c/comic-book-fans

The time I laughed at a friend for collecting variant covers

I used to think variant covers were a total cash grab, but then I saw the Mike Del Mundo art on the Immortal Hulk #1 variant in person at a con last year. The colors and detail blew me away, and now I have 12 hanging on my wall. Anyone else get won over by a specific artist's cover work?

The Wednesday my local shop had a 3-for-1 sale on back issues

I walked in for a new issue of something, maybe $5 worth, but the owner waved me over to a bin of 90s X-Men books. He said they were clearing space and everything in that box was 3 for $1. I stood there for like 45 minutes digging through old McFarlane and Jim Lee stuff. Ended up grabbing 21 issues for $7 even though I only had $10 on me. Has anyone else stumbled into a deal like that where you just had to rearrange your whole budget on the spot?

Worst comic con day ever last Saturday at the Javits Center

I swear I waited in line for 45 minutes just to get into the main hall, then another 20 to get a signature from Jim Lee. Some dude behind me kept bumping into my backpack and spilling his soda on my shoes. Has anyone else had a con day that just made you want to walk out and go home?

Best week of collecting: I snagged 3 key issues from a guy cleaning out his garage for $40 total

I spent last Wednesday at a random estate sale in Cleveland and walked out with a near-mint copy of Amazing Spider-Man #238 and two early Uncanny X-Men issues for pocket change. The seller had no idea what he had, so do you think guys like him are ruining the hobby for serious fans, or is it just pure luck that keeps it exciting?

Hot take: That guy who told me to 'just read the wiki before asking' was actually right

I spent like 20 minutes arguing with a dude on a comic forum about a plot hole in House of X, turns out I skimmed the wiki for Powers of X and missed a whole page about Moira's 10th life. He was that annoying 'read the source material' type but lol he saved me from looking dumb later. Anyone else get called out like that and have to eat crow?

Went to a comic con in Denver and saw something sketchy

I was at Denver Pop Culture Con last weekend and noticed a guy buying up 20 copies of a hot new issue from every booth. He was stacking them in a duffel bag and not even looking at the art. My buddy said he's probably one of those flippers who resells them online for triple the price the next day. Has anyone else run into people like that at their local shows?

Just realized I was wrong about digital comics ruining the hobby

I used to think digital comics were killing the whole comic book fan experience because you lose that physical feeling of flipping through pages and the smell of old paper. But then my buddy let me borrow his tablet for a weekend back in October because I was stuck at home with a busted ankle here in Chicago. I read through the first 30 issues of Saga on that thing and dang, the colors popped way better than my beat up trade paperbacks. The zoom feature let me see background details the artist hid that I never noticed in print. Plus I didn't have to worry about damaging the spine or finding storage space for more longboxes. I still love my floppy copies don't get me wrong, but now I get why some folks switch over completely. Has anyone else here had a change of heart about digital vs physical after actually trying it for a while?

The number of new comic book fans joining through kickstarter blew my mind

I was looking at some numbers from the 2024 comic sales report last week and couldn't believe how many new readers are coming in through crowdfunding. Something like 40% of the people backing indie comics on Kickstarter had never bought a single issue from a shop before. That stat came from a panel at a small convention I went to in Portland back in March, and it honestly surprised me because I always thought the direct market was the only way. Has anyone else noticed this shift or seen different numbers somewhere?

That time a longbox collector told me graded comics are a waste and I finally get it

Took me 4 hours to find a missing variant cover in a longbox

I spent last Sunday digging through 8 longboxes at my local shop looking for the foil variant of Secret Wars #1 from 2015. The guy at the counter swore they had one in the back but it took him 45 minutes just to remember which box he tossed it in. By the time we found it, the shop was closing and I nearly gave up after hour three. Anyone else have a shop owner who just throws everything in random boxes without any system?

Just hit issue 500 in my collection and it hit me different

I was sorting my longboxes last weekend and realized I have exactly 500 comics now. I never thought I'd get there, it just snuck up on me over 8 years. Most of them are random buys from flea markets and dollar bins, not even key issues. The crazy part is I've only read like half of them, the rest are just sitting there. How many issues do you guys have before you start feeling like you need to stop? Or do you just keep going no matter what?

PSA: Don't buy those "rare variant" covers from that online comic reseller Flashback Comics

I dropped $80 on what they claimed was a 1:100 variant of a 90s X-Men issue and it turned out to be a reprint with a fake stamp (the paper quality gave it away immediately). Has anyone else gotten burned by these third-party sellers hyping up print runs that don't actually exist?

Saw a stat about the 90s comic boom that blew my mind

I was reading an old Wizard magazine archive online yesterday and found out that at the peak in 1993, Marvel and DC combined sold over 400 million comics in one year. That number is insane compared to now where maybe 80 million gets sold total annually. It made me think about my LCS back then with lines out the door for X-Men #1. Has anyone else seen numbers like that and just felt weird about how different the hobby is now?

Serious question, does liking Silver Age Batman make you a bad fan?

A guy at my local shop told me I was stuck in the past for preferring the campy 1960s Batman over the dark Knight Returns stuff. He said real fans move with the times and appreciate the grit. But isn't it okay to just enjoy what you grew up with, or does sticking to one era mean you're not a true comic book fan?

Graded comics vs raw reading copies - which side are you on?

I dropped $80 on a CGC 9.8 copy of X-Men #1 from 1991 and it sits in a box untouched because I'm scared to handle it... but my beat-up raw copy I got for $5 I've read maybe twenty times and it's falling apart. Does the slab really add value if you never actually enjoy the book itself, or am I just missing the point of collecting?

My $150 box of back issues I should have left at the shop

I walked into a convention last year thinking I'd find some hidden gems in a long box under a table. The guy running the booth said everything was from the early 90s and mostly untouched. I spent about 45 minutes digging and ended up buying a stack for $150 because it had some X-Men issues I vaguely remembered. Got home and checked the prices online, and almost every single issue was worth maybe a dollar or two. I think the most valuable thing in the pile was a copy of X-Force #1 that still had the trading card, which goes for like $5. I could have just bought the one or two books I actually wanted for under $10 total. Now that box is sitting in my closet because I don't have the heart to toss them but I also don't want to look at them. Has anyone else gotten burned by those mystery boxes where sellers just dump dollar bin books?

The day I lined up Silver Age Spider-Man next to a Todd McFarlane issue and everything clicked

I was sorting my longboxes over the weekend and put Amazing Spider-Man #50 right next to Amazing Spider-Man #300. The difference in pacing and panel layout hit me like a brick. Ditko and Romita Sr. used maybe 5 or 6 panels per page, letting each moment breathe with big action beats. Then McFarlane comes in with 9 to 12 panels crammed together, all those weird angles and dramatic poses. It's like comparing a slow burn drama to a music video. Has anyone else noticed how the whole reading rhythm changes between those two eras of comics?

Back in 2015 I swore digital comics would never replace the real thing

I was that person who said flipping through a floppy was the only way to read comics, no exceptions. Then I moved to a tiny apartment in Chicago and had to box up 2,000 issues just to have floor space. Has anyone else changed their tune on digital reading after a big move or downsizing?

That $200 Ebay lot of old comics taught me a painful lesson

I bought a giant mystery box of comics off Ebay for 200 bucks last month. The seller said it was mostly silver and bronze age stuff from an estate sale. Turned out 90% of it was damaged by moisture with mold spots and wrinkled pages. I spent three weekends trying to flatten and clean them but most are just trash now. The other 10% were from the late 90s and worth maybe 20 cents each. Has anyone else gotten burned on a mystery lot like this or am I just the unluckiest guy here?

Had to pick between my favorite run or a signed first issue today

I was at a garage sale and this guy had a full set of Frank Miller Daredevil issues for $50 and also a signed copy of Amazing Spider-Man #300 for $100. I only had $80 on me so I grabbed the Miller run and ran. Anybody else had to make a painful call like that at a sale?

I wasted $80 on a signed comic that turned out fake

Bought a supposedly signed first print of The Walking Dead #1 from a guy at a convention in Portland last summer. Got it home and compared the signature to pictures online and it didn't match at all. The seller ghosted me when I tried to contact him through the con's vendor list. Has anyone else gotten burned by fake signatures at shows?

Flipping through a run vs reading a collected edition - which is better for getting into a character?

I started reading Moon Knight a few months ago and couldn't decide if I should dig through back issues at my local shop or just buy the Epic Collection trade. I went with floppies first, got about 15 issues from the 80s run, but half of them had ads torn out and the story kept getting interrupted. Then I grabbed the collected edition and read the same arc in one afternoon, but I felt like I missed the original letter columns and backup features. Anyone else find one format changes how you connect with the character?

Stopped by my old comic shop after 5 years and felt like a stranger

I went into Cosmic Collectibles in Portland last weekend for the first time since 2019. The whole back wall where they used to have all the long boxes sorted by publisher was just Funko Pops and T-shirts now. The guy at the counter didn't even ask if I was looking for anything specific, just stared at his phone. I get that shops gotta pay rent but it made me wonder, do any dedicated comic shops still feel like a place to hang out and dig for back issues for an hour anymore?

The time a guy at my local shop argued Batman could beat Goku in a fight for 45 minutes straight

Last Tuesday at Graham Crackers Comics in Naperville, this grown man in a leather jacket spent a full 45 minutes explaining how Batman with prep time could beat Goku, and the cashier just kept ringing up Funko Pops without saying a word, has anyone else gotten stuck in a debate that died five minutes in but the other person just kept going?

Am I the only one who thinks the Death of Superman story is way overrated?

My comic shop owner in Pittsburgh sold me the full run for $60 three years ago and I finally read them this weekend, and the whole thing felt like a drawn-out gimmick that didn't earn the hype, has anyone else been let down by a classic storyline everyone loves?