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Post by masterofquackfu on Nov 12, 2016 7:11:59 GMT -5
First off, I do think think trade paperbacks, Epic line, Essentials, etc. are very good. They offer a good amount of issues for a decent price. They are usually well put together and would seem to really have a way to reduce buying individual back issues. However, I have found that I actually prefer individual issues rather than the mass collection formats. Perhaps I am old school(been reading comics since 1976), but I just find the mass collection books too..pretty. Yes, the coloring is sharp..computerized and all. And there are none of the cheesy bodybuilding ads and selling Grit magazine or seeds. And the absence of the letters page. So, the mass collections are a clean and organized version and that is exactly what I dislike about them. I like the feeling of the individual issues as they relate to time. I enjoy holding a comic book that someone held fresh off the presses in 1976. I like the fact that the coloring is not sharp and is rather faded. I also find I enjoy the cheesy comic book ads now because it gives them a sense of character that you simply would not find in books these days. I like seeing the letter pages and reading those old thoughts from many moons ago. Perhaps it all reminds me of my youthful days of reading comics. Certainly, there is part of the reason. But I just think I enjoy the overall gritty nature of the old battered comic and its representation of time. For example, I read the Fury of Iron Fist...Marvel Epic line. Then I read a couple of Iron Fist issues that I had that were in the volume. I just notice a vast chasm of difference in the reading experience. I found the Epic book to just be too good...a feeling of being a bit sterile. The colors "popped" too much for my taste and there didn't seem to be a feeling of time with this volume(I believe it is from 2015 or so). Now, take the Iron Fist comics..colors were a bit dull...the print smeared at certain points...the sundry comic book ads..the letters page...It all just felt..real. More like it was personal experience. And again, thinking back to how this book had traversed years and, likely, many people to arrive in my hands. I also did a similar reading with the Champions trade paperback from years ago. The result? I find I enjoy the individual issues MUCH more than the volume collections. The experience between the two is like night and day to me. As a result, I am done buying any of the collected volumes. Any thoughts?
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Nov 12, 2016 7:59:16 GMT -5
Good for you but not for me. Rather get the collections for free from the library.I'm happy just to read them, like dating, not marry them, like buying and keeping
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2016 8:11:59 GMT -5
@quackfu, can you please use paragraphs?
Collected editions do serve a purpose especially if someone wants a cheaper alternative to buying the original comics or as Ish mentioned. Although, as a comic collector, I do try to own original comics of what I own (which isn't always possible if the original stories are really valuable comics).
I do agree with you on the topic of 'remastered colours', they are sometimes awful if familiar with the originals.
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Post by Lolatadatodo on Nov 12, 2016 8:15:48 GMT -5
I like collections in trade and hardcover. They are easier to keep.
I do like the way the art and color are, for the most part, on single issues.
I do not like Essentials, though, for me, personally.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,873
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Post by shaxper on Nov 12, 2016 8:32:06 GMT -5
Nothing beats the authenticity, nostalgia, and history of holding the original. Plus, you get the original covers, the original coloring, the medium for which the pencils and layouts were intended, letter columns, bullpen editorials, and advertisements.
But I do prefer trades when a series is difficult to follow in its original publication format. For example, Kirby's Fourth World or The Thanos Saga. Really hard to know what order to read in if looking at the original floppies.
And a few trades contain forwards or afterwards that are particularly memorable. I own Batman: A Death In The Family in both floppy and trade formats because of this.
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Post by Cei-U! on Nov 12, 2016 8:50:59 GMT -5
I have shelves and shelves of Essentials, Showcases, and other TPBs so, no, I have no problem at all with them. Most of them collect titles I used to own in the originals but long since sold off or gave away, titles it would be prohibitively expensive to recollect. As an artist myself, I actually prefer the black and white collections as I can study and appreciate the art without the distraction of crappy Silver or Bronze Age coloring. They also hold up better to repeated readings and allow me to loan out runs I would never let leave my house in the original. Still, there are comics--books like Master of Kung Fu, Jungle Action, and The Invaders--that I want, for various personal reasons, in the originals, and those I scout for at conventions in the $ boxes.
Cei-U!
I summon the practicality!
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 12, 2016 9:08:46 GMT -5
I love all the formats but still adore the originals. If it wasn't for the essentials, I would never have read many silver age books that I was never going to afford.
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 12, 2016 9:54:39 GMT -5
Nothing replaces an original, with letters pages, ads, and the smell and feel of a "printed-in-Sparta" comic.
But, no way I can afford back-issue prices, so I have picked up various types of reprints, and I know what you all mean abou that shiny coloring in various of these collections. I think it makes the stories look flat and lifeless, which I know sounds counter-intuitive, but between the weight and glossiness of the actual pages and the slickness of the coloring, I'm left cold.
For a while there, DC printed some nice HC and trade collections in color on cheaper paper, and these are great. I'm thinking of the Greatest Golden Age Stories, the Greatest 1950s Stories, The Superman and Batman in the 40s, 50s and 60s anthologies and DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories. Very nice.
I have a batch of DC's Showcase Presents that collect Silver Age runs I either don't have at all or that are incomplete. I don't mind the B&W art at all, and in fact, in the case of some artists, It's an interesting contrast. I like the non-slick, pulpy feel of the pages, too.
Two full-color collections that look great and are plain fun to read also are the Roy Thomas-edited Batman: The War Years and Batman Sunday Pages 1943-46 (Not sure if that's the only collection of these).
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 12, 2016 11:56:41 GMT -5
I own quite a few collected editions for ease of reading, but nothing beats actually having the original comics. To me, a collection of trades isn't really a collection, somehow.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2016 12:02:27 GMT -5
When I was younger, the comic itself was what it was all about, the look, feel and smell. I had tons of them. Now I am older it's easier for me to buy the hardback collected editions and keep them on my shelf. Also, I wouldn't be rich enough to re-buy all the comics I got rid of! I am not a fan of trade paperbacks, but have a few of them for things not collected in hardback. So for me, a collected edition is definitely the way to go.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2016 12:04:58 GMT -5
I prefer issues. But trades are great to take on vacation to read.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2016 12:10:22 GMT -5
Kinda convenient for sure. Anyone who wants to read the original Death of Superman storyline in the comics has to go rifling through Man of Steel, Superman, Adventures of Superman, Action Comics and JLA...or just have one handy TPB.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 12, 2016 12:40:57 GMT -5
I prefer issues. But trades are great to take on vacation to read. As I travel for work some, nothing beats a nice, thick trade for plane/lonely hotel night reading. I prefer the comics when I can get them, but for older books I don't want to pay big money for, that I just want to read, (stuff like Black Lightning, Machine Man, etc) they're great. Modern stuff (especially indy publishers that don't stick to their schedule) I tend to prefer in trade. (often after the series is over). It has to bee really, really excited to me to pay for the singles at today's prices and timeline. (Indy stuff, that is... I do by Marvel and DC stuff as it comes out). |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 12, 2016 12:48:30 GMT -5
I'm a book person, so I never had a problem with book collections. However, I liked more of the older editions than a lot of later ones. recoloring is a big reason. I do agree that trades dosen't always give you the same feel for the art that the original comic page did, especially things like the Steranko multi-gatefold SHIELD splash, or Kirby's collages (the man could have set the pop art world on its ears, had he gone that route).
I really liked the proto-trades: the Marvel Giant-Size and King Sized Annual, the DC 80-PG Giants and DC 100-PG comics, and the Treasury Editions (Limited or All-New Collector's Editions, at DC); plus, the Fireside Books collections of the late 70s.
Never had a problem with black & white reprints, as long as the printing is clean. There were some Essentials that had some murky reproduction. I preferred the grey-tone that DC used when the first reprinted the 4th World volumes. The 4th World Omnibus Editions are just wonderful, though.
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 12, 2016 13:11:23 GMT -5
I really liked the proto-trades: the Marvel Giant-Size and King Sized Annual, the DC 80-PG Giants and DC 100-PG comics, and the Treasury Editions (Limited or All-New Collector's Editions, at DC); plus, the Fireside Books collections of the late 70s. Ah, yes! |
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