Graphic Novels
The problem with graphic novels, as I see it, is bang for the buck. I am quickly finding out that reading these things can become an expensive proposition. For example, today I read 30 Days of Night on the way home on the train. It was a good read and I enjoyed it, however, the book itself cost $15 and I was done in about 45 minutes. This is not economical at all. Somehow I remember getting a lot more for my money from comics as a kid. Perhaps it’s just perspective, perhaps it’s inflation, maybe those and more. The problem still remains though. How do you get your graphic novel fix/enjoyment and not break the bank? I am afraid I do not know the answer. Maybe the idea is to smatter the graphic novels in with some more traditional reading? What do you all think? I am interested to know.
My personal solution is to have a brother that runs a comic book store. He gets books at an incredible discount and/or free. I then borrow them from him.
tmbigrigg
Canton, OH
Share the wealth man!!
😉
Linc,
Have you checked with your local public library? My wife and mother are both librarians and they tell me that graphic novels are very popular and both of our county branches have a good selection.
HTH,
Ben
I hadn’t even thought of that. Good thinkin!
Yep, it’s pricey. I buy from amazon.com if just buying a couple trades, orders of $25 or more get free shipping and they have good discounts off cover. Another great place to order is instocktrades.com, best discounts, but you have to order $50 or more to get free shipping, and they also do the best packaging, difficult site to navigate though. I’m relatively new to it like you are, but I find value in the artwork adding to the story telling. There are some trades that give you great value by having several comics, Annihilation by Marvel, Thor Visionaries collecting Walter Simonson’s work collect a lot of comics. If you want to go cheap, there are black and white omnibus paperback trades that collect many issues.
I basically use torrents to figure what series I like, and then order my trades. If you like Star Wars, Star Wars Legacy is a pretty good run in trades. Beautiful art work and it covers Luke’s grandson over a 100 years in the future.
Be lucky you don’t buy the actual comics as I hear these guys talk about spending $150 a month or more. I believe they’re $2.99 to $3.99 each for about 26 pages.
Bugz