WE’VE UPDATED THIS POST WITH NEW ISSUES AND RELEASE DATES.
At conventions and on Twitter we get a ton of questions about how the trade paperbacks (individual volumes) relate to the hardcovers, how the hardcovers relate to the compendiums, and how to switch between them. The short version is that The Walking Dead is generally broken into 6-issue arcs. Every trade paperback volume collects 6 issues. Every hardcover “book” is 2 trade paperbacks, or 12 issues. And then there are the compendiums, which are each comprised of 48 issues (8 trade paperback volumes). Oh, and if you want to get fancy, we sell Deluxe Hardcover Onmibuses, which collect 24 issues (or 4 paperback volumes, or 2 hardcover books). The Omnibuses are over-sized editions which also include cover artwork and come inside a slipcase.
Barring the accelerated pace of the ALL OUT WAR arc, individual issues of The Walking Dead come out each month.
The release cycle for paperback volumes is generally two a year and hardcover books generally come out once a year, late fall.
Here’s a map of the different versions, some of these are being forecasted pretty far out and have loose estimates:
Our “Story” page in the comics section (update in progress) has an issue break down as well as plot details (so don’t expand unless you want to know).
I told myself I’d wait for Compendium 3, but 2 years is too long.
im just going to read everything after comp. 2 online then still buy comp. 3 because i want it cx
Very good Brian
Figured since All Out War was bi-monthy we would get 2 Hardcovers in the same year… :
Yeah so did i though thinking it might be out in the first quarter of the year as opposed to much later but who knows. Not sure if i can handle only having the first half of All Out War 🙁
The hard covers MIGHT get a bump up. The above isn’t final.
Go on am sure you can use your influence to get the Hard Cover volume 10 moved up to say July? 🙂
Second that!
itching to get over to the #125 discussion, but not getting my issues until Saturday, because it comes in the post, AHhhhhh!
SAME HERE!! Mine is coming all the way across the states; I’ll be lucky to have it Friday! It’s driving me crazy!
it sure feels like a long wait when you know other people have there issue already 🙁
Definitely DON’T look at that post. Spoilers every where.
Madness! Simply MADNESS!!
Hey bastet. Got your warning about the preview comments. Cant believe someone would put a spoiler in the preview when there is a post set up for discussions after you have read. Thanks for the warning, your one of the good ones
Oh, thank goodness I got to ya! I was worried. You can’t imagine how SHITTIN’ I am!!!
Gutted for you. A hate it when people spoil thing’s for others. Hope you can still enjoy the issue or was it a really big spoiler?
I’m going to enjoy it, regardless. But it was a big enough spoiler to take out a chunk of that joy!
Well a really appreciate you giving me the warning, so hopefully your good deed get rewarded. Karma and all that.
You are welcome. Just doing what I’d hope somebody would do for me.
Well you can count me as someone who would
Appreciate that!
Sorry guys, I didn’t even see that comment. Would have edited it sooner if I had.
No worries, I won’t. Got bastet looking out for me 🙂
Although I’m on the single issues now, I’m still going for those hardcovers! They are awesome!
its the way to go Basset, I have all the Hard Covers too, get to singles as well, but the hard covers are a great collection, and a great way of re-reading if you want to keep the single issues in good condition, i also like the slightly larger format of the hard covers.
I do exactly what you do but, I buy the Softcover. They feel comfortable when you read them.
The long waits between volumes is why I’m glad I’m buying then as single issues.
Great for catching up but now I wouldn’t wanna wait on anything longer than the singles!
when you look at it like this, those compendiums look huge! I knew they were 48 issues but just seeing it like this, oh man, those things must weight a ton, lol
I picked one up a while back, felt like a dumbell. I don’t like to crack spines on books that I’m collecting so I knew that the compendiums wouldn’t work for me.
sept? great I know what I want for my birthday !
I bought the Omnibus 1-4, I can wait for #5 to come out, I just hate waiting till 2016 for #6
I don’t understand why Hardcover 10 won’t come out until September when we are on 125 already. I understand the book isn’t on a normal schedule but to wait so long really sucks. By the time Book 10 comes out, TWD will be on 131 or 1 away from a complete Book 11.
i love the softcovers but I cant wait until july! I don’t know what to do! probly gonna have to buy the single issues now or I might lose my mind 🙁
I collect the hardcovers but I can’t wait for the next one, so I get the singles, too.
where is the best place to purchase the single issues?
A local comic book shop. If you don’t have one, you can get them online, digital or mail order.
thank you, I ordered some off amazon even though ive heard about some packaging issues, I cant wait until Thursday! the actually physical copies are pretty hard to find and I want to be able to hold them in my paws, im so excited to finally be all caught up
Amazon is my go-to. I’ve had packaging issues, but it’s been after they’ve left Amazon’s warehouse.
I’m just starting to get into the books since i love the show. Should I be looking to get the hardcovers or the compendium volumes to get myself up to speed? And Once I get caught up, i can just do the single issues or the softcovers?
If your ultimate goal is to get caught up, be sure to keep in mind what each format covers. For example, the compendiums are a collection of a lot of issues, but the latest compendium is #2 & it stops at issue 96. You’d have to get another format to fill in the gaps to cover 97 through the current, like picking up hardcover 9 & softcovers 19 & 20 & then the single issues 121 – 125. Or you could pick one format & wait for the next one to come out. There’s also the cost of each format, depending on where you buy them from. You might find 2 softcovers more expensive than 1 hardcover. Lastly, if it’s just a little more than catching up for you, there are differences in the formats. For example, the softcovers do not contain the covers, whereas the hardcovers do. The omnis have extras, whereas the compendiums don’t. Most people I’ve chatted with who are on a reading binge go right for the compendiums.
What I did:
The compendiums were a little too beefy for me and I collect certain books. I don’t like to crack spines on books, so I would have had a hard time reading what’s near the spine. I went straight for the hardcovers. The pages are bigger and they include the covers, which is something that I wanted to have. I bought all 9 hardcovers, then found a lot on eBay that covered single issues 109 – 121 and then started picking up single issues from there on out.
Hope that helps!
Definitely helps! I think I’ll go for the hardcovers too, the compendiums ARE beefy!! I like to keep my books in good shape and on the shelf. I’ll start looking for them now…are any of them in color or all black and white? Probably a dumb question…
The only dumb question is the one never asked. 😉
The cover art is all that is in color. Everything else is black and white. Some people think this would take away from the comic, but I assure you, it will not!
is there a places where you can subscribe to the series and get the issues as they come out (like subscribing to a magazine)