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Post by urrutiap on Feb 12, 2018 9:44:30 GMT -5
I read issue 1 of Power of Dark Crystal last year and enjoyed it.
The rest of the issues I buy two issues once every couple of months whenever I get the chance to go to the comic shop or catch up by getting them from tfaw online.
Other series though like Doomsday,Clock I'm waiting until the trade comes out later thus summer
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Post by Icctrombone on Feb 12, 2018 9:57:24 GMT -5
I have other choices, though. If I don't like the first issue of a Marvel Title, I can just wait until the rest comes on MU and not spend any more money on it other than the Sub price I'm already paying.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2018 13:00:11 GMT -5
I don't really get the "will comit to the series if I like the first issue" : how many books and movies didn't grab me in their first act before completely winning me over later on? Quite many if not the majority. When I decide I want to try a series when it is currently being published, I buy it monthly and more than often don't strart reading it before it's concluded. Sometimes I get disappointed, but less and less so (I barely buy any Marvel or DC though, as 90% of my buying is Dark Horse and Image. CUrrently, I'm only buying Punisher The Platoon, Batman White Knight and Mr Miracle blindly), and I'm fine with that : the ratio still is much more positive than with movies. Because with a movie I've paid for the whole thing up front so i can take my time to see if I like it, with a monthly series I have to pay for each installment and if I didn't think the first was worth the money I am not going to throw good money after bad. There are too many options out there to keep spending money on comics I don't enjoy, so if you want to sell me something in serialized format and make me pay for each installment, it's on you to catch and hold my interest with the first installment. That's part of the craft of telling serialized stories and if you can't do it, you shouldn't be working in a serialized format. Comics aren't movies, and stories told in serialized format have to be done to suit the format. Taking a long form story and breaking into pieces to be sold separately is not telling a story in serialized format. If you are going to tell a long form story that doesn't hook readers until the end you are better off selling it in long form format because each chapter of the serial has to grab and hold its audience. As a creator, you need to understand the format you are working in and tailor your output to that format. -M |
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Feb 12, 2018 13:22:26 GMT -5
Absolutely, but the fact remains that minis are still being published in this manner. Your point is IMHO valid for ongoings, and I have the same experience you do, but as I was specifically adressing mini series/limited series (the topic at hand), if I know a series has an end in sight already planned, if I decide to buy issue one with all the info at hand, I commit to the whole series, so I already take in account the global price when I purchase issue one, hence my parallel with books or movies. As I never start reading the book before I have it all complete, it really is the same kind of experience anyways, and I'd rather have it that way. ALl I'm sayin  |
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Post by brutalis on Feb 12, 2018 13:25:17 GMT -5
@mrp nailed it for me. The 1st issue of a comic has to grab my interest, not just my curiosity. As an example I will give you the Monsters Unleashed mini-series. Had great hopes but it just jumped all over and just didn't provide enough story or reason to pick it up. And I love me some giant monster action! I will say almost all of the Planet of the Apes mini-series provide the initial hook and attention grabber so that I continue to get the rest of the mini. I don't want to have to wait for the final act in a monthly comic or to wait through 3-4 issues for a rushed ending. Give me a complete story with chapter endings that tell an over all story without the last page leaving me feeling like that issue was incomplete and not just a plot build up each issue as "filling" before the grand finale.
Even some novels these days have this problem where the writer sells a trilogy but each book ends not on a natural note or a cliffhanger but leaves you dangling completely in an unfinished story. The writer hasn't a clue on how to finish the story in the single book in a strong way so it just abruptly stops like and old time movie serial. Which works just fine when it is continued next week but not for next month or even months away.
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Post by urrutiap on Feb 12, 2018 13:32:36 GMT -5
To Micheal James...
Pay attention next time.
I was talking about when a new limited series of 6 issues or 12 issues, do you wait until getting the last issue then you binge read the entire limited series?
Such as Power of the Dark Crystal for example. The last three issues are about in comic shops. I have the previous 9 issues so far but I'll wait until the last three issues are at the comic shop then I'll binge read the entire series whoever in March or Aprill I'll buy the last three issues
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2018 13:33:27 GMT -5
Absolutely, but the fact remains that minis are still being published in this manner. Your point is IMHO valid for ongoings, and I have the same experience you do, but as I was specifically adressing mini series/limited series (the topic at hand), if I know a series has an end in sight already planned, if I decide to buy issue one with all the info at hand, I commit to the whole series, so I already take in account the global price when I purchase issue one, hence my parallel with books or movies. As I never start reading the book before I have it all complete, it really is the same kind of experience anyways, and I'd rather have it that way. ALl I'm sayin And I would rather then just by the complete story of the mini in one go as a trade rather than buying it in a serialized format it isn't suited for then. Again, even if it is a mini or maxi, if you are going to sell it in a serialized format (finite or not) then you better make each installment worth its while or you are going to lose readership as it goes. That's the craft aspect of writing and the professionalism of it. Suit your story for the format it is being told in. Some stories just aren't suited for serialized format and you will undercut your audience if you try to sell it that way because of it. Don't expect me to pay because you are selling the story in the wrong format (especially when I have the option of buying it in the format it is more suited for. That said, I often treat first issues as samplers before deciding whether I want to buy in for the whole (and if I do it is probably as a trade not as a monthly). The only things I tend to buy single issues are smaller press kind of stuff or fringe projects form the big 2 whose survival hinges on single issue performance. -M |
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Post by urrutiap on Feb 12, 2018 13:35:36 GMT -5
Then there's other limited series such as DC's Doomsday Clock where I'll wait until the trade later this summer since I'm missing out on every issue and I live far away from the city that has a comic shop.
It's a 2-3 hour road trip just to go to the city where the comic shop.
I don't have the time or gas money to do that.
I wait until once every 2-3 months to travel.
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Feb 12, 2018 14:19:18 GMT -5
The only things I tend to buy single issues are smaller press kind of stuff or fringe projects form the big 2 whose survival hinges on single issue performance. -M Well there you go : I don't think I buying anyting but this kind of books these days, so that may explain why my way can work as well. I currently buy about 30-35 new books a month, depending on how many of my Image regulars are out on a specific month. That's already to much for my reading capacities when I'm healthy, when I consider all I have already "in store" to read, but as I've never folowed characters and always creators, I minimize the risks of making mistakes. And If it's a bad story from a creator I love, I'm interested in this as well. Another factor I just thought of, though : as a european, I might have a bigger fascination with the singles/floppies, as those are my exceptions. Oversized hardcovers are the norm over here, so this format with the advertizing and sometimes letters columun maybe holds greater charm to me than to US readers. I actually make a point to never buy collections of US books if I can find the originals with the commercials of the time the book was published at. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Feb 14, 2018 19:55:07 GMT -5
I don't really get the "will comit to the series if I like the first issue" : how many books and movies didn't grab me in their first act before completely winning me over later on? Quite many if not the majority. When I decide I want to try a series when it is currently being published, I buy it monthly and more than often don't strart reading it before it's concluded. Sometimes I get disappointed, but less and less so (I barely buy any Marvel or DC though, as 90% of my buying is Dark Horse and Image. CUrrently, I'm only buying Punisher The Platoon, Batman White Knight and Mr Miracle blindly), and I'm fine with that : the ratio still is much more positive than with movies. If the first issue doesn't amaze me I drop it. If the first issue amazes me and the second issue doesn't, I drop it. If the first two issues amaze me and the third doesn't I drop it. Once you're up to issue 7 there's maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe a 10 percent chance I'll let you go on a lackluster issue without dropping it. Love and Rockets gets a pass, but that is because the quality ratio over 35 years is high enough to excuse one bad issue. But I'm not letting any young'ns who have only been drawing their comic for a measly 20 years off the hook! Drop! Drop! Drop! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2018 20:30:36 GMT -5
If any limited (any) series that are around 6 to 12 issues - most of the time they're reprinted into a trade (sometimes or not) paperback and I've buy that instead and that's generally a better deal. I just don't have the space for them - rather have one trade paperback than 6 to 12 individual issues ... case closed.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 14, 2018 20:41:19 GMT -5
If I hear good things about a mini, I may pick it up (like what happened with Imaginary Fiends), but I try not to get stuck buying an issue or two only to find the story sucks (like what happened with the recent Spirits of Vengeance mini, which I had to drop after issue #2 because it was a dumpster fire).
As such, I tend not to buy limited series off the racks as they are released monthly because so few are actually worth it. Usually I will wait until six months after a mini ends and pick up the issues from the $1 bins, because if it winds up sucking, I'm only out $6 instead of $25.
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