The Huntress Approved Guide to Comics Budgeting!

Yeah, yeah, it's the absolutely inevitable money-economy-ZOMG! WALL STREET SCUCIDE! post. Well, you people do need to save for the future. But this isn't a lifestyle blog, so I won't waste my time telling you to turn you car off at stoplights or start wearing hand-me-downs from that old box that says "Deeded to the museum". Instead, chibistomb presents The Huntress Approved Guide to Comics Budgeting!

Okay, now that's overwith, let's get on to the actual money-economy-ZOMG! WALL STREET SCUCIDE! post. Right.

First of all, this post is about comics budgeting, So duh, set a budget. That's the amount of money you actually plan to spend on comics monthly or weekly, depending on how many times you get 'em. Saying "Oh, okay, so I'll spend thirty bucks on comics. Easy. Thanks!" is gonna work about as well as Emma Frost saying "Oh, okay, so I'll dress like a nun now! Thanks!"

It's just not going to happen.

The easiest way to do this is just to find out how much you currently spend on comics, and see what you can live without. Like, if you're buying a monthly that you've hated since Febuary and the creative team is set to stay on until next March, you can probably drop it and get the trade later if something great happens in the next few months.

That's another option, too. Trades are like, the Misfit of your LCS. They're that awesome. Not only are they comparably cheap, between $13.99 for low-impact story arcs, all ages books, and indies to $27.99 for stuff like Messiah CompleX and Volumes 1 & 2 of 52 as a special price. In a word, just think of twenty-four-ish event issues for thirty bucks. Yeah, and that's $30 Canadian, even less in US Dollars.

However, don't just look in Comic Shops for Trades. If your local library has a clearout book sale, you can find trades of Sandman, Swamp Thing, and Watchmen for about $1.50 or 50 cents, depending on if they are listed as teen graphic novels or adult ones. Bookstores like Borders or Chapters also sell trades, which sometimes are cheaper than the shop. They also usually have huge (like 12 copies huge) stocks of the stuff that sells right out at the LCS, like all the trades of Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.

That's the other thing. With trades, there's no monthly delays and and you won't have to reread issue from Part One in May to get with Part Four in September.

Again, if you still want to collect the monthlies, don't get ones you know you'll hate, no matter how much the other geeks love it. If you hate superhero stuff, don't buy Utopia just because I review it all the time. Find the stuff you like and get that.

Also, try not to "pull-box" unless you know you're getting a book or issue that is guaranteed to sell out. Instead, look around the shop, read reveiws on the internet, or ask a fellow geek to find out what's good. If you regularly read Uncanny, but have heard this month's issue equals cow patties, go to the shop, flip through the shelf copies, and if you agree, get something else with your $4.99.

Of course, you don't always need to stick to your budget. Say you get a raise, or that four hundred dollars back from that college buddy. Yeah, go ahead, blow it. I'm not your mother, sheesh!