The end of an era...................

OmenSpirits.com · Post by **OmenSpirits.com** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 3:55 pm

i've been collecting comic since 1991 & have had a comic bin at my local shop for just that long.

I officially closed that bin as of 2:12 pm est, thursday, July 7, 2005.

I just stopped caring about what was coming out.

Though I'll always be involved on an artistic level, and may pick up an issue of something old, valiants, old marvel or DC or Indy, or shonen jump......

It's over........

I can remember a time when I'd say to my brother, "Any woman I deal with better understand about my collecting cause if she can't, she's out the door. I'd never stop collecting."

Can't say that anymore. I just don't care about it anymore.

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 4:32 pm

There are alot of us out there that feel the same way......

tcolli · Post by **tcolli** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:04 pm

I understand if you are down and out right now but out of the hundreds of titles out there you will really find several good reads if you just know where to look. I am a firm believer you may leave but will always come back

jcdenton · Post by **jcdenton** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:51 pm

I officially closed my bin in 1993 when the industry "bubble" was at its peak, Valiant started sucking, there was just too much garbage coming out every month.

The final nail in the coffin was when my *SQUEE* comic shop owner cleared out everything in my box just because I hadn't been by in the last month or so. The next time I went in, my box was empty.

Mind you, I had spent probably $200/month at that shop for severals years, I used to write a free monthly Valiant newsletter for them, hell I even used to WORK there. Then he clears out everything in my box, probably a good 50 books, without even telling me?

It was probably just a matter of time before I stopped collecting anyway (I only recently got back into it, and only buy on eBay), but man what a slap in the face. In retrospect I guess I lucked out, since I can probably find those same 50 books today for a dime each

.

Todd Luck · Post by **Todd Luck** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 6:34 pm

My bin has hovered around a total of 5 titles at any time for a five years in constant threat of plunging to 0 if certain creators decided to stop putting out comics. I think the new Valiant, if it's good, could get alot of fans who operate at a "deminished" capicity or gave up all together back into the fold.

wrunow · Post by **wrunow** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 8:40 pm

I haven't had a bin since about 1994 or so. Just got sick of all the titles. Unfortunately I don't read too much anymore from the comic industry, and if I do it would probably be a Trade Paperback as I want to read a whole arc and do not want to wait for a monthly issue.

lobo · Post by **lobo** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 8:58 pm

You'll leave the hobby for awhile but something in the future will peak your interest and you'll slowly but surely come back to it. If think most people cannot just walk away from a hobby/interest without replacing it with something else, its the nature of the beast. If you don't pickup other interests to replace comics I'll bet you'd be back. Seriously.

But I can relate, I dropped comics in 1998 and a newspaper article on the 'Dark Knight Returns 2' got me back in. DK2 may have sucked but I got back into the swing of things, completing my Valiant collection for one. For the moment I see no need to slow down and I'm enjoying new releases maybe more than ever.

red_rum · Post by **red_rum** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:16 pm

I agree, I don't think that it will ever leave you completely once its in your blood.

xounitylord · Post by **xounitylord** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:21 pm

I had actually stopped buying new stuff around 1995, just got burnt out on all of the hype and the garbage that was being tossed around and the like. I did still go for the back issues though, as it was a treasure trove of greatness, and I was finally pulled back into the now by The Walking Dead. I hate to admit it because I have always been pretty anti Image, but it is a damn good comic. You'll be back, dude, just watch.

Dr. Phil Seleski · Post by **Dr. Phil Seleski** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:25 pm

I was "away" for a good 9-10 years before one of my friends talked me into reading some new stuff. This got the ball rolling and then I started completing my Valiant collection and started making a weekly trip to the LCS.

It's almost like I never left. A lot has happened since my first stint but that's part of the fun. Finding those great stories.

childres · Post by **childres** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:17 am

Seems like most collectors go through that same ( I don't give a

) sooner or later. I started collecting in 1975. In 1985, I stopped collecting comics for 5 years. Didn't even pick up a single issue.

1990 rolls around and I walk by an old spinner rack, Picked up an issue, which I don't even remember what it was, and started collecting again.

Collected fairly heavy until a few years ago. Today, I don't buy a lot of new books. I've bought 6 this year. I wanted to get the return of Hal Jordan books. Mostly I look for the interesting older books, statues, and the original art that looks interesting. I get a few signed books that a friend gets from Diamond when their past listing them and want them moved out of their storage. Thats about it.

Theres a lot of things out there besides the latest books on the shelf, Omen. I hope you find something that interests you.

-Joe

Chuck · Post by **Chuck** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 1:02 am

I have not bought new comics in about two months.

Truth is, it's better to spend your money on VF/NM Bonze/Silver Age comics every month than new comics.

For example, instead of spending 100 bucks a month on new comics, you spend 50-100 bucks a month on one Silver Age comic. The investment potenial is way better.

Rai-fan · Post by **Rai-fan** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 1:38 am

I understand...I started collecting in 1989 (age 12?) because I came home from summer camp & had somehow become rich to the tune of $40. Tried out stamps, coins, baseball cards...settled on comic books.

Guess I was spoiled in that the first X-men comic I read was Classic X-men 35, reprinting either X-men 129 or 130--little did I know that the Byrne/Claremont Dark Phoenix Saga was one of the best X-men stories ever.

So my "good old days" were starting Batman w/ Year 3, starting X-men w/ Jim Lee (248), starting Classic X-men w/ the Dark Phoenix Saga, & starting Wolverine w/ issue 17 (favorite Byrne cover)

By 1991 I was collecting maybe 16 fanboy titles a month, (all the x-books, Spiderman, Batman, Ghost Rider titles...). Then Image & Valiant hit. Yikes.

Lucky enough to get into Valiant right before Unity hit because my local dealer stockpiled a _long-box_ of back issues for speculation right before it started & I overheard him explaining his theory to his store partner.

I never actually saw the contents of the long-box, but it must have been impressive given that X-O 5, Solar 11, & Magnus 12 were still on his shelf.

I paid $12 each for the first issues of Rai, X-O, & Solar from that store shortly afterwards.

Got out of Valiant when X-O when bi-weekly w/ the Wolfbridge Affair; quit the X-titles around "Fatal Attractions" (holograms aside, Wolverine's losing his adamantium was _dumb_); quit Wolverine (& my complete run from 1 up) when they raised the price w/ issue 81; dropped Batman (favorite comic for consistency--uniformly good from 70s to present) with issue 500 when Azrael took over. Quit The Tick after issue 12.

I guess the point of all this is I went from following tons of mainstream titles to picking up fewer than 200 scattered books since 1995.

Among those books? Hellblazer, Astro City, Batman (Hush), Bruce Jones Hulk, Bendis Daredevil, Planetary.

And if I had the money, I'd be reading Fables, 21 Bullets, Y: The Last Man, Conan, Ex Machina, anything Bendis writes, etc. every month.

I feel like the major difference is when I was a kid many of the hottest books were fairly high quality. Now, the hobby's evolved to where what were then 3rd tier Marvel books (Daredevil? Conan?) are actually good reads.

So I went to a comic book store last week for the first time in 6 months (my 28th birthday present). Out of everything in the store, I bought only 3 titles: Astonishing X-men 5-10; New Avengers (3rd tier Marvel, anyone?) 1-6, & Ultimate Iron Man 1-2 (by Orson Scott Card).

All 3 titles were amazing & worth the $2.50-$3.00 cover price.

My point: If I had the time & money, I would be just as excited about comics today as I was when I was 13.

The titles have changed, but the quality has improved as a whole; you just need to look beyond the usual suspects & wade through tons of crap.

Seriously, don't give up.

BIGNASTY · Post by **BIGNASTY** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 11:14 am

My BIN has a lid,flushes and there is usually 5-6 THINGS in it at any one time.
KARL

slym2none · Post by **slym2none** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:20 pm

Chuck wrote:I have not bought new comics in about two months.

Truth is, it's better to spend your money on VF/NM Bonze/Silver Age comics every month than new comics.

For example, instead of spending 100 bucks a month on new comics, you spend 50-100 bucks a month on one Silver Age comic. The investment potenial is way better.

I buy comics to read, so this doesn't really hold water with me. As far as investing my enjoyment, the 30 new comics I could buy a month for $100 far outweighs the possible financial potential of one comic book. I personally don't buy but 8-10 new comics a month, but the small gaps in my collection I fill can eat up a few more dollars every month.

But, I understand what your saying...

-slym

Chuck · Post by **Chuck** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 1:08 am

Hey slym2,

It's good that you can still enjoy comics these days, but for the past 25 years (since I was 10). The comic industry has changed; it's just not the same anymore

. Stories have been milked dry. How many times is the same charactre gonna die? How many times is a story gonna be told over and over. Now, if VALIANT (headed by Shooter or even Layton) could have survived the comic bust, things might have been different for comic readers.

Unblessed · Post by **Unblessed** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 1:25 am

Started in 93.

Stopped in 94

Started in 2003

Still going. Liberty Meadows, TMNT vol 4, Green Lantern, Batman, and Supes are keeping me going.

~The Unblessed Soul

Brother J · Post by **Brother J** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 10:52 am

BIGNASTY wrote:My BIN has a lid,flushes and there is usually 5-6 THINGS in it at any one time.
KARL

thanks for sharing!

OmenSpirits.com · Post by **OmenSpirits.com** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:10 pm

Hey, full circle.

*Update*

Comics have become the worst thing I've ever seen!

I've actually taken the advice (unconsciously) into buying the 70's thru the 90's & early 2000's era of comics.

And I've gotten to the point where I HATE the digital painted covers.

Marvel. CRAP!
DC. CRAP!

I buy dynamite's project superpowers, IDW's tranformers, and most of my purchases come from either the artist or the writer that WRITES comic books.

NOT and I repeat NOT some author who was tapped to WRITE comics, a GENUINE COMICBOOK WRITER!

Are there any really left?

So like some said in the past of this thread, I never fully left.

But I have lost my drive to be apart of the industry (I REAAALLLY wanted to be a comicbook artist you just don't know!) but I've a bitter taste in my mouth from the betrayal of the big two.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:12 pm

Im down to about 25 titles from a high of 60 a few years back price is a factor but Quality is also a issue

aggr1103 · Post by **aggr1103** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:16 pm

I've said it a hundred times but my frustration with new comics is the fact that within a very short period of time they become quarter to dollar bin fodder. I pick up a new issue here and there if its something I'm interested in, but at $2.99 each its not worth it for me at this point.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:19 pm

3.99 soon

comicsyte95 · Post by **comicsyte95** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:22 pm

superman-prime wrote:3.99 soon

The only new issues that ill pay that for is for the Darkhorse GK relaunce issues.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:28 pm

dcbs they will be like 2 bucks

comicsyte95 · Post by **comicsyte95** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:35 pm

I might try them.. sounds like the cheapest way to go !How is their service in case a issue is dented in the mail.Its happened before to some books i bought on ebay.