Every once in a while, some trend comes along and changes how I buy comics—most likely, forever.
It wasn’t that long ago we started seeing trade paperbacks in the “mainstream” bookstores. I was worried that the local comics shops would go under when the “trades” (as we call them in comic-book fandom) caused a mass exodus to the nearby Borders or Barnes & Nobles. I was happy to discover that my fears had been unfounded. Instead, the local stores did better because readers who hadn’t read some issues could catch up by reading this compilation. Also, those folks who preferred to read these “extended stories” would stop by every few months to pick up their “trades” and catch up with those of us who are weekly addicts. I even could sample comics I hadn’t read before, so I bought my share of “trades.”
But there has been a new development in the last few years that has significantly altered how I buy comics, and for the better, I think.