omni you speak of the Plague of Frogs vol 1 -4 collections? I had purchased the first volume in OHC format and never read it since i haven't read my Hellboy libraries yet...the only BPRD i've read was a random tpb that i didn't like.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

How can anyone like Doge? That's the real question.

you don't have to like doge to appreciate that the panel is a brilliant encapsulation of a teenager narrating their team up with wolverine

 

[Messi]

They should bring back rogues classic leather jacket look.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Is the BPRD omni you speak of the Plague of Frogs vol 1 -4 collections? I had purchased the first volume in OHC format and never read it since i haven't read my Hellboy libraries yet...the only BPRD i've read was a random tpb that i didn't like.

YUP.

Welcome to the party, pal!

 

[fertygo]

I wish Gordon stay as

Spoiler

bunny

batman :

I like the somber badass attitude

 

[ScepticMatt]

I've never heard about american comics when I was young, but cartoons and TV shows based on american comic characters were quite popular.

On the other hand, the monthly Donald Duck pocket books (made by Italian artists) and the weekly Micky Mouse issue were incredibly popular.
For Micky Mouse, the end might be near. Sales are dropping dramatically, from over a million to below 100,000 per issue.
The pocket books reached 200 million worldwide sales in 1999, and Germany sales have stabilized at 200,000 books per quarter for the last few years.

Which makes my think as to why american comics were/are so niche in central Europe? Wrong target group?

 

[ElNarez]

They should bring back rogues classic leather jacket look.

they should bring back rogue but dead

and not a ghost either, just

dead

no more rogue

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I wish Gordon stay as

Spoiler

bunny

batman :

I like the somber badass attitude

Spoiler

Rabbatman

 

[TheStig88]

Captain Marvel any good? First trade is on sale on comixology and I'm tempted.

Also, can I get some required reading for Captain America? Seeing how he's the best thing going in the MCU, I'm feeling the need to dive into his books.

 

[Coriolanus]

Captain Marvel any good? First trade is on sale on comixology and I'm tempted.

Also, can I get some required reading for Captain America? Seeing how he's the best thing going in the MCU, I'm feeling the need to dive into his books.

Brubacker.

Also apparently Waid was baller too. Boring writer for a boring character. Makes sense.

 

[Messi]

Captain Marvel any good? First trade is on sale on comixology and I'm tempted.

Also, can I get some required reading for Captain America? Seeing how he's the best thing going in the MCU, I'm feeling the need to dive into his books.

I love Captain Marvel. You know what I like.

 

[Xis]

Captain Marvel any good? First trade is on sale on comixology and I'm tempted.

Also, can I get some required reading for Captain America? Seeing how he's the best thing going in the MCU, I'm feeling the need to dive into his books.

I really wanted Captain Marvel to be good, but honestly it's pretty forgettable.

I definitely second the Brubaker run for Captain America. It starts with Winter Soldier and then goes into Death of Captain America.

 

[tim1138]

they should bring back rogue but dead

and not a ghost either, just

dead

no more rogue

But sugah, she's such a..
No
Wait
You're completely right

 

[Owzers]

the random bprd trade i read and didn't like that much was volume 4: The Dead. I had to see how many spoilers for the run i hit before deciding my next move.

 

[tim1138]

I double dipped on Fear Agent digitally thanks to the CMX sale. After seeing it in glorious CMX HD the odds of me ever opening the library editions again dropped to about zero

 

[jon bones]

Captain Marvel any good? First trade is on sale on comixology and I'm tempted.

Also, can I get some required reading for Captain America? Seeing how he's the best thing going in the MCU, I'm feeling the need to dive into his books.

no compelling plot nor charm

skip

 

[TalkingToast]

I've concluded with dismay that american comics are too rich for my blood, unless I'm missing some crazy digital deals.
Well, other than Marvel Unlimited if I can find enough comics that interest me for a month or two.

A trade paperback gives me similar entertainment value to 1-2 TV episodes, and 10 trade paperbacks similar to a novel.
Yet TPB cost $10 or more which is comparable in cost to one physical book or two eBooks.
TV shows cost in the order of $1.5-2 per episode, and manga volumes go for ~$7 and have twice the length.

I can understand that it costs a lot to make comics with coloring, print etc. but I don't have enough disposable to favor it over other media.

Comixology frequently will have 99 c issue sales or 5 dollar tpbs. That, along with an MU sub (basically all marvel comics except for the MAX stuff, including the new stuff, just at a short delay.) If that's not enough there's your local library, humble book bundles frequently featuring comics, letting you pay 15 dollars or so for anywhere from 30-75 issues of comics (that image bundle with all of saga and like 48 issues of walking dead ?). I also buy a lot of used stuff from online classifieds, kijiji.ca where I live, where I've never paid more then 5 or ten bucks for a book. 40 dollars for the first ten TPBs of the walking dead, 50 bucks for a whole run of transmetro, 60 again the first 4 issues of punisher max, 2 trades of the boys, knightfall 1 and 2, hush, and the new tmnt trade. All great so far. 30 dollars for the first 4 injustice hardcovers the other day.

Walking into your LCS and buying brand new comics is expensive, yeah, but I mainly view that as a way for really enthusiasts to collect/support the industry, not really meant for folks looking to get good bang for their buck entertainment wise.

 

[Owzers]

I double dipped on Fear Agent digitally thanks to the CMX sale. After seeing it in glorious CMX HD the odds of me ever opening the library editions again dropped to about zero

You don't have to open them to give them a sniff.

Also....come on! OHC beats digital! We can't let this happen where people no longer value oversized hardcovers.

 

[choaffable]

Make sure you ain't double buyin!

...

Goddamn it. And I already own the pixelated bullshit versions on the Dark Horse app.

 

[tim1138]

You don't have to open them to give them a sniff.

Also....come on! OHC beats digital! We can't let this happen where people no longer value oversized hardcovers.

Digital trumps all! If for no other reason than convenience.

So a question for the other old timers here: do you think Erik Larson hand delivers the newest issue of Savage Dragon to TTOB? I mean surely no one else is still reading that book, right?

 

[Kipp]

Sooo I'm pretty sure my boss just doesn't come into the office anymore. It's Friday again and my boss hasn't come in again. It's now been 2 months since I've seen her in here.

Also, I've got that interview for the FroYo place today. Not really nervous, but I am sort of... uncertain? Pessimistic? Not sure. Don't know why I feel that way since it feels like more of a "As long as you don't blow it, you've got it in the bag" kind of thing.

Also....come on! OHC beats digital! We can't let this happen where people no longer value oversized hardcovers.

...Or maybe we can. If people don't value their OHCs, I can buy them up on the cheap.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Digital trumps all! If for no other reason than convenience.

So a question for the other old timers here: do you think Erik Larson hand delivers the newest issue of Savage Dragon to TTOB? I mean surely no one else is still reading that book, right?

michel fiffe too, i think
and lil bobby kirkman no doubt

 

[Owzers]

When comixology crumbles and all you have left are empty shelves where trades used to stand tall I'll be reading comics and laughing.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I'll be reading comics

you don't have to lie b

 

[tim1138]

When comixology crumbles and all you have left are empty shelves where trades used to stand tall I'll be reading comics and laughing.

Sure you will

 

[Spike Spiegel]

...Okay, I want her to keep the gavel post- Secret Wars.