It’s 3-something AM on a Sunday morning and I’m up early having an allergy attack. My floor is covered in comics. I’ve collected comics since I was a little boy and my collection (what’s left of it) is woefully messy as I spent most of the early to mid-2000’s ignoring boarding and bagging comics (used to help preserve them), in order to focus on a low paying job that well, is another story.
Last year the window air conditioner in my room leaked and water went all over my bedroom, ruining an entire box of comics that I hadn’t bagged. I responded by overkilling it (as usual). I bought a thousand comic boards and another thousand bags and 6 plastic comic boxes to replace the cardboard ones just in case anything with water happened again.
It happened again.
I hadn’t put the comics on the floor into the new boxes. Thankfully, the only box impacted was filled with bagged comics so there was no water damage.
However, since I’m looking for projects to do since I still don’t have a main computer to do projects with (having given that away to my niece last month), and I spent most of my Saturday on the floor bagging and sorting 8 boxes of comics.
I got through 5. I have 3 on my floor surrounding me now and another 8 in my closet awaiting the day I get crazy enough to do this again.
One thing I’ve noticed is at some point between my allergies being death defying and a dearly departed cat named Romeo (rest in peace, little buddy), who wouldn’t let me read comics (he’d literally bat them out of my hands), I’m finding a lot of surprises as I go through these back issues.
I did not know I was a Superman fan. You see, I collect comics. Part of collecting is staying with characters you like who are starring in books you don’t like just to keep the characters in print. Justice Society of America, Legion of Super-Heroes, Titans, Teen Titans, Flash… all books I’ll buy (if they’re on the market) just to support them regardless of quality.
JSA and Legion, for example haven’t had dedicated comics (until recently for Legion and it’s HORRIBLE), for most of the last decade. DC Comics seems to hate both sets of characters and I’m holding out hope that they’ll be back, especially with Stargirl appearing with the JSA on the CW network.
Getting back to Superman, I’m about to fill an entire comic box with Superman and Superman family (Supergirl, Superwoman, Superboy, Supersons), comics. Most of these, I don’t remember. Some of these I’ve already purchased on ComiXology so I can read them electronically without the allergy attack or ghost of the phantom kitty stopping me.
I have one box here on my floor dedicated to crossover events. I used to be a sucker for DC’s crossover events. Where entire lines would crossover and there’d be 50 issues devoted to the big event. I guess that changed at some point because I’m having trouble filling that particular box. I know there’s more out there, I just know that I really don’t care any more about crossovers.
With Marvel Comics, I never really cared. All the low quality crossovers of the 90’s killed it for me. Marvel really went above and beyond trying to get every cent out of your wallet with events with 50 to 70 issues tying in and no way any sane fan could keep up without having to take out a bank loan.
For Marvel, thankfully, if you wait 6 months you can find the crossover (and sometimes all of the 50000 tie in issues) sold for $5 in a ComiXology sale. You can catch up to see the status quo of that era and know it’s already been replaced by at least two new realities since they came out.
With DC Comics, well, who the hell knows any more. DC has had problems putting out crossovers on time. For example, Saturn Girl from Legion of Super-Heroes was a major player in the Doomsday Clock crossover. Not sure what continuity she was from but it was established that she was going to have a future outside of the series when it was done. The art was delayed for so long that by the time the finale of the series came out, that version of Saturn Girl had been wiped from continuity and replaced with a vanity project by the hot new (to DC) writer who didn’t read the notes for how the universe would be after the crossover concluded. Sigh.
Right now, DC has crossovers for Joker’s Gone Wild (or something) and Death Metal, a sequel to an incredibly boring crossover called Heavy Metal that gave us the Joker/Batman mashup called The Batman Who Laughs. I’m not buying either. The thrill is gone and once I collect the old crossovers, this crossover box is going to go into my closet and (probably) be forgotten.
Sigh.
Allergy attack seriously starting. I have to stay up for 2.5 hours to make sure my father takes a shower. Back to bagging and boarding I go.
Happy Sunday.
Jim