I have been collecting comics for about ten years. Sometimes, when I talk to people that are interested in comics ask me how to get started building a comic book collection. I thought I would pass them onto you.
1. Start with One Character.
I found that the comic book universe is so big that you could easily be overwhelmed with all of the story lines, characters, and the number of issues themselves. Pick one character (I recommend DC or Marvel) that you are interested in and commit yourself to following him or her. I picked Superman. The story of Superman contained three titles at the time I began collecting: Action Comics, Superman and The Adventures of Superman. There was also another Superman title that was being published: Superman/Batman. These titles alone gave me four titles a month and roughly one every week.
Once you begin with one character, there will be stories that cross-over into other titles. This happened to me with the Sacrifice Arc in the Superman comics. I had read all of the comics in the story, then the conclusion was under the Wonder Woman title. There will also be maxi-series that will affect the story lines of that character. In my case, I knew that I would need to read Infinite Crisis to understand the history of Superman. Slowly, these will add up and you will systematically branch out into the characters that you find that you enjoy. This is how your collection will grow at the same time you are becoming an expert in what is in your collection.
2. Buy from a good comic store or online shop.
I love to go to a good local comic book shop, but in many cases I haven’t been able to find a brick and mortar store, so I must go online. I use Midtown Comics to order my books, because they are easy to use, user friendly, and on time. There are some others pout there that provide good services, but I have been with Midtown Comics since about 2006. And they give me exactly what I need, including bags and boards. When picking an online store, make sure that they have good prices and good selection of titles.
As far as a local comic book shop, the store doesn’t have to be very large, many of the nicer one’s I’ve seen aren’t. What you need is a knowledgeable staff and an adequate selection of your title’s publisher. If possible, open a pull box or pull list with the store, this will ensure that you will get the comics you want each week. The smaller stores may run out of inventory before you get there. An additional hint: most stores receive their shipments each week on Wednesday.
I prefer the store to be clean and bright. Cleanliness is mainly in the area of dust, if there is dust piling up, this dust will get into the books and deteriorate them. I stopped going to one store because the owner smoked. This smoke will dirty and discolor the books in the store. Brightness helps me to see the comics I want to buy, sometimes the stores are operated in older stores and are therefore poorly lit. Lighting isn’t everything, but it is nice. I also discourage stores that are noisy (some stores are hangouts for gamers), this is distracting. In the town that you live, you may not have a store at all, so go online to find what you want to build your collection.
3. Invest the time and money to take care of your collection.
The simplest way to take care of your books is to buy a package of bags and boards from the comic book store. Once you have bagged them, place them in a cardboard box that is also available at the store. This is not a big investment, but will pay big dividends down the road, when you want to read your books again. The books will also look nicer as your collection grows.
4. Start early with a data base.
I use Comic Price Guide to keep track of my comics. You could effectively buy a spiral notebook to keep up with your books. The main idea here, is that you find one way to keep track of your collection early. If you intend to collect for any amount of time, you need to have them organized in some way so that you can find them all and have a record of what issues are missing. I take a print out with me when I am going to a store with a good back issue section, then I can fill in the holes without buying double copies of twenty books–I did this once, by the way.
5. Buy some cheap comics.
Many stores will get rid of their excess comics by putting them on sale. Sometimes as low as 25 cents. If the sale books are of a title that you are collecting, pick them up. It doesn’t matter if you have them in sequence, get them while you can. Make sure you add them to your inventory. As you pick these up, you will begin to build a collection based on the character of choice. Be careful not to just buy anything and everything. You will not have the space to commit to that. Just buy issues from the titles that are on your pull list. Buying these cheap comics is a great way to give some depth to your collection story lines as well as providing you with material to read when you’ve read everything on your pull list.
6. Attend a Convention.
ComicCons offer great opportunities to interact with other people in your hobby. Whether they are fellow collectors, venders, or the artists and writers themselves, you will be interacting with those people who make the hobby great. It would be nice to one day go to one of the great ComicCons in New York or Chicago, but this doesn’t stop me from attending my occasional small shows in Nashville, Richmond, or other cities. I bought several issues that I was missing at the last show I attended, I also had fun browsing through all of the booths that were available. These conventions add a personal quality to a somewhat individual enjoyment.
7. Don’t Take it so Seriously.
In every hobby, there are the experts. In the world of comics, I’m not one of them…by a long shot. I make no appology about that. I collect comics and I write about comics, because, well, I enjoy comics. I like to read them with a fresh eye, not to be supercritical. There are times that I don’t like something, so I say so. Saying so helps make the blog interesting. Most of the time, however, I just like to read them. I use it as an escape, not an occupation. Therefore, I, and I recommend that you also, don’t take it all that seriously. After all, this is comics. At times, it will be funny. At others, it will stir emotion. Most of all you will want to read another issue.
Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t know anything about your character. Start from where you are, that is all you need to know for you to enjoy the hobby. If someone is a bigger expert in the knowledge of each of the chemicals in Spiderman’s Webbing–let them. For them the knowledge is important and an escape. But for me, and possibly you, I just read them for the stories. I like for the stories to make sense of course, but if I don’t notice an error, I’ll never miss it. With all of that said, simply enjoy the hobby. It can be a nice escape from the realities of this world.
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Photo from Midtowncomics.com
This post is a fresh rewrite of a post titled “Seven Steps to Starting a Comic Book Collection” from February 2007