Question of the Day: Can you support a series via the trade?

Just got back from Jimmy Jams. Lean week, actually. The only thing in my pull list is “52″. I perused the shelf holding the week’s newly arrived Trade Paperbacks and grabbed the second volume of “Manhunter”.

Manhunter is one of those books, like “Hourman”, that every comic afficianado says you should be reading. That it’s unappreciated, that not enough people are picking it up, that it’s one of the best books you’re not reading, etc. I read the first trade. It’s not too shabby, but it’s not exactly James Robinson’s “Starman” either. I think many of the kudos are because it’s about a female character who is written smartly and has a realistic body.

In the last year, I’ve begun making the transition to “wait for the trade”. It’s hard for me to do that, because even though it’s financially advantageous and it makes the work more accessible to re-readings, I feel like I’m not doing my part to support the books I like. The comic book market is so bad…so very, very bad… that if I don’t buy a book, that’s like losing 1/4th of the total readership. Readership is so low that they probably know the names of all their readers, and if I decide to drop a book and get the trade instead they’re going to send me a postcard to find out why I’m not picking it up.

I think they made that showcase reprint of Elongated Man just for me. I don’t know if you noticed it, but when Sue Dibny was killed off, if you look very closely at the handle of the magnifying glass you can see the words “Sorry Michael” in the hatching. Seriously. You’ll need a magnifying glass to see it, which is cute. Because, you know, it’s written on the magnifying glass.

My point is, readership is way way way way waywayway down.

Nevertheless, I’ve made some trade transitions…or Tradesitions, as I like to call them. Let me just trademark that:

TRADESITIONS™

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