Monthly Issues vs. Trade Paper Backs

It seems that lately a lot of folks I know that read comics fall into two camps: those that keep up with a title with every monthly (or bi-weekly) issue, and those that prefer to wait until several issues are released in the form of a larger trade paperback.

So, where do you stand?

Me, I'm a monthly release kind of guy. There are two main reasons for this. First, I am way too impatient to wait several months for a trade to be published. Secondly, as a collector of comics and not just a reader, I prefer to have individual issues in my collection in order to try and complete runs.

But I do understand the other side of the coin. I think there are some titles that lend themselves better to a larger collected publication. For instance, I know several people that only read The Walking Dead in trade form, because there always seems to be clear stories that can be told in several issues, and that works nicely when you can sit down and read it all in one shot.

But again, I can't wait that long to read something. I wanna know what's going on in my favorite books as soon as I possibly can. And these days, it's nearly impossible to not stumble upon a spoiler while you are waiting for a TPB to come out.

Give me my 32 page monthly any day.

I'm a monthly issue kinda guy too. I'm too impatient to wait for a TPB, and I don't want to drop twice the combined cover price of single issues on a trade either.

The only place where I like collected issues is in the case of older comics that I probably won't be able to afford due to price and rarity. Like the DC Archives Wonder Woman hardcovers I picked up awhile back. And the DC Chronicles softcover series that I've been picking up to be able to read the first adventures of Superman and Batman. I highly recommend both formants BTW.

The collector side of me always goes for the monthly issues, the only time I buy graphic novels is when I can get the full story for the price of issue #1
and the Mrs says that a trade paper back displays better on the bookcase more than a comic that is bagged.
So yes comics 1st but at the same time I would not say no to a graphic novel.

I go for both. Alot of the TPB's might have a few extra pages of a new story or background info for the story you never seen before or it will have those issues you would like to get but are out of the price range for now. But I prfer the single issues cause its alot easier to read when your kicked back and dont have to worry about the spine pulling loose like TPB do after awhile. Now when it comes down to HC (hardcovers), thats not as bad of a problem. I own 2 so far, Blackest DAYS (DC) and Ultimate X-men Vol. 1. Im looking forward to adding a few more to the collection.

I only collect TPB of old issues that are hard to come by. Monthly for me

I'm finding myself drawn to trades for certain books now. I ordered the trades for some New 52 books I haven't been following since issue #1. Action Comics, Swamp Thing, Demon Knights and Deathstroke. If i like them I think I'll keep them as books I collect as trades.

After my last post in this thread it would seem that at the moment I am buying more TPB's because I can pick some up 2nd hand for not a lot of $$
as I'm saving money I'm all for this at the moment because of cutting down my pull list.