Am I making sense
Am I making sense
I've recently found myself enjoying some stories more when read in single issues. Grant Morrison's Multiversity for the experience sakes, but especially his recent Green Lantern. Each issue has a self contained adventure and a setting and tone which feels unique to the issue. Why I feel reading it in single issues makes it a richer experience.
There used to be a lot of single issue stories. It's only the last couple of decades that writing longer stories for trade paperback collections has become the norm.
Also, in rereading my old collection recently, I sometimes like reading the letters pages on those old comics, to see how fans at the time responded to specific things a few issues earlier. And sometimes, it's interesting to see the historical context of what types of ads and things were printed in the old floppies. Seeing an ad for a story that's now considered a classic, back when it was new, can sometimes be a shock.
So I prefer single issues over collected editions. I'll only buy collected editions if I'm trying to read a specific story, and it's significantly cheaper than buying the single issues.
Just re-reading my old collection, filling in the occasional gap with back issues, not buying anything new.
Currently working my way through 1990's Flash, Impulse, and JLA, and occasional other related stuff.
Sure, why not? I'm sure we could find many examples where one single issue is better than a trade.
Your question is pretty vague and out there, is there some hidden agenda point you are wanting to make?
I think restorative nostalgia is the number one issue with comic book fans.
A fine distinction between two types of Nostalgia:
Reflective Nostalgia allows us to savor our memories but accepts that they are in the past
Restorative Nostalgia pushes back against the here and now, keeping us stuck trying to relive our glory days.
In addition to reasons already listed above, the experience of single issues can be better if you prefer the original paper quality or original coloring versus a revised collected edition. Also, you sometimes have to contend with gutter loss in collected editions because you can't open the pages completely.
On another note, I seem to recall an Image (?) book made a point of saying the single issues would have exclusive backmatter that would not be reprinted. That kind of makes the single issues "better".
I'm sure this has all been discussed many times before.
Sentimental-wise, yes.
For instance, a long, long time ago, when I was a wee kid, with the book "Spider-Man: Strange Adventures", it had a reprint of Morbius. I once proudly boasted to my brother "I got the first Morbius story!", only for my brother shot me down "That does not count", as in it is a REPRINT book, with a REPRINT of the first story of Morbius.
To me, I can actually say I have an actual Savage She-Hulk #1, paid twenty dollars for it, rather than others would probably only have it on Essential She-Hulk Volume One.
Or, on a comic book shop shopping spree, with a wallet full of tax refund dollars, among my buys that day, Shazam! #1, from 1973, that brought back Captain Marvel into the modern world, in glorious C. C. Back art. Others would probably only have it on Showcase: Shazam!
Or, a handful of parts of Hush on Batman, actual segments on Jim Lee-drawn Batman vs Catwoman, Killer Croc, Riddler, Harley Quinn, Joker, Ra's Al Ghul, and Hush, some of them even paid ten dollars each, that was years ago, they could potentially be more higher priced now, rather than others would say "I have Hush" as in the common mass-produced reprinted trade.
Last edited by ngroove; 08-28-2019 at 10:49 PM.
Good example of this is 52 the single issues contained origin back up pages that were not collected in the trade form.
Those are collected in the TPB "DC Universe: Origins". It includes origins stories published in "Countdown to Final Crisis", "52" and "Justice League: Cry for Justice".
Ed Brubaker's been making a point with a lot of his Image work the last few years to put extras in the single issues that won't be put in the collected editions in order to push single issue sales.
Last Read: Aquaman & The Flash: Voidsong
Monthly Pull List: Birds of Prey, Daredevil, Geiger, Green Arrow, Justice Ducks, Justice Society of America, Negaduck, Nightwing, Phantom Road, Shazam!, Space Ghost, Suicide Squad: Dream Team, Thundercats, Titans
Nowadays, I only collect single issues for special anniversary titles, comics with gimmick covers (I like them!), and only if one of my favorite characters has a guess appearance, and that I don't want to buy the whole TPB only for that issue alone.
I used to buy everything in single issues on Wednesday, but it was expensive and just not very practical for a quick re-read. I prefer to read the story arc in TPB and it looks better in a bookcase than in a long/short box. It also take less space, and I don't have to pay for seeing the adds in the single issues!