There may be no other childhood hobby that resonated with more people over the last fifty years than comic book collecting. At the time, most kids simply spent their allowance or baby-sitting money on the latest Superman or Spiderman adventure and then traded them amongst friends when they were finished. Comics were routinely left in leaky and drafty tree houses and makeshift forts or any other place where kids gathered outside of the view of adults. But, oh my, how times have changed. Much like the meteoric rise of baseball cards since the late 1980’s, comic books have become a veritable gold mine for those that had the foresight to keep the ones they had as kids in good shape. It is safe to say that 60-75 percent of every 40-50 year old male in the United States has asked their mother within the last few years if they kept any of their old childhood comics. When the predictable answer of no was received, an audible moan would likely be heard.
But what about starting a collection now? Is it possible to start a collection this afternoon and still have it be worth something? Sure, as long as you know what to buy and how to store your collection, you could theoretically store up enough value to put your own kids through college. But you had better know the rules and have a game plan ahead of time.
If you are considering a comic book collection, you need to answer a very important question first: why? Are you stating a collection strictly for the possible future returns or are you starting a collection because you love comics, you love reading them, you love letting your imagination take flight on the colorful and exciting drawings and you love the characters? If you fall into the first camp, you are going to need to stock up on price guides, Mylar pouches and acid-free storage containers. If you fall into the second camp, all you need is a clear idea of the series’ you want to collect and a deep bank account.
Let’s start with group one. If you are approaching comic book collecting as an investment, you need to educate yourself on which comics have the best chance of appreciating in value over the next few years. You also need to get a good handle on how to judge the condition of a comic. Much like a baseball card or a fine antique, a small nick there or a tiny rip here can mean the difference between cha-ching and pocket change. Proper storage techniques are also an important part of keeping comics valuable. You need to invest in Mylar pouches that will keep the comic as close to sterile as possible. You also need to watch for drastic temperature and humidity changes. Both are bad for the long term health of a comic. You also want to make sure that whatever container you choose to store them in is acid-free. Unfinished wood can bleed acids into paper that can cause serious damage in the long run. Also, the rise of the graphic novel, think a thicker and more book-like comic, is also quite collectable.
Moving to group two, the only real rules you need to follow is to have fun with what you collect. If you have always been a fan of a particular hero, illustrator or characters, do what you can to collect that particular comic. Hobbies are suppose to be fun and often, we let the pursuit of the dollar sign cloud our enjoyment. If you plan on collecting comics or graphic novels so you can read them over and over and show them to your kids so they can learn your love of comics, just forget about long term collectible value. Comics that are handled to be read will inevitability be spilt upon, torn and otherwise devalued. But if you are in love with the latest escapades of the Caped Crusader, none of that really matters.
While book collecting purists may turn their nose up at comics, those that have been reading then since childhood know that comics contain everything you could ever want from a story: good versus evil, a moral and more colors than you could ever imagine. No matter why you choose to collect, comics are an art form that will be a part of the American way of life for generations to come.
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