Do You Mostly Collect What You Read When You Were Young?

[dupont2005]

Pretty sure the first comic I ever got was the Saint Francis one from Marvel, before I knew how to read. I had a nice little stack by the time I was reading

[kav]

I remember having all these comics but when I check it turns out that I only had about 40 comics as a kid.....

[conditionfreak]

I grew up with the Marvel silver age. And that was what I collected for years. But then, about 20 years ago. I changed to Golden Age books. The rarer, the more I want it. I always thought (and still do), that golden age books are hokey and silly. But they are more rare, and thus, they are what I seek out.

 

I can't imagine reading a golden age book and actually enjoying it.

[Ken Aldred]

Original copies for favourite Bronze Age books that I read as a kid / teenager. Also a lifelong fan of Eisner's Spirit Sections and EC comics, but I'm happy with archival hardcovers for those.

 

So, yes, at present I seem to be going full circle.

[kav]

I grew up with the Marvel silver age. And that was what I collected for years. But then, about 20 years ago. I changed to Golden Age books. The rarer, the more I want it. I always thought (and still do), that golden age books are hokey and silly. But they are more rare, and thus, they are what I seek out.

 

I can't imagine reading a golden age book and actually enjoying it.

Yup the covers are fascinating but the stories are all duds...the SA though-awesome

[piper]

Nope (well except for my run of What If Vol. 1). I started reading and collecting in the early 80's. I'm 42 now and can't say it was a particular time in comics.

 

I love my SA Marvels but over the past five years (thanks to the boards) I started collecting GA. I love that I have to be more patient. It's not all about money....

[HeroX]

Completely so. As a kid I was an X-Men and Wolverine fan (and a little Punisher). All I actually "collect" is that stuff--the stuff that either I had, or wished I could have had or afford, as a kid.

 

I read tons of different stuff now, from some of the many great completed series that have come out over the years, to some of the great modern stuff that's being published currently. But that reading is all done either digitally or in trades or collected editions. I actually don't read any current X-Men or Wolverine stuff. I've tried, but I'm just not into the new stuff.

 

As far as actual owned floppies are concerned, only X-Men related back issues (plus Wolverine and one Punisher key). Keeping to this specific group (based solely on nostalgia), it helps keep me from branching out into EVERYTHING else, which would very likely leave me broke.

[OrangeNemesis]

All i collect is really what i read when i was a kid and some stuff before my time.

[Vikingreed]

I collect everything, but love when I pick up a high grade copper that reminds me of growing up.

[Garf]

Yes to the original question. Mostly what I read as a kid or teen and a small amount of current titles I enjoy.

[the authority]

 

I buy lots of Image stuff every month. I've added a few Oni, Boom, and other small companies in the last couple of years. I think it has to do with the fact that the big 2 have kept telling the same old stories for too long and there is just no chance of anything bad having any lasting effects. Someone dies, they come back to life. Someone gets broken, they put them back together. They attempt to be serious but don't do serious things.

 

 

In indies, if someone gets hurt/killed, they stay that way and this creates suspense. If your main character loses a hand, it has consequences that last throughout the series. I don't just look for the negatives but it is nice to read a book that has strong but ultimately vulnerable heroes.

 

I hope the big 2 develop new characters and ideas but they just seem to be stuck in a loop. So until they break free of it, I'm going to continue to try new stuff.

 

That's what I like most about the long-running titles, the sense of it all being a flowing river, that you're checking in on characters who existed before you and will exist long after. And I admire the craft of a writer who can provide the compelling illusion of change without really changing anything. I certainly don't read comic books for realism, after all, and there are a million ways to generate suspense without the threat of death. What doesn't work is when they constantly resort to killing off characters in alternate realities and then just undo it next issue. It's the cheapest gimmick and has no impact.

 

Thats a good point. All of the stuff I read as a kid was way after most of these character's 1st appearances.

[the authority]

Anyone else remember the first, second and third comics they ever read?

 

 

I'm not sure but the 1st comic I remember keeping in good shape that I bought new was Amazing Spider-man 135. I still love the cover and it had Frank Castle in it.

[rjpb]

Yes and No - it depends on how young we are talking about.

 

When I was really young I read Harvey and Gold Key. I don't collect those, though I did buy reprints of Barks and Lulu stuff to share with my kids.

 

When I was 11 -13 I bought and read BA Marvel and DC off the stands and collected mostly silver age Marvel, and dabbled in EC sci-fi. I would also buy random GA I found cheap.

 

13-15 I still bought Marvels off the stands, but Undergrounds became more interesting to me, and I bought everything I could find by Crumb & Shelton - eventually expanding my interests beyond those two. I also started selling off Silver and Bronze and flirted with collecting Timelys and later More Funs, but never got very far before selling what I had. By the time I was 16 I only read and bought undergrounds.

 

I still have an extensive UG collection, but don't add to it very frequently. Eventually I got back into collecting old stuff again, but my focus has wandered a bit over the years, and mostly it's been Gold and Atom Age related, but I have at times picked up stuff I read/collected when young, even if it wasn't the stuff being published at the time.

 

[joe_collector]

I really collect 2 things mainly - books that were a bit before my time (early-70's, picture frame Marvels) because I remember these fondly as "hand me down books" from friends and relatives, along with mid-70's to early-80's when I was a voracious comic buyer/reader.

[steveinthecity]

That's pretty much true for me. Anything Bronze Age I have an affinity for whether it be the characters, stories, ads, or letters pages I still like that stuff. As a kid I was also very aware of the rich history of comics that came before me, so I also enjoy SA & some GA superhero and humor titles.

[joe_collector]

As a kid I was also very aware of the rich history of comics that came before me, so I also enjoy SA & some GA superhero and humor titles.

 

Me too, and I loved Origins/Son of Origins/Bad Guys/etc. and I bought all all the mini-TPBs/PBs like ASM, FF, Conan, Captain America, etc. I could find, but I never felt the need to buy them in "comic form".

 

In fact, I gave all my mini PBs reprints to my own kids and they loved them, but again, just as stories.

[joe_collector]

Completely so. As a kid I was an X-Men and Wolverine fan (and a little Punisher). All I actually "collect" is that stuff--the stuff that either I had, or wished I could have had or afford, as a kid.

 

Two of the most satisfying events in my recent collecting history ties directly into this:

 

1) Early on the eBay phenomenon (circa 1999-2000 or so) I was able to buy a near complete run of ASM in the 120's to 170's in two lots (missing 162 I believe??) for almost nothing and most of the issues were newstand fresh, all sealed in old yellow bags. I already owned most of them, but after receiving them, I laid down on the bed, read through the 120's and 130's, and had the most ethereal "back to childhood" experience comics have ever brought me. I think that the ASM 120-150 run is one of the best ever.

 

2) Finally completing my Marvel Team-Up run from 1-30. This series was the Holy Grail for my friends and I, as we missed the early issues from maybe 1-20 or so, and the back issues were priced pretty high for the late-70's. Like $20-$25 for the early ones, which seemed crazy to a kid, and since there were no reprints back then, we could only imagine what incredible tales were held within those amazing covers.

[thunsicker]

I'm a no on this one. I collect the things I couldn't afford or find growing up.

[Kevin.J]

When I was young, I wanted it all, now after all these years, I find that I still want it all

[gojira]

I collect some titles I read when I was a kid, but I also collect a lot of stuff now that I did not read at all back then (mostly 50's books).