Why Do YOU Collect Comics? Messages in this topic - RSS

ComicJoeSuper
ComicJoeSuper
Posts: 14

5/5/2017

ComicJoeSuper
ComicJoeSuper
Posts: 14
Hi everyone,


I'm still new to the board so I figure this must have been discussed somewhere here at some point. Forgive me if it has.


My question is in the title of the thread... why do YOU collect comics? Is it because you love reading the stories? Is it because you love the art and cover art? Is it just based on nostalgia? Is it for home display reasons?


Why do you collect?
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Defiant1
Defiant1
Posts: 720

5/5/2017

Defiant1
Defiant1
Posts: 720
Nostalgia. I bought comics for a few months before discovering Marvel. When I discovered Marvel, I found out they lived in a world where any characters that I like could cross paths. I was in awe. I bought them regularly until I started dating. I could not afford to take a girl out and afford to buy comics. I dropped out. Many years went by and I worked in dead end jobs. After quitting two jobs back to back and cussing out management, I was unemployed. I had no regrets, but I was essentially broke at that point. I pulled my comics out of storage and read them. That was when nostalgia kicked in and I wanted all of the comics I could not afford as a kid. I started trading duplicates I had from years earlier and started trading for some of those comics I wanted. I was able to do this even though I had almost no income. I traded 70's and 80's books for a Strange tales #110 and I left the store in shock. That fueled the fire. Eventually, I got a decent job, but still became very shrewd in negotiating with comic book shops. I eventually acquired Hulk #1, Fantastic Four #1, Amazing Fantasy #15 and a lot of other lesser books that I thought I'd never own. I am not a fan of modern comics at all and I buy VERY little these days. I still have the nostalgia factor going and buy back issues occasionally. I'm more into comics history now. I have no interest in buying comics that depreciate in value. There are enough comics out there that I can be selective and only collect good stuff that (at the very least) has a potential to increase in value. This is VERY important to me because when I was unemployed, my comics were the only money I had. I have more comics than I could ever read in he rest of my lifetime. Occasionally, I do read something new to my collection, but it's usually an EC or a pre-hero Marvel comic. My guess is that I own about 10,000 comics.

Defiant1
edited by Defiant1 on 5/5/2017
edited by Defiant1 on 5/5/2017
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ComicJoeSuper
ComicJoeSuper
Posts: 14

5/17/2017

ComicJoeSuper
ComicJoeSuper
Posts: 14
Nostalgia is a big reason for me. I collect mostly EC comics since I grew up reading the reprints. Other comics I collect are usually also from my childhood (Midnight Sons Unlimited for example).
I'm a huge Watchmen fan as well so I've been getting the DC Rebirths tie-ins and am really enjoying that story.
I keep all of my ECs on a spin rack (again... for nostalgia) and really love how they look displayed.
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DarkKrytos
DarkKrytos
Posts: 30

5/20/2017

DarkKrytos
DarkKrytos
Posts: 30
I love to read them..but i was taught how to do it right when i was young ..and sometimes it's for cover art Big Grin but for the most part i read them all ..i was out of the loop from 97 till 4 months ago so i am getting back into it and love it
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lealew7
lealew7
Posts: 73

5/5/2017

lealew7
lealew7
Posts: 73
Well, my parents bought me Tomoe #1 as my first comic book and both my parents and I realized I took a liking to comic books and I started to collect them on my own for years to follow. Now, they are a common gift for me now because everyone I know; knows that I have a collection that I take pride in and am starting to focus on more specific comics or setssmile I appreciate that my parents took the chance to buy me a comic at 12 yrs old and I never regret a moment spent on them!
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sclingerman
sclingerman
Posts: 165

5/8/2017

sclingerman
sclingerman
Posts: 165
ComicJoeSuper wrote:
Is it because you love reading the stories?
YES!

ComicJoeSuper wrote:
Is it because you love the art and cover art?
YES!

ComicJoeSuper wrote:
Is it just based on nostalgia?
YES!

ComicJoeSuper wrote:
Is it for home display reasons?
Partially yes!

Before I was 5 years old (around 1971), I found a couple of comic books in the house (probably one of my older brothers). The first one was a "House Of Mystery". There were some "House Of Secrets" too. I read them all. Then in the 7-11 one day, I saw The Spinner Rack! It had Spider-Man (from the cartoon)! And it had one with Batman (from the TV show)!

The stories and art...I love reading in general, but really I love being able to appreciate the forms of art and text together. Then there's the covers. And in the older comics, the ads. They're like a whole medium themselves. I love seeing the changes in art-style and story-telling over the decades.

The nostalgia... Yeah. When reading a comic from a certain time period, you're also taken back a bit to that time. (Read some of Snapper Carr's dialog in the early 60s JLA.) When reading my older issues, I'll think to myself "What would it have been like as a 10 year old kid reading this comic in my treehouse with my friends in 1952?"

Home display... They're all boxed in the office room, but I take some of them out to show people when they're over. So I guess that still counts. Once the kids move out and I convert one of their rooms to The Comic Room, I'll put some up on the wall.

I even love the history of the comic book industry itself. I love the stories about the people and the business in the golden age days at Timely and National, and stories about how things evolved.
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Finley2020
Finley2020
Posts: 43

5/11/2017

Finley2020
Finley2020
Posts: 43
My older brother got me into comics when I was little. I read copies of Moon-Knight and Spider-Man over and over again because the art work fascinated me even if the stories rarely made sense (I never had full story arcs). Kinda of what Defiant1 said- the realization of just how big the Marvel Universe was. From the Five Boroughs of NYC to the other side of the Universe- it was crazy! After long stints of collecting on and off I grew up to appreciate the industry (good and bad) as a whole and just how much work goes into making each issue and just what a beautiful medium it was. It's inspired me to create my own book- due out on shelves Spring 2039!
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SimonMayers
SimonMayers
Posts: 2

5/17/2017

SimonMayers
SimonMayers
Posts: 2
Because this is my hobby and I can read again when I have free time, comic help me feel better after school and workday.
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