Do you think DC should change their trade policy?

Any fan of DC comics will have noticed that DC "penalties" trade-waiters by releasing their trades sometimes even a year after the last collected issue.

Do you think that policy should change? Considering that trades are for many the main way of buying comics do you think DC gains from that policy or not?

Yes. They should release it 2-3 months later. Not to mention the extra long wait for a paperback edition. Deluxe Editions should have soft covers and they need to release iconic and fantastic runs like Marvel does with their Complete and Ultimate Collections.

The paperback wait is ridiculous. They do have the Omnibus and Absolute editions.

100% agree with this. The first Grayson trade still isn't out till next February (although they are releasing two on 1 day at least). That's unacceptable.

Agreed. Especially for Grayson.

Yes...the waits are so long

@squalleon: I personally dislike absolutes and omnibuses. I prefer large paperbacks (like Marvels Complete, Epic and Ultimate Collections or Images Compendiums) for my collections.

DC seems to be doing this since they're reprinting Geoff Johns Flash, Gail Simones Secret Six, Peter Davids Supergirl and Ed Brubakers Batman in these large paperbacks format.

If I bought trades (and I rarely do), then I would want them to come out sooner, but I can understand why DC does it. Delaying the trades encourages people to buy more new comics where they make more money. People who by trades might be slightly put off for having to wait longer, but they are likely still going to buy the final product, so I imagine DC sees a net gain this way.

One thing that has annoyed me in the way DC collect some trades is the way the stories are often split into separate volumes. I undestand this if the series is especially long, but I've seen them put out a six issue trade on an eight issue story, and that's just kind of dickish.

All those are Omniby. Just Soft-cover. The Geoff Johns one is actually just a soft-cover version of the old Omnibus collecting the exact same issues :P

@squalleon: They never collected Brubakers Batman and Davids Supergirl in Omnibuses. And the Secret Six trades are 10-15 issues. The second volume of the Flash will collect around 15 wheras the Omnibus collects 25-30

So? They do follow the same format, just not hardcover. I just checked, the first volume of Geoff Johns flash and the Omibus version collect the same issues.The second volume isn't announced so you don't know how similar it will be to the omnibus version, but if I missed it, please share a link.

@squalleon: My point was that they're not Omnibuses. Also I can't post a link I'm on mobile at the moment. It collects the same as the first Flash Omni because the first volume was small. It only collects 16 issues. Not 30+ like most other Omnibuses.

They are exactly the same thing just softcover :P Its not announced yet, so I think you are making a mistake.

It has 500 pages! The Jack Kirby Omnibus have 400 pages :P Omniby is just a term it doesn't have to be 1000 pages long.

Anyway, I get what you mean. I personally don't find huge collections (in size or pages) appealing, too difficult to read.

From what I see the market is changing and while single issue sales are normal I guess, trades are becoming more popular than ever. They are more marketable. Easier for foreign readers and the mainstream public, complete stories (as you said, usually), extras etc. Personally, I buy more trades than single issues currently.

I feel the appeal of a trade is that readers would be able to catch up on a title quicker (literally the same month), on a title they wouldn't bought otherwise.

Marvel publishes their trades in the same month the next issue that's not collected comes out, same with Image. I don't know, these two are better at marketing than DC.

@squalleon: Again they aren't the same thing. Similar yes. Marvel calls them Epic, Complete or Ultimate Collections whereas DC doesn't have a name for that line yet. They aren't termed omnibuses that was my point :p

It has been posted on Amazon with a release date of May 24, 2016. Collects issues #177-200.

I dislike them as well. The only huge books I've ever enjoyed reading were the Walking Dead and Invincible Compendiums

Maybe but in reality they are just that without the name :P

It collects the same issues as the Omnibus.

I have the Superman Golden Age Omnibus but I didn't enjoy it much for reasons posted above. I bought it because I new it wouldn't be collected in smaller versions so, what can you do :P

@squalleon: Not always. Either way I prefer those big paperbacks over the hardcover absolutes, deluxe editions or omnibuses.

Sometimes I make exceptions. I rarely buy Hardcover and most of my collection is softcover. But examples of times when I have to buy the HC are for Moores Miracleman or Morrisons Zenith.

I'm not sure what you're saying here. Are you implying that trades sell more copies than individual issues? If so, I'd like to see some sort of factual information or sales report showing that. I don't think trade sales even approach the same ballpark of issue sales. Of course there could be the rarest of exceptions such as The Walking Dead, but I'm not even sure of that. There's a reason printed single issues sales are pretty much the sole factor of books continuing or being cancelled, again with the rarest of exceptions.

@immolation: That Amazon link isn't going to anything that shows sales, I'm not sure what you're looking at there. But looking at Chomicron sales statistics for September, using Flash for an example, Flash #44 sold 36k copies, the new Flash v5 trade sold less than 4k copies.

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2015/2015-09.html

There's no reason for a wait that long.

Trades are killing comic books. Why buy a single issue comic book when the trade will be out in a couple of months? I like the wait for the trades, I like heading to the comic book store every week to pick up my single issues. But then again I am old and it's still my prefrence, you damn whipper-snappers.

@immolation: That number isn't number of sales. That's its sales ranking in the e-book store. Example, Marvel Now Avengers v1 is ranked #150,000 in number of sales across all books in their e-book store. It isn't stating that it has sold 150k copies. I'm fairly sure Amazon doesn't report actual sales numbers, which is why I was curious about what you said to begin with.

In Comichron it has the trade sales per year like with singles. You can see an obvious rise in the sales of trades. But yes nowhere near 100k the Punisher or Daredevil.

Yes!!!!!! Thank you for bringing this up. I'm a massive trade collector and this irks me something fierce. Having to wait a year means, that I'm likely to be spoilt on different story lines and it really gets under my skin. I like to think that at around 10-14 English pounds, I do my part but losing almost a year and being a year behind really gets annoying. They need to fix that stuff and now.

It irks me too. Because I really want to go full trade. 14 pounds are around 3.5 us dollars per comic so you get it around the original price. As I said above Marvel and Image release the trades the same month as the first non-collected comic, so it is stupid of Dc to think that policy is smart. And the rise of trades sales mean more immediate money, especially for critically acclaimed series. I mean If they collect Omega men as it is finished, it will definitely get more sales than a year later when it will have been forgotten.

@squalleon: I forgot to mention Image. I'm an avid fan of Invincible and I'm ecstatic at the fact that they release their trades on time. It means that I'm never that far behind. I am behind with Marvel but that's because I haven't bought any recently. But with DC I only recently got the doomed storyline and Pak's first action comics run. Hell, I haven't even stopped to look at Convergence or Multiversity. I mean the next Justice League trade which starts the Darkseid War isn't out till March of next year. And Superman's truth storyline [which irks me even more but that's for another time] isn't out till April.

True. Its painfully bad scheduling.

Multiversity is out, definitely buy it. Eh, I don't see a reason to hunt for Convergence and Truth. Please don't give them your money :P

I don't see any problem with it to be honest. Batman Endgame trade came out in September which ended on issue 40. Batman is on issue 46 now. So no I don't think they should.

Only Batman and JL come out early. Because they are the top selling titles. And those are Hardcovers. Even for them the soft-covers come six months after that.

If the trades come out late then that means by the time I have the chance to buy them, those who pick up the single issues have already completely moved on so there's less of a chance for me to be able to discuss them. If I want to stay up to date with what's going on then I have to view my comics in other ways...

Another reason why trades should come out faster.

I agree. Batman: Endgame ended in April, but the trade only came out recently. That is a long time to wait and it killed my anticipation for the story.

@squalleon: still dont see it as a problem. If someone was collecting 2-3 series in trade sure it could be annoying. With all the series current and pass the time seems insignificant to me anyway.

I don't get your point? It is not a matter of quantity but getting the story(you want) as fast as possible in the format you prefer. And why do I have to buy comics I don't want just to pass the time? Why not the one I want in a logical timeline?

There is no reason when Marvel and Image publish trades so quickly that DC should hold them for 6 months later.

@squalleon: My point was made twice. I don't think its that long a wait of course it would be cool if they came out quicker. Its never bothered me thats all. Especially with all the series I collect.

I never said you had to buy comics you dont like to pass the time. What a ridiculous thing to claim of me.

Have DC ever made any comments or press release about their trade releases ? I wonder what their reasoning behind it is.

Action Comics vol.7 collecting a story that ended in February is coming out in December, that's almost a year and not the only example and thats for the Hardcover, the soft cover will come out even after that!

That's what your comment seemed like. You didn't make your thought clear to me.

Not really.

@squalleon: If Action Comics is one of the few trades a person collects I could see the frustration with waiting while other series are getting released earlier.

In a situation like that maybe monthly comics would be a better choice if waiting is an issue.

I know many that are frustrated, this thread alone proves that. And its not only Action Comics, when you collect like 3 DC series and all are coming out a year after the story is ended you should see frustration.

There are many people that prefer trades, especially people like me who don't live in the US. Its much easier to get a trade and there is no reason for a year long delay when your competitors don't have that delay. Its actually a disservice to yourself.

@squalleon: I live in a tiny town in Ireland my only source of comic related items is the internet or travel to the other end of the country. I collect both myself I have noticed that any person I met who is interested in comic culture has a few trades of things.

The local newsagents here gets overpriced trades maybe 2,3 times a year usually when some film gets released.

I am interested in knowing why DC do this now. I must look into it myself.

@squalleon: Found this. Interesting view on the subject.

it's a concession to retailers who don't want to get stuck with backstock books they can't sell because the trade is already out. The traditional sell-through period on a comic book issue is three months, but since most books run on six month arcs these days, DC tries to provide more space between releases. It's a system they've come to through conversations with retailers, and while some retailers have adjusted their business model to reflect quicker collection releases, most seem to be pretty happy with DC's system.

Marvel's adjustment for retailers is to allow collections to go out of print quickly, thereby giving the collections a collectability that they wouldn't have if they stuck to a model like DC's, where most collections are in circulation for years. They also do a fourth quarter "fire sale" to allow retailers to get their hands on these books at severe discounts. Some retailers like this model, but many that I've talked to-- including the owners of my LCS and three local stores-- prefer the traditional DC model and end up offering more Marvel collections in their discount sales because of market flooding. Marvel also offers a lot of incentive variants to reduce the sting of unsold issues.

Again, this is about what retailers, not fans, want. Fans (including myself) are going to want the collections as quickly as possible, but retailers are the ones that end up sitting on unsold issues that tend to lose their value if they're not sold in their three month window, certain key issues, variants, and speculation books excluded.