There are a number of ways to get your new comics fix each week or each month. Let's explore those different ways.
It's great to support your Local Comic Shop (LCS) if you have one nearby and like the store & selection they offer.
You can find shops using the Comic Shop Locator or try FindAComicShop.com
Pull Lists
When you find an LCS you like, you can either just go in and browse the racks whenever you have time (keep in kind that new comics come out on Wednesday each week), or you can ask your LCS about setting up a "pull list". A Pull list is basically a service where you tell the shop what comic series you want to buy and they will pull and save those comics for you when they come in and they will be waiting for you whenever you come into the shop. This saves you from getting caught by a comic being sold out and unavailable by the time you go into the LCS if you can't make it in to the LCS every Wednesday. It's not uncommon for an unexpectedly popular comic to be sold out by the weekend. Also, if you are a fan of uncommon comics (e.g., something other than the popular super-heroes), telling your shop that you want them allows them to order them for you when they might not normally have any copies, or maybe only 1 or 2, copies for the rack.
Keep in mind that the LCS is a business and they have paid for those comics, so don't let too much stuff pile up in your pull box. Go into the shop every week or so (or at most once a month) and pick up your saved purchases.
Mail Order Comic Services
If you don't have a nearby LCS, or have some reason why your LCS is not someplace you want to buy comics, you might consider buying from any one of a number of web-sites that provide comics via mail-order services.
Shipping of Mail Order Comics: These are typically set up for someone who has a monthly subscription and gets books on an on-going basis. Shipping charges are NOT optimized for someone who wants to buy comics on a one-off or non-recurring basis. The different providers have different shipping plans/charges but typically offer weekly or monthly shipping. You need to compare the shipping charges vs. the discounts you get from the on-line provider (that is sometimes a much higher discount than you will get from a local shop) and also compare the shipping charge to the gas money you spend driving back and forth to a comic shop each week if there is not one very close to your house.
Discount Comic Book Service - Bob and Shawn have been using them for many years. Great service, great basic discounts (40% for Marvel/DC/Dark Horse, 35% for Boom!/Dynamite/IDW/Image/Valiant, 30% for other comics) as well as several 50% or better deals each month.
Paying for Comics at DCBS : People always ask about how paying for comics works since it's in advance. Here's how it works for me (I'm using January as the example order month, but the same schedule applies for any month):
- In January, Diamond Previews comes out for books that mostly ship in March
- This order is due to DCBS by the end of January
- DCBS charges my credit card on or around February 15th
- I get the credit card bill the 1st week of March
- I pay via check and by the time the $exit my bank account I am already receiving many of the books I ordered.
In general, for me, I'm not really paying much in advance at all...
NOTE: If you carry a balance on your credit card and pay interest when things are charged, then this is NOT a good deal for you
NOTE: If you pay via a debit card or check you will be paying from 2-6 weeks in advance for your books, in exchange for the discounts offered.
