Alright, maybe *just* one...

EarthGBilly

Howdy, folks! Long time no see, eh?

Been gone for a while, but now, I'm back, seeking help of the knowledgeable people here on the forum.

A friend and I have been out of comics for a few years, now, aside from the odd digital purchase. The other day, he brought up that he misses comics - as in, the anticipation of opening the physical copy, waiting the month to see the next installment, the feel of the overpriced paper, the scent of ink that is probably doing irreparable damage to our brains, etc.

I realize I kinda miss it, too.

Neither of us has a desire to return to our days of spending $50+ a month on comics, but I was thinking maybe we could handle... one.

That's right - we want to read one physical comic each month. Just one.

Here are the problems. First, my nearest comic shop is now a 45 minute drive away on the highway, and, second, if I order a title from a service like DCBS, the shipping cost of a single comic makes no sense. So, it has to be a title available as a subscription.

That narrows the field a lot, but through services at Marvel or DiscountMags.com, there are choices.

Enter the problems: wave two. We've been out of current comics so long, we have zero clue about what is good. We also don't know which titles keep relatively to themselves, not requiring purchases of other titles each month for crossovers and what have you, which is something we want to avoid.

Thus, I come to those that might have the knowledge I seek.

Anyone know of a monthly comic, available by subscription, that is essentially standalone, and good?

If so, please chime in. We have a itch that needs to be scratched!

Thanks in advance!

nweathington

Well, I'm pretty sure every Marvel and DC title is available for a mail subscription. That's how I get Aquaman, which I only pay about $15 a year for because I buy it through Tanga when they have their subscription sales. But only a limited number of titles get put on that sale, and I've never seen the Marvel comic subs that cheap. I'm about six months behind on Aquaman, so I don't know how the new creative team is, but it's been worth $15/year up to where I've read. Batgirl gets put on sale too, but I've been buying that in trades. I'd recommend it though (if it's your kind of book) for that price.

Marvel has a lot of titles right now that are pretty standalone. My favorites:

Squirrel Girl
Silver Surfer
Hawkeye
Spider-Gwen
The Vision

A few new titles have just launched, so I'm sure they'll be more. I just picked up the #1 issues for Daredevil (new creative team), Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Totally Awesome Hulk, and Black Knight, and I'll be picking up Hellcat and Power Man & Iron Fist, when they hit.

Or if you really want to go standalone, Image offers mail subscriptions too, but they're a little more pricey. Also, some of them take breaks between arcs for the artist to be able to keep up, so fair warning. Some faves you can subscribe to:

Paper Girls
Saga
Southern Bastards
Velvet
Chew
Descender
Sex Criminals
Rumble

And the new Archie book written by Mark Waid has been quite good, and is available from Archie for $28/year or $48 for a two-year sub. Afterlife with Archie is very good, but it's $48/year.

bralinator

nweathington said:

Afterlife with Archie is very good, but it's $48/year.

How exactly does that work? I think there are only 8 issues so far and it's been ongoing since 2013. At retail prices that's about $24 US. Was that a typo?

nweathington

bralinator said:

nweathington said:

Afterlife with Archie is very good, but it's $48/year.

How exactly does that work? I think there are only 8 issues so far and it's been ongoing since 2013. At retail prices that's about $24 US. Was that a typo?

Well, I should have said $48/12-issues. That's what it actually says on the subscription page.

bralinator

nweathington said:

bralinator said:

nweathington said:

Afterlife with Archie is very good, but it's $48/year.

How exactly does that work? I think there are only 8 issues so far and it's been ongoing since 2013. At retail prices that's about $24 US. Was that a typo?

Well, I should have said $48/12-issues. That's what it actually says on the subscription page.

I'm still befuddled. Is that's for the magazine or the comic? I remember the comic's cover price (for issues 1-6, at least) was $2.99. So 12 issues (x $2.99) = appx $36. What made you decide to subscribe at that rate?

nweathington

bralinator said:

nweathington said:

bralinator said:

nweathington said:

Afterlife with Archie is very good, but it's $48/year.

How exactly does that work? I think there are only 8 issues so far and it's been ongoing since 2013. At retail prices that's about $24 US. Was that a typo?

Well, I should have said $48/12-issues. That's what it actually says on the subscription page.

I'm still befuddled. Is that's for the magazine or the comic? I remember the comic's cover price (for issues 1-6, at least) was $2.99. So 12 issues (x $2.99) = appx $36. What made you decide to subscribe at that rate?

That's for the comic. Unlike DC and Marvel subscription comics, it comes bagged and boarded, so I'm assuming they're mailing it first class rather than bulk mail (it doesn’t specify, but you can't send anything rigid like a backing board through bulk mail), and the subscription price is reflecting that additional cost. (Edit: I suppose technically DC and Marvel comics come “bagged,” but the impression I got was that Archie meant what collectors mean when they say “bagged and boarded.”)

Also, Afterlife has no advertising. They aren't charge advertisers more money for reaching more people through subscriptions like Marvel and DC are.

batlaw

Marvels Star Wars

nweathington

batlaw said:

Marvels Star Wars

Star Wars is about to have a crossover with the Darth Vader series and a Vader Down miniseries.

batlaw

nweathington said:

batlaw said:

Marvels Star Wars

Star Wars is about to have a crossover with the Darth Vader series and a Vader Down miniseries.

But it fits the criteria as posted. It's also a relatively new book (easy to go back and start from beginning if desired). If not, there've been some easy jumping on points this far and because it's a well known familiar and understood universe, coming into the middle and or crossovers have little / no impact on understanding or enjoying. And it's thus far pretty darn great imo.

nweathington

batlaw said:

nweathington said:

batlaw said:

Marvels Star Wars

Star Wars is about to have a crossover with the Darth Vader series and a Vader Down miniseries.

But it fits the criteria as posted. It's also a relatively new book (easy to go back and start from beginning if desired). If not, there've been some easy jumping on points this far and because it's a well known familiar and understood universe, coming into the middle and or crossovers have little / no impact on understanding or enjoying. And it's thus far pretty darn great imo.

I'm not sure—you know, since it hasn't come out yet—that this upcoming six-part crossover will fit the criteria. If it does, great, but from reading the solicitation, it doesn't sound like it will, so I was just providing a little fair warning.

nweathington

bralinator said:

What made you decide to subscribe at that rate?

I just noticed this line. To clarify, I don't subscribe to Afterlife through the mail. I get it through my comic shop where I get 25% off everything I buy. Aquaman is the only comic I get through the mail, and that's because if I had to pay any more than $14/year for it, I'd probably just drop it.

Torchsong

Don't know if you're into manga or not but if you are, I'd consider finding a title there. $4 for a 22-page story vs. $10-12 for 180-200 pages of content. That's if you're interested in bang for the buck. And generally you'd only be buying a volume every other month or so.

Hex

I know it isn't really what you are asking for, but I just signed up for Marvel Unlimited. Can't beat the price for access to such much good content, and it allows me to catch up on a lot of the stuff I passed over on the racks because I couldn't fit it into my shrinking budget.

David_D

Hex said:

I know it isn't really what you are asking for, but I just signed up for Marvel Unlimited. Can't beat the price for access to such much good content, and it allows me to catch up on a lot of the stuff I passed over on the racks because I couldn't fit it into my shrinking budget.

Seconded. If you like Marvel (present, or past), and are up for digital versus print, I think there is no better value out there than this.