Collecting comics is an entertaining hobby. You get to read incredible stories and at the same time appreciate great art. Reading comics allows you to enter a world of fascinating worlds ruled by powerful characters represented in epic events. Most comic book readers are also comic book collectors. Stacking monthly issues, even weekly or daily, creating your own mini-library. I myself am a comic book reader and comic book collector. And now I have changed to my way of collecting comics.
Comic books are usually presented in individual magazine form. The latest comics from individual magazines are published monthly, sometimes every other month. These individual issues contain the latest news and stories. You will be left out of the discussion if you miss the latest issues or probably end up being the one with the most questions about how things have happened in the current story. This is how I did it at the beginning of DC’s “New 52”. DC decided to start all of their current and new titles from # 1, offering a fresh start to everything. He had been a fan of Green Lantern and a comic book reader for the character. With the start of “New 52,” he had decided to follow the monthly issues of Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Green Lantern the New Guardians. At first it was going well, but then I had to stop at some point.
The best thing about getting the latest singles numbers is that you keep up to date with the latest events in the story. With that, you can participate in online forums with those who share your interest in comics. Most of the forums discuss the last issues days before the comics are published. Even without participating in them, just the pleasure of being able to read the latest stories would be enough, good for me that is. I was really excited to be able to read the stories every month, and with a subscription for three tiles, I almost read new stories every week.
However, the difficult part is that it is too expensive. Getting the latest numbers is like getting the latest products. And like other products, the latter is the most expensive. At first it was fine for me, but then I felt the weight of the expense. For some, I suppose it wouldn’t be a big deal, but the fact is, getting the latest issues for individual comic book magazine formats can be expensive for some, myself included. Because of this, he had stopped following the Green Lantern Corps and New Guardians troubles. It’s the Green Lantern title that I only follow so far. For the other titles, I guess I’ll get them in the collected editions.
Collected editions, or graphic novels, are originally comic books in single magazine formats that follow a specific story line. This format allows readers to have the story available in a single book, good for a long read. These compiled editions are generally made up of five or six issues, depending on the execution of the story. This type of format is good in the sense that the reader can do a complete reading of an entire story at their own convenience.
I started collecting graphic novels so I could catch up on what’s going on in the Green Lantern comic history. There were some important events that had occurred earlier in history. Most likely, the individual numbers for those stories were no longer available as it had been months or probably years since it happened. Graphic novels were the best way to get first-hand information about those past stories.
Graphic novels can come in hardcover or softcover formats. I guess depending on how publishers want to market these books, these books can come out in both formats or just one. For me, I usually get the paperback formats because it is much cheaper.
However, the downside of getting graphic novels is the wait time for them to be published. Usually it takes months before a graphic novel is published in bookstores.