The death of the single issue?

This is the last of my 'Big 3' blog posts, following on from the culling of my collection and rose tinted glasses, this was another though which popped into my head of late.

Now, when I say the death of the single issue, I don't actually mean the death of the concept within the comic book medium. In fact, what I mean is that I wonder if the single issue comic book has reached it's end within my life, my reading and my collecting.

I've been collecting single issues of comics for what must be going on 11 years now, originally starting with Marvel/Panini reprints from the local newsagents before moving on to original single issues when my first local comic book shop opened with my opening comic being Fantastic Four #551. Since then, my collection has grown away from trades and more into the single issues of varying numbers over the years.

Recently, however, my circumstances have changed which have me questioning whether the purchasing of single issues is really the best way forward when it comes to my comic reading.

There are three factors in particular which have me pondering on this and the first of these is space. The reason for this is because (as stated previously), my second child is due early next year and, due to a lack of space, the spare room where my comics are held is required as a nursery. However, I have no where else that I can place these long boxes (well, the attic but I'm fearful of what the conditions would do to the comics) meaning that even 'if' I find a home for what I have, where would I place new comics).

As a consequence, I find myself leaning more towards trades and digital because, with the latter, I can store as many comics as I like onto a tablet or, with the former, I can collect a single book collecting 6 issues which, when you take into account bagging and boarding, would take up more space when I get the 6 single issues.

Then, there is the financial aspect of buying single issues, which I am always conscious of (being an accountant). This is because, with a single issue of a print comic, I am spending $3.99/£3.60 (per my LCS), which isn't exactly an insignificant amount. However, I recently purchased God Country as a trade which cost me £14.99 for 6 issues, whereas I'd have been spent £21.60 on those issues individually.

In fact, even buying the singles is cheaper digitally as comixology would have sold them for £2.49. Both of these options make for a more appealing option than print singles, especially given that I'd be unlikely to sell them on for the same in the future.

Finally, upon my mission to re-read much of my collection, I've discovered something rather disconcerting about single issues; they are a real nuisance to re-read as a story arc if you bag and board them. This is because of the time it takes to unseal the bag, remove the book, read it, place it back in the bag and seal it up again before repeating, all the while ensuring that dogs and kids with messy hands don't mess them up.

When I think about the alternatives, whereby a trade gets me six issues in one without all the collectorisms or digitally means the next issue is a button press away, this option of buying singles becomes less and less enticing.

The thing is, while this is more a statement regarding my life than it is the world in general, I do feel that this way of thinking by me is very much a microcosm for the comic book industry in general.

That said, it's more conjecture than fact and hopefully it isn't true.

Except for me because, come the end of my current series, I think I'm otherwise done with the floppies for at least the foreseeable future, if not for good.