I don't think a lot of people are buying back issues in the way that we did back in the day.  You either buy all your floppies on Wednesday or you wait for a trade to come out of the stuff you want to buy.  

But I could be wrong.  I buy almost nothing from Marvel or DC. 

Edit: Not to mention with the amount of online resources there are it shouldn't be that hard to figure out. 

It frustrates me.

I do agree with Slam about how you can figure out things with online resources, although I suspect an argument could be made as to why no-one should have to.

I’ve been reading the last few years of Daredevil. Now, when you reach the end of an arc, Marvel Unlimited informs you that you are “all caught up”. Or words to that effect. So now one has to do a search of which is the next arc, so you can make sure you get the right book. Is it a lot of homework? Well, it’s easier than studying algebra, but can be a tad cumbersome. 

I mean, I reached the end of one DD arc, and I think it was a book released in 2019, so yeah had to make sure that I picked up with DD in the next book, which is 2020. 

It’s not something that will take hours. I get that. But it involves some work. I mean, I’m gonna have to refresh my memory and work out which Darth Vader issue was the last of an arc (and the year), so that I can seamlessly make sure I get on the next arc in the correct order. It involves some work.

It’s not just about when you’re working your way through a series. Suppose a friend tells you to check out the Deadpool #1 which features, say, Deadpool vs Dr. Doom. Okay, it’s going to involve some work via a search engine or a search bar because you want the right ‘first issue’. Well, if that same friend came to you and said he wanted to read Batman #309, you’re gonna find that a lot easier, and in a lot less time, than if you want a particular ‘first issue’ of Daredevil published in the last decade.

(And I’m not referring to back issue bins here - the Big Two couldn’t care less about sales of those in independent stores - but digital issues; surely the Big Two want people to buy back issues from them, so it should be easier)

It also feels a tad egotistical - although I have zero proof of this - that every writer “needs” a ‘first issue’. Is it that important? I think if you bring a writer in for a 450th or 600th issue, that’s important, too. And why eat your cake and then desire to have it too by having legacy numbering on the cover? So it’s only the illusion of a ‘first issue’ for fans and creative teams alike. 

I’m proud that the Judge Dredd Megazine recently reached number 463. Now, I am not arguing that high numbers are the be-all and end-all in and of themselves. There’s every chance a 500th or 1,000th issue of a series could suck. However, I like the history. I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, but when Batman #424 was on the shelves (1988), you do think about how the book has “clocked up a lot of miles” - and there’s the continuity aspect of the possibility that maybe, just maybe, your father or grandfather may well have picked up that book years ago. How can there be such history/lineage/continuity when Deadpool is getting another ‘first issue’ soon?

It’s not a perfect comparison, but if there is, say, a boxing championship with an uninterrupted lineage (is there?), then that’s nice history for fans and participants. For argument’s sake, and I’m not really up on boxing championships, if a boxing championship has had an uninterrupted lineage going back to the 60s (or 70s or 80s), then when Boxer A wins it in 2023, yes, it’s nice to think that, a few cosmetic changes aside, he is holding the same belt that a previous Boxer A held in 1973 or something.

I feel lineage is nice, and if a monthly comic published its 400th issue this month, then, give or take, it debuted in the late 80s (1989, possibly?). And while the important thing is what you enjoy in that month’s issue, a long-running lineage matters. Because, in my opinion, and it is only an opinion rather than a fact, if it doesn’t matter, why have issue numbers at all? If it doesn’t matter, who not abolish them and simply have month and year on the cover?

Sorry, that is boring to read, and it’s not something I lose sleep over. Most people who like comics, sports and wrestling can sometimes be pedants who like history, lineage, consistency, etc.

It does make me think about how some magazines I read as a kid had the month and year on the cover, with the actual volume number possibly “hidden” on the statement of ownership page. That’s probably changed now, but I do remember some magazines doing that. 

Will you feel that way in the 853rd century when DC, if it is still going, publishes a millionth issue of Action Comics?

I'm not really that bothered about numbering, though I can imagine that the constant restarting from issue #1 in recent comics must be a bit of a pain for the modern back issue collector (if there are such people out there). But one thing I will say is that, when I was a child buying Amazing Spider-Man #237 or 2000 AD #160, my imagination was absolutely fired by the idea that there were all those hundreds of great back issues out there still to find. High ongoing numbering never put me off of buying comics.

Tantalizing Mystery from the Golden Age:



The (Big) Hand was a bizarre backup in Harvey's SPEED COMICS #12 and 13 from 1941. The Hand was an apparently disembodied hand (although sometimes it showed some arm) that could change size and fly and communicate by writing in flames in the air. I just love these insane concepts for ongoing features that could crop up in the early days of superheroes, but I'm frustrated that the secrets of The Hand (apparently intended to be "The Big Hand", but "Big" was erased from the first logo) remain untold. As we see in the panels above, the first installment revealed that The Hand was attached to The Whole Person, but everything except The Hand seems to have been intangible and unable to communicate vocally. I can only conclude that this is some agent acting from higher-dimensional space, and is only able to partially extend his hand into the ordinary space-time that we experience. It's a fascinating premise that seems way beyond the typical ideas one would find in this era. I have so many questions! Was it someone from our realm accidentally trapped outside of it? An alien (wearing a hat!) from another dimension? A mystic who could transfer himself at will into a higher-dimensional space from which he could access our more limited space in fantastic manners? And could he poke any other body parts through if he wanted to?