All I Really Need To Know I Learned From A Comic Book...

[PovertyRow]

My gawd Ellen is a little pip! She is just beautiful! What a grin!

[lighthouse]

That's part of the reason why my stores have always carried a healthy selection of Archie, Scooby Doo, and the like. It's a shame that most of the best comic books for kids are from small press publishers that their parents do not recognize. I have sold a lot of Herobear and the Kid, but I have to handsell it, because it isn't something a parent will recognize on the rack. The Disney titles, Archie, Scooby Doo and such will sell themselves.

 

I am not suggesting that we have to change Avengers to be kid-friendly to keep the industry alive. We have had that discussion before and it should be well known that I believe we can do just fine with customers first seeing a comic book at age 15. But from an educational standpoint, comics are a great tool for reluctant readers. I gave away roughly 1,000 comics and 100 trades last year to schools for those programs. And a few of the kids have made the transition to picking up some monthly titles.

 

But today's books are just not suitable for young children... Not because of the content... Not because of the vocabulary level... Not because of the violence... The single biggest reason that the books on the shelf are not suitable for children is that stories take 6 months to resolve. Six months is a lifetime for a child. And by having every issue as part of a bigger storyline, a kid can't even go pick up a couple back issues and understand what's going on.

 

I collected Thor as a kid, started reading around issue 250. And by the time issue 300 came out, I had most of the issues from 170-up. By the time 350 came out, I was down around issue 126. I bought nearly all my comics out of order, read them like crazy, and never felt lost. They were a few issues that I desperately wanted to find because they wrapped up the end of another issue. But most of them were just fine on their own. I think the first ten Thor comics I owned were all at least 5 issues apart from each other, and it never bothered me a bit.

 

Hand a kid 10 Fantastic Four comics from the last 5 years, all separated by 5 issues... Is he going to become a fan? I really doubt it...

 

Understand, I don't blame the publishers for the change. Comics sell better to adults now... But it also means that every store worth its salt has to have a separate section just for kids books. And it means that those shop owners have to pay more attention to their younger customers to help bring them into the fold. You can't sit back on a stool and point across the room at the boxes. You have to get up and help the kids find books that will interest them...

 

Do you think you would have fallen in love with comics at age 8 if every story took six months to come out?

[Ze-man]

And as I said before.. you really mean to tell me that to a kid.. stamps and comics are viewed in the same light? cmon.. lemme see.. superpowers and explosions, beating up bad guys, or stamps...which would a kid choose.. no matter the generation.

 

That's the problem, you don't seem to be able to see the generational differences between the "kid fads", and somehow believe that comics are automatically *better* than anything else.

 

I understand that completely JC, I never said Comics are the perfect hobby for kids today.

I never said that kids would embrace comics if we exposed them to the hobby now.

What my point was and still is..

 

Comics.. to a kid.. now.. or back in the good old days.. are going to have a greater attraction then did , coins and or or stamps do..

period.

And for you to keep relating to me stories about your dad and Grandpa.. collecting stamps, and coins, and how you didnt want anything to do with them.

Well fine.. that was you.

They had their fads, and we have ours

 

That is the basis of my disagreement with you

You cannot honestly say to me.. that 50 years ago.. currently.. or 50 years from now.

You put a kid in a room with 50 coins, 50 comics, or 50 stamps... give them 2 bowls of Frosted Flakes.. wait 1/2 hour and see how many out of 100 kids would end up at the pile of comics.

As you stated, Coins, and stamps were fads back in the day.. well so were comics.. back then.

But comics seem to have loger staying power.. and appeal to a wider audience, which makes them more likely to survive over time.

 

So as I said before.. you cannot compare your relatives stamp and coin hobbies..and how you looked at them indifferently.

With todays adult comic collectors, and how kids will percieve comics.

Apples and oranges

 

Even Yhu-gi-ooh has a magna comic/cartoon influence, and the cartoons are comic based.., same with Dragon Ball, or Pokemon.. all comic/cartoon related.

So it is not that far removed from what we collect, as it was to .. lets say.. comics -vs- stamps.

 

 

I was at the corner store tonight, and saw two boys acting like "me as a kid". They had some variety of Yu-Gi-whatever/DragonBallz/Harry Potter (didn't get a close look) cards in their hands, while both counted out their change to see if they had enough for another pack.

 

That is their hobby, and comics as a kid's hobby is likely as alien to them, as coins and stamps would be to you.

[Hensley300]

Yep, my 12 year old nephew thinks im a total geek for collecting comics (im 28 . Lighthouse made some good points but also, comics were more accessible 15-20 years ago in grocery stores and the like and the stories were in so long arcs as they seem to be today. Though I will have to admit there are a helluva lot cooler comic character related toys for kids today than when i was growing up and a few cool cartoons for kids but I still dont think kids are getting the message. Maybe we should look into how they first get the message to get drawn into something like yugi whatever and copy that

[joe_collector]

You cannot honestly say to me.. that 50 years from now. You put a kid in a room with 50 coins, 50 comics, or 50 stamps... give them 2 bowls of Frosted Flakes.. wait 1/2 hour and see how many out of 100 kids would end up at the pile of comics.

 

But that ignores the reality of the 50 packs of Yu-Gi-Oh cards, the 50 cart games, and the 50 Manga TPBs that would be added to the same table for the kids of today.

 

And no, I don't believe the comics would even be touched, and there would be fist-fights over the cards.

[PovertyRow]

We may not think coins are any big deal now, but back then, they were apparently the cat's meow.

 

Actually, coins is what "activated" my comic collecting instincts. While I read the ocassional Superboy, FF1, JIM 39 (all borrowed from my then best friend) back when they came out, I collected coins with a vengeance. I would borrow money form my parents and other freiends and I would go to the bank and "buy" rolls of pennies, nickels and dimes. We'd pool our chnage to get a roll of quarters and halves and then divvy up the spoils. Naturally we had to pay back the parents but that always seemed to work out, because we would take coins we didn;t want to a coin shop, get cheap but several percent over face value for some of our finds, and then have enough to repay the folks and let them trust us enough to do it all again the next week!

 

In those days you would find Indian head and early Lincoln cents, Buffalo and Liberty nickels, Barber and Walking Liberty halves, Barber and Standing Liberty (still my favorite coin) quarters, and Barber and Mercury dimes in almost every roll. But it wasn't just the coins for me. It was the research and the learning as well. Waiting for the annual "Redbook" to come out (kind of like the OSPG). Looking at catalogues from mail order companies for all the little tools and holders (like backing boards and mylar for comics), reading the How To Grade section in the Redbook and practicing my grading. Learning abut mint marks and varieties and the ocassional weird thing like silver being used in "nickels" during the war years.

 

Anyway, all this and more really prepped me for comic collecting. My brain was exercised towards such research and I really feel that my experiences with collecting coins made me just slip into comic collecting as far as the research, care, storage etc goes. It definitely did me good!

[Ze-man]

But that ignores the reality of the 50 packs of Yu-Gi-Oh cards, the 50 cart games, and the 50 Manga TPBs that would be added to the same table for the kids of today.

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50 years from now, will Action #1 be worth more.

 

Or a pack of Yhu-gi-ohh cards?

 

 

Same as alot of us played D&D back in the day..how many play now?

 

Granted , the Pokemon craze is alot more widespread.

But..

Todays kids card games are a very similar outlet..

But that does not mean 50 years from now they will still play it, or it will last that long.

Some new game will replace it, very similar, names will change. but something new will replace it, none the less.

 

 

 

But I still bet ASM #1 will still sell online to comic collectors.

[joe_collector]

But I still bet ASM #1 will still sell online to comic collectors.

 

Yeah sure, but at what price?

 

50 years from now, virtually ALL of today's collectors will be dead, and I'm sure the kids will have a big laugh at "Dad spending all that money on stupid comic books, why couldn't that insufficiently_thoughtful_person have bought X instead??"

 

People never learn and expect what is hot now, to continue that way decades into the future.

 

Kids know better and they'll be tap dancing on all our graves.

[Ze-man]

But I still bet ASM #1 will still sell online to comic collectors.

 

Yeah sure, but at what price?

 

50 years from now, virtually ALL of today's collectors will be dead, and I'm sure the kids will have a big laugh at "Dad spending all that money on stupid comic books, why couldn't that insufficiently_thoughtful_person have bought X instead??"

 

People never learn and expect what is hot now, to continue that way decades into the future.

 

Kids know better and they'll be tap dancing on all our graves.

 

 

Im done with you J.C.

 

This is pointless, you feel the way you want to.

 

I make a post, make a few statments.. try and make specific points, and just like a politician.. you pik what you want out of my post to answer.

 

My point has never ever been , What will comics be worth 50 years from now.

But will people still collect comics.., and how stamps, coins, and comics differ as hobbies.

 

But you always seem to come back to the overpaid for comics, .. crash stuff.

 

 

No point in me having a 1 way conversation.

Nevermind.

Was fun for awhile..And the same as last time we went round and round about this topic.

I feel there will always be collectors, and have hope for the future of my hobby.

 

Perhaps not the same as the Art/Painting /antique market.

 

But same as Folk Art is popular now .. we all might be dead in 50 years.. but Folk art will most likely still be collected.

 

Think positive will ya.

 

 

[joe_collector]

My point has never ever been , What will comics be worth 50 years from now. But will people still collect comics.., and how stamps, coins, and comics differ as hobbies.

 

Uh huh....

 

You should keep that in mind before posting challenges like this:

 

"50 years from now, will Action #1 be worth more.

 

Or a pack of Yhu-gi-ohh cards?".

[Ze-man]

My point has never ever been , What will comics be worth 50 years from now. But will people still collect comics.., and how stamps, coins, and comics differ as hobbies.

 

Uh huh....

 

You should keep that in mind before posting challenges like this:

 

"50 years from now, will Action #1 be worth more.

 

Or a pack of Yhu-gi-ohh cards?".

 

... , thats the best you got?

It is clear that my point was not, " will Action #1 be worth $400,000 50 years from now."

 

I was only trying to use it as an example, and compare Action #1 -vs- what is popular now, and in 50 years which will remain popular.

 

 

And I thought you were smart.

[Ze-man]

I forgot.. Im done with you..

 

Moratorium on bantering with J.C.

[joe_collector]

And I thought you were smart.

 

I am, but the jury's out, and probably not coming back, where you're concerned.

[Jayman]

Actually, coins is what "activated" my comic collecting instincts.(snip)

 

Me too! I started stamps and coins as a kid and rifled through that Redbook with the same intensity as I now do with my OSPG. I still have collections of both but in my case, I believe the reason the interest faded with coins is that you have just "obverse" and "reverse" to look at then you're done. Compared to comics where you have a whole book of artwork like a mini portfolio plus a story!

No comparison!

[Hensley300]

[PovertyRow]

Actually, coins is what "activated" my comic collecting instincts.(snip)

 

Me too! I started stamps and coins as a kid and rifled through that Redbook with the same intensity as I now do with my OSPG. I still have collections of both but in my case, I believe the reason the interest faded with coins is that you have just "obverse" and "reverse" to look at then you're done. Compared to comics where you have a whole book of artwork like a mini portfolio plus a story!

No comparison!

 

I definitely agree with that. I started accumulating a 20th century type set in MS 63 or better well over a year ago but lost interest. Will probably end up selling the coins on ebay at some point and using the proceeds for my comics and movie posters.I still have the appreciation for them but not the desire to accumulate them. Same cannot be said for the paper.

[Red Hook]

And I thought you were smart.

 

I am, but the jury's out, and probably not coming back, where you're concerned.

 

Give him a break tonight JC.....two words......

 

Pacers Fan

 

[Apotheosis]

And thanks Apo!

 

No problem

[deathlok]

And I thought you were smart.

 

I am, but the jury's out, and probably not coming back, where you're concerned.

 

Give him a break tonight JC.....two words......

 

Pacers Fan

 

 

GO LAKERS!!!

[Apotheosis]

If only there was a way to block certain forum members from posting in threads that you start...