I am a good looking man.
#Pause
I collect because I enjoy the art 
I collect a variety of stuff, any cover that I like I usually pick up but I like to focus on covers by Artgerm, Parillo and Momoko.
Currently I am collecting the 1:25 variants for Thor as well.
I’m also cheap so if it’s not cover I probably don’t pick it up till a sale comes around 
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I got into comics for the cheap drugs and easy women.
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Only up until you see him walking around shirtless in NYCC hotel room… and the noises coming out of the bathroom… not so pretty. 
Decades of disappointment followed.
I got into comics cause I got bored with the wife… 
That’s better than what some people do when they get bored with a spouse–e.g. getting a mistress!
That sounds exhausting…
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Lots of childhood stuff of course…Tmnt, Gi joe, Motu in comics, figurines, cards, magazines, statues ect
Also have many collectibles of different genres…I like horror, some sports, star wars…pick up some Spiderman when I can…Love reading so I constantly expand into something new if it catches my interest…And like someone mentioned the art of course!
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Yeah, I can only deal with disappointing one woman at a time.
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See, variants! Variants cause problems!
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I have always been drawn to Super Heroes my whole life so I took to comics really easily when I was very young. I always looked forward to cartoons like the old X-Men, Spider-man, Bat Man and Justice League shows as well which got me even more hooked. Beyond the stories though, the art of comics has always been so amazing to me.
The first major comic that I ever wanted as a kid was Spider-man #300. From the first time I saw Venom I was obsessed and his character development has always been fascinating to me. I used to go to the comic book stores looking exclusively for venom covers/comics and as I would flip through the dollar bins I would uncover new amazing art and characters that kept my love for comics going. As I got older though, I started getting really sick and developed a chronic illness. I did not go to comic shops anymore because every bit of strength I had went to college.
Fast forward about 10 years of being away from comics and I finally found medical treatments that worked for me and improved my quality of life. But I did not get back into comics on my own, I just happened to meet my wife, who shared a love for comics. She encouraged me to get back into them and I was back with a vengeance. I made up for all the years I missed by buying huge stacks of comics every week until I eventually decided I want to make comics a bigger part of my life and help bring them to other peoples lives as well. My wife, who coincidentally also had a chronic illness that she developed while in the Air Force, introduced me to Operation Paperback. When my wife was sick in the military, she would receive care packages from Operation Paperback with comics and other books for her to read while she could not do much else. So, we started giving back and donating comics to other veterans and their families.
I decided the next logical step to my collecting habit was opening my own store so I could feed my obsession with comics while also helping feed the obsessions of others 
. This was also a great opportunity to start a partnership with Operation Paperback, which is why I have the donation option on my site. To this day I collect Venom stuff way more than I should, but I am ok with it. Seeing Venom in the movies has also been crazy. I also love seeing new artists join the industry and new styles on covers, so being a retailer is really enjoyable for me.
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Venom, Thor, Spawn, Darth Vader, and Ice Cream Man
Some of my first comics were multipacks my mom bought from McCrorys Department Store. She got them so I had something to do in the hospital while I passed kidney stones. I’ve since passed hundreds of them although it’s been several years since I’ve passed one. I was immediately hooked and hever looked back.
What I collect can be described as eclectic. My biggest thing currently that’s not completely spec related is collecting late marvel newsstands. I get into done of the Image and DC ones as well but I’m a marvel fan so it’s my primary focus. I also like independents.
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I have been collecting since 1977. Took a couple of breaks during the over-produced 90’s. I have a fairly extensive collection, but these days read a small set of core titles, and buy ones that I know will appreciate down the road. I rarely sell any. Just buy, store, and wait. Strategy has worked fine for many, many years.
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A lot of nice and fun stories here! Thank you all for sharing.
Comics can be mega powerful sources of hope, inspiration, and beauty in our lives.
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So I grew up in a religious conservative home. Parents were pretty religious and the movie theatres were not a place to take children, but in 1989 for whatever reason, my Dad took us to watch Batman and my 9 year old mind was amazed. After this the collecting actually started with Batman trading cards which were .40 cents from the ice cream man.
Because of Batman I actually started to notice comic books at the grocery store the times I was with my mom while she was doing the shopping. Every now and then she would let me pick up a comic. I would default to Batman and Daredevil for some reason. So for a long time I just had about 10-15 random Batman and Daredevil comics. I was also being exposed to random action flicks as my father bought a VCR and we would take regular trips to the video store. Because of the religious background I was allowed to watch all sorts of violent films, but nothing sexual. So I was exposed to a lot of Arnold, Stalone…I loved the American Ninja movies.
So around 1992 my best friends older brother was heavy into comics and saw that me and his little brother looked at my old battered copies of Batman and Daredevil. So he decided to drive us to the comic shop he went to. Here I discovered Image Comics and it was a big deal. Spawn, Youngblood, The Maxx…it was all downhill from there.
I have collected faithfully since then. There was a period in the late 90’s where Marvel was garbage and I was seriously considering stopping. Thanks to Stormwatch, The Authority, Planetary, and Marvel Knights starting I kept at it. This time period is when I started paying attention to writers and artists. It turned me into a fan of the artform. I am more of a fan of comics and creators than I am of a specific character.
I would frequently visit shops within a 50 mile radius in SoCal. I would also hit up a collectible ware house on a weekly basis diving into .50 cent bins and amassing large collections before this current speculation craze. My parents were of the mind that the comics would never be worth anything and I thought I would be rich one day. During the late 90’s and early 2000’s I understood what they meant…but I kept buying anyways and taking care of the books.
It is nice that today I have been vindicated and that the books are actually worth something. I am not rich, but there is no way I would be able to buy the comics I have now at what they are worth today. There are a lot of stories to tell and scores to highlight, but it is too much. I have also sold off books to supplement the income to feed the family when I was still trying to get a career going. I once unloaded a Amazing Spider 300 (the most I ever paid for a comic at $50) for $300 and thought I made a killing and now that books is even worth more, but it needed to be done at the time.
In short, I am a collector of whatever I want and think I might like when it comes to comics. Always willing to try something new. I also amass other things. Legos, model kits, RC-Cars. I think people who collect will always collect in some form or another.
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Great insight into your comic book collecting journey. These are great stories for the younger collectors on how to read and collect. After watching comics from the 70’s till now, you can definitely see the trends over that time.
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