With the recent influx of comics related topics I thought... most of us seem to be pretty "into" comics, so what does your collection look like? What do you collect, why? How long have you collected? How big is the ol' collection? I've been really into comics since the early 90s, shortly before the Death of Superman arc and then that just sorta kicked it into overdrive. Soon my collection went from a small plastic box to a long box... to many many banker's boxes full LOL I typically collect superhero books - Iron Man, Avengers, Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, X-Men, Fantastic Four etc. A few others here and there but mostly Marvel and DC. I used to buy tons on the newstands and at comic shops during the 90s and early 2000s, but then when the price of a new issue skyrocketed (I mean some of these are now up to about $4 bucks for a regular issue - that's NUTS!) so I mostly collect back issues now. Since that's where I tend to find them at prices closer to what I paid in the 90s and heck, even cheaper yet! I've never had a lot of money, and now with my job's hours cut way back, I have even less money so the back issues have been a great way to save some money and still have some new stuff to read. I have to admit, there's still something fun about picking up a brand new comic (even if it IS like a decade old LOL) and not really knowing what's going to happen on the inside. Some, sure I KINDA know but I've never actually read the pages, so its fun. One thing I've always lamented is that for quite a while now, you simply cannot buy a comic at a local drug store or discount store or even a gas station anymore. You either have to find a book store, which may or may not have a very large selection OR hunt down a local comic shop, OR shop online. I think part of the problem with why sales of comics are down compared to the heyday... they just aren't as available. I remember counting every comic in my collection once in the 90s, when I was in high school, and this was before I had a lot of my own money, beyond whatever I got for my birthday, christmas, or from the times my grandparents would slip me a few dollars here and there and at that time, I had nearly 200 comics. I picked up every new Spider-Man title, every new Superman title, even a few of the X-Men titles and Ghost Rider every week for at least a few years. All from the little corner drug store down the street from my house. Then later on a comic shop opened only a few blocks away from my mom's office. and then I started really goin' nuts. And then Toys R Us and K-Mart used to sell big packs of comics, some of them not more than a few months old, for some crazy amount like 25 comics for 10 bucks or something. So that quickly added to the count. But now, I find myself buying fewer and fewer "new" books and more and more back issues. Or I've been picking up trades lately. So I guess my point is... do you still buy single issues as much as you used to, or have you cut back and waited for the trade, which usually comes out a few months after the storyline has ended and only buy the monthly floppies if its got say, a cool cover, or its the first issue of the story? I'm curious to see what other comics fans on this board are like...
I have no comics in my collection today. None whatsoever! Almost 100% of my comic reading is done by reading trades from the friendly neighborhood library. Occasionally friends will give me some comics to read. I used to purchase (thanks to the parents, uncles etc.) the individual comics way back when - don't think I ever had a subscription - but then I was moving to college and decided to sell most of them (ended up giving it away - didn't get much money) - a few Tarzans, but mostly DC and Marvel stuff. I remember going as a poor student to the neighborhood grocery stores and just glancing thru some of the comics (I admit I didn't buy any while in school). However, none of the grocery stores nowadays have it. That's how I got into it as a kid. They were readily available at the local grocery store or at the newsstands and that's where I would get new issues from. Now I see trades at some Barnes and Noble and such bookstores but that's easily 15+ dollars. Individual comics are now almost completely relegated to comic book stores which are a little intimidating to me. I think mostly parents won't take their kids to comic book stores because those are almost completely focused on comics alone (and trading cards and games too). Some of them can be for a more mature audience (ahem!) and folks are conservative about things like that. The way to target the young audience is to get them at the grocery store or drug store. Parents always have to go there and if one way to shut up the kids is to buy them a comic book, hey - they'll do it. I don't see many parents deliberately going to comic book stores unless they themselves are comic book fans.
I think I have about 100-200 comics, about half of which are in poor condition. They're mostly Wonder Woman and X-Men comics (my parents bought the first 50 or so issues of George Perez's Wonder Woman as they came out in the 80s), with some Thor, Superman, Supergirl, Spider-Girl, etc. Almost all of the X-Men comics are either Stan Lee-written, Claremont-Byrne, Claremont-Lee, or Lobdell-era (i.e. early 60s, late 70s, late 80s, or mid-90s). I think I still have an issue of Whiz Comics from the 40s, which, unlike many of the more modern comics, is in fairly decent shape. And I have the first few volumes of Ultimate Fantastic Four (1-6, I think), The Superman Chronicles, and The Ultimates (1-4), and Kingdom Come, Gloria Steinem's Wonder Woman collection, and The World's Greatest Superheroes, and Batman: Hush.
My collection is pretty big (but tiny by other fan's standards, I'll bet) and it's growing. Since I got into comics a few years ago, predictably my collection is dominated by graphic novels and trades - where I come from they're really the only viable choice. Lots and lots of Batman stuff since I love the character and his world, as well as series like Y: The Last Man and Fables. Recently, I started collecting Batman stories from the 80s and early 90s, which have still not been collected in trades (if indeed they ever will). I wanted to explore the character and this era more, and picked up a lot of recommended stories from that time. I'm really glad that I did, as I've come across some great stories that tower above a lot of the more recent, well-known material. My only choice is to order these online, but it was still worth it. Where next? I'd like to read more stories by the writer Peter Milligan. Again, very little of what he's written has been collected in trade (the only real exception is his Human Target series from earlier this decade), so I'll have a fun time hunting the issues down. I'm also hunting down more by writer/artist Sam Keith, after his series The Maxx just blew me away.
Two boxes in my garage hold my entire collection - nothing newer than 1987... lots of Iron Man, Hulk, Avengers, WC Avengers, Fantastic Four, Thor, Alpha Flight, and all three of the Spider Man titles from that era.
At home I have a couple thousand comics I collected around 1993 to 2000, mainly X-Men and assorted Marvel. In the past couple years I've gotten back into comics and have amassed a couple hundred from the 50c/dollar bin with a few new comics.
At my mother's house, safely bagged and boxed, I have a collection of about 3500 comics. I collected like crazy for about 7 years, ending in 1997. I'm planning on taking an inventory when I go home at Christmas and then attempting to sell most of it. I'm betting most of it is next to worthless, though there are a few gems among the crap. There are some that I would keep, but most I don't care about anymore. I think the most valuable comic I have is Giant Size X-Men #1. First appearances of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Thunderbird. Third appearance of Wolverine after his intro in the Incredible Hulk.
All I have is some GI JOE comics, I've had to rebuild my childhood collection due to reasons that make me homocidal just thinking about it. There were some other comics I liked back in the day, but I'm not gonna go out and find them.
I used to seriously collect comics -- as in I'd start seeking out the old 1960s and 1950s comics if I could find them, and all that. But the current trend towards CGC encapsulating pretty much ruined that for me. I mean, if I had a copy of Action #1, fine, but when I see people shelling out substantial coin to encapsulate (ie. never to be read again) comics that came out last week on the off chance that in 75 years it might make back the cost of the encapsulation, screw it. So I just buy comics to read these days. Not saying I bend, fold or multilate, you understand -- especially not with some comics now costing north of $5 Cdn. -- but I don't sweat the staple creases anymore, if you get my drift. I don't really "collect" any particular titles, but I do follow a few. All the Doctor Who titles on IDW, plus a number of the current DC runs of Superman/Action, Detective (especially now Batwoman's in the lead -- I love the artwork in the last few issues), JLA, and a few others. I'm also getting a kick out of the "Barack the Barbarian" satire comic (Palin makes a hot Red Sonja). I'm also following Dave Sim's latest project, the Cerebus Archive (which isn't really about Cerebus), which is a cool retrospective of his work OTHER than Cerebus. And unlike his other title, Glamourpuss, it actually makes sense. Of course, if I ever stumble across a copy of Marvel Comics #1 or Detective #27 at a garage sale, I'll be on the horn to CGC without hesitation! Alex
I mostly collect manga, but I don't really buy a lot or all that offen. Number of Graphic Novel volumes: 201 (with 5 on Pre-order for 206) Number of individual series: 29
When I got into comics, I didn't really do a lot, then a few years in I got really into the bagging and boarding and practically using a pair of tweezers to read them. I had some pretty good ones too. Marvel Spotlight #15 (or was it #5) the first appearance of the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider - which unfortunately the cover fell off and I have no idea what happened it. I spent quite a bit on it too - or at least my Aunt did. I've got Ghost Rider #1 the first Danny Ketch Ghost Rider, that one faired slightly better, but a fall from the wall in the frame I kept it in creased it up and I always vowed i'd find another copy to replace it. Same with the Marvel Spotlight My dad had a copy of Fantastic Four #48 the first Galactus that he gave me with all his other Archie comics. I was speechless when I saw it, because I had just borrowed from the library a hard cover with black and white versions of the whole Galactus saga and to have the REAL THING in my hands. Ohhh I was in heaven. I still have it in a hardshell cover too. Its not in Mint but i'd say maybe Very Fine, there are a few small creases and the cover is slightly rolled, but hey it was stored in a cardboard box for like 20 years at that point. Now, I pick up .25ct and 50ct and 1.00 comics LOL new old, I don't care. If they last they last, if they don't meh. I collect to read and enjoy. I know I will never make much on my collection if I ever sell it. So it seems like everyone that's gotten into the hobby in the past decade or so has done so because of TPBs huh?
I have been collecting for about 6-7 years I think now. I was kind of into comics when I was a teen and for many years I wanted to get back into them. One day I was in Border Bookstore reading the Secret Wars graphic novel that I had wanted to finish since I was 14 and it dawned on me that I am an adult with a job now I can buy this comic and any other one I wanted. So I started collecting that day. I am not really a "serious collector" in that I still collect them just to enjoy reading them. I only have about 800 right now. About 85% are Marvel, with all their main titles fairly well represented. I try and collect a lot of mini-series too. About 15% are Image and the rest a few DC and independent. I'd like to go more hardcore collecting, but money had been non-existent of late so that restrains me.
i have a variety of stuff. British Thundercats comics, British Action Force weekly and monthly, British Transformers, a bunch of UK X-Men which were reprints of older American stuff, and then there's the US imports: X-Men, X-Force, a few other odds and sods including #1s of the original 2099 titles, Force Works #1, Nova #1, about the first 5 of Wonder Man, a random Doctor Strange and a few Avengers that i got a)for the X-Men/Avengers crossover in the 90s and from a pack that i got Force Works #1 in. Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, Excalibur and Wolverine to round out the Fatal Attractions, X-Cutioner's Song and Generation Next crossovers and an Ultimates 2 #1 and the first 6 of UF4. Marvels and 1602 miniseries. trade wise, i've got the collected Death of Supes, World Without and Return stories, Knightfall parts 1 and 2 and Knightsend; the complete Dragon's Claws, and Ultimate X-Men, Ultimates, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic 4 and most of the associated minis. and a few odd other trades, including Rogue and Gambit's minis, Bishop's mini, 4 different X-Men What If? issues, 2 Spider-Man ones and Daredevil: Born Again.
18,000 and counting. I have really pared back the list since the 3.99 books have appeared but still head to the shop every week to get my books. Nearly complete runs of Hulk, Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Flash(Barry Allen), and several other silver age titles. Have nearly everything Dc and Marvel from the 80's thru today. Biggest problem is storage. I just cant seem to stop reading long enough to have them collected into trades although I am going that way with almost all mini-series going forward.
Complete runs of: Omac Kammandi (go here for never-published #60&61: http://www.kamandi.com/ ) Mr. Miracle Forever People New Gods Guardians of the Galaxy I've got Amazing Xmen from 159 to the time of the Marvel/DC crossover, every Xbook and tie-in for those years(including first run of Excalibur, complete), the Death of Superman and Rise of the Supermen, Broken Bat(including the entire Azrael run), Age of Apocalypse(including the gold trades), a bunch of GA/GL from the seventies(including the infamous "drug" issues), a mess of stuff from back when issues cost a dime/12c, and a whole host of specials and limited release stuff from the 90s. I think some of the showpieces are: Lady Death#1, Detective #500 featuring the art of Bob Kane, Magneto#0, Lobo#1, a few early Kirby works, The Dark Knight Returns #1-4, etc. Too many to truly list(entire Deathlock, anyone?) but it adds up to 14 cases with 250-300 per box. All bagged and most boarded. My all-time favorite? The Killing Joke.
oh, yeah, forgot i had the 90s Marvel VS DC and the Amalgams. i also have the second set of Amalgams in trade form. and Mission Impossible #1 from Marvel's short-lived 'Paramount Comics'.
Killing Joke was pretty good. Although did they have to show naked Jim Gordon? LOL. Naked Babs on the other hand, more please It really seems like some of us really go for the older singles, but when it comes to modern stuff, we go for the trades. And after dwelling on the whole Marvel/DC/Disney/WB things I'm thinking while the movies, tv shows and cartoons are great and eventually spur some interest in the character... the comics are getting overlooked. I mean its not inspiring as many people as originally thought to pick up the original source comics and find out more about the character. And its not like they're as readily available. I think if DC and Marvel were smart they'd start going back into convience stores, grocery stores, places like Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, ShopKo, Maijers etc and get the comics were their audiences are. I really don't see that many "younger fans" getting into the characters like we did. Where we would save up our allowance or whatever money we had and go to the corner store and buy a comic and a candy bar. Or debate between getting both Spider-Man's latest and Superman's latest AND a candy bar or picking up an issue of X-Men or Batman. LOL Now so far only a couple have mentioned Magna. Which I find kind of interesting in that I've heard a few people say that the "kids like magna because it speaks to them" but y'know super heroes "spoke to" our generation AND our parent's generation AND our grandparents and even great grandparent's generations too. It wasn't uncommon to see soldiers in WW2 reading comic books, in what was the original badass generation. And comics were cheap, hence why some older ones are so valuable, they were just tossed away. Its like saving the daily newspaper, there's a new one every day. Now... they're quasi collectible and they're kinda disposable at the same time. It seems like other than really die hard "collectors" are some issues worth anything, whereas it seems most people are getting into the TPBs because you can justify buying a $20 book vs spending $2.99-3.99 an issue.
Probably around 3 or 4,000 comics collected since the late 70s. I got more deeply into it in the 80s. Mostly Marvel and the Independents from the early years of Independents. Stopped for a while, more recently I'm just getting a few titles that I liked from my youth like Spidey, Avengers and Conan. I'd be glad to sell the whole shebang and clear out that corner of the basement. of course that would mean I'd have to catalog the whole bunch, and that ain't gonna happen.
About a thousand comics, mostly collected between 1987 and 1994. I have most of the Superman titles between 1989 and 1994, including Death/Return/etc. except that I didn't pick up the issues when Hank Henshaw first showed up, @#$% it! A number of Batman titles from the same period, including Jason's death, and including The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum and a number of Elseworlds. I quit before Knightfall, though. Giffen's entire run on Justice League. Ostrander's entire run on Suicide Squad, which is one of my favorites. The last few issues of Green Lantern Corps. (I used to have more, but I got rid of them because Englehart's writing was too wonky. I got rid of Millennium for the same reason.) The first forty issues of the revived Green Lantern-- except that I quit after that because I thought the writing was getting really unfocused and going nowhere. So I missed Emerald Twilight. Most of John Ostrander's run on Firestorm. The entire Hawkworld series, although I never had a chance to read the original mini. The Hawkman series that followed it, which was a mistake. John Ostrander's Spectre, up to about issue #38. I would have really liked to continue buying that, but I was running out of money. Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour, which more or less form bookends to my DC collection. X-Men 200 to about 230 or somewhere in the middle of their Australian escapade. I collected all the way through 250, but it was getting really bad at that point, so I got rid of most of those issues. A handful of X-Factor and New Mutants issues. And the graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills, which unfortunately has been damaged by water. Iron Man, from issue 210 or so, through the "Armor Wars" and up to the point where he was shot by Kathy Dare. The writing was a little uneven after that, so I got rid of my subsequent issues. Captain America #340-something, inspired partly because of the Iron Man crossover, through about 420. I quit after that because it was turning into a continual slugfest with no character development. The Squadron Supreme limited series and graphic novel. Quasar from #13 or whenever the Squadron shows up, through the end of its run. The first two dozen issues of Namor, until John Byrne left. John Byrne's run on West Coast Avengers and writing Avengers. Boy, what a mess. I still collected Avengers a while after that to see what Fabian Nicieza would make of it. I also picked up the Soviet Super Soldiers one-shot, which doesn't have much of a plot. But it's amusing how many characters Nicieza can successfully write at once. The first two dozen issues of Ghost Rider, until I realized it had no direction at all. (I used to have the first two dozen or so issues of Guardians of the Galaxy. But even though it had some direction, the plotting and especially the dialogue was mostly stupid, and it didn't even have decent art to compensate. So I got rid of it.) Walt Simonson's run on Fantastic Four, which was AWESOME! And I dropped it like a hot potato once I saw the direction it took afterward. (I also had Englehart's run on FF, but I got rid of those issues. Again, the writing was too wonky.) Strikeforce Morituri. The Alien Legion, including the graphic novel and most of the limited series and one-shots. An assortment of What If? and What The--? The Fantastic Four Roast. Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe. Three Damage Control miniseries -- I'm not sure if they had anything else. A handful of issues of Groo. A bunch of TPBs and graphic novels, including some so-so Conan books and a superior Kull book. A handful of New Universe issues and specials. Probably some other things I've forgotten.