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Comic Books, Now at your Local Library
Reviewed by Brett
With many of
today’s movies being based on comic book properties and with the new price point
of most comic books being $3.99 US what is a person who enjoyed the movie or for
that matter a comic book fan to do in this day and age to be able to enjoy good
stories at affordable prices? One way I have been dealing with the new face of
our economy is by going to my local library to check out comic books. The only
thing I needed to borrow books from the library is a piece of mail with my
current address or a valid driver’s license. In New York City you can get a
library card if you work in the city but do not live in the city. Please call
your library ahead of time to make sure what documentation you might need to
open up a card. (Libraries have also started lending DVDs.)
As long as I return the book before the due date I can burrow books for free.
There is a limit on how many books I can take out at once (about 15, each
library is different though). I can also reserve books, either online or at the
library, ahead of time and have the library contact me when the book becomes
available. I can also renew a book online by visiting my library’s website which
can save me money if I am unable to return the book on its due date.
The library I go to is part of the county cooperative library system which means
that a library patron can request a book from an inventory of all the libraries
in the county (over 70 different library collections). A search for the keyword
“Spider-Man” returns over 300 results of available titles that I could chose to
burrow from the library cooperative. The results offer a range of titles from
1963 to 2009. Another aspect, that I find great, is that you can read out of
print trades, that you will be hard pressed to find anywhere else and if you do
you might be spending a lot more than had you purchased the trade when it first
came out. Not only have I used the library to read a storyline that I missed but
I have also used the library to reread a storyline that I enjoyed in the past. I
would use the library copy as my reading copy and the original copy as my
collection copy.
The library also allows for searches by authors. This allows a fan to follow up
with or read up on previous works or other works by your favorite author.
Artists (in the author search or keyword search) are another way one can search
so that you can see the progression of an artist’s work over the course of
his/her career.
Most of the comic books you will find at the library will be either a graphic
novels or trade paperbacks, it is rare to find single issues at the library but
not impossible. For most cases I find that the two terms graphic novel and trade
paperback are interchangeable when talking among comic book fans. The trade
paperback format has been fast becoming the new comic book. Trade paperbacks can
be a collection of stories centered around a central figure or theme or trades
can be a single story arc starring a main character or group. The issues
contained within a trade can range from as few as four issues to as many as 50
issues. In this day and age some story arcs have even been accused of being
written specifically for the trade. Many trades have been hitting the press only
a month or two after the storyline has been resolved. Meaning patient comic fans
that can wait for trade and don’t read spoilers on the internet can pick up a
recently completed storyline. As of late trades have seen prices ranging from
$6.99 to $99.99 US.
I have found the library a great alternative to purchasing trades. Although, one
problem I have encountered is that I have come across a trade or two from the
library that I enjoyed so much that I went out and bought the trade and the
subsequent issues and the other trades that feature the character or the artist
or author.
Brett has been a comic book reader/collector for over 20 years. He is passionate
about all things comics and comic related.
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