[bean breath]

Agreed, yo. I like going to my shop and picking up floppies and paying for physical pages and staples.

Same, except I only pick up books in which the writer hand wrote the script in ballpoint pen on college ruled notebook paper and the artist(s) pencil, ink, color, and letter the pages using only WWII era tech and work by candlelight.

[Filthy Slug]

Mine neither. The only thing they bag and board are variants.

That's fucking horrible. Is it one of those shops that charges you some grimy extra cents for them at the counter or what?

[LiQuid!]

Bagging and boarding is a waste of time, effort, money and space, especially for 99.9% of modern comics that aren't worth dick.

[ReiGun]

That's fucking horrible. Is it one of those shops that charges you some grimy extra cents for them at the counter or what?

I don't know. I've never asked since I don't really mind doing it myself.

[Supermanisdead]

I don't keep my floppies. I have a few trades of runs that are just really great (Morrisson NXM, Carey's X-Men Supernovas), but mostly I have no comics collection. With the amount of monthlies I pick up, I don't want to become a hoarder.

[krypt0nian]

Whoever said digital is better than print is a fucking liar.

Monthlies for the overwhelming majority are digital. I then rebuy the books I love as trades. Best of both worlds. Thes no way I'm ever taking up space in my house with floppies in long boxes. Yuck.

[SpiderJerusalem]

yea I have like 30 longboxes and I'm sick of them

I mean I love them but damn

[LiQuid!]

I don't keep my floppies. I have a few trades of runs that are just really great (Morrisson NXM, Carey's X-Men Supernovas), but mostly I have no comics collection. With the amount of monthlies I pick up, I don't want to become a hoarder.

^doing it right

yea I have like 30 longboxes and I'm sick of them I mean I love them but damn

^doing it wrong

[Filthy Slug]

Bagging and boarding is a waste of time, effort, money and space, especially for 99.9% of modern comics that aren't worth dick.

I mean, that's one way of looking at it. It's just part of the job at the place I go to and I honestly appreciate that the books are bagged and boarded and that I don't have to pay extra for that. Never heard any of the employees once bitch about having to do that but it's also not a super large store.

[krypt0nian]

I mean, that's one way of looking at it. It's just part of the job at the place I go to and I honestly appreciate that the books are bagged and boarded and that I don't have to pay extra for that. Never heard any of the employees once bitch about having to do that but it's also not a super large store.

For the few floppies I have to buy as they are not available digitally, I give the bag/board back at the register. It's just more trash in my eyes.

[ViewtifulJC]

I can count the amount of "floppies" I have in my house on both hands, and have extra fingers unattended for.

[Filthy Slug]

How long did you guys actively collect floppies before dropping them for digital? And what'd you do with your former collections?

[SpiderJerusalem]

^doing it right ^doing it wrong

I don't care, I've kept almost everything since I was 6. I've started tossing 90's comics though and gave all my Ninja Turtles books to my kid. I'll keep my X-men til i die

[gketter]

Your floppies don't come bagged and boarded? What kind of savages run your shop?

that ship sailed long ago for all the shops i'd frequent. used to be standard, but not in a long time.

I can count the amount of "floppies" I have in my house on both hands, and have extra fingers unattended for.

I have a garage full of floppies in long boxes, some sorted, most not. The last time i tried to sort them all it took me a couple weeks.

The only floppies i have that i know i can find, is my Peter David Aquaman run i bought during a comic con trip and my Alan moore Miracle man set that I keep on my book shelf. The rest of the bookshelf is trades

[rCIZZLE]

I'll be sticking with physical unless retail on digital comics becomes dirt cheap. It's easy to get rid of random comics or full runs if I don't have the room.

[Zebra]

Hey guys, I picked up Batwoman #1 today and realllly enjoyed it. Can I expect the series to keep up this quality? I've been contemplating getting the rest of the issues.

[Troll]

Hey guys, I picked up Batwoman #1 today and realllly enjoyed it. Can I expect the series to keep up this quality? I've been contemplating getting the rest of the issues.

I know a couple people who really enjoy Batwoman. I think of her as a safe buy. :)

[Rafa=FedKilla]

DefinitEly get bat woman. And if you are a fan of wonder woman you'll see more of her in one issue then her entire series thus far

[Black_Stride]

Whoever said digital is better than print is a fucking liar.

Im just old school, so i prefer print much much better.
I do read some digital but dont enjoy it anywhere near as much.
I think its just me trying to hold on to my childhood, the excitement of open the first page, that comicbook smell ohhhhh so good.

I also still like lending out my comics so my friends can tear pages and spill coffee in them....digital its alot harder to do that.

[Sblargh]

Im just old school, so i prefer print much much better. I do read some digital but dont enjoy it anywhere near as much. I think its just me trying to hold on to my childhood, the excitement of open the first page, that comicbook smell ohhhhh so good. I also still like lending out my comics so my friends can tear pages and spill coffee in them....digital its alot harder to do that.

I remember an aunt playing with my cat with a comic laying around (it was a new montly x-men, like, x-treme x-men from the time Claremont was writing awful comics) and she asked "did you already read that?" and I went "yeah", so she just tore a page out, made a little paper ball and threw to the cat who did not care at all.

I raged a little inside. Boy, imagine if she threw a tablet at the cat!

[bodyboarder]

yea I have like 30 longboxes and I'm sick of them I mean I love them but damn

That would do my head in. Though I try to be anti clutter.

[Dan]

it is for me. *shrug* I get cheaper comics, with no lengthy travel whenever i want, that i can always find in good quality, with no ads, and great fidelity (thanks to the hd versions of comics). Oh and buying cheap back issues for runs that never made it in trade is also great and very convenient. Go landscape, with panel zoom. Once you get used to the navigation its great. I actually get more out of it as i'm not spoiling myself with upcoming panels on the other page

Ick. Zooming to try and see details and consequently losing context of the whole page seems like a disservice to those really making the most of the medium. I guess there's no shortage of comics that can be read isolated panel by isolated panel, but those probably aren't the comics that made me fall in love with the medium.

I would also hate to see digital start encouraging creators to forego doing interesting layouts and using the strengths of paneling, and instead just do entirely standalone images, so as to stand out in the world of panel zoom. As a parallel, it's like how TV shows had to throw away a lot of the visual strengths of film in order to deal with the smaller screen, and turned into a close-up and medium shot bonanza (until recent history, thanks to bigger and higher res screens).

I could only hop on the digital bandwagon if screen sizes were large enough to not minimize the traits that define comics.

[Rafa=FedKilla]

One of my peeves is books with disiengenious adjectives in the title. There is nothing XtremE about XtremE x men . Greg Pak does not know the first thing about this lifestyle. Dropped. At least WaTXM is back on an upswing.

[LiQuid!]

One of my peeves is books with disiengenious adjectives in the title. There is nothing XtremE about XtremE x men . Greg Pak does not know the first thing about this lifestyle. Dropped. At least WaTXM is back on an upswing.

Are you denying that Dazzler is the most XtremE X-man???

[Black_Stride]

I remember an aunt playing with my cat with a comic laying around (it was a new montly x-men, like, x-treme x-men from the time Claremont was writing awful comics) and she asked "did you already read that?" and I went "yeah", so she just tore a page out, made a little paper ball and threw to the cat who did not care at all. I raged a little inside. Boy, imagine if she threw a tablet at the cat!

Hahaha this is probably the funniest story ive heard in months.
I literally burst out laughing, the build up was so good, yeah see with digital we cant have funny moments like this.

I dont know about you guys but pretty much everytime i have a lady friend over they look at my comics and always ask if they are from my childhood, Ive learnt that the correct answer is yes they are from my childhood.....dont asnwer i bought them yesterday unless the girl really likes you.

Long live print!

On Topic
All this talk of print comics makes me want a new issue of something......how are the Captain Marvel books so far, im a fan of the costume but Ive been a Ms. Marvel fan since forever, i even bought all the Dark Ms. Marvel and War of the Marvels.
I need something for to buy on Monday and if Captain Marvel is good ill jump on it.

[gketter]

Ick. Zooming to try and see details and consequently losing context of the whole page seems like a disservice to those really making the most of the medium. I guess there's no shortage of comics that can be read isolated panel by isolated panel, but those probably aren't the comics that made me fall in love with the medium. I would also hate to see digital start encouraging creators to forego doing interesting layouts and using the strengths of paneling, and instead just do entirely standalone images, so as to stand out in the world of panel zoom. As a parallel, it's like how TV shows had to throw away a lot of the visual strengths of film in order to deal with the smaller screen, and turned into a close-up and medium shot bonanza (until recent history, thanks to bigger and higher res screens). I could only hop on the digital bandwagon if screen sizes were large enough to not minimize the traits that define comics.

well you can also read digital without the zoom and the traditional way. I prefer the zoom as it actually slows my reading down to appreciate the art more. Plus before and after they usually show the full page before the panel focus viewing. What comics that are released monthly today do you consider actually uses panel construction to really affect the reading of the comics? The one i thought of was Batwoman. And even that does surprisingly well when you can get the full page outlook, and then hit the various aspects of the page to absorb the detail.

[NawidA]

Your floppies don't come bagged and boarded? What kind of savages run your shop?

Eh? I like to browse comics and it's a terrible waste of plastic and paper if you don't want them (and half of us don't). Also for any store that sells a decent amount of comics, it's impractical.

[Lombaszko]

yea I have like 30 longboxes and I'm sick of them I mean I love them but damn

Wow, ever think of getting rid of some?
I was watching Collection Intervention the other night and there was a guy who had something like 160 long boxes. I only have 1 long and 1 short box (not even full) and I got freaked out. I took 50 floppies and 6 trades into my local shop yesterday and got $20 store credit. Feels good man.

On bagging and boarding, I used to do everything but when I'd go back to re-read it was a pain to peel the tape back and take out the book. Now I just do the first issues of a title to make sorting in the box easier.

[Filthy Slug]

Eh? I like to browse comics and it's a terrible waste of plastic and paper if you don't want them (and half of us don't). Also for any store that sells a decent amount of comics, it's impractical.

That's cool, man. I go to a smaller shop and if I want to browse I just take the comic out and browse. Never really impeded me 'cause I don't mind spending a little time in there. Never thought of it as a waste of anything but if you don't care for bags and boards and stuff then I can see your point.


Also, Zebra, you should definitely pick up Batwoman. The first arc is great and the second probably reads better when you're not going month-to-month due to all the time-hopping. The last issue with Wonder Woman was also really cool.

[rCIZZLE]

A lot of the shops I went to have so much traffic that bagging and boarding would have been a huge chore for the 1-3 employees working wednesday. Besides the couple hundred new books they put on the shelves, they also have people's baskets and such. Shelf space is often limited too so bagging and boarding would mean quicker rotation for back issues and more longboxes.

[shuri]

I dont see the point of paying full price for a digital issue, but I understand the space concerns. I only collect Punisher stuff, my main 'other' series I follow is Wolverine, and the rest are random small miniseries of stuff that looks violent and/or trashy (the 13yo shuri trapped in me NEEDS THEM!)

I'm a very very very late bloomer when it comes to comics (I started really collecting and reading a year ago), and now I have two longboxes full of stuff + lots of hard covers. Maybe it's because when I was young, I would buy euro comic books (like Tintin, Asterix), and since they were expensive for me (we were poor), getting a new one was almost a special mini event. I would be super hardcore about taking good care of them. And now, with american comics, it still is the same. I love to collect them, check out the covers. I gotta admit, I have never read most of the old school punisher stuff I have in floppies because I dont want to damage them, they are in pristine condition. Instead, i bought the black and white repro compilation they did a couple of years ago :P

And my local comic book shop only sells bagged/boarded comics.

[BenjaminBirdie]

On Topic All this talk of print comics makes me want a new issue of something......how are the Captain Marvel books so far, im a fan of the costume but Ive been a Ms. Marvel fan since forever, i even bought all the Dark Ms. Marvel and War of the Marvels. I need something for to buy on Monday and if Captain Marvel is good ill jump on it.

The book is phenomenally well written and structured. The art didn't gel with the attitude at first but it's getting better. If you want to get a sense of how spectacular the book can be when everything meshes, get the two Avenging Spider-Mans DeConnick wrote (with Dodson art) which basically introduced the new Captain Marvel, a month or two back.

[Zebra]

Thanks for the replies, folks! I think I'll stop by my local shop today and grab the next several issues. I really was quite impressed with the first one, I'm glad to hear that it keeps it up.

[sillymonkey321]

digital prices are inhibiting me from buying more, now i just stick to sales of minis and short series and Marvel free digital codes included in the print copies i buy because it's easier to reread them this way.

Looking at Comixology's Valiant sale, i'd buy X-O Manowar 1-3 for 99 cents an issue digitally, except i know that future issues are going to be $3.99 digitally so what's the point? Never going to do buy into that pricing model, trees are going to have to die.

And if i get 40% off ordering from DCBS , why is there no subscription model for digital? Doesn't make sense that you can pre-order a print issue of Marvel Now comics for $2.39 that includes a digital code, or you can buy the digital comic when it comes out for $3.99.

Yeah, what forward thinking pricing structures.

[GrandHarrier]

digital prices are inhibiting me from buying more, now i just stick to sales of minis and short series and Marvel free digital codes included in the print copies i buy because it's easier to reread them this way. Looking at Comixology's Valiant sale, i'd buy X-O Manowar 1-3 for 99 cents an issue digitally, except i know that future issues are going to be $3.99 digitally so what's the point? Never going to do buy into that pricing model, trees are going to have to die. And if i get 40% off ordering from DCBS , why is there no subscription model for digital? Doesn't make sense that you can pre-order a print issue of Marvel Now comics for $2.39 that includes a digital code, or you can buy the digital comic when it comes out for $3.99. Yeah, what forward thinking pricing structures.

Basically this. Digital is paying more for less which doesn't seem like much of a bargain to me. I got the Darkness trades digitally with the Darkness 2 video game, but after reading them (and kind of getting into it) I couldn't bring myself to pay the prices they were asking for the rest of it.

[slightconfuse]

everyone should reader archer and armstrong

[BlueScrote]

Any recommendations for the Barnes and Noble DC/Vertigo B2G1 sale? I already have American Vampire vol2, 3, and Sandman vol 3 ordered. I'm open to cape suggestions but I've read most of the often recommended ones (Batman year one, DKR, Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Killing Joke, Red Son, All Start Superman, Watchment, V for Vendetta, Black Mirror, Batwoman, Arkham Asylumn). I'm all caught up on New 52 that interest me.

[BenjaminBirdie]

everyone should reader archer and armstrong

I didn't like it. All the new Valiant books are just shy of being like god level good. Just something about them. I tried Bloodsport and Archer and, I dunno. Archer is a good idea, but the mythology was just a bit too wack for me.

Valiant is the Showtime of the comics world, and all their comics are Dexter.

[Sumidor]

So apparently at one point this was gonna happen- http://www.examiner.com/article/scra...urfaces-online ...but NOOOOOOOOOOO we got a reboot instead. It would've been so cash, GL Optimus, Aquaman busting up Seacons, etc.

I.. Don't even.. The fuck? I love me some Transformers.. But what the fuck??

[sillymonkey321]

Any recommendations for the Barnes and Noble DC/Vertigo B2G1 sale? I already have American Vampire vol2, 3, and Sandman vol 3 ordered. I'm open to cape suggestions but I've read most of the often recommended ones (Batman year one, DKR, Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Killing Joke, Red Son, All Start Superman, Watchment, V for Vendetta, Black Mirror, Batwoman, Arkham Asylumn). I'm all caught up on New 52 that interest me.

things i want:

I vampire vol 1 and 2 from the new 52
New Deadwardians Vertigo miniseries - read the first 4 issues and it was great
The Shade miniseries
Unwritten vol 6 and 7
American Vampire 3, 4, 5
Book of Magic Deluxe
Fables: Wolves of the Heartland
We3 Deluxe Edition
Batman Earth One vol 1
Superman Earth One vol 2
Absolute Sinestro Corps War
Absolute Batman and Robin
Absolute Top Ten - not updated into BN.com listings yet, comes out April 30th

Have you ever checked out Batman Incorporated Deluxe Edition collecting the story arc before the new 52 arc took over? Flex Mentallo Deluxe Edition?

The sale also is good for pre-orders for the next set of new 52 volumes.

[Parch]

I don't keep my floppies. I don't want to become a hoarder.

This is me too, but I give them to friends who let me read their purchases and collections. They've got dozens of boxes from 30 years of collecting.
We've got a good deal going. Whatever I buy I give to them after reading it, and they let me read whatever they've bought recently, plus they let me "rent" a long box for as long as I want.
For every comic I buy, I read at least 50 comics.

[notworksafe]

I don't keep my floppies. I have a few trades of runs that are just really great (Morrisson NXM, Carey's X-Men Supernovas), but mostly I have no comics collection. With the amount of monthlies I pick up, I don't want to become a hoarder.

Same. I keep a few runs but mostly I get rid of my floppies. I either give them to friends or drop them off in bulk at the local hospital for kids to read. Gotta do whatever I can to get new people reading! :P

[Supermanisdead]

One of my peeves is books with disiengenious adjectives in the title. There is nothing XtremE about XtremE x men . Greg Pak does not know the first thing about this lifestyle. Dropped. At least WaTXM is back on an upswing.

U should read the original Xtreme Xmen. That was some Xtreme shit. Rogue became a mechanic and got a tribal sleeve tattoo.

[gketter]

digital prices are inhibiting me from buying more, now i just stick to sales of minis and short series and Marvel free digital codes included in the print copies i buy because it's easier to reread them this way. Looking at Comixology's Valiant sale, i'd buy X-O Manowar 1-3 for 99 cents an issue digitally, except i know that future issues are going to be $3.99 digitally so what's the point? Never going to do buy into that pricing model, trees are going to have to die. And if i get 40% off ordering from DCBS , why is there no subscription model for digital? Doesn't make sense that you can pre-order a print issue of Marvel Now comics for $2.39 that includes a digital code, or you can buy the digital comic when it comes out for $3.99. Yeah, what forward thinking pricing structures.

Except for Marvel, since they're idiots, I wait a month and buy everything 1.00 cheaper with no ads. And they save me on trades as i'm not rebuying comics just so i can find them and read them in collected form. Marvel though has always been behind the curve when it comes to digital. It's annoying.

Ideally i'd like a subscription based model that allows me something like Netflix where i can read everything from the publisher digitally from day of, to back catalog but not own.

[sillymonkey321]

Except for Marvel, since they're idiots, I wait a month and buy everything 1.00 cheaper with no ads. And they save me on trades as i'm not rebuying comics just so i can find them and read them in collected form. Marvel though has always been behind the curve when it comes to digital. It's annoying. Ideally i'd like a subscription based model that allows me something like Netflix where i can read everything from the publisher digitally from day of, to back catalog but not own.

That's the dream, but i've lost hope in that. Maybe Obama will talk about it Thursday at the DNC. Marvel doesn't even bother to run MDCU decently.

[NawidA]

I got my 5 Y the Last Man hardcovers and the Batwoman one. The Y ones are pretty great and the Batwoman is pretty crappy. Too much copy on the cover, gutter loss on a thin book which has a ton of double page spreads, and just an overall cheap feeling for a hardcover. I'm assuming all new 52 hardcovers are lIke this, so wait for the cheaper trades.

[akira28]

I didn't like it. All the new Valiant books are just shy of being like god level good. Just something about them. I tried Bloodsport and Archer and, I dunno. Archer is a good idea, but the mythology was just a bit too wack for me. Valiant is the Showtime of the comics world, and all their comics are Dexter.

Valiant of old always had really good arcs (though they kind of fucked up with the megacrossover thing, trying to mimic the bigs, I think). Good completions and good twists. I don't know how much of the same involvement from original production there will be, but they have a good track to follow anyway.

[rCIZZLE]

Ideally i'd like a subscription based model that allows me something like Netflix where i can read everything from the publisher digitally from day of, to back catalog but not own.

Yep, I'd love this. Would really drive down the amount of comics I buy, especially TPBs/graphic novels.

[Parch]

The Netflix argument is good for a lot of things. Money is the biggest reason why it doesn't happen.

[sillymonkey321]

The Netflix argument is good for a lot of things. Money is the biggest reason why it doesn't happen.

Yep. I just wish there were more enticing propositions to get people into reading comics. MDCU tries and fails, it's a bit of a joke how unorganized Marvel is with how they run MDCU, almost to the point that they come across as antagonistic to their own service.