It’s particularly insulting that the hardcovers in question are so cheap-ass that they usually don’t even include a sewn binding. They’re just a paperback with a cardboard cover glued on, so you can’t even open them wide enough to see the double-page spread. Marvel has recently fixed this on some (all?) of their hardcovers, but for a long time there, the attitude was basically “You people will buy anything, won’t you?”

The problem with comics HCs as described above is that you aren’t capturing the early adopter market with a higher cost item (they bought the issues) and you aren’t capturing the bulk of the trade waiters (they’ll want the SC). So for months and months your stuck in this nebulous middle ground where publishers are just pissing away reader interest allowing any heat the stories might have had to dissipate.

If they wanted to release hc and sc simultaneously, I’d be more than pleased with that.

I don’t think HC-then-SC is such a bad thing.

Now, wait, before you pile on me already, hear me out.

HC-then-SC is the traditional publishing model for most of the books you’ll find in a bookshop (excepting, of course, the mass-market tat which never makes it into HC). I’ve yet to see anyone complain that it’s a disgrace how Roth and Palahniuk and what have you get published in HC first and then you have to wait months for the paperbacks.

Indeed, with non-fiction, it can be a heck of a lot worse. This because non-fiction HCs are very expensive, so if a publisher find they’ve got one that’s selling well, they’ll purposefully delay the release of the paperback. Because, hey, money. No bad thing for a publisher.

I disagree, to an extent, with what Ralf says in the first comment. I hate, hate, *hate* buying a book and then finding later that I have to buy it *again* to get my preferred format. Waiting isn’t the answer, there’s no guarantee that a later HC will come along, or the SC might go out of print before I can buy it if I get the timing wrong. Absolute/Omnibus editions I can cope with, as clearly there’s a marked difference between those and a normal SC. But pumping out a bog-standard HC *after* the SC? That’s stupid.

In short, I don’t see the problem. For people who suck up the hype, there’s the single issues to chuck at them. For people who want the premium edition, there’s the HC. And for the people who want it cheap, they can wait for the SC. Just like all other book buyers have to do. Just don’t make me play the ‘Do I buy this SC, or do I wait for the potential HC, which may never turn up?’ game on books I follow. For example, DC really dropped the ball with the Ex Machina hardcovers, putting out one (which I bought) and I haven’t seen any since. Had I known then what I do know I’d've stuck with the SCs and been done with the damn thing already.

What Chris said about the HC before SC thing. You’re definitely losing my business with such a silly approach – I’ve lost interest in a number of series waiting for the soft cover to come out.

I’d bet most fans are not demanding HCs.

Thanks,

Brian J.

Dave – I stand by what I said. I really like Usagi, but it sells about a quarter of what it should because the lead character is a rabbit, and fights other animal characters. Blacksad is the only furry book I’ve seen that non furries won’t even blink at picking up. (Furries pick it up too).

*cough*USAGI YOJIMBO*cough*