Why? I've been collecting since I was a teenager. Making sure all my comics were bagged, boarded, sorted and alphabetized into boxes. Making sure they were safe. Secure.
I think I was tired of caring about it. Caring about the value. The preciousness of it all.
So I sold it. Gone.
But I do still like comics. A lot. I like the artists, the writers and the characters. I like going into comic shops and talking to the people I meet there about them.
So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to start over. Start over with a catch.
This time I'll only be buying .25 comics! Almost every shop has a quarter box tucked away somewhere in the back. Past the new books with the holographic covers. Past the hardcover graphic novels and collectable action figures. Maybe the shop over ordered. Maybe the pages are a bit ragged, the spines a little bent or the pages are yellow and it smells like old newspapers. For whatever reason there's no "value". But it's the same art and stories, the same characters on the page.
This past weekend I exhibited at the first ever Vermont Comic-Con. For the first year of a new show I think it was pretty great. Tons of people in costume and everyone seemed to be excited about the show. Behind my table was a comic vender with just boxes and boxes of comics. The good ones were up top on the table of course but under the table, .25 comics! At least 10 long boxes of .25 comics! During the slow times at the show I'd head over and see what I could find.
There were many, many more I could have bought but I'm trying to pace myself and pick only the books I really want to read again. Here's what I came away with for the beginning of my Quarter Box Collection.
New Mutants #3. Written by Chris Claremont and Penciled by Bob McLeod. The New Mutants is one of my favorite comic title runs. Growing up reading this book, It felt like this was my generations's "All-New X-Men".
Spider-Man #2 and #7. There was so much buzz about this book when it premiered in 1990. Todd McFarlane's art wasn't perfect, but it didn't matter. It was energetic and leapt off the page. I really enjoyed these early McFarlane books.
X-Factor #11, 41, and 42. X-Factor #11, written by Louise Simonson and illustrated by Walt Simonson. Absolutely one of my favorite writer/artist teams. Louise is great at making characters feel and act like a real person (or as real as someone someone with superpowers can act). Walt Simonson is truly one of my favorite artists. He can make anything seem dramatic and exciting on the page. I've met him a couple times at cons and he's always been very gracious to fans. X-Factor #'s 41 and 42 is a two part story also written by Louise Simonson but this time illustrated by Art Adams. Adams has illustrated many of my all time favorite comics (Quick confession. His New Mutants Special Edition #1 was the ONLY comic I hung on to because it was autographed). His work is cartoony, but incredibly detailed and I think he influenced a generation of new artists, including me. I'd love to see Marvel do some "Essential" graphic novels with his original black and white artwork. I also kept most of my graphic novels. ; )
So this is the start of it. These are comics I can throw in a pile. They don't need bags or boards or boxes. There's no resale value here.
This collection will be just what I find in quarter bins and I'll post whatever I find.
Maybe it won't work. Maybe they're aren't as many quarter boxes out there as I think?
But it'll be fun trying!
-Mark
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