Maybe were just getting too old for today's comics.

I read THE KANG WAR recently. It may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed Mike Del Mundo's art. It was unique and not like what you'd see in other titles, but I found it mesmerising. 

If a viewer of the TV show gets interested in reading the source material, he or she would most likely go into a Barnes and Noble where he/she would find an entire shelf of reprint editions, all the same size and clearly numbered and in order.  (Same thing with the entire wall of manga.)

Now, say a fan of Netflix's DAREDEVIL wants to explore the comics.  That fan goes to the bookstore or Amazon only to find numerous #1's--one for Frank Miller's run, one for Bendis', one (or two?) for Mark Waid, and probably numerous versions of the Stan Lee originals--ESSENTIALS, EPIC COLLECTION, perhaps MARVEL MASTERWORKS sticking around.  How is a person supposed to know where to start?  Maybe a person with some familiarity might realize to look on the back or in the indicia to see which issues this volume is reprinting--a fruitless endeavor when they all say "Reprinting DAREDEVIL #1-12" or whatever.

Now it's not just the bureaucracy at Marvel or DC that encourages this confusion.  Erik Larson stopped numbered his SAVAGE DRAGON collections and even the beloved HELLBOY has numbered and unnumbered editions.

And while most network TV shows can be caught up on your cable's OnDemand, some series skip episodes or just offer shows that are seasons old.  If you miss a favorite show, some new episodes are offered the very next day, while others don't show up for eight days--that's the day AFTER the next episode!  If these are favorites, you put up with it and work around it; if you're on the bubble or just wanting to test a new show, not being able to catch up in order might make you just drop it.

How is this hard for people to understand?  If you make it hard for people to find your product, less people will want it.

Marvel's Darth Vader series confused me. I almost picked up the wrong one. They'd reached #25 in recent times, but started again.

FFS, stop it. Please. I beg ya. You are, quite frankly, going about it the wrong way. It comes across as gimmicky and indecisive. I feel like referring to the current lot as Indecisive Comics. Why couldn't DARTH VADER simply have continued with #26? Why start again?

Dicking around is making it all inaccessible. 

Funnily enough, I do see WALKING DEAD and Manga volumes that are so accessible. As are reprints of British comics. Whilst wen're not entirely blameless over here, we don't dick around with renumbering, not often. Pick up the numerous volumes - 29+, I think - of Judge Dredd's "Case Files". It lists the Program numbers on each volume. You could never make a mistake.

Get a grip, Marvel. I know maybe I am too passionate - and over-analysing it. But I get so many questions from lapsed fans and casual fans (I am on a private FB group for comic readers). Which #1 for this and which #1 for that? People asking why the Hulk is in its 700s when it was previously low-numbered?

My advice to them is simple: don't bother. Go and find something less taxing for the brain, e.g. rocket science. 

Those boxes (I'm struggling with terminology here) that used to detail the origins of characters were so useful to new readers. It was so simple: "Rocketed from Krypton, Kal-El came to earth, etc, etc." Same with any number of heroes.

With some of the convoluted stuff nowadays, how could they have such boxes? Sure, some heroes could, but some couldn't. I mean, try summing up Thor (the real one, if real has any meaning) in one of those boxes. It could be hard.

I collect the Judge Dredd "Case Files". They present a chronological collection, and I think 29+ volumes have been released so far.

But there is a gap in my collection - because I bought two volumes via Kindle. I do not care that there are two physical books missing on my shelves.

And it's the same with anything. I collected mainly Batman and Superman issues in the late 80s - with some gaps. It really does not bother me. I may track down some if the story interests me, but wanting an unbroken run seems a little pedantic.

I was once asked by someone about my NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET DVDs. Missing from the collection is the 4th and 5th movies (because I don't like them). It does not bother me in the slightest that a visitor could look on my shelf and see I, II, II, VI and VII. I own what I enjoy. 

It's a bizarre mindset because (let's use Spider-Man as an example), if 100 issues of a Spider-Man title are published, but a person only enjoys 75 of them, that means they'll keep the 25 they DON'T like in a box or on a shelf. Why would anyone do that?!

Now I collect very few new comics, only from creators whose work I enjoy. 

As far as keeping those 25 issues of Spider-Man I don't enjoy, what else am I supposed to do with them? :)