How Great is This Hobby? What Do You Love About Comics? 1 1

[Dr. Balls]

Man, I love this place - it puts some of the nicest, knowledgeable people in the hobby together in one online community.

This hobby has kept me sane for more years that I can count. On the hunt for comics, trying to find art I like, buying stuff to speculate on and trying to flip it to buy more stuff. Talking with people almost every day and getting along with 99% of them. Learning about books I never paid attention to when I was younger. I'm thankful that when I started collecting as a kid that this medium interested me so much that it has taken up most of my life - even when I got interested in other stuff, I always came back to comics when I got bored with those things.

How great is Dueling Dealers? Bill, @romitaman , Anthony and Sharon put in a bunch of hard work, and I race home every Wednesday to try and catch it. I don't even do that for an MCU show. The Facebook Original Art Collectors group is also filled with a bunch of helpful people, what a great resource.

@Crimebusterand @DiceXproducing their own comics - I'm happy as a wedge for those guys, they get to fulfill a dream I've (and many others) have always had.

So much to love about comics - the stuff we don't love always gets a lot of action here, so I thought we could have a thread about what makes the hobby great for each of us.

[B2D327]

Comics? 
I thought this was a “Furries” chat board 

 

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/25/2022 at 1:07 PM, B2D327 said:

Comics? 
I thought this was a “Furries” chat board 

 

You could pile up all those furries against the glass windows and it would look like a Crane Machine display.

[B2D327]

On 11/25/2022 at 3:09 PM, Dr. Balls said:

You could pile up all those furries against the glass windows and it would look like a Crane Machine display.

That would have to be one huge machine

[Ken Aldred]

For me, the sheer variety of material available, which for me, even now after decades, doesn't get boring.  There's always something I can find to read from the Golden Age right up to this year, art and story, which amazes me with its creativity, and keeps me engaged.

[aardvark88]

I have been told the comic book back issue market will go the way of the Dodo bird for the last 10 years since we are in the era of paperless office and streaming millennials. Still a great way to network on the Forum and eventually meet a few of the other hardcore vintage paper or original art collectors in person at regional USA or Canadian cons or  at Collectors Summit.

Edited November 25, 2022 by aardvark88
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[Jack Linguini]

So much to love about comics especially 20th century books. It's like being an amateur archeologist sociologist.

[MattTheDuck]

I know this can be true of a lot of "objects" but the books I collected between about 1971 and 1978 have a capacity to create a deep sense of nostalgia and a longing for those days. It really is amazing to be able to go back and relive the experience of reading those books - not precisely a time machine but probably as close as we're going to get in my lifetime.

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/25/2022 at 3:15 PM, aardvark88 said:

I have been told the comic book back issue market will go the way of the Dodo bird for the last 10 years since we are in the era of paperless office and streaming millennials. Still a great way to network on the Forum and eventually meet a few of the other hardcore vintage paper or original art collectors in person at regional USA or Canadian cons or  at Collectors Summit.

Is there a great deal of comics that only came out digitally? Or are the print runs just super low on books from the past 10 years? The Japanese market is so huge, it boggles my mind - I have to think that the size of that market would result in some spillover into the American-style comic market.

[comicjack]

Comics and music are time machines for me both take me back to the youth days.The hobby also has many great people in it with so much knowledge it is just crazy.I am still amazed that i have been in it so long that books still come along i have never seen before. That is just part of the great things one enjoys when being in this hobby 

[Cat]

I love that there's something for everyone. I love that 80 years later we're still reading about characters from the 1940's, and loving their adventures. We're also incorporating new characters into that mythos, and keeping things fresh for new generations, so every gen has their own era they can point to. I love that.

 

[jimbo_7071]

I really got into collecting at age 10, which for me was back in 1984, and collecting gives me a sense of nostalgia. Most of the books I buy now are much pricier than anything I could get my hands on back then, but the most fun I had in the hobby was sitting on the floor of a used book store or comic book shop digging through boxes and deciding what books to get with the $5 or $10 that I had with me. Collecting still takes me back to those days.

I don't think the hobby will last forever, necessarily, but neither will I, so it's OK.

[Chaz G.]

the reeaally high resale value.

[Drummy]

I love reading a comic and opening up to a great splash page.  Always gives me joy.

Dan

[alexgross.com]

comics inspired me to draw endlessly as a kid, and for my entire childhood i was certain that i would become a comic book artist. eventually, i got to art school and discovered other ways to make art for a living that were more appealing than drawing 22 pages of difficult things like environments and perspective each and every month, but the inspiration that comics gave me and the love for the whole magical world of superheroes in particular never left me. and as @MattTheDuck said, those books from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s still bring me back to that formative time in my life almost like a time machine. it's rare that anything can make me feel like a kid again. but those 70s marvel and dc books have that special power over me. 

btw my 8 year old loves casper comics and we have gotten a bunch of them from the 70s/80s. i read those all the time in summer camp along with richie rich. interestingly, they don't take me back with the same power that superhero books do. i never tried copying the covers of casper, but i pretty much learned to draw from marvel and dc comics. so for me, a BIG part of the timeless love of old comics was the artwork. the stories meant little to me if i didn't like the artwork.  

here's one i did back then clearly based on a 70s justice league cover... and then an image of what i do now. the connection is pretty direct for me. 

Edited November 27, 2022 by alexgross.com

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:41 AM, alexgross.com said:

comics inspired me to draw endlessly as a kid, and for my entire childhood i was certain that i would become a comic book artist. eventually, i got to art school and discovered other ways to make art for a living that were more appealing than drawing 22 pages of difficult things like environments and perspective each and every month, but the inspiration that comics gave me and the love for the whole magical world of superheroes in particular never left me. and as @MattTheDuck said, those books from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s still bring me back to that formative time in my life almost like a time machine. it's rare that anything can make me feel like a kid again. but those 70s marvel and dc books have that special power over me. 

btw my 8 year old loves casper comics and we have gotten a bunch of them from the 70s/80s. i read those all the time in summer camp along with richie rich. interestingly, they don't take me back with the same power that superhero books do. i never tried copying the covers of casper, but i pretty much learned to draw from marvel comics. so for me, a BIG part of the timeless love of old comics was the artwork. the stories meant little to me if i didn't like the artwork.  

here's one i did back then clearly based on a 70s justice league cover... and then an image of what i do now. the connection is pretty direct for me. 

 I had the same aspirations, but only still have some drawings as a kid, even then, some of the good stuff for me I can't find.

But this is the kind of stuff that I'd tell my grandad when I was young about drawing, and he even built me a desk to draw with and on, that I've kept to this day and use for miscellany  

Lots of good times that only can be remembered, as grandad is no longer with us, but he collected coins/paper and maybe even old glass bottles or what not!

So though he didn't go into too much detail with me, due to my being mischievous in my teens, collecting still turned out to be in the blood and a preserved memories that are still standing today  

[707comics]

The smell of golden age books (and your office if you collect enough of them).

[Ken Aldred]

On 11/26/2022 at 2:07 PM, Drummy said:

I love reading a comic and opening up to a great splash page.  Always gives me joy.

Dan

Yup. Always remember Kirby's from when I was a kid in the 70s, in particular.  Still love the power and energy in them.

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

 

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/26/2022 at 8:41 AM, alexgross.com said:

eventually, i got to art school and discovered other ways to make art for a living that were more appealing than drawing 22 pages of difficult things like environments and perspective each and every month.

I had a very similar experience - I went to art school for Illustration and after two semesters, I was like "maybe I need to get into graphic design" (which was a great field to be in in the 90s). My art took a back seat to design, but my love of the comics medium never waned and I never envy an artist's ability - I feel enjoyment for them, as they have the fortune to be skillfully creative making the art that I love.