Just a few short months ago we introduced a new feature in Scoop, Origin Issue, and thus far it’s proven to be a big hit with readers. Special thanks to Vincent Zurzolo, Jr. at Metropolis Collectibles for suggesting our title. The subject is a straightforward question, but one with many different answers: Why do you collect?
You’ll find new entries this week in our Industry News section, and in this feature you’ll find a compendium of over previous entries. If you’d like to share your origin issue, drop us a line with “Origin Issue” in the subject line. We’re looking for a maximum of 200 words addressing why you collect (and it doesn’t have to be comic books).
PAUL LEVITZ
Part of the joy of collecting is the hunt--although I long ago "finished" my core set of DC and Marvel titles, continuing to collect has kept me connected to why I love comics. I add a small series to hunt whenever I finish the last, giving me the excuse to troll the longboxes and dealers, and even learn how to hunt on the web.
Right now it's the handful of Mlle. Marie stories that ran in Star Spangled War Stories, which are scarce but beautifully done.
Don't give up the hunt!
Paul Levitz will once again be donning his writer’s hat for Adventure Comics, much to the joy of Legion of Super-Heroes fans everywhere.
CHRIS RYALL
Everyone remembers their first time. Especially if their first time involved two girls… as well as a guy who could stretch himself into any position required, along with another made of rocks, and a third with a big, sandy fist. Such was my initial foray into the world of comic-book collecting, when, at five years old, I laid my eyes on Jim Steranko’s cover art for Fantastic Four #130.
The comic belonged to an older neighbor of mine who got tasked with babysitting my sister and I. I don’t remember the neighbor, but I remember that comic—I should, since, uh, I stole it from him a week later. The cover art was like nothing I’d ever seen before, featuring wild characters and vivid colors—it was mesmerizing, impossible to resist (the fact that Steranko set me down this life-long path with only 2/3 of the cover art open to him—the rest was a huge logo against a black background—was even more impressive.
All I knew was that I loved it, and I wanted it. So a week later, I absconded with it, which could’ve seen me head toward a life of crime, but luckily I headed toward a lifetime love of comics instead. The first comic I ever laid eyes on, the only comic I ever stole, and still a pure sources of pleasure whenever I see it.
That comic was everything to me. At least it was for a week or so. And then it wasn’t enough. I needed more. And thus was my weekly habit born right then and there.
Chris Ryall’s latest comic writing work is GroomLake (released in trade paperback form this week), and, in early 2010, Weekly World Newsand Zombies vs Robots Adventure. He also talked up his love of FF #130 in Comic Books 101, a prose primer on comics now available from finer booksellers everywhere.
MARK ZAID
Why collect comics? It is a question I frequently hear from those whose paths I cross as an attorney who handles national security cases; a world where superheroes are not often discussed.
My answer is simple (with the caveat, of course, that it is compounded in multiple parts per my legal nature!):
First, they offer a fascinating glimpse into the social history and commentary of our country during very distinct periods of time. Whether the Victorian Age through the Golden Age to the Modern Age, from comics we can trace the development of society’s views on some of the most important topics that define us as sentient beings: humor, sex, politics, race, war, to name just a few.
Second, no matter the age of the specific comic, reading one inherently invokes happy childhood memories. The hobby, which is also a side business for me, is also intended to serve as a relaxing distraction to an otherwise very frustrating and stressful legal practice, and for the most part it does just that.
Finally, it certainly does not hurt to have a hobby that also can generate a nice profit in the process. After all, it is the business that you love and enjoy that brings the greatest satisfaction, and for me comic books are at the top of that list.
Mark S. Zaid is an attorney in Washington, D.C. who operates EsquireComics.com. He has been collecting comics since 1974, serves as an advisor to The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, and is a founding member of the Network of Disclosure.
ALEX WINTER
I was born a collector. As a child I took great care of all my possessions, even saving the boxes for my toys. I grew up around collectors and gravitated to the hobby without hesitation. For me the best thing about collecting has always been the thrill of the hunt. Whether it was tracking down an elusive item I knew was out there somewhere, or discovering a previously unknown treasure, nothing is more exciting than adding an artifact to one of my collections.
Everything I collect is something I thoroughly enjoy. I love being surrounded by “stuff.” It is great when things appreciate in value, but the love of collectibles is what drives me to continue my search. Just when I think I have completed one collection, something new turns up or I branch off into another direction and start a new collection. The more I learn about the things I collect, the more interested I become in them. Collecting for me is never-ending.
Alex Winter is the General Manger of Hake’s Americana & Collectibles and currently preparing their next auction.
GARY COLABUONO
When I was 14 in the summer of 1965, I remember remarking to my father how much I enjoyed Marvel comic books – how the stories and art were so exciting. I told him that I thought Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko – and their creations – were the best ever.
I’ll never forget what happened next.
My dad went into his bedroom closet and returned to the kitchen with a large stack of old Sunday comic sections. He set it down and laid everything out on the table in front of me and said, “Gary, I know you like your comic books, but here’s the real good stuff.”
When my dad was 15 in 1937 he discovered a new Sunday strip in the Chicago Herald-Examiner, Prince Valiant.
So enamored with Hal Foster’s creation was my dad that he clipped and saved every full-page adventure. He carefully pasted them in huge volumes and even drew an image of Val on the front cover of each one. When my dad went to war in 1942, my grandmother kept the run going. Now he was showing them to me – and hoping I would feel the same sense of wonderment and awe that he experienced every Sunday for nearly 30 years.
I spent days and days reading every page, year by year, soaking in the incredible art and marveling at Val’s adventures.
Gary Colabuono is a long-time collector-dealer and senior Overstreet advisor. After a long career in comics as a retailer, show promoter and manufacturer of collector supplies, he's currently the marketing director for the country’s top coin-operated video game, Golden Tee Golf.
DAN BRAUN
I collect comic books because I still get as much excitement from them now as I did when I bought my first comic back in 1967. And I still have every comic I ever bought off the stands. Unfortunately, they aren’t in great condition; they were very well read.
Another thing that comes to mind is the bragging rights. At age 5 or age 50, what good is it all unless you can tell your friends about all the cool comics you have?
The hunt is also a big part of it. But you need to be careful; those four-color treasures have the ability to cloud men’s minds. When I was 17, and newly licensed I went to a yard sale selling old comics. I got my first haul of about 35 Golden Age books - Marvel Family, Star Spangled Western, Heroic, Great #1 and the prize of the lot, All American #94. On the way home, I was so excited I actually tried to read the comic books while I was driving. My car went off the road and hit a telephone pole and was totaled. It turned out Fredric Wertham was right: comic books are dangerous.
Dan Braun’s latest comic writing will be appearing in the upcoming Creepy #2 due out next month. In addition to his work on Creepy and Eerie, he helps run Submarine Entertainment, a production company in NYC specializing in documentaries.
BARRY BRANVOLD
As a comic shop owner for the past 30 years, I have had my share of opportunities to pick up almost anything published featuring Uncle Scrooge. After getting the Barks Library and everything Don Rosa has done, as well as every other Uncle Scrooge comic book, I started getting some original art.
Space has started to become an issue. Lately, I have been accumulating smaller Scrooge items. The last two things I picked up were the Dark Horse Uncle Scrooge figure and a 1950s era little tablet with Scrooge on it.
It is also something my friends and family can always get me if they can find something. Sometimes I get Donald Duck items and I just smile and say “Thank-you.” As I get older I realize my collecting has to slow down. Small, inexpensive Scrooge items will do, from now on.
Barry Branvold is the owner of Barry’s Collectors Corner in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
BRENDON and BRIAN FRAIM
Why do we collect?
How the heck should we know? Is it some deep rooted psychological disorder? A compulsion we cannot control? Some sort of hoodoo curse? Eh, probably not. The easiest answer is simply that we enjoy it! Similar to what Paul Levitz stated in his commentary, the thrill of the hunt is a large part of what makes collecting fun. Finding that DC Universe figure in a store rather than paying more for it on eBay leaves one with a great feeling of satisfaction. Take that, overpriced sellers!
We collect many of the meats from the pop-culture collectable stew: comic books, CGC-graded comics, hardcover comic strip reprints, action figures, statues and busts, etc. Most recently, our collecting passion has been steered toward buying original comic art, you can see our collection here.
We have also been buying up original vintage Mego World's Greatest Super-Heroes action figures. That has lead us toward customizing our own Mego super-hero figures which Mego Corp. never made.
Brendon and Brian Fraim are best known for their prolific work on Kenzer and Company’s popular Knights Of The Dinner Table: Illustrated comic book. Their work has also appeared in the recently optioned novel, Wolf Boy by Evan Kuhlman, Antiques: The Comic Strip, AmericaJr. and The Odd Squad.
MARC NEWMAN
As a child in the seventies, life in my midwestern town was pretty darn quiet.. But thanks to comics I was swinging on a Kubert-drawn vine or dodging bullets in the middle of searing battlefields. I was even Lost in the Andes once or twice.
A few years later, I was involved in my own real-life comics adventure as I opened Marc's Comic Corner at the start of ninth grade.
Sure, it was just little cube in the back of my parents' department store and only open for a few hours on Saturdays. But I carried every new comic, traveled to conventions all around the Great Lakes, and was listed in Overstreet. Heady stuff!
Flash forward to 2009. For me, the comics hobby is a combination of childhood joy and an adult appreciation for the stories behind the comics. I love the wonder that is Russ Heath's art job for Easy's First Tiger. I enjoy stumbling upon an obscure title like Suspense Detective or finding a killer Katy Keene cover. There's nothing like getting my hands on one of the few Batman comics I've never owned. I find collecting comics endlessly fascinating.
Collector-dealer-promoter Marc Newman runs HouseOfComics.com.
