Your Comic Questions Answered #4 – Digital Trade Paperbacks, Comic Recommendations and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Library Editions

Welcome to the regular column where I answer your comic book questions. This aims to be a place where no question is stupid and one that hopefully people can find the answers they have been looking for.

In this edition I answer questions about digital collections, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Library Editions and give a reading some comic book recommendations.

Lets get the ball rolling with the first question…

Q: Is it cheaper to buy a trade paperback digitally (Comixology) than buying it physically?

99% of the time is is cheaper buying the digital version of a trade paperback than it is the physical one. This is because it is cheaper to produce as it doesn’t have to be printed or stored in a warehouse. Generally you save a few dollars – more if there is a sale – although the saving will often depend on the publisher.

The downside to digital trade paperbacks is that they often not released in tandem with the physical, and will generally come out a few months later. I am not 100% sure of the reason for this, but I assume it is so the publisher doesn’t cannibalise the sales of the physical version.

Q: I was hoping you guys would give me some comic recommendations? My friends got me into Deadpool vs Carnage and I enjoy that because there is quite a lot of comedy. The second series that I am reading right now is Batman Eternal and I like how the villain was introduced in the second issue. The last one that I am reading right now is Black Widow because I can read it with my girlfriend. If you could give me a recommendation for a series that I can still get in a small comic book store that would be great 🙂

These are some titles I would recommend…

Deadpool

If you are enjoying Deadpool vs Carnage then you will probably enjoy the current ongoing Deadpool series. Writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn have put plenty of Deadpool humour in their run and it is littered with short self-contained stories throughout. Because of this you won’t need to start from #1, but if you are digging it you can also track down the trade paperbacks.

Night of the Living Deadpool

Before Deadpool vs Carnage there was a Deadpool miniseries called Night of the Living Deadpool, which pokes fun at zombie movies. It’s only 4 issues and it was recent enough that you might be able to track it down with some ease. If you can’t find it, it will be collected in trade paperback in June. We ran a preview of the first issue here.

Detective Comics

While a different tone to Batman Eternal, you may enjoy Detective Comics. This Batman title started the run on a new creative team recently and it is looking pretty cool so far. You can find out more about Detective Comics here.

Batman

If you have been enjoying Scott Snyder’s writing on Batman Eternal then you will probably like him on Batman. He has been writing it since the beginning of the New 52 relaunch and it has been critically acclaimed and a regular best selling comic. It is currently 2/3rds through a long story moment, which I believe ends in July. You could start from the start of the Year Zero storyline or start from the very beginning in trade paperback format.

If you and your girlfriend have been enjoying some of the Marvel female characters, Marvel has recently launched a few new series starring great female characters.

She-Hulk

I’ve really been digging this series. This mixes court drama, humour and heroics to create a fun series which is quite different to everything from Marvel at the moment. Javier Pulido art is energetic and he is not afraid to make some interesting panel choices. I ran a preview of this when it first came out, which you can see here. So far 4 issues have been released.

Captain Marvel

This series has a dedicated fanbase, known as the Carol Corps, which stars Captain Marvel (formally known as Ms. Marvel). The newly relaunched series has a bit more of a cosmic vibe to it but also has plenty of personal moments. You could start from the newly relaunched series (which started in March) or check out the previous volume which ran 17 issues and collected in 3 trade paperbacks.

Ms. Marvel

You might have heard of this series as it had lots of coverage in the mainstream media. This is a series about a teenage Muslim girl from New Jersey, who gets powers and becomes a hero. The series also explores what it is like to be a dorky teenager as well as growing up Muslim in America and the family dynamics of it. I ran a preview of it when it first came out, you can check it out here.

Q: Hi, I just recently found your website and I’m hoping that you can answer my questions! I have just bought and read the four library editions of BtVS Season 8 and the books are lovely and I want to be able to buy the same style for Season 9 etc. So far as I can gather there isn’t one yet(?) for season 9, is there a standard time for these to be released, after all, season 9 has ended. Also, in terms of ‘Spike: A Dark Place’ and ‘Willow: Wonderland’ do these sort of things ever get collected into a library edition?

UPDATE (22/08/2014): Dark Horse Comics has announced that Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Library Edition Volume 1 will be released on January 14th 2015.

I think that Dark Horse will eventually do BtVS Season 9 in the library editions, but I think at the moment it would be too soon. Based on the release pattern of the Season 8 trade paperbacks vs the library editions, it looks like there was roughly a four year difference between releases. Season 9 finished late last year and it was only recently that the final trade paperbacks for the season was released, so it might be a few years before a Library Edition is published.

I think the distance in releases is so that Dark Horse can sell the trades for a decent period of time – otherwise the library editions may cannibalise sales of the smaller trade paperbacks. Although, with enough demand it could be possible that the first library edition may come out sooner rather than later.

As for miniseries, they probably wont be collected as library editions of their own as they are side stories that spun out of event in the series. Although, they may be included with BtVS/Angel & Hope material when library editions are eventually released.

If you can’t wait for Season 9 Library Editions to come out I suggest picking up the trade paperback editions and then selling them once the library editions are available. This will cover a large chunk of the cost and you will not have to wait potentially years to read the stories.

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