What Draws You To Dead Universes?

[StarBrand]

Dead universes, often printed in black and white, had so much potential. I respect the work of the creators, and even the worst ones often had at least one or two moments that came through.
What draws you to dead universes?

[lorddunlow]

The free cookies.

[BugsySig]

The great "what might have been."

Never usually lasted long enough to get screwed up.

[lorddunlow]

Ooh... I got a better one...


Entropy.

[StarBrand]

The great "what might have been."

Never usually lasted long enough to get screwed up.

Yeah, a lot of the smaller universes were started by dreamers who didn't have the funding to last long. Still, there's that potential you might run into something way cool in these universes.

[lorddunlow]

My serious answer is that dead universes are static. You can often collect them all and the story is what it is. No messing up of continuity. The bad thing is no resolution is present in many of them.

[StarBrand]

My serious answer is that dead universes are static. You can often collect them all and the story is what it is. No messing up of continuity. The bad thing is no resolution is present in many of them.

The all-too-often abrupt ending of dead universes is indeed often disheartening, but we're used to the bittersweetness of it.

[leonmallett]

Dead universes, often printed in black and white, had so much potential. I respect the work of the creators, and even the worst ones often had at least one or two moments that came through.
What draws you to dead universes?

A sense of something more contained than the sprawl of the big two superhero universes.

[leonmallett]

The great "what might have been."

Never usually lasted long enough to get screwed up.

True words; and even then the inevitability of an uncertain end is still a draw for me. Rarely does a dead universe close on complete stories (at least the ones I have chased).

[kjjohanson]

From a hobbyist perspective, it's nice to have a checklist of issues that isn't going to change.

[Phantom]

Knowing their is a finite number of books to collect.

[Brother J]

collecting obscure variants, particularly very limited items like the Ultraverse gold holo books and such. This really started for me with Valiant as I loved picking up on the cheap the rare variants that used to go for big bucks in the early 90's.

[The Dirt Gang]

Necrophilia

But seriously, when I used to collect dead universes, I was interested in them for all the reasons stated above -- the promise of what might have been and they are finite. Some times they also felt like more talented versions of my friends and I creating a new world.

I also liked that in most cases they are not heavily sought after and while not readily available could be found cheap. I loved sifting through boxes in stores and flea markets and coming across these little gems.

And last but not least nostalgia.

[the1captain]

A weird kind of nostalgia. Even though I might have not collected a particular dead universe when it first came out. But I remember it from a time I really enjoyed comics(not that I don't now, just different) and if I can get them extremely cheap.

Also today with the decompression and writing for the trade I feel on average I get more story out of an issue of a book written from back in the day.

[leonmallett]

A weird kind of nostalgia. Even though I might have not collected a particular dead universe when it first came out. But I remember it from a time I really enjoyed comics(not that I don't now, just different) and if I can get them extremely cheap.

Also today with the decompression and writing for the trade I feel on average I get more story out of an issue of a book written from back in the day.

Ain't no school like the old school. Except when it is new school trying to write the old school and missing the point and therefore the mark.

[The Dirt Gang]

A weird kind of nostalgia. Even though I might have not collected a particular dead universe when it first came out. But I remember it from a time I really enjoyed comics(not that I don't now, just different) and if I can get them extremely cheap.

I 100% agree. It's funny because a lot of stuff I loved in the 90s really isn't very good but I am still sort of drawn to it. It brings back a lot of good memories that don't even necessarily have to do with comics just that time in my life.

[the1captain]

A weird kind of nostalgia. Even though I might have not collected a particular dead universe when it first came out. But I remember it from a time I really enjoyed comics(not that I don't now, just different) and if I can get them extremely cheap.

I 100% agree. It's funny because a lot of stuff I loved in the 90s really isn't very good but I am still sort of drawn to it. It brings back a lot of good memories that don't even necessarily have to do with comics just that time in my life.

Yep. I'm currently going through the old Valiant. Much I have never read. And I'm having a ball! Not eisner material or anything. Just fun stuff.

[meanwun]

I used to love the ultraverse and comics in general, but the price for new comics kept going up and page count went down. So why not pay less than a dollar a comic for DU issues.

Can kids afford to collect any more?

[depluto]

I used to love the ultraverse and comics in general, but the price for new comics kept going up and page count went down. So why not pay less than a dollar a comic for DU issues.

Can kids afford to collect any more?

Welcome aboard ... that's definitely one of the appeals to collecting Dead Universes: It's cheap!

This site is a good place for collecting Shooter stuff, just keep an eye on the Buy/Sell forum.

[The Dirt Gang]

I used to love the ultraverse and comics in general, but the price for new comics kept going up and page count went down. So why not pay less than a dollar a comic for DU issues.

Can kids afford to collect any more?

Good point! Back in my dad, my allowance used to go a lot further (said in my best old man voice which is not very good). Have allowances risen with inflation?

[dornwolf]

Honestly, getting to visit some of the worlds I missed. Milestone and the OG Valiant

[newt138]

In the 90s I read Ultraverse and Valiant. But stopped reading most comics in 94. Then about a year after this forum started I found it. And it got me interested in re-reading Valiant. So I hit my LCS and saw that lots of the 90s indy universe stuff was in the cheap bin. So I grabbed lots.

1.The price,can't beat comics for 50 cents or less.
2.I know there is an ending. My favorite comics of all time have an ending.
3.The thrill of the hunt. I try my best to only get DU stuff in person.

[Sven the Returned]

The great "what might have been."

Never usually lasted long enough to get screwed up.

That and the fact that i can quit after i am finished without probably missing anything.

[bosco685]

Dead universes, often printed in black and white, had so much potential. I respect the work of the creators, and even the worst ones often had at least one or two moments that came through.
What draws you to dead universes?

Everything you said, plus great memories. Always great memories.