I think there are increasingly two distinct groups of comic book consumers–those who buy the floppies (and maybe the trade) and those who buy only trades. If a comic doesn’t come out in trade, the sad truth is that I’ll never buy it.

A reader can try the first and maybe second issue, then stop buying it and wait only 4 more months to but the trade.

DC used to wait a few months, but market forces demanded they lower the time involved.

Even if Wildstorm gave Highwaymen the best promotion of the year, Highwaymen is still only one of 80 titles published every month by DC.

As much as I wish everybody who comes into my store would listen to “comic book guy” (i.e., me) and buy the good stuff I like but doesn’t sell well nation-wide (“American Virgin,” “Welcome To Tranquility,” “Jonah Hex,” etc.), a lot of folks have very set tastes and don’t want to try something new. Especially when they have no idea that “The Highwaymen” really don’t meet “The Authority” in issue 5.

The recent relaunch of Wildstorm started off good but it seems like somebody dropped the ball about 4 issues in. Much hyped creative teams left or went AWOL for months without putting out a book and you have a serious problem that has caused people to actually question the line’s existence. Frankly, it’s like when they start asking if or when a floundering presidential candidate will drop out- once they start asking the question it’s often only a matter of time since nobody wants to jump onto a sinking ship. I think Wildstorm’s a good line but I always saw it as DC’s home to slightly more mature superhero books outside the DCU (but now the DCU features rapist super villains so there goes that rationale) so why is Wildstorm publishing genre books which could have worked as well, if not better, at Vertigo?

But that’s sidestepping the larger issue of off-genre expectation inside of the DM and its reliance on the built-in audiences for franchise superheroics.

I’m facinated RE chain book distibution and sales figures for comix, but often whenever I find an article about them, it all seems rather vague. For instance, Vertogo books seem to sell poorly in relation to even low sales DC books. I was surprised to see how many floppies of HELLBLAZER sold monthly. Surely, the trades must sell well? They keep coming out regularly, anyway.

Well, if they announce a six-issue mini-series and actually publish, they did committ.

I like good stories and artwork. If it’s a mini-series, then that’s what I want. I can’t see buying a lousy comic series because it’s made up of 300 issues, and NOT buy a great story because it’s only six issues.

If you want committment, get a puppy dog.

I’ve stopped picking up the monthly copies of books I love like Hellboy and Astro City (or even the recent Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers “Batman: Dark Detective”) precisely because of this. The TPBs make nice packages. I have the issues all in one place and I don’t have to rely on my faulty memory to follow a story I read a month ago. Plus TPBs offer DVD-like extras like sketches and behind the scenes stuff now.

I’ve also stopped buying regular copies of Shonen Jump because of this. Naruto can be a tough series to follow from one month to the next…

My LCS does not stock many titles and only one or two issues of those limited titles. So I have to order from Previews.

And I assume all the buying risk. It’s my disposable income, and I am investing my precious $30 into supporting someone’s mini series. Because of the time delay in ordering from first solicitation, I need to order two or three issues before I actually get to read the first printed issue.

Whereas I can walk into a comic shop and purchase a TB in person after the miniseries is finished, and have it as a “done-in-one”.

I don’t care about hype, or which creative teams are hot, or variant covers, so I am probably a retailer’s nightmare. I look for a good story, strong characters, and artwork that makes me interested and keeps me entertained.

For me, the reason I buy comics is for the continuing story with reoccurring characters. If I want a one-shot I’ll read a novel or rent a movie. Comics are way too expensive to compete in that arena. The rise of the mini has been the fall of my interest in trying something new.

It’s not that I’m “afraid to try something new” — the age-old, unfounded excuse applied to everything that doesn’t catch on. I want comics that do what comics do best, which is to give me an ongoing experience rather than a quick, one-time filler. If they won’t commit to me, why should I commit to them?

If a limited series turns out to be another The Watchmen or Ghost World, I’ll hear about it. It it doesn’t, I don’t feel I’m missing anything.