How do you read and keep track of comics?

[TheDragonKing]

Do you read them online or collect them? And how do you keep track of all the ones you've read? If you've read a lot what do you tell people if they ask what you've read?

[qwertyuiop1998]

Online, I only have two comic books in my collet. Regularly reading forum threads and see what I have missed. Tell them the comic books that I can recall.

[marvelprince]

I mostly read digitally. Comixology or amazon. When something really strikes me I’ll order the TPB. I like to have the trades cause they’re good coffee table style books and I find people are more receptive to picking up one than a single issue comic.

[Jim Kelly]

I have literally tons of comics in hard copy form. These days I read about half online and half in real form. I'm loathe to buy many more comics because that just adds to all the stuff I have to shelve and store. But I do like real comics best.

My memory for comics was so good that I didn't need to keep track of them. I've tried a few times to keep records over the years, but I'm just not organized in that way. I didn't used to need a list of what I have when looking for new comics or old ones--and I still can remember a lot of the comics that I've bought and read--but these days I'm sure to have a list when looking for specific comics, otherwise I've ended up buying the same issue twice.

[Vampire Savior]

I buy older comics in physical form, bag and board them, and store them in long boxes. I buy all new comics digitally. I don't buy new floppies. I buy trade paperbacks and hardcovers for both new and old comics.

I'm not sure what you mean when you ask how do I keep track of the ones I've read. I...use my memory? I understand that a lot of comics readers buy a whole bunch of stuff they don't really care about and when they read it it's in one ear and out the other. I, however, only buy stuff I'm really interested in, and as such, I probably don't buy nearly as many comics as a lot of other people, so I typically don't have difficulty keeping track of what I've read.

[Jim Kelly]

The thing is with the variant covers, if I'm in the store looking at issues, I might not remember if I got issue 12 and I can't tell from the cover if it has a different cover from the one that I got. I usually have to open up the comic and start reading it to see if it's one that I read. I never had that problem before when a comic only had one cover. I could just look at a cover and remember exactly what was in that issue.

[iron chimp]

I buy older comics in physical form, bag and board them, and store them in long boxes. I buy all new comics digitally. I don't buy new floppies. I buy trade paperbacks and hardcovers for both new and old comics.

I'm not sure what you mean when you ask how do I keep track of the ones I've read. I...use my memory? I understand that a lot of comics readers buy a whole bunch of stuff they don't really care about and when they read it it's in one ear and out the other. I, however, only buy stuff I'm really interested in, and as such, I probably don't buy nearly as many comics as a lot of other people, so I typically don't have difficulty keeping track of what I've read.

The very hardcore might have over 100 new series on the go and the same again in back issues - those guys seem to use databases like this

https://comicbase.com/mycb/default.aspx

[SixSpeedSamurai]

physical book, I read most of them. Unless I pick up a valuable old back issue.

I use Collectorz to keep track of my collection, just the mobile app.

[Jim Kelly]

Unless I pick up a valuable old back issue.

When I couldn't find a vintage issue in any other way, I've bought slabbed copies. But I always crack them open and read the physical copy. What's the good of having something if you can't actually hold it in your hand. It isn't just the story that's worth having--it's the reality of the thing, how the paper feels, how it smells, the sound of the pages as you turn them, the way the light hits the page. There's no substitute for that experience.

[married guy]

physical book, I read most of them. Unless I pick up a valuable old back issue.

I use Collectorz to keep track of my collection, just the mobile app.

I'm pretty much the same. Except I read EVERY issue I buy before bagging and boarding. (Unless they're slabbed)
An honestly, I don't know how I got by without the Comic Collectorz program.