I collect only Marvel & DC TPBs, like JLA, Teen Titans, Infinite Crisis and various DC crossovers, various X-Men titles, Ultimates, crossovers and special issues like Civil War and Secret Invasions.
Your Comic Collection
- Thread starter Nick Ryder
- Start date
I can't even remember the last comic book I bought, I am sure it was back in the 90's. I wanted to sell them but my sons said they wanted to fight over them later. I get the occasionally trade to see what is going on. Ever since this "realistic' comic phenomenon I have completely lost interest. I could make a list of the concepts that are going on today that are just beyond me.
I have said this before. My sons like comic books and the art, but have never been able to get into them because of the mature story telling. They have to get that from manga so I guess that still counts right?
I have said this before. My sons like comic books and the art, but have never been able to get into them because of the mature story telling. They have to get that from manga so I guess that still counts right?
i honestly lost count. Here's my full collection:
all of the marvel, dc, and IDW star trek comics
superman run from 1992 to 2003 including every superman, adventures of superman, action comics, man of steel issue.
batman run from 1992 to 2003 including every batman, detective, shadow, gotham knight, azrael issue.
every transformer comic from marvel, dreamwave, and IDW
every star wars comic from the old marvel run
all of the marvel, dc, and IDW star trek comics
superman run from 1992 to 2003 including every superman, adventures of superman, action comics, man of steel issue.
batman run from 1992 to 2003 including every batman, detective, shadow, gotham knight, azrael issue.
every transformer comic from marvel, dreamwave, and IDW
every star wars comic from the old marvel run
I don't know how old your kids are but you might want to try Marvel Adventures - they have several different comics - Avengers, Spider-man, Fantastic Four, Hulk at the very least. They come in smaller (manga-like) digest packs. They're pretty hilarious (I remember a two-headed villain who referred to themselves as The Nameless ones. And then they pick a name - one goes for something like Azazel (or something strong like that) and the other head decides that it wants to be called Joe!), self-contained and great fun to read (even for mature adults). There are several issues (50+) in most of their line and I think this is an ongoing series.
I also remember reading a Batman Adventures digest which I really liked and don't think it was too mature. But I'm not sure if the "Adventures" lines continues in DC. I have only come across a couple of them for Batman and Superman.
Somewhere in the area of 600 individual issues, and 200+ trade editions and hardcovers. Been collecting since 2003. Mainly Marvel in terms of single issues; if you count things like Vertigo and Wildstorm, DC makes up a majority of the trade collecton.
I have, in hardcover, Watchmen and Farscape: The Beginning of the End of the Beginning. And in trade paper back, I have Serenity: Those Left Behind. Beyond that, there's a box of comic books from the 1960s that my dad gave to me, and a few rogue issues of Star Wars and Star Trek comics that I picked up over the years. Not much of a reader of comics. Maybe I'll get the entirety of Y: The Last Man when I have more money to throw around.
I'm fairly new to the world of comics and as such my collection is quite sparse. Pretty much everything I own is in TPB format
My collection is as follows
The entire Absolute Sandman run (beautiful editions. Never get tired of reading and admiring the art in these)
All 11 TPBs of Mike Carey's Lucifer series
Hellblazer: Original Sins
Hellblazer: The Devil you know
Hellblazer: The Fear Machine
Watchmen
Batman: The Killing Joke
V: for Vendetta
Practically all my collections is from the DC/Vertigo label. I've never really been into the superhero end of the comics spectrum but I had to read the Killing Joke see what all the fuss was about and really enjoyed it. But I have to say I prefer the magic/fantasy/mature Vertigo output overall.
My collection is as follows
The entire Absolute Sandman run (beautiful editions. Never get tired of reading and admiring the art in these)
All 11 TPBs of Mike Carey's Lucifer series
Hellblazer: Original Sins
Hellblazer: The Devil you know
Hellblazer: The Fear Machine
Watchmen
Batman: The Killing Joke
V: for Vendetta
Practically all my collections is from the DC/Vertigo label. I've never really been into the superhero end of the comics spectrum but I had to read the Killing Joke see what all the fuss was about and really enjoyed it. But I have to say I prefer the magic/fantasy/mature Vertigo output overall.
I've got a couple of tradepaper backs. Dark Empire I and II, several Transformer comics, the first Dreamwave G1 TB, and 5 of the old G1 and the G2 TBs. A couple of Robotech and Transformers issues and a few Star Wars, mostly bought them in the early 2000s when I went through a 6 month comics phase.
I have several thousand of comics. Most all of which are stored in short comic boxes (I always found them to hold up better in the long run). I did stop buying new comics shortly after Marvel brought back Norman Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man as their answer to why the Clone Saga had gone on, and DC had Superman turning electric blue around the same time. The main reason I stopped collecting is because I saw that all the books were being written in a pattern of cycles. So I had the feeling I had read them all before, only with different characters inserted and better. That left me with nothing to do but to stop buying new comics.
See this is exactly my point - the current comics went from being fun and cosmic and exciting to being overly realistic and too mature for their own good. Sure our comics grew up with us and as an adult I do appreciate the more adult storytelling. But as a fan... I have to admit, I enjoy the older ones, where Spidey would go up against some completely crazy bad guy and against all odds save the city, but still end up failing in some way... because well that's just how the Parker luck rolls LOL.
We really shouldn't need "Marvel Adventures" or "DC Adventures" but we do. I'm happy that at least some grocery stores are carrying the more magazine sized Marvel Adventures stories, but still not enough and not in the way they used to sell regular comics.
That IS why I kind of hope that Disney sort of looks at their current crop and goes "While the mature story telling is awesome and keep on doing it, maybe you should make a liiiiiitle more effort to have at least a few "MAINLINE" comics that are just fun and readily available. Say, how about comic books and such in stores that aren't comic shops!"
I don't have much interest in comics these days but I do have two collections I'm still proud to own:
- Transformers UK: Issues 79-273, plus a few extras, although there are some holes, so roughly 200 all up (out of 332 iirc).
- All 14 issues of the Babylon 5 comic, including In Valen's Name.
- Transformers UK: Issues 79-273, plus a few extras, although there are some holes, so roughly 200 all up (out of 332 iirc).
- All 14 issues of the Babylon 5 comic, including In Valen's Name.
Jesus, I'd probably be willing to sell mine for a quarter each except for a few unique items. And I'd go buy a car with the proceeds.
Mine is about 1000 comics from the late 1970's to the late 1980's. Mostly superhero comics, like the X-Men , The New Teen Titans, Batman and the Outsiders (What can I say? I liked Terra and I thought her brother would be a cool character.), Excalibur, ElfQuest and several miniseries.
Thing is, they do produce more kids-oriented material; if it sold better, they'd make more.
Likewise, I'm sure Marvel would love wider distribution in places like grocery stores, but the stores don't want them, for the most part. Maybe Disney can use some muscle in that regard.
There's plenty of room to expand sales of both the kid and mature stuff (none of the current really successful movies, while not as mature as some of Marvel's stuff, were exactly G-material), if they can increase access across the board.
Well speaking as a magazine merchandiser, I know that its painful to see a whole cart of magazines going into the bailer or compactor minus their covers, so the store can get credit back on the cost of the magazines. So on one hand, I can sort of see how maybe having a small rack in stores isn't the most economical way of doing things. But that's why I think they need to have a big enough spinner rack that can hold enough copies of each issue, but still have room for at least one month's previous issues, so they have time to sell. And then maybe do an incentive thing for the stores to sell the remaining issues. Either a flat discount off the cover price (a lot of places will do at least 10-20% off the cover price, but maybe just move the old issues to another rack or let the stores reticket them at like half price - chances are if they've sat around for a few months, half price is better than they could hope to get for them anyway, but then they might move.
But I think there could be a market for small "pop up" comic shops in places like Malls or Book stores or other places. Not a "full" comic shop, but maybe a Marvel or DC sponsored kiosk selling the latest issues for a small discount off cover. Especially in areas where there aren't comic shops. I agree with a previous poster, comic shops aren't what they used to be and I know back in the day when my mom would go into one to pick up something for my birthday or christmas or something, she felt kind of uneasy. What with all the busty and sexy comics babe posters and statues and other stuff.
Of course her uneasiness got her into a conversation with the owner and he recommended the Alex Ross Marvels books that came out... so I got the first two issues of Marvels for Christmas
I just got back from my local shop and I have to admit though, if people would get over the fear of the shops, they'd find they aren't so bad. And usually if you get to know the owners, they give ya discounts. I got a whole wad of comics, plus a vintage Star Wars figure and an old Star Wars Taco Bell promo toy (picked them up for a meeting with my local collector's group the Cheesehead Garrison, we always have a raffle at our meetings that our members contribute stuff to) but he gave me the whole shebang for 10.50 and that included 9 comics and the 2 toys. And that was including a few newer comics too - Ms Marvel 36 from April (okay so slightly back issue, but hey...) The New Avengers #50, Invincible Iron Man#10, Avengers Inititive#20. and a few others which by cover price would have been about $27 bucks (New Avengers #50 was $4.99 originally - the others were mostly $2.99) AND the vintage SW figure was a loose Bossk for $2.00 - so 9 comics for about 8.50? That's the power of getting to know people at your LCS.
See that's what so many other shops are lacking, they don't realize that if you give someone a good deal once in a while, they'll keep coming back. They'll tell others. While sure, a lot of them don't just do comics they do the toys and other stuff, and probably make more money there, but... if you give people a deal on older stuff, they'll feel more willing to buy some of the new stuff and not feel as bad. I mean, if I wasn't in a hurry to get back to the office, I would have gone back to his new rack and picked out a couple of new issues. And still felt like i got a good deal.
But unfortunately, there are quite a few shops that are so greedy and really hinder repeat business and even turn people off from the hobby. For a buck or less, you've got something enjoyable and portable. I know there are enough people who read 'em a couple times and then toss 'em out or put them back in the bags and boards and then sell them back to the shops at a loss, but... I read every one of my comics throughout the year. Sure some don't get read all the time, but if I've got nothing else better to do, pull a few out of the box and read 'em while I'm waiting for a program or some music to download or while I'm waiting for a package or heh... on the can.
I think yearly I try to read every issue in my collection at least once. Just go through a box and pull out one or two at a time. So for those of you who are considering selling your collections, give 'em a read over once! Some are probably hokier but some are better than you realized. I keep finding hidden gems among my collection, stories I keep coming back to.
But I think there could be a market for small "pop up" comic shops in places like Malls or Book stores or other places. Not a "full" comic shop, but maybe a Marvel or DC sponsored kiosk selling the latest issues for a small discount off cover. Especially in areas where there aren't comic shops. I agree with a previous poster, comic shops aren't what they used to be and I know back in the day when my mom would go into one to pick up something for my birthday or christmas or something, she felt kind of uneasy. What with all the busty and sexy comics babe posters and statues and other stuff.
Of course her uneasiness got her into a conversation with the owner and he recommended the Alex Ross Marvels books that came out... so I got the first two issues of Marvels for Christmas
I just got back from my local shop and I have to admit though, if people would get over the fear of the shops, they'd find they aren't so bad. And usually if you get to know the owners, they give ya discounts. I got a whole wad of comics, plus a vintage Star Wars figure and an old Star Wars Taco Bell promo toy (picked them up for a meeting with my local collector's group the Cheesehead Garrison, we always have a raffle at our meetings that our members contribute stuff to) but he gave me the whole shebang for 10.50 and that included 9 comics and the 2 toys. And that was including a few newer comics too - Ms Marvel 36 from April (okay so slightly back issue, but hey...) The New Avengers #50, Invincible Iron Man#10, Avengers Inititive#20. and a few others which by cover price would have been about $27 bucks (New Avengers #50 was $4.99 originally - the others were mostly $2.99) AND the vintage SW figure was a loose Bossk for $2.00 - so 9 comics for about 8.50? That's the power of getting to know people at your LCS.
See that's what so many other shops are lacking, they don't realize that if you give someone a good deal once in a while, they'll keep coming back. They'll tell others. While sure, a lot of them don't just do comics they do the toys and other stuff, and probably make more money there, but... if you give people a deal on older stuff, they'll feel more willing to buy some of the new stuff and not feel as bad. I mean, if I wasn't in a hurry to get back to the office, I would have gone back to his new rack and picked out a couple of new issues. And still felt like i got a good deal.
But unfortunately, there are quite a few shops that are so greedy and really hinder repeat business and even turn people off from the hobby. For a buck or less, you've got something enjoyable and portable. I know there are enough people who read 'em a couple times and then toss 'em out or put them back in the bags and boards and then sell them back to the shops at a loss, but... I read every one of my comics throughout the year. Sure some don't get read all the time, but if I've got nothing else better to do, pull a few out of the box and read 'em while I'm waiting for a program or some music to download or while I'm waiting for a package or heh... on the can.
I think yearly I try to read every issue in my collection at least once. Just go through a box and pull out one or two at a time. So for those of you who are considering selling your collections, give 'em a read over once! Some are probably hokier but some are better than you realized. I keep finding hidden gems among my collection, stories I keep coming back to.
