Online Comics Retailers

RexMundi

Hello

Does anyone know an online retailer of recent comics and graphic novels that is of good value. I use Tfaw at the moment but the shipping is vey high. Does a better site exist though?

Fysh

In the links and resources thread, the only online shop recommended is Mile High Comics.

I've recently seen a couple of UK-based sites, but I haven't used them so I can't say whether they're reliable, cheap etc:

OK Comics
[url=ttp://www.86thfloor.com/]86th Floor[/url]
Economic Comics

Since we haven't had many recommendations of online shops I'm going to leave this thread open for a while. In due course I'll merge the contents with the Links & resources thread.

Dont be at yourself

I use amazon to get TPBs, I found them cheaper than dedicated comic sites.

Delirium

Currently use amazon and play.com. Generally play.com first as delivery is free. Both sites generally save me a couple of euros.

Fysh

Amazon & Play are both good for general back-catalogue stuff but are useless for single issues. I'm not too sure how good they are for more off-the-beaten-track stuff either (although I remember that Amazon was the only place I could find a copy fo Lazarus Churchyard : Final Cut when I was looking for it a few years ago).

On a more general point, I'm kind of wary of them being overly pushed as a good source of comics because that leads to the consolidation of comics into major brands and makes the playing field more inaccessible to non-mainstream content. It's nice to get TPBs cheaply but the commoditising of any product leads to conformity of standard as there's less money to be made, and I don't think any entertainment medium benefits from a reduction in diversity.

Which is not to say that you should pay as much as possible for your comics, since that just means the retailer is getting more money and not necessarily that the extra money goes all the way back along the chain. But it's worth being aware that, when you save a fiver buying a TPB on Amazon over buying it in a shop, that's 5 euro that comes out of the entire production chain, not just 5 euro that the retailer cuts off the price. (Sure, it'd be nice if retailers could reduce their costs and thus reduce their prices without reducing their margins, but realistically that isn't going to happen any time soon).

Delirium

Fysh wrote: »

Amazon & Play are both good for general back-catalogue stuff but are useless for single issues. I'm not too sure how good they are for more off-the-beaten-track stuff either (although I remember that Amazon was the only place I could find a copy fo Lazarus Churchyard : Final Cut when I was looking for it a few years ago).

On a more general point, I'm kind of wary of them being overly pushed as a good source of comics because that leads to the consolidation of comics into major brands and makes the playing field more inaccessible to non-mainstream content. It's nice to get TPBs cheaply but the commoditising of any product leads to conformity of standard as there's less money to be made, and I don't think any entertainment medium benefits from a reduction in diversity.

Which is not to say that you should pay as much as possible for your comics, since that just means the retailer is getting more money and not necessarily that the extra money goes all the way back along the chain. But it's worth being aware that, when you save a fiver buying a TPB on Amazon over buying it in a shop, that's 5 euro that comes out of the entire production chain, not just 5 euro that the retailer cuts off the price. (Sure, it'd be nice if retailers could reduce their costs and thus reduce their prices without reducing their margins, but realistically that isn't going to happen any time soon).

Only reason I use amazon and play.com is they are the only site I was aware of.
In much the same before I used the web I would buy CDs in Virgin, hmv etc. Whereas now I will try and buy direct from the band or label first.
So I will be looking at any of the suggested comic sites as an alternative.