c/comic-book-fans

Blew a deadline on my custom Wolverine sketch commission

I was drawing at my kitchen table last Saturday when my hand cramped up so bad I couldn't hold the pencil for an hour. Had to message the buyer and ask for an extra two days, but they were cool about it and even tipped me $10 for the honesty. Anyone else ever mess up a commission deadline and have the collector surprise you with patience?

Guy at the shop told me to ditch the poly bags for backing boards

Back in 2017 I had this older collector at Heroes Aren't Hard To Find in Charlotte tell me poly bags trap moisture and ruin comics over time. I ignored him for about 3 years until I pulled out some early 2000s issues and saw foxing spots on 6 of them. Switched everything over to backing boards and now I check them twice a year. Anybody else had long term storage issues with just bags?

Overheard a guy at the comic shop say 'real fans don't read trades' and it got under my skin

I was flipping through the new issue rack last Saturday and this dude in his 40s tells the kid working the counter that anyone who reads the collected editions isn't a true fan. He said it so loud too, like he wanted everyone to hear. I buy both floppies and trades because I commute 45 minutes to work and can't haul single issues around. What is it with some people gatekeeping how we consume these stories anyway? Has anyone else run into this kind of talk at their local shop?

Finally caved and bought the full Hickman Avengers run for $60.

I always said Marvel omnibuses were overpriced paperweights, but after borrowing the first volume from a friend I couldn't stop thinking about it. Anyone else find one run that just hooks you against your will?

Bought a $200 'golden age' comic lot on eBay and half were reprints

I thought I scored big with a lot of old Superman and Batman issues from the 40s. Turns out the seller hid small reprint stamps on the inside covers that I missed in the photos. I mean, maybe it's just me but I feel like that should be in the title or description. Has anyone else gotten burned by reprint lots on eBay?

Chose a $3 beat-up Silver Age issue over a mint copy from the 90s and feel great about it

Went to a local comic convention thinking I knew everything about indie comics

I walked into a small con last month in a hotel ballroom, figured I'd breeze through the artist alley in 20 minutes. Three hours later I was still there talking to a guy who does his own risograph prints of horror comics based on local ghost stories. I learned that a lot of these creators are just one person running a table with 50 bucks worth of paper and a dream, and their stuff is way more interesting than the big publishers. Has anyone else been caught off guard by an artist they'd never heard of before?

Why does nobody talk about how many times Spider-Man has actually died?

I was just reading through a wiki list of Marvel deaths last night and I couldn't believe it. Spider-Man has died like 15 times in different stories. Alternate universes, clones, resurrections. But in the main 616 universe he's only officially died once and got brought back. It just feels weird that a character who dies so much in comics people barely mention it. Has anyone else been surprised by how many times a character has kicked it?

Spent 4 hours tracking down a single variant cover at my local shop

I needed the 2018 Edge of Spider-Verse #2 for a full run I'm building and the owner swore he had it in back. After digging through three long boxes and a stack of unopened shipments, I finally found it wedged behind a display of Funko Pops.

Found my old convention badge from 2018 with a quote on the back

I pulled out a box of old comics last night and found a Seattle ECCC badge with 'you know that guy from the panels?' scribbled on the back, and it hit me how much I used to judge strangers based on their pull lists at the shop, has anyone else caught themselves acting like a gatekeeper without realizing it?

Tried reading a silver age X-Men issue my dad gave me

I thought it would be a classic, cool origin story. Instead, it was 20 pages of the team sitting around a table talking about their feelings and then fighting a giant purple guy. Learned that older comics are a whole different beast than modern ones, has anyone else had that shock going back a few decades?

Can we talk about the trick of reading single issues in short bursts

I used to try plowing through entire runs in one sitting and got burned out after 20 pages. Then I started reading just 5 pages of an old X-Men issue during my lunch break at work and actually retained the story better. Has anyone else found a weird reading habit that made you enjoy comics more?

A long time collector pointed out my bagging mistake and I finally fixed it

I've been bagging and boarding my comics for about 5 years now. Always did it the same way, bag opening at the bottom, board behind the book. Last month at a local con in Portland, an older collector named Dave saw me bagging a pull and said 'you're trapping dust against the board.' He explained that the bag opening should face up so gravity pulls dust away from the book. I switched my method that same day and now I check my whole longbox. It's such a small change but it makes so much sense. Has anyone else gotten a simple tip like this that completely changed their routine?

That con in Portland taught me real collectors don't care about grades

I was at the Portland Comic Con last summer and watched this guy flip through a beat-up copy of Amazing Spider-Man #300 with a coffee ring on it and offer $400 cash on the spot. The seller was bragging about his 9.8 slab and the collector just laughed and said 'I read my books.' Made me realize I've been obsessing over plastic cases while missing the whole point. Anyone else stop grading after a moment like that?

Just switched from bag and board to Mylites and fullbacks. What a difference in feel.

Serious question, why do so many fans act like you can't enjoy a movie if you haven't read the source comic?

Last week at the local shop, I overheard a guy telling his buddy the new 'Thunderbolts' trailer was 'objectively bad' because he hadn't read the 2012 run. I jumped in (maybe too fast) and said I loved it just from the trailer, and he looked at me like I had three heads. It turned into this whole 20 minute thing about 'comic literacy' before I just left. Has anyone else felt pushed out of a conversation for just liking the movie version of something?

PSA: I found a way to get my non-reader friend into comics

He only watched the Marvel movies, so I lent him the 'Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon' trade paperback because it's so grounded and funny. Has anyone else had luck with a specific book that hooked a total newbie?

I just hit 1000 single issues in my collection and it made me rethink everything

I was doing a full count for insurance last week and the total came to 1003 floppies. That number really hit me. For years, I was all about getting every new #1 and chasing keys, thinking more books meant a better collection. But seeing that four-digit total, mostly stuff I bought on hype and never read twice, felt hollow. My friend Mark said, 'You've got a long box of regret there,' and he was right. Now I'm selling off about 300 books that don't mean anything to me to focus on runs I actually love, like the full Starman series. Has anyone else hit a big collection number that made them change how they collect?

Just realized my friend thinks you need to read every single tie-in for a big event

We were talking about the new crossover and he said he wouldn't start until he got all 15 side books, but I told him the main 6-issue run gives you the whole story. How do you guys handle event comics without getting overwhelmed?

My local comic shop went from empty to packed after they started a weekly trivia night

Six months ago, I could walk into The Panel on a Wednesday and maybe see two other people. Last night, there were over thirty of us crammed in there for their new trivia contest. The owner, Mike, said he started it because he wanted a reason for people to hang out, not just grab their pulls and leave. Now the same faces show up every week, and we actually talk about story arcs and artists instead of just standing in silence. It's a small thing, but it totally changed the vibe of the place. Has anyone else seen a shop turn things around with something simple like that?

Just hit 1000 single issue comics in my collection and it feels weird

I was sorting my boxes last night and counted them all for the first time in maybe five years. I mean, I knew I had a lot, but hitting that four digit number made me realize how much space and money this hobby really takes up. Does anyone else get that kind of mixed feeling when you hit a big collection number?

Just realized most people think comic fans only read superhero stuff.

My coworker saw my Saga trade and said 'I didn't know you read real comics'. It matters because it ignores whole genres like horror and indie books. What's a non-superhero series you had to explain was a comic?

Am I the only one who thinks gatekeeping at cons is getting out of hand?

At C2E2 last month, a guy in line for a signing grilled a teen about X-Men continuity to 'prove' she was a real fan. I told him to chill, but it got super awkward. Where's the line between being a hardcore fan and just being a jerk?

Appreciation post: tracking down a single panel reference from a 90s X-Men comic

It took me three evenings to find the exact issue, Uncanny X-Men #281, because I only remembered a character's specific hand gesture. Anyone have a better system than just scrolling through digital archives?

The comic shop near my old high school feels totally different now

I went back there last week for the first time since 2015. It used to be packed with kids digging through long boxes and talking about story arcs. Now it's half empty, and the owner said he makes most of his money from Funko Pops and board games. He told me, 'Single issues just don't bring people in like they used to.' Is this happening everywhere, or is it just my old spot?