In my last post, I implored all readers to support their local comic shop, to spend their hard-earned money at local comic shops rather than buying through online services or whatever else might be out there. It occurred to me, though, that it was a relatively privileged position to take, as many of us struggle to come up with funds monthly to grab the titles that keep us reading well into our, um, let's say better years. For that reason, I thought I would use this week's entry to discuss ways I have found useful in keeping the money spent on comics managed and (mostly) there when I need it.
As this year began, DC Comics admitted it was “drawing the line at $2.99,” and other publishers like Marvel Comics seem to be at least entertaining the issue, as well. From those of us who have had to reach deep into the bowels of our sofas and car seats, from those of us who have had to decide between one more taco supreme or grabbing this month's latest issue of The Flash, from those of us who go even further to add a separate line on our monthly budget simply titled “Comics,” we thank you giant, industry-dominating, mega-event-billing, cross-over-overkilling, keeping-Zack-Snyder's-film-career-alive publishers for thinking of us consumers.
While we do appreciate the thoughtfulness behind lowering the general prices of monthly titles, most comics readers have to develop a sensible budget from month-to-month to ensure that they never fall behind on the latest planet the Hulk presumes to smash or the newest death (then immediately back to life) storyline in our favorite graphic universes. I'm sure there's some sort of psychological term for this voracious consumption of men and women in capes and cowls. Freud would say it's about your mom. Or sex. Or both. A bunch of grumpy Marxists in the 60s would have just called it consumer capitalism, ultimately to be blamed on The Man. There's no need to explain the phenomenon, at least not here. Let's begin by simply admitting that in the food-and-shelter sense of the word, none of us “need” comics, but comics readers like to read them and will continue to do so while they are still around. And comics publishers know that if you'll read Spidey twice a month, you might also buy issues of Deadpool or the Immortal Iron Fist if he so much as graces the cover. With that in mind, I have created a list of ways to develop a useful budget for monthly comic purchases that assumes no one reading this has a bottomless bank account. If you do, why are you be reading an article called “How to Create (and Keep) a Comics Budget”? And why aren't you hanging out at your local shop and buying comics for everyone else who needs to be reading this? You, sir or madam, are a jerk.
These are only guidelines, but they might prove useful when needing to make those tough choices between when to buy, when to pass, and what to add or take out of your pull-file. Whether your monthly comics budget is $10 or $200, what hits the shelf every week that might be worth a read sometimes seems overwhelming, so these six basic rules are here to help.
Know what you can afford and stick to it
This seems like re-stating (and over-stating) the obvious. When I first started buying comics, it was pretty simple. Find the one you really like, convince your little brother that he should really like the other one you might have wanted so you can read it when he's done, show it to Dad to make sure there were no scenes of gratuitous sex or violence, and take it home. As an adult, keeping up with the characters I like, the stories I like, the publishing universes I like takes sometimes dozens of book purchases a month, and somehow I still I feel like there are things I'm missing. How did Wolverine get on the Avengers? When did Tim Drake become Red Robin or Renee Montoya become The Question? Who the hell is The Web? Here's what to do about this: take a deep breath, accept the fact that you can't read everything, and start thinking about the things you know you can't live without from month to month. Thoughts around what to put in your pull-list at the local shop should always consist of two things: how much you can afford to spend and what you absolutely have to have each month.
The first part is much easier to deal with so we'll start there. Add up all your bills for the month (not to sound like your mom, but don't go homeless for the sake of finding out what all those Flashpoint teasers are about) and subtract that from what you actually make at whatever your job is. Hopefully what you have left over is a positive number, and if it is, decide what amount of that remaining (let's call it disposable so I sound like I know what it feels like to have some) income you are willing to commit to comics purchases. Then do some pretty quick math. Let's assume for the sake of easy arithmetic that all issues cost $3.00 and you can afford to spend $84 on comics every month. Then you can read exactly 28 issues each month. Careful to note that I don't mean titles. Some titles like The Incredible Hulk(s) or Brightest Day publish bi-weekly or even weekly, so having 28 titles in your file can potentially run you over your limit. So, if you can purchase 28 issues every month, you should be walking out of the shop on average with 7 books every Wednesday. That average number won't always be how many of your usual titles come out in a particular week, but keep in mind that if your file only gets two books one week, the next could be ten or eleven. If you get sucked into “exploring” new titles every time you hit a down week, you could run your budget WAY over the limit before you know it. Sometimes that is harder than it sounds. It can be hard when you know you only have two books to read for the week not to think to yourself: “maybe I actually do want to see if Black Panther makes a good Daredevil replacement” (let me save you some time there: he doesn't. Come back soon, Matt Murdock!).
Before I move on, somebody check my math. I majored in history, for god's sake.
Now, the problem we run into while budgeting for comics is that often our answer to the first consideration of budgeting (how much you can afford) doesn't always match the second (what you know you have to have). Publishers are always releasing new things to try to entice new readers, some of it good, some of it steaming piles of M.O.D.O.K. brain drippings. The cross-over and blockbuster events don't make anything any easier. And though I've kept my references at titles in the Big Two so far, there are great reads out there that need a little searching but are worth the dig (i.e. anything that says Eric Powell on the cover). All of us fall victim to an incredibly sharp, calculated marketing team that convinces us that we actually can't live without seeing what happens to someone in the Fantastic Four sooner or later. There wouldn't be such a field as advertising if it didn't work. You can major in Cultural Studies all you want, but even the most critical consumer finds herself at some point thinking, “I liked Usagi Yojimbo as a kid, why wouldn't I like him in a comic book?” The next five guidelines for your budget, then, are for you to think about how to control those impulses, to think about what you should hold on to and what can go (and probably should have months ago).
Pay attention to your pile
I think this might be the best advice to give when starting to think about how to trim the stack of books you buy every month to fit a standard monthly budget. Let's assume that most readers follow the same basic process when leaving (or squatting in the corner of) the shop with the week's pile of reads, which is to stack them according to reading order, putting the must-have at the top of the pile and working your way down. Your process might look a little less OCD, but most of us know that some books are much more eagerly awaited and are read first or second nearly every time. My advice: pay attention to this process. You might start to realize that you have been keeping a title in your pull file that actually no longer tickles your imaginary fancy.
Here's an anecdote to illustrate what I mean. As a huge Mike Mignola fan, I read most titles he puts out, if for no other reason than to marvel at the complexity of the growing Mignola-verse. Hellboy stays on the pull list for me. When that book comes out (not as often as I would hope, these days), it is almost always a top-three read for the week. But my hetero- Mignola-crush seduced me into breaking my own rule. Month after month I kept Hellboy's sister title, B.P.R.D., on my pull list, not paying attention to the fact that every month it fell deeper in my read pile, sometimes making it to the next week's pile because I still had not made time to read it. Most titles go through “down” points where you read them just to keep up with continuity until it picks up again (what's with all the Hulks?!?), but when you see a title reaching the gutter of the read pile month after month, scrap it and save three bucks on reads you enjoy.
Recognize a bad run
If there is one rule I find the hardest to keep for myself, it's this one. The comics industry has been blessed with innovative and complex writing for decades now, and multiple-issue story lines are the standard storytelling form, much more than the occasional one-shot. Most stories in the main titles of characters run three, four sometimes even five or six issues. Huge cross-over events might require even more commitment to get from beginning to end (seriously 52? seriously?). But here's the big secret: you don't actually have to get to the end.
This ties back into the last point of knowing your read pile, but sometimes a title has a bad run and you begin to notice that its lost its intrigue, that you don't really care what color of Lantern did something zany in who-knows-where sector of the universe, why the kid from Sweet Tooth has no belly button, or when someone at Marvel will take the time to discover that the Frankencastle idea was really dumb. But often as readers we make the same claim to ourselves: well, I've come this far. I should at least finish the story.
I hate to walk out of a theater on a movie. I really don't even like to turn off a movie I rented and don't like or take a book back to the library if it's going nowhere. Stories take investment, not just monetarily but emotionally, as we get attached to characters and spend time identifying with whatever issue they are facing. That's what makes a good story. They also take a time investment, and I hate to have my time wasted without the payoff of at least seeing how this thing I bought into ends. But at some point, we have to cut our losses and say, “you know what, Zatanna, I really don't care if that zombie guy eats your cousin or not. Best of luck to you and your adventures.” The bigger the arc, the more crucial these decisions become. If you get to issue 13 of Brightest Day and realize it's dead in the water, cut your losses quickly before committing to another twelve issues for the sake of finishing a sub-par story.
Also, let's be honest about collector's value. Unless it's a particularly momentous storyline, having a full run is probably not going to make the comics worth much more money in the future. Having all issues of the recent “Three” storyline for the Fantastic Four, including the death issue might make for a good pay-day down the line. But having all issues of War of the Supermen really isn't doing your collection's net value any discernible favors. Save your money now by cutting the dead weight in your monthly expenses.
Not every tie-in actually ties in
The major publishers know how to do the cross-over thing. Marvel and DC continuously publish a suffocating stream of multiple-title, mega-blockbuster events that never fail to promise dramatic shifts in their respective comics as we know them. In the last five years there has been Civil War, 52 and Countdown, Shadowland, and Blackest Night and Brightest day, to name only a few. While most of these events have a main title that focuses solely on the central arc, the thread runs throughout other titles in the publisher's arsenal meant to “tie in” the story lines and maintain the continuity of an actual “universe” of characters. It makes for great reading when beloved characters unexpectedly appear in other titles and creates the illusion of unity throughout superherodom. But it can become incredibly costly in the attempt to keep pace.
It's disheartening as the reader to discover that some tie-ins are mostly marketing ploy and offer little satisfaction actually supplementing a larger story. While on a budget, you don't want to waste part of your monthly limit on a Brightest Day tie-in of Birds of Prey, only to find that it happens in a speech balloon where Black Canary says “I heard Hawk and Dove came back to life,” and then the entire book goes on without another apparent reference to the main event property emblazoned on the cover, or to buy Avengers #7 to see the Red Hulk join the team, only to have it not happen until the last panel of the last page. All of these are perfectly effective techniques by the publisher to get more books in your hands. But when thinking about your own money and investment, all of these are perfectly bloody irritating.
My suggestion here is to eliminate most of the guess work. A good general rule is probably this: main event – yes; tie-in titles – no. The Big Two make their bank on the main arc that they dump so much effort and willpower into selling. The tie-in series are sometimes fun and entertaining ways of delving deeper into the story, but if any moment occurs with enough force to actually shift the continuity of a character or the entire publishing line, it will happen in the primary arc and not a periphery story. After following that basic guideline, all other aforementioned rules apply. If you like the event and you care enough about it for more tie-in titles, those purchases will displace something on your pull list, so you'll have to make some room. If you get on board for the blockbuster and all of its tie-ins and they end up being a huge let-down (I'm looking at you, Shadowland), drop it quickly and move on. With DC's Flashpoint and Marvel's Fear Itself events on the way, thinking about your summer comics budget is quickly becoming an immediate predicament. Which reminds me...
Pay attention to what's happening next
The comic book industry has luckily benefited from the internet and so have we as consumers. Information about what is coming in the field is readily available and most publishers utilize multiple media channels in order to bill their latest schtick and drum up interest. I often suggest Newsarama or Comic Vine as good places to start and get connected to the who's and when's of what's coming next. Not only do comics websites and blogs chat about upcoming developments with creators and offer sneak peaks and teasers, but most publishers also release solicitations months in advance so you can see what will actually hit the shelf in April by mid January.
There are advantages to staying informed to upcoming moves with your favorite titles. Primarily, it allows you a little more space to make those tough decisions about what to drop or add from you file and when. If you know the big summer events are going to be something you want to check out, go back to the pile and start that same process of figuring out what you can trim to make room. Also, if there are titles you have founding lacking of any luster for a while but you know major changes with story or creative team are coming that you don't want to miss, it gives you a reason to hang on just a little longer while your favorite hero works out their daddy issues. When you love reading comics, keeping an eye on what's happening and what's coming could be the most useful way of making sure every book bought is money well spent.
But quick warning, all of those teasers, interviews, solicitations and press releases are carefully coordinated by the publishers. Rarely is information actually “leaked” onto the net, as much as we would all like to believe otherwise. Our media networking creates such a powerful resource to craft sharp, conscious consumers, but it also keeps the people selling you the books on your immediate radar daily, if not hourly. They do a good job of letting you know what's coming soon because they want you to buy their work. And we do. That's why you're reading this. All that advertising, though, can tempt you to stray from your budget, leaving you with an “I put pants on, drove to the shop, and wasted three bucks on this?” feeling , which never feels great (are you still reading this, Shadowland?). And then again, not every book these days only costs three dollars.
To $3.99 or not to $3.99
And we're back to the problem that started this entry, the $2.99 vs. $3.99 debate. For the record, I'll say that the move to $3.99 for first and second-tier titles by the main publishers is distressing. Not because we should expect our comics to stay the same price forever. Action Comics #1 cost ten cents when it was first published. We get it. Inflation happens. But in the current industry, the rise in price doesn't seem to be from rising cost analysis of publishing, but through selling buyers additional pages attached to their favorite characters. Of course, these additional pages usually have to do with the misadventures of one of the titles fifth-tier sidekicks and are almost never read by anyone. And by anyone, I mean by me. Nomad, you are not welcome in my Cap books, so beat it and save me a dollar. It does appear that the consumer's voice has been resounding to the somewhat dubious price hike, and while there will be special issues of all sorts that cost anywhere from $3.50 to $4.99, it looks like we might make our way back to the $2.99 across the board until the increase can be justified with either more quality work cover-to-cover or a more unified shift to raise prices, leaving readers to take it or leave it entirely. Ah, capitalism.
In the meantime, think about all of the other guidelines I have offered here to gauge how you might make the call between a book that is $2.99 and one that is $3.99. It doesn't seem like much at first glance, but let's go back to our original budget. If you can spend $84 in one month on comics, that one-dollar shift on every book you buy is the difference of seven total book purchases for the month! If volume is what you desire, as many books as you can get for your money, then the choice is pretty easy – stick with the cheaper books. If you want to follow a particular character and his/her book is sitting at the higher end of the cost spectrum, you have to make some decisions about making room. My hope is that the short list of guidelines I provided here will make some of those decisions easier as you think about how to get your money's worth in tough economic times. Personally, I would rather spend $3.99 on one or two books of a character I enjoy then try to keep up with that character across five titles that all cost $2.99. That leads me to my next entry coming soon: why I stopped reading Batman...
Much peace,
Dr. M
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