Tried collecting single issues instead of trades for a year and my wallet is crying

Last January I decided to switch from buying trades to grabbing single issues off the rack at my local shop in Portland, thinking I'd save money by not waiting for the paperback. After 12 months I tallied it up and spent $480 on individual comics, way more than the $150 I would have dropped on the 3 trade collections I actually finished reading. The weird thing is I loved the weekly ritual of hitting the shop, but I ended up with stacks of #1 issues I never followed up on. Has anyone else tried going all-in on singles and regretted the pile of unfinished stories?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylanward1mo ago

Nah the math's a bit off there. You're comparing $480 in singles to $150 for 3 trades but that's not really fair. 3 trades would cover way less content than a year of single issues. A trade usually collects like 6 issues, so 3 trades = 18 issues max. But $480 at $4 an issue gets you 120 issues. So you read way more comics than you would have with trades, that's why it cost more. I did the same thing when I switched and realized I was just buying more comics period, not that singles were somehow more expensive per issue.

tessacarter1mo ago

Oh come on, you're really gonna pretend trades don't have bonus material and better reading experience that makes up for the fewer issues? Plus don't act like you actually read all 120 of those singles again after the first time.