Jason Odom knows comics. A collector for most of his life, he carefully preserves his comics and collectibles. Odom not only reads comics he has analyzed and studied them as well as comic history and their impact on pop culture.

Scoop: Let’s start with a lineup. Can you give me a brief summary about your comics collection – how many books do you have?
Jason Odom (JO): At last count, using the ComicBase database software, I have in excess of 45,000 comic books. The vast core of the collection is DC comics, dating back into the 1950s. I also have many Dark Horse books as that company was the first “indy” company that I began following. Besides following characters or companies, I also have certain artists that I follow to include Joseph Michael Linsner and Billy Tucci.

Scoop: Do you collect from all time periods or do you focus on certain ones?
JO: Besides collecting all current books from DC and Vertigo, my back issue explorations almost always focus on the Silver Age of DC comics. I have a few Golden Age books as well to include some old World’s Finest and the first Phantom Stranger series of six books. My oldest comic is Batman #26.

Scoop: Do you prefer collecting from a certain publisher, character, or team?
JO: DC Comics would be the answer to this question.

Scoop: How did you get into reading comic books?
JO: As a kid, one of my older brothers had a college roommate who brought me some Classics Illustrated comics. Combine those with the Archie, Richie Rich, and Casper comics I got from my sister, I was hooked on reading.

Scoop: Did you always like those?
JO: It stayed that way until I began collecting in earnest around age 15.

Scoop: Did your love of Star Trek influence your love of comics or the other way around?
JO: Ironically, although I had read comics as a child, I would have to say it was my discovery of the DC Star Trek comic series that turned me on to the world of the direct market. I bought issue #2 of the DC Star Trek series on a spinner rack at my local drugstore – but they didn’t have #1! I convinced my mother to drive me to a comic book store (which I had previously had no idea such a thing existed) to find that missing issue. Once those doors opened, my world was forever changed!

Scoop: What is your favorite comic in your collection?
JO: Not fair. That’s like asking a parent to choose their favorite child!

Scoop: Which characters or series did you collect in the early days?
JO: I started with Star Trek and then discovered a DC character named Deadman. Deadman crossed over with Batman in The Brave & The Bold. Then I had to collect the B&B series. I was just getting into that when the Crisis on Infinite Earths began in 1985. Then Watchmen and the Dark Knight Returns started in 1986 and I learned just how powerful this medium could be. As I continued to expand my horizons, I began branching out into other DC series, some Dark Horse books and more from there.

Scoop: Which ones do you collect now?
JO: Pretty much every book published by DC Comics and their Vertigo imprint. I get a lot of Dark Horse, some from Boom, IDW, Dynamite, and I’m really digging the new books from Aftershock. Joe Pruett is really assembling an all-star line-up with that company!

Scoop: Once you’ve collected single comics, do you also get the trade editions? If so, why?
JO: Sometimes, if it is a pivotal story. I also like to get autographs in trade editions, rather than digging out individual comics to take to shows.

Scoop: Can you pinpoint the moment when you really became a comic book collector rather than just a casual reader?
JO: Between 1985 (Crisis) and 1986 (Watchmen and DKR).

Scoop: Did working in a comic book store during your teen and early adult years influence your collecting perspective?
JO: Absolutely. It gave me access to stories I would otherwise never have seen. I worked for credit, so I was able to expand my collection. I had friends who collected and I got to hear stories from older collectors. I was also fortunate enough to attend my first comic book convention in 1985 – the Atlanta Fantasy Fair! I wish I had known then to go meet Will Eisner!

Scoop: You’ve explored comic history. Let’s talk about their influence on pop culture. Can you give us a timeline of how comics affected periods of American history?
JO: In a nutshell, American comics got their start being written with stories of hope or triumph over the Axis of evil during WWII. During the cold war, they suffered from a dearth of superheroes which led to the rise of the horror comic and the Senate hearings of Senator Estes Kefauver (and the demise of EC Comics – thanks for nothing Dr. Wertham). Comics went underground with the counterculture of the ’60s and then heroes saw their reemergence into the ’70s. Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns cemented comics as a valid medium and then Maus blew the doors off, firmly establishing the validity of the graphic novel and sequential storytelling.

Scoop: How did the Comics Code Authority come into being?
JO: It was the response by the industry, as their effort to self-police, in the wake of the Kefauver/Wertham attacks on comics as being the root of all juvenile delinquency. In order to survive the assault, the industry established the Code as a self-censorship mechanism in 1954. This was done to prevent the government from imposing regulations on the industry.

Scoop: In our current time period, movie and TV shows based on comics are very popular. Do you think that popularity translates into comic book sales?
JO: Not always, people expect to find both media to reflect each other and they don’t always understand when they do not.

Scoop: Do you think the movie industry influences the comic industry? If so, is that a good thing?
JO: Yes, mostly. Unfortunately, they sometimes try too hard (The Spirit movie, for instance).

Scoop: Do you think that the collecting nature that exists in most comic book readers will sustain the print comic format?
JO: I certainly hope so.

Scoop: Can you give me a list of good reference books about the history of comics?
JO: Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones, The Golden Age of DC Comics by Paul Levitz, and 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die edited by Paul Gravett. I have many others – these are just off the top of my head.

Scoop: How do you preserve and protect your comic books?
JO: All books are bagged and boarded. If their value is over $20-25, they get put in mylite sleeves. All books stored in archival boxes.

Scoop: Do you preserve all of the books or just the higher value books?
JO: All.

Scoop: What are your thoughts on collecting graded books?
JO: I prefer raw, just due to the storage issues, but I do have a few graded keys.

Scoop: Do you collect keys or first appearances that are ungraded or just graded ones?
JO: Both.

Scoop: Do you collect comic art?
JO: Some, yes. Getting more into that now as I get older.

Scoop: Do you collect art based on artist or character?
JO: I follow artists more than I do characters.

Scoop: What is your favorite piece of comic art in your collection?
JO: An original commission I had produced by my friend, Billy Tucci.

Scoop: What about action figures?
JO: I have hundreds of DC and Star Trek action figures.

Scoop: How many comic related figures do you have?
JO: I would estimate over 300 comic figures.

Scoop: When did you start collecting action figures?
JO: I collected all of the Kenner Star Wars figures, but sold them off in the ’90s to buy more comics. I have all of the Playmates Star Trek figures and have been faithfully buying the DC Direct comic figures since they started producing them.

Scoop: Do you display your figures?
JO: Yes.

Scoop: Are they in cases? If not, how do you keep them clean and safe?
JO: Not in cases, I keep them clean with gentle dusting and don’t allow anyone to touch them!