Zonker's Question Deserves Its Own Thread!

[seanfingh]

 

So how common is that for the rest of you? Are the books you like the ones that most match your current sensibilities (regardless of when they were printed)? Or is it based on nostalgia for the exact books you had at some certain age? Or is it the case that you're fond of something that appealed to your older siblings, or that you just missed for whatever reason at some point in your life, and are therefore always cool, almost out of reach, your holy grails?

 

 

[seanfingh]

 

 

My answer is multi-part. When I really got back into comics in the late 80's, I was searching out bronze stuff, post-1974, which is when i was reading comics as a child. Mostly #1s and first appearances. I was also pretty heavy into buying new books at the time as well. When i got back in the second time in the late 90's, I was all about finding the early bronze and late Silver stuff that i had never owned.

 

Then i went on a big ol' CGC kick, getting Bronze and late Silver books in as high a grade as I could reasonably afford.

 

Now, my greatest comic thrill is getting my beloved Bronze, Copper and Modern books signed and slabbed. So I have found that the books that i have the strongest attachment to are those that I bought and read, regardless of whether that was as a child, a young adult, or an old fart.

[dupont2005]

I fell in love with Copper comics when I was a kid, buying up Grips, Area 88, and Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters out of the bargain bins. That love has only been reinforced today as I started reading the more story driven dramatic titles of the time. I don't know if it's nostalgia or not, but I don't think it is. I just like to think the Copper Age was on a roll with fun quality stuff, both mainstream and alternative. Even though I'm not much of a super hero fan (to say the least) I just love 80's Batman, Spider-Man, and X-Men.

[Zonker]

 

It just occured to me that while by any objective standard, Miller's Batman: Year One is a "better" comic than those of the early 1970s, I don't spend any time re-reading it or thinking about it. But I'll still spend countless hours hunting down multiple back issues or blathering on in these forums about comics from 40 years ago, comics I never saw as new issues, and in many cases did not even read until a decade later.

 

In my case, it is nostalgia not so much for what I experienced as a child, but for a period of time I missed by just a few years-- the period of time I was just a bit too young to fully appreciate live. Same with music: Beatles, late 1960s Stones, the Byrds are my benchmarks, even though I have no conscious memory of hearing their stuff on the radio when it first came out. By the same token, AOR music from the 1970s-- my pre-teen and early teenage years-- leaves me completely cold.

 

Not quite nostalgia. More like "frustrated-wannabe-nostalgic."

[Jeffro.]

If you don't have any 10K+ books, your collection is cr@p. So, what do you collect sonny?

[Jeffro.]

Seriously though,

 

Are the books you like the ones that most match your current sensibilities (regardless of when they were printed)?

 

Not sure how to answer this. if you mean what appeals to me at the moment, then yes. I collect some for this reason. I just bought some sweet DC BA horror (from wrightsonfan, thanks Scott!!) and it has rekindled my interest in the genre.

 

I grew up with DC BA war comic and that has translated into an interest in any DC war comic and, by extension, Atlas war, regardless of age.

 

For some reason I love 10 cent DCs with green on the cover.

 

Christmas covers rock!

 

 

Or is it based on nostalgia for the exact books you had at some certain age?

 

Definitely some of this as well. Along with the DC war mentioned above, I grew up with Richie Rich and Uncle Scrooge comics. I am currently trying to complete my Richie Rich 1960-1982 collection. Even though, bunchs of those were printed before I was even born

 

 

Or is it the case that you're fond of something that appealed to your older siblings, or that you just missed for whatever reason at some point in your life, and are therefore always cool, almost out of reach, your holy grails?

 

Don't have any older siblings, although I did get a small stack of comics from my mom. One of those is my treasured copy of the Rudolph Annual 1962-3.

 

I do find comics from before I was born to be very appealing. The following really speak to me for reasons that I don't fully understand. I just like them.

 

10 cent DCs

Nedors (Fighting Yank, Black Terror, etc) I own none of the them but I love the look of those books.

Pre-Code Horror