In Defense of Collecting Comic Books

The hobby of collecting comic books has always been infested with snobs. This "stereotype" is so typical to the pastime that it even spawned a well-known pop-culture... anti-hero (of sorts): The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy. But the stereotype exists for a reason. These are the people who literally decided that Watchmen was "the best story ever told in comics," even though it clearly is not.

Some of the most vocal have delusions of grandeur and consider themselves gatekeepers to the Great Nerdity of Comicdom, but ambassadors they are not. There are a lot of them, but they are not entirely representative of the comic book collecting community. Their criticism, outlooks, and opinions weigh very heavily to them, and I allow them that. After all, these people have spent their lives in pursuit of... something, regardless of how frivolous others may consider that pursuit, and they are indisputably knowledgeable in many regards. Unfortunately, most of them attempt to use that knowledge more to dictate than educate.

That collecting comics should find such disfavor is slightly mind-boggling. Were it not for the collectors, comic books would have been among the first print lines to fold in recent years. The scarcity and immediacy of pulling your comics before they sell-out is a major marketing ploy, and has been for 20+ years, but it is based on a solid principle: Collectors want to get a copy of an issue before it goes into another printing because first-printings are traditionally worth more. Now, I completely agree with bucking the marketing gimmick, but the baby shouldn't be thrown-out with the bathwater. Babies should not be thrown, at all.

As a comic book kid, I managed to avoid more trouble than I should have -- I got into more than enough trouble to know -- largely because of my comic book collection. Not only was it a constant source of entertainment, I spent time organizing and maintaining it, and I spent most of my money expanding it; it was a hobby, a responsibility, and a source of pride, and something I preferred doing to getting into trouble. It has also brought me some much-needed cash from time to time.

There's an excitement that comes with the hunt of a much-wanted issue. It can be easy to lose one's head, depending on your desire, but even when you pay too much or the value crashes, there's a sense of satisfaction just from the kill -- from filling that hole in your collection. Comic books tend to hold their value, to some degree, throughout the years. Values are often cyclical (with a few notable exceptions), and dependent on all sorts of market factors (popularity of characters, creators, storylines, etc.), but a comic's peak value should always be averaged into the current market value when determining asking price.

In some sense, if you love comic books, it's a "safe" gamble: You may lose, but it's rarely a total loss. Except that there's a story for just about every "big" issue in your collection, which is the real caveat to collecting: Personal investment and sentimental value. Hobbies are healthy and fun. You learn a lot from them, and they help you pass the time, and can sometimes provide a secondary income. Collecting comics is also inherent to the industry.

There is no need to "support" an industry that can support itself. The cognoscenti are the ones knocking collecting as investing, and the only forward "planning" they've suggested is tighter reins on online piracy and more money from fans. The creators most certainly do deserve more return, as well as better protection against theft, but the collectors' market already provides this.

Collectors don't care to read a pirated scan; we are looking for the first-printing sketch variant, preferably autographed. A creator can make a lot of money working his/her own wares online, at cons, store signings, and other events. Creators need to expand into a secondary career built around the resell of their own product -- avail themselves of the collectors' market. The Web makes all of this 1000x easier while simultaneously improving reach by a similar value, yet too few creators are using it -- hoping instead to land that movie, toy, or franchise deal that's going to get them invited to Brangelina's Christmastime orphan safari.

This overwrought "intellectualism" of selling ideas is bullshit; comic books are cheap, but very physical, products that can be sold... like comic books. In addition to swag, originals, commissions, online work, and more, the sale of the very product on which his or her name appears is yet another, viable income stream for creators.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010