10 New Year 2018 Resolutions Marvel Comics Should Make

6. Stop Making Trade Collecting Difficult

Iron Fists
Marvel Comics

Although the direct market illustrates that the bulk of the medium's readers buy comics on a weekly basis, reading as and when an issue releases, there's also a bunch of readers out there who wait for collected editions too. A typical trade paperback (or trade, for short), tends to encompass six-to-twelve issues from a given book's run, but there are also hardcovers, deluxe editions and omnibuses to contend with as well.

For the most part, both Marvel and DC have massively improved on their trade game. Classics are quick to return to print in some form, and the waiting time between an arc finishing and a TPB releasing has been cut drastically short. There's still some confusion though, and while Marvel were a tad late to the graphic novel scene, there's really no reason why they should be making things difficult in the new year.

With so many reboots around, things can get a little hectic for new readers. To cite an oft used example, if one were to approach Mark Waid's run on Daredevil (and you all really should), they'd have to contend with multiple 'first volumes' of the series, a problem exacerbated by the TPB format, omnibuses, and the fact the series was sandwiched in between two reboots in 'All-New, All Different Marvel' and 'Marvel Now!'.

Not so easy, right? Well, now Marvel are introducing Marvel Premiere Graphic Novel (not to be confused with Marvel Premier, or Marvel Premium), which will encompass digital comics launching on print for the first time for no other reason than to confuse us all even more.

Trades are the gateway into the medium for many fans. Make that hurdle easier to jump, and the industry will be stronger for it.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.