I generally buy single issues from the big 2 and pick up trades from the other publishers. I have two main reasons for trade waiting the independents. First, to make sure the story actually finishes. Second, to make sure I have a good sample with which to judge the series. Lately, I find I'm trade waiting Marvel as well, but for entirely different reasons: to have a separation from the events and get reviews before committing.
Anyone else get different formats from different publishers? How do you decide which format to pick up?
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No, I used to get single issues from everyone but then changed to Trades so I could read an entire arc at once. Plus, I think my tastes are changing because I'm getting older.
Sometimes a book is a fast read so getting the Trade slows it down a bit and it's more worth it money-wise.
I'll tend to go digital with, IDW or Boom ... most regular-size $3.99 books, I'd rather wait a month and pay $1.99 for. Or wait even longer, until there's a sale. I think I got almost all of Irredeemable and Incorruptible for 99 cents each.
Marvel, on the other hand, I'll usually buy in trade. That way I get a complete story, and don't get roped into any crossovers I don't expect. (And I'll usually buy trades at a discount from instocktrades.com, or at a half-price table at a convention.)
I get singles for most titles as I prefer the format. I do follow a few series by trade, however, that's more about the individual series than the format. I like to get Hellboy and BPRD in trade because you get so many great extras. At one point, I tried switching from trades to singles and realized I liked the trades better so I went back. I also get Jack of Fables via trades (so that's one from Vertigo) and Matt Fraction's Invincible Iron Man (that's one from Marvel). Otherwise, I primarily use trades to get older series that would be hard to track down in individual issues.
There are a number of Vertigo series I prefer to read in trade. for some reason I can read a trade and remember what is going on in between the months, than month-to-month. There are a few others I buy in trade, like Green Lantern, but it takes so long between when teh story ends and when the soft trade comes out I usually forget. I still mostly by single issues though.
...On a certain level , Border , I tend to think that indies - especially the smaller ones - might need the support on the single-issue level more than the big guys , especially the Big Two (Some "lesser " BT releases aside , perhaps .) .
Yeah, sometimes its series-by-series with me. Walking Dead, I think, reads better in a trade format -- and is a bit cheaper, which was a concern when I made the switch. I miss the lettercols, though.
But other Image comics -- Fatale, Mud Man -- I'm reading as singles.
Dark Horse is the same way -- I'll read Mind MGMT, Conan, The Creep and The Goon as singles, but I'm playing catchup with BPRD, and those big honkin' hardcovers are awesome... and economical, to boot. So that's the way I'm going to continue with them. I'm hoping for a similar hardcover format that will let me catch up with Hellboy.
Vertigo's the same way with me. Scalped and Northlanders get read in trade (and DMZ, if I ever get back to it), but Fables, Saucer Country, Unwritten and New Deadwardians are all singles. But Fairest is sifting to trades.