In order to be a true comic reading skinflint, you must first appreciate that *ownership* of comics is not a worthwhile objective in and of itself. Think about it. When was the last time you read one of your comics more than once, twice at most ? I'll lay odds it was a goodly while ago (if ever). It then follows that the comics & GN's neatly bagged in boxes or filed on your shelves are (a) needlessly cluttering up your living space & (b) a complete waste of money.
Basically,you get 90% of the comic appreciation hit on the first reading. What you need is a way to read comics without having to pay for them & have to leave them lying around the house annoying your girlfriend/spouse. So here are a few suggestions to help you save both space & cash.
(a)The Library
(1) Write down a list of the GN's you'd most like to read.
(2) Go to your local library.
(3) Give them the aforementioned list and require them to procure them for you.
(4) Wait a week or two
(5) Return to library, pick up said GN's, read them, return them.
Total cost, ?Nil.
(b)The Bookshop
A slightly more dodgy technique which takes some practice is to visit your high street borders (or equivalent).Pick up the latest 'must read' tome. Now the beauty of comics is they take a ludicrously short amount of time to actually read. So purchase (has to be done i'm afraid) a mug of their overpriced coffee (there may be cheaper alternatives), sit yerself down and consume said graphic novel in some comfort, whilst very slowly drinking your beverage. Then return the GN to the shelf where you found it.
(c)Gullible mate
Tell your mate you've heard about a really great new comic. Wait til he buys it, borrow it to read it yourself and tell him he wasted ?2.20 on a sh*t comic that took 5 minutes to read.
Heh - nice tips, Marbles.
I've got ask what library you go to though - my nearest major library refused any of my GN requests (though they did kindly purchase a copy of Elements of Style for me)
If you've got any tips on persuading them to spend their budget on any graphic novels but Buffy and Star Wars, I'm all ears.
only seen a few gn's in the library
my plan is to buy stuff 2nd hand at comic fests...read em...sell em on to others...sold some gn's at carboot once..only got half the cover price but its better than nowt !
My local library has recently had a massive overhaul. This includes the GN section, which now includes a lot of collected Essential Marvel comics, early Ditko, Kirby, Wood et al.
The first three Powers collections.
Plus loads more stuff.
But the only 2000ad stuff is the first Robohunter book & the first Cursed Earth book.
Time to get my order in.
I had a pretty good deal with my old comics shop once. If I wanted to "try-out" a new title, they let me borrow a tpb first for a week or so. I could then return it at my leisure, and they would then sell it on (unless I wanted to buy it- which never happened).
Course, I had a HUGE account with them, and they were trying to squeeze even more money out of me.
Not many decent comics in my local lib. And it costs money to order ok only 30p or something but it adds up. Plus you get the 'look'.
Coffee's for wimps... I've stood and read more than one graphic novel in a Boarders/Waterstones. Of course the not so good ones dont get read all the way through...