This might be the final straw...

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

So, I just learned that my LCS is closing due to this Coronavirus thing. They actually have a couple other locations, but they are not close by. This may well be the thing that ends my comic “career”. The prospect of finding another comic shop (if I could even start a box at a new place considering how much my pull list had shrunk) makes me feel grumpy. Right now I’m just getting GL stuff, Justice League, and Young Justice, and if I’m honest I don’t really care about Young Justice, don’t like the recent direction of Justice League as it ties in with the depressing Metal junk and darkness. GL I will always be a fan of, but there isn’t enough of it, and it, too, has a bunch of stuff I’m not that excited about these days. I was getting a 20% box discount. If I lose that, even if it goes down significantly, it just isn’t going to feel worth it. And I just can’t see going digital. I’m not reading on my phone, and have no other digital devices that I’m not sharing with a house full of people. Plus I don’t really LIKE reading comics off a screen.

So does anybody have anything to try to talk me out of just giving it all up? It’ll be a bummer coming right on the heels of essentially losing my Star Trek novel hobby, too.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

I'm not going to try to convince you to spend time, gas, or money going out of your way for something you feel blase about at best, but I hope you stick around here at least.

I sympathize. I've been cutting back and I like having the extra money for movies (or old toys).

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

I feel like, if I drop comics and Star Trek novels, I’ll probably end up going further into my board game addiction. I’ve probably got too many of those already, but it would be my only real hobby left...

[Parrylakks Neko Samurai Find all posts View Profile Close Parrylakks]

I pretty much stopped buying comics when I started school back up last year. It helped that Green Arrow had already been cancelled and Roy Harper was killed off, but still. Honestly haven't missed it too much. I still have my old comics to read and reread when I feel like it, and some of that stuff hasn't been read in a decade or more, so while I remember beats, I don't remember it all. Kinda like a movie you don't watch for awhile, it can still entertain.

But yeah, if you're only interested in one book and don't want to journey for it, I'd just recommend turning into a trade collector, and buy them off of Amazon or eBay every six months or so, as they come out. I've actually considered doing that with some stuff recently, myself, and sorta did that during the New 52 era (albeit after the fact, as I bought all the GA TPBs when Rebirth came out, because I had stopped buying the comics, but didn't want the hole in my collection as I began anew).

Aside from that, all I can say is that it's sad to see your hobbies go. I fell out of the MTG bug a few years back due to expense, and it's never been replaced with anything. I wouldn't say it quite feels like a hole, but there's certainly that part of me that wishes I could go out to an FNM to play from time to time. Not that my current situation would much allow for that even if I had the money, but still. Such as it is.

[Andrew NDB Shot Caller Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew NDB]

I'm scared to even see the status of my LCS.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

And I just can’t see going digital. I’m not reading on my phone, and have no other digital devices that I’m not sharing with a house full of people. Plus I don’t really LIKE reading comics off a screen.

So does anybody have anything to try to talk me out of just giving it all up? It’ll be a bummer coming right on the heels of essentially losing my Star Trek novel hobby, too.

I really like the DC Universe streaming service, if that is an option for you. It's much more pleasant reading comics on a high-def TV screen than on a phone.

Also, you could try just buying comics in lots and/or TPBs on Ebay. That won't keep you up-to-date each month, but you can get sweet deals. You could always supplement this by taking the occasional trip to the closest comic shop if there is ever something new that you really want.

[Parrylakks Neko Samurai Find all posts View Profile Close Parrylakks]

This made me look up the status of the LCS I had been using before I went back to school (which is much too far away for me to use now even if I wanted to), and it looks like they're managing to stay afloat. It helps that they're a games store first and foremost, as well as dealing in used movies and video games, so they seem to be doing relatively fine. It's unfortunate that not all such stores are as lucky.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

When their habits get broken, people tend to not go back to them. I think MANY businesses won't come back from this.

[Rotten2thecorps Alpha-Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close Rotten2thecorps]

I went digital. I love a floppy in the hand,but there is just not enough space for all those book in my house.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

I went digital. I love a floppy in the hand,but there is just not enough space for all those book in my house.

I hear that. I recently split my collection between two rooms (all DC stuff stayed in the den and everything else got moved over to the basement), but I won’t be able to do that again ... and I’m pretty fortunate to have the space I do.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

So, I haven't been paying any attention to TPBs lately, since I've just been getting the issues. If I do decide to just switch to Trades, where's the logical place to switch? I'd rather not get trades that have issues I've already bought in them. Where is the next likely breakpoint for GL? Is there a clear guideline I could apply to any title, or does it vary so much that you never know until it is solicited?

[Michael Heide Heide Finition Find all posts View Profile Close Michael Heide]

I'd wait out Season 2. It's 12 issues, although I expect them to split the Paperbacks into two volumes, #1-6 and #7-12. You could make the switch after #6, although I'd finish the volume, that way you don't have a format change mid-run.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

Ugh, I just realized that the Morrison issues are being collected not in TPB form, but HC. Still probably cheaper than getting the issues without a box discount, but more expensive than I thought I would be in for with "trade-waiting".

Looked into finding a new shop, but right now I can't even do that easily, as the other ones in the right area are all closed except for on-line orders and pick-up at the moment, and don't have any details on-line of how to even go about getting a box.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

I went digital. I love a floppy in the hand,but there is just not enough space for all those book in my house.

So, I haven't been paying any attention to TPBs lately, since I've just been getting the issues. If I do decide to just switch to Trades, where's the logical place to switch? I'd rather not get trades that have issues I've already bought in them. Where is the next likely breakpoint for GL? Is there a clear guideline I could apply to any title, or does it vary so much that you never know until it is solicited?

Once I get roughly issues of a non-Green Lantern title, I usually sell them for collected editions or collectibles. Space is at a premium in my collectibles room, so I can only keep items that are my absolute favorites. Otherwise, the room quickly becomes towers of boxes and piles of comics.

Ed, you're at a good time to start trade-sitting as your main method of reading comics. Either of the Morrison seasons would be good starting points, or when Morrison leaves, there will be another organic starting place behind him. Plus, just about everything these days is collected in sequential trades, at least from the big comic companies.

[Sylent_Asassin Black Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close Sylent_Asassin]

My passion for comics died when my car was broken into a few years ago and several issues of GL were stolen along with my two laptops and several other expensive belongings. Before Covid-19, I would attend comic conventions and pick up select arcs and key issues here and there, mostly to be signed, but my heavy comic collecting days are pretty much behind me. Besides, there hasn't been much of a reason to go out of my way to buy books, and GL isn't too popular these days. If I buy anything comic-related these days, it's classic issues, blank covers for sketches, action figures or jerseys. Heck, the last noteworthy book I purchased was GL/GA #85, the Speedy "My ward is a junkie" issue. Got lucky and found it for cheap.

One of my LCS' seems to be doing okay despite the pandemic, but I don't buy many non-TPB's these days unless I like the artist/writer... and that's a short list. This LCS has a pretty heavy online presence and a large following, so they will be okay. In addition, they sell toys, statues, games and other nerdish collectibles, so their business isn't dependent on comics.

I have no idea how my other LCS is doing. Two older gentlemen, a father and son, who don't have an online presence own the shop and they're a comic-specific business, so I would imagine that they're hurting pretty bad. They've been around for several decades and are a pillar of the community, so I hope they survive this pandemic.

If you have a hankering for comics, you can always order them online for cheap- just shipping can be a challenge.

Once this man-made pandemic ends, a vaccine created and distributed, and the threat of sickness and death no longer looms over simply being outside in a crowd, I hope to resume my comic convention escapades. I will never convert to downloading comics to view on a monitor or smart device. I just can't bring myself to read my comics from a computer screen. I would rather do without... but that's just me.