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Comics and your "Inner Circle"

Started by COI,

42 posts in this topic

icecube-migration

icecube-migration

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Don't collect anymore but when I did most of my friends said wow you got a lot of comics. Some said why do you have so many comics. My mom said get rid of your comics. You just can't please everybody. Now I will sell my comics that I've collected over the last 35 years because I can't afford to buy them at $3.00 a pop.

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underthebigw

underthebigw

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Wow. How secretive! For better or worse, pretty much everyone I know is aware of my obsession with comic books. Without doubt, the biggest task in integrating my collecting into the rest of my life was figuring out how to negotiate the girlfriend challenge. In general, I always waiting until they were in too deep before I let them know (lol). Seriously, I waited until I thought it was a surprise to them. The fact that I told my now-wife on our first real date must have been a real sign (she was endlessly amused that a clinical psychologist would collect comics). Little did I know she had a deeper shame--she gets all agitated over those god-awful 60's Marvel cartoons ("When Capt. America throws his mighty shield....).My family and friends have had to tolerate my collecting for the past 25 years-the endless attempts at climate control, the stoping in random comic shops wherever I travel, the childhood nagging to stop at every newstand and flea market, the unfillable X-mas lists, etc. The only place I've become somewhat reserved about sharing my hobby is in the workplace. Ironically, I've found that people who are obsessed with their careers have no patience for people with what they deem to be trivial interests. Their loss.

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COI

COI

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"I've found that people who are obsessed with their careers have no patience for people with what they deem to be trivial interests."

 

I wouldn't worry about that. In my experience, everyone has some sort of interest/hobby/passtime whether they talk about it or not. And the few people who seem to look down on these "trivial" things probably do so because they are fighting off an urge to divulge in their own private interests/obssesion. Hobbies get expensive. I also have a big interest in Cars, but I'm staying away until I can afford to divulge.

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ubiquiti

ubiquiti

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All my close friends know I collect, and most co-workers that I talk to much. Most of my friends don't think much of it....

I think they might think it's a little geeky - but I'm eccentric as it is - so they figure it is par for the course. But I am pretty open about collecting. I play Dungeons and Dragons on and off as well - and am open about that too. I think if you can say you do things typically characterized as "geeky" and not act like a total dork while talking about it, and have a very confident demeanor about yourself - it almost becomes cool...at lerast thats my take. While everyone was getting themselves all tatooed up and becoming like everyone else - I was buying comics - now I'm like the only guy I know with no tatoos - which makes me cooler than everyone else....at least in my mind. smile.gif

My wife on the other hand thinks it is pretty stupid(except for What if and Herobear) She can appreciate reading them, but she thinks collecting them and paying more than like $5 for a comic book is pure heresy. She also won't go into a comic store unless I am right next to her - she says most of the people in there creep her out, and figures if I am there, I will scare people away from talking to her.

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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I think they might think it's a little geeky - but I'm eccentric as it is - so they figure it is par for the course. But I am pretty open about collecting. I play Dungeons and Dragons on and off as well - and am open about that too. I think if you can say you do things typically characterized as "geeky" and not act like a total dork while talking about it, and have a very confident demeanor about yourself - it almost becomes cool...at lerast thats my take.
Comics, D&D...have you completed the Triad of Geekdom yet and become a Star Trek fanatic? tongue.gif I'm sure people wouldn't think you were a dork if you don't act like one and carry a confident demeanor while walking around a con in a Spock outfit. blush.gif
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Rob

Rob

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My wife knows about my comics. She even bought me the new Overstreet grading guide this week! I've always been some sort of collector, but haven't collected comics in the past 3 years, so this is the first she's seeing of my comic hobby. She tolerates it, but thinks it's a waste of time and money, like all my other hobbies. She can't see spending money on comics when you could be using it for other things (i.e., bills, furniture, car, savings, etc.) I think I'll post a separate thread about budgeting, because I'm curious to see what other people go through. My brother collects with me, so I have him to share it with. I don't volunteer the info to my friends, but I don't hide it either. I will explain how valuable and rare older comics are, so they don't think I'm a kid who never grew up, who spends his week wondering about what's going to happen to Batman when he fights Superman in issue 612. (Even though it's the truth.)

 

This is my first post here, but expect many more. I'm a lifelong collector with a real passion for comics, and am so glad I found this board!

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drbanner

drbanner

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Like most I imagine, my comic book lifecycle goes something like this:

 

1) Start reading 'em in elementary school. By 5th grade I was taking them to school, trading them, and hitting the used book store with my mom to raid the 10-cent boxes (I still can't believe BB didn't know about the "Book Gallery" back then!). Every kid on the block was into them.

 

2) Middle school - uh oh not cool anymore, still collected 'em, but if the 8th graders knew, I'd never recover! Continued to read/collect, but it wasn't as high profile in my "outer circle" as it had been in 5th grade.

 

3) High School - cut way back on collecting/reading due to other interests and lack of funds (as they were being spent on the other interests). Don't think any of the ladies really knew about my collection...

 

4) College - slowly started getting back into collecting, and now my friends fessed up that they collected back in elementary/middle school too! Still too broke to pick up many back issues...

 

5) The Real World - when the paychecks started arrivin', my collection started thrivin'! My wife's father is huge into sports cards and other sports memorabilia, so she knows all about the collector mentality and while she's not into it, she doesn't discourage it either - she bought me a nice Subby 11 (Classic Schomburg Dragon cover), Marvel Tales 1, and a few other goodies. None of my close friends/co-workers collect, but most know that I do, and most think it's a cool hobby.

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dam60

dam60

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Rob, I want to see Batman 612 very badly too! grin.gif

 

I just want to take this moment and say how lucky I am that my GF is so supportive of my collection. My GF and I have been together for a little over a year and a half and in the course of our time together she has even bought me 2 comic books. An ASM Annual 21 (she liked the cover) and a Hulk 108. She's cool with my collecting and let's me whine about getting out sniped, great ebay deals, etc.

 

She's even volunteered to help me bag and board my books! grin.gif

 

I have also been fortunate enough to be able to talk comics with my cube mate at the office! Luckily, he was a big collector in the 70s and has full runs of MTU, Defenders, etc. Really cool guy who lost interest for a while but is back in now thanks to Spidey (I came back because of Spidey too!).

 

My roommates are also comic book "appreciators" at the very least having all collected when we were younger.

 

Comic collecting is nothing to be ashamed of and lots of people that I talk to are intereted enough to at least have a 5 minute conversation about it.

 

DAM

 

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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I may be luckiest of all--my girlfriend and her twin sister have collected comics since waaay before I met her. I haven't been to a convention without them in 3 years! One of 'em collects Catwoman, Batman, and Dr. Strange, while the other collects Hulk, Wolverine, DC super-pet appearances, and TV comics (Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, Dark Shadows, and others). I've pretty much bought the dealers in my area out of the stuff I collect, so when we go to shows, I usually get done waaay before she does. They both buy VG or better, but I've had a corrupting influence on them with my 9.0 or better obsession and they're starting to become high-grade girls. smile.gif

 

Anybody else's significant other share their love of comics?

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COI

COI

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Twin sisters...............you are the luckiest of all! wink.gifgrin.gif

 

But seriously, it sounds cool to have a girlfriend who shares the hobby. But it has always been something I'd probably prefer doing without my wife/girlfriend. If a girl has too many of my interests, I think I would start to feel suffocated, as girls already take up enough time/money as it is. grin.gif

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