Lack of space and finances has got me looking at the way I select my comics now. I usually only buy a few each month (recently I'm getting more books on comics than actual comics!), and usually buy comics because of the artist involved. I never used to wait for trades as you never know what will get collected and what won't (Marvel usually collect everything, less so with other publishers) but over recent years, my habits began to change.
I advance order all the essential stuff but peruse comic shops when I can too (usually once a month) and look for something new. By doing this, I fell into the habit of buying Runaways, Ex Machina, Y The Last Man and Fables, series I read for the stories more than the art, in trades. I've since upgraded some comics I had for the later collections: yes, sometimes the binding makes it difficult to see a page properly and the use of different artists in one volume really irritates me but you have a complete chunk of story, textless reprintings of the original covers, no adverts and frequently extra material.
As a result, I have also waited for some series to be collected before buying them: I used to be strongly against this as it endangers monthly circulation. However, the trade market is strong enough that like films, the after-release life of a product can mean the difference between success and failure.
What's really making me rub my chin in contemplation is the release of two of my favourite series in lovely spangly new hardcover format, namely Justice League International and Starman. Now, economics aside, I'd love to upgrade my ad-laden slowly decaying individual issues for higher grade replacements...but with Starman, I've worked out tat they won't be reprinting all of the tie-in issues I own (even the Batman annual that tied in to Balloon Buster!) and will the JLI collections include all the spin offs like JLIQ, JLE, JLISpecial, etc? I think not so for that reason I'm gonna stick with the originals...but I do pine at the solicitations in Previews...
