Why do people buy comics but not read them?

[CyberCubed]

For years, I've always come across people saying things like, "Yeah I bought this comic series a few years ago, its still sitting unread in my desk somewhere. I have to actually sit down and read it someday."

or

"I bought these issues a couple months ago, I actually forgot I even had them. I'll have to flip through them."

etc.

Why do people buy comics, seemingly place them aside for safe-keeping, but then never actually read them?

Am I the only one who reads whatever comic I get immediately when I get home, or at least in the same day unless I'm really busy?

Why do people buy comics and then not read them for YEARS? Do people forget they have them or something? And isn't it a waste of money?

[TheCanadiandrome]

i'm guilty of that. i bought comics in the past but never fully read them all the way through. i guess it depends on the person. it's not really a waste of money if u do intend to read them at some point, or are a collector.

[CyberCubed]

So then what is the point of buying comics to have them sit there in a stack or whatever? I understand some people have ADD, but that doesn't apply to everyone.

[Archon_Turtle]

TONS of the collector market doesn't read books because of fear of damage, so thats ones reason. And for those people, no, it isnt a waste of money because of the investment factor.

If someone bought a copy of Action #1 for the 5 cent cover price and never read it till today, it wouldnt be a waste of money, it would be the smartest move that person ever made. Action #1 is an extreme example, but you get my drift.

[Luzmagica]

I got a small difference ...I buy the comics and use to wait 3-4 months for read a small lot in one day.... just a few comics are too short for me! so I wait for a small mountain of comics!! :tgrin::twink:

[ToTheNines]

Well when I first started collecting, sometimes I'd order 50 dollars worth of comics at once. So there'd be no way I would read them all in one day, and then I'd just never get around to reading the issues I got for completionists sake (like some of the non-canon Volume 1 stuff).

[plastroncafe]

I do this on a weekly basis. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to read all of my weekly haul in one go, so I put them somewhere for when I'm ready. Then...inevitably, I forget they're there.

[DrSpengler]

Some times I'll get a trade or a comic with the intention of reading it some time down the road when I'm bored. "Rainy day" and all that.

With Turtles, I picked up trades of material I didn't own, not so much because I wanted to read them that very second, but because I knew that if I didn't get them right THEN, then they'd disappear in a week and I'd have to pay $200 bucks on eBay if I ever wanted to read them later.

[Jephael]

I like to read my comics the moment I get them.

[BoggleKng]

There are comics I purchase to read and comics I purchase to collect and never read.

[jaymq]

I always read the stuff I get for full price. But I also don't get much. My list consists of 'Watchblade', 'The Darkness', 'Usagi Yojimbo' and until recently 'Tales of the TMNT' and other TMNT related comics.

I do occasionally get other stuff tho, I picked up some Age of Reptiles comics last month 'cause I am big on dinosaurs and Beasts of Burden 'cause the art looked absolutely gorgeous, (the story was pretty awesome too after reading it). Recommend it to most adult readers (it's not a kid's comic). And is published by Dark Horse.

Got a Ghostbusters one shot lately as well that I read and enjoyed.

Among other things.

If it's stuff from the 25cents (or similar) 'we want to get rid of' bin or something, I may not always read them.

[Master Splinter]

Why do people buy comics and then not read them for YEARS? Do people forget they have them or something? And isn't it a waste of money?

I completely understand your question and your point you are making but I would like to ask, just as devil's advocate... Why does it matter to you how I spend my money? I find that people are more concerned about how my money is spent... If I buy $1,000 worth of comics just to set them on fire it should not concern you. It was my money, and I choose to do with it what I wanted... If I don't want to read the books why is of concern to you?

It's like asking P. Diddy why he would buy a bottle of Crystal just to pour it out...

People do whatever they want with their money, some use it to wipe their butt.... As sad as it is, comics are held onto for various reasons, some greedy, some collectors, some are just kids reading a good story... Me, I like to read them and then put them away...

Just my 2 cents...

-ms

[discordiatookie]

I think the longest time I sat on a TMNT comic (or three) was for about two years - I had the first three issues of the Moon Eyes Archie comics saga, and I didn't want to read them until I got the final one. I must say that it was pretty awesome, and well worth the wait.

Its happened a few times in various series that i've collected - I don't want to carry on until I can find said missing issue(s). And that one was, I do believe, the longest.

[TuЯco]

that happens to me somtimes. like i used to get grim jack from a used bookstore. i read like two issues of it and really liked it so i bought like 20 more. but i only read like 5 of them.

Why do people buy comics and then not read them for YEARS? Do people forget they have them or something? And isn't it a waste of money?

becuz of time and a little bit of lazyness. but thats just me.
when i was younger i got overwelmed when i bought like 50 archie comics. i didnt read all of them and still havent today. that might just be me though.

[DrSpengler]

Some times I'll buy a big lot of comics or several volumes of a series that I want to read completely, but after a few dozen issues I get kind of burnt out and take a break from said series by moving onto another one. Doesn't mean I'm *not* going to read those other comics I bought, I'm just not going to read them right then and there.

I don't think there's anything all too strange about that.

[Ninjinister]

For years, I've always come across people saying things like, "Yeah I bought this comic series a few years ago, its still sitting unread in my desk somewhere. I have to actually sit down and read it someday."

or

"I bought these issues a couple months ago, I actually forgot I even had them. I'll have to flip through them."

etc.

Why do people buy comics, seemingly place them aside for safe-keeping, but then never actually read them?

Am I the only one who reads whatever comic I get immediately when I get home, or at least in the same day unless I'm really busy?

Why do people buy comics and then not read them for YEARS? Do people forget they have them or something? And isn't it a waste of money?


I get really busy, don't always get to all of the comics right away, and then they get stacked away for months/years at a time until I come across them again. Then (usually) they get read.

[Spitfire]

I collect and when you do that you often do bulk orders of many comics at once. I don't have time to read them and then I usually forget about them. Since I don't store my comics in my apartment, no room, I usually don't get around to reading them. I have the entire 80s run of Moon Knight to read still. I usually read trades and collect individual issues. I buy trades online cause I can keep those at my house on my book shelf but single issues would just get messy. I only buy single issues of stuff I can't get collected, except turtles where I bought everything even trades. It's also easier to travel with books as opposed to tons of single issues. I typically hate the action being broke up by ads as well. Turtles and the trades I've been reading have spoiled me in that regard.

[psychoandy]

I own a comic store, and there are a million reasons that people collect comics. We have one guy who will buy any comic book that has Dr. Doom on the cover, just because he really likes the character. We have some people who want to read the entire Batman-family of titles, and absolutely nothing else. Not even tie-ins and crossovers.

And there are many people who buy comics with the hopes that someday the comics will be their retirement fund.

I, personally, read comics for the stories and to follow particular characters. If it's a story or a character I'm into, I'll stick with it. However, sometimes I'll pick up huge collections of stuff at a time knowing that I won't read it right away - I recently picked up about half of the Archie TMNT Adventures series from eBay. I'm waiting until I can get the other half before I sit down and read them. I've done the same thing with a lot of the older X-Men family titles; specifcally, X-Factor and Excalibur. I've got something like the first 80-some-odd issues of the original X-Factor run, but the series ran through issue 149. I *COULD* go ahead and read it right now, but I'm gonna wait until I can just take a week and blow through the entire series at once. Same thing with TMNT Adventures.

Sometimes, it just takes a while to collect the entire thing, you know?

[Leo656]

I'm guilty of it, but everying I haven't read I fully intend to read at some point.

I get tons of books, and I have about 6,000 in my collection, some of it in storage, so some things I haven't read because I don't have them right in front of me. That happened a lot when I was moving and had to pack stuff really quickly. With mini-series, I tend to wait until the conclusion comes out, then read the whole series at once. I usually get 20-40 books some months, so trying to keep up with a mini one issue at a time is impossible for me if I actually want to remember the plot.

Same goes for a lot of the series I have back issues of but a lot of holes, like Morrison's JLA or Johns's JSA. I have a bunch of single issues which I've read, but really I'm going to wait until I have the entire run, because I'm not missing that many and it's just easier that way.

Beyond that I work between 30-50 hours a week a lot of the time, and most of my weekends are spent with wrestling, and a lot of my in-between time is spent resting/healing from those two things, studying for my personal trainer internship, cooking for two people, keeping the apt. clean, playing video games, watching movies and making sure my chick gets enough attention. Comics are important, but so are a lot of other things.

Now people who collect comics and almost never read them at all, I think is silly. I personally hate it, but to each their own.

[Samhain]

Im guilty of it.Its like a ritual every 3 or so weeks of going and getting my new copy of the books im keeping up with. I read but I am also a collector. I may not read them right away, but I do eventually.

Besides, I gotta be in the mood. Sometimes, I dont wanna read all of them at once or I will be too busy with work and school to sit down and read.

[sdp]

Yeah when I bought physical comics I'd buy "lots" of comics on ebay and of course there were so many I couldn't read them all. Now if it was a monthly comic I was actually reading then yeah I likely read it the same day but I didn't pick up too many monthly's besides one or two. Theres also when you buy since you don't know if you'll find them later but didn't intend to read them.
Now that I download comics, I usually download quite a few and don't read most of them because of time but I do like having them and knowing I can read them when I want. And man if DC/Marvel weren't stupid and priced their comics correctly I'd have many more digital comics and a fan for life as well as create a new interest with new comic book readers but they won't with the current prices but thats another thread altogether.

I also do this with music downloading more music than I can listen to, I probably own more music than I'll ever be able to listen in my entire lifetime, thats depressing.

TONS of the collector market doesn't read books because of fear of damage, so thats ones reason. And for those people, no, it isnt a waste of money because of the investment factor.

If someone bought a copy of Action #1 for the 5 cent cover price and never read it till today, it wouldnt be a waste of money, it would be the smartest move that person ever made. Action #1 is an extreme example, but you get my drift.

Comics as an investment? :lol:

Not counting the rare odd exception, you'll be lucky if any comic you own is worth the cover price alone in a few years.

[sagelwwa]

Kevin Smith says after he reads a comic, he rips it into two pieces and throws it away LMAO (for those wondering, he is kidding of course lol)

[Kendamu]

Unless I get a very large order of comics at once (like 25 issues), I read what I get ASAP. I didn't know there was any other way to do it! Haha!