"What are you doing here?"
Jul 2, 2011 8:52:21 GMT -5
Post by Defiant1 on Jul 2, 2011 8:52:21 GMT -5
This question was posed...
I'm here because I'm a fan of good comics. Simple as that.
I was an avid reader of comics in the early 70's. During that time period I was asked if I collected anything and I said "no" despite having a box full of comics all arranged in chronological order. By late 1970's, Chuck Rozanski was running ads showing X-Men #94 valued at $60. I'd paid cover price for the comic. That was an incredible price difference. At that point I started taking my collection serious. My status changed to avid reader and avid collector. By the early 80's, I was concerned about condition. If you buy a single copy, it might end up being damaged. First issues and key appearances had a track record for escalating in value after their release. I started buy duplicates on most of my comics during this time period. I used to own as many as 6 copies on the Miller Daredevil issues. I owned that many copies of his Wolverine mini series. They were all stored in mylite archival grade bags. I was an avid reader/collector/speculator. Comics by that time had grown up with me. They'd matured with me. Graphic novels were starting to pour out the industry could attract some really good talent.
By 1983 or so, my world shifted. I could not afford to date and buy comics. Marvel was increasing their number of one shots. The mini and maxi series were starting to come out. Their relevance to the Marvel universe was tenuous at best. The comics were okay, but it was too much at a time when my budget was strained. As a collector, I took pride in owning at least one copy of anything good. It became harder to predict what was going to be good and what was going to be relevant. What I'd call "duds" started slipping into my collection. Finally, the straw that broke the camel's back occurred. Marvel did an assistant editor's month. I didn't know why assistant editor's month existed, I just knew it was the month all quality dropped and serious covers and continuity became a big joke. It annoyed me. The drop in quality, my increased expectations, the flood of frivolous product, and my strained budget all contributed to me dropping out as both a reader and collector. I quit "cold turkey". I had no regrets. My collection went into a storage facility that was out of sight and out of mind. Years later I saw that my last purchases were not bagged like I'd done with all my other comics. I was so fed up that I just pit them in a box unprotected. unread and closed the lid. I recall that Marvel's "Generic Comic Book" was one of the last comics I bought.
Flash forward to 1989 or 1990. The tumultuous relationship with the girl I loved ended when she died in a traffic accident. I wasn't interested in dating anymore. I was fed up with my chosen occupation in retail. Although everyone agreed I was d**n good at it, I found myself tired of the abusive way that me and my fellow coworkers were treated. I eventually cussed out a manager that was lying about my friend (and supervisor) in order to get him fired. Despite them wanting to keep me employed, I subsequently quit and took the fall so a father of two could keep his job a little longer.
I took a pay cut each time I got a new job and they were no better. In one job, I recall cussing out a district manager while high school kids were laughing their asses off. The district manager offered me a promotion. The job put me with another boss that was an idiot and a liar. I quit again. At that point, I'd lost the love of my life, I was unemployed, and I didn't care.
I took an entry level job with my dad's business making minimum wage. I had barely enough money to pay my bills. I had pretty much no entertainment budget. I started hanging around a rock n' roll club several days a week. It was interesting because rock celebrities would occasionally drift through on some nights. The bouncer and Jackyl's (the rock band) sound guy were always talking about comics. I hadn't thought about comics in 6 years, so I asked how much an X-Men #1 was worth because I had 2 copies. They looked at me strangely and said "It's not out yet." I said "It came out in 1963." Their eyes popped wide open. I never paid a cover charge again at the club. Those two guy pulled me back in as a reader. I pulled my comics out of storage. I read X-Men #1-192 (whatever my last issue was) and Defenders #1-100+. It was free entertainment. I was pulled back in as a collector.
When I started trying to buy new comics, I almost quit as soon as I did. I renewed a friendship with the comic store manager the minute I walked in the door. He remembered me from the 70's. My problem was the art. Jim Lee's art looked like scratch marks on everything. Rob Liefeld's art was horrid. None of the talent I'd liked in the 80's was credited on the comics I saw. In disgust, I said "What is Bob Layton doing?" My retailer friend said "He's working for Jim Shooter." I said "Who is that?" He pointed out a few early comics from Valiant Comics. I bought Magnus #2 and was stunned. It was exactly what I wanted to see. My friend the bouncer was keyed in on them also. Valiant pulled me back into collecting comics. My employment situation improved, so I had more money. When Jim Shooter was dumped from Valiant, I immediately traded or sold my duplicate copies of VALIANT and ultimately obtained the comics I'd dreamed of owning.... FF#1, Hulk #1, and Amazing Fantasy #15. To a poverty level person, comics had become a hobby that not only paid for itself, but it potentially made me money also.
My comic collecting and my experience in retail made me a perfect candidate as a quality inspector. My attention to defects and details qualified me for a more skilled occupation. My experience in retail allowed me to fine tune efficient work processes. I have money to buy comics, but currently no comics interest me.
I experimented with a lot of stuff in to 90's. Marvel & DC pump out endless volumes of crap. The indy books don't sell enough to make money. The titles I followed were coming out twice a year when I dropped them. Jim Shooter's companies were sabotaged and he was blacklisted in the industry. Dark Horse recently hired him as a writer, but paired him up with some very crappy artwork and then made no effort to promote the books. I find them to be unreadable and the price on everything is far too high. Comics don't retain value because publishers repeatedly sabotage the collecting angle of the hobby. Story arcs go straight to TPB leaving retailers stuck with dead, unsaleable, and worthless backstock. They pump out worthless variants which retailers have to charge exorbitant prices in order to recoup their costs.
Perhaps most importantly, I'm dating again. It's the most beautiful girl in the world. When I'm happy in a relationship, I simply could not care less about keeping up with a monthly comic. She encourages me to collect, but I don't see a lot of wisdom in it.
For me to buy comics, a publisher will need to address every aspect of the product. Stop the bullshit shock events. Fire the prima donna artists that don't follow a script or can't tell a story with images. Decompressed storytelling will have to end. Story arcs will have to end. Pointless variants will have to end. Portrait covers which give no insight into the contents will have to end. Pencils will have to get better. Inking will have to be clean, neat and bring out the best from the pencils. One shots, mini-series, and otherwise pointless comics in a shared universe need to cease entirely. There is far too much filler crap out on the stands wasting shelf space.
Q
So if none of you buy or read comics, what are you doing here?
I'm here because I'm a fan of good comics. Simple as that.
I was an avid reader of comics in the early 70's. During that time period I was asked if I collected anything and I said "no" despite having a box full of comics all arranged in chronological order. By late 1970's, Chuck Rozanski was running ads showing X-Men #94 valued at $60. I'd paid cover price for the comic. That was an incredible price difference. At that point I started taking my collection serious. My status changed to avid reader and avid collector. By the early 80's, I was concerned about condition. If you buy a single copy, it might end up being damaged. First issues and key appearances had a track record for escalating in value after their release. I started buy duplicates on most of my comics during this time period. I used to own as many as 6 copies on the Miller Daredevil issues. I owned that many copies of his Wolverine mini series. They were all stored in mylite archival grade bags. I was an avid reader/collector/speculator. Comics by that time had grown up with me. They'd matured with me. Graphic novels were starting to pour out the industry could attract some really good talent.
By 1983 or so, my world shifted. I could not afford to date and buy comics. Marvel was increasing their number of one shots. The mini and maxi series were starting to come out. Their relevance to the Marvel universe was tenuous at best. The comics were okay, but it was too much at a time when my budget was strained. As a collector, I took pride in owning at least one copy of anything good. It became harder to predict what was going to be good and what was going to be relevant. What I'd call "duds" started slipping into my collection. Finally, the straw that broke the camel's back occurred. Marvel did an assistant editor's month. I didn't know why assistant editor's month existed, I just knew it was the month all quality dropped and serious covers and continuity became a big joke. It annoyed me. The drop in quality, my increased expectations, the flood of frivolous product, and my strained budget all contributed to me dropping out as both a reader and collector. I quit "cold turkey". I had no regrets. My collection went into a storage facility that was out of sight and out of mind. Years later I saw that my last purchases were not bagged like I'd done with all my other comics. I was so fed up that I just pit them in a box unprotected. unread and closed the lid. I recall that Marvel's "Generic Comic Book" was one of the last comics I bought.
Flash forward to 1989 or 1990. The tumultuous relationship with the girl I loved ended when she died in a traffic accident. I wasn't interested in dating anymore. I was fed up with my chosen occupation in retail. Although everyone agreed I was d**n good at it, I found myself tired of the abusive way that me and my fellow coworkers were treated. I eventually cussed out a manager that was lying about my friend (and supervisor) in order to get him fired. Despite them wanting to keep me employed, I subsequently quit and took the fall so a father of two could keep his job a little longer.
I took a pay cut each time I got a new job and they were no better. In one job, I recall cussing out a district manager while high school kids were laughing their asses off. The district manager offered me a promotion. The job put me with another boss that was an idiot and a liar. I quit again. At that point, I'd lost the love of my life, I was unemployed, and I didn't care.
I took an entry level job with my dad's business making minimum wage. I had barely enough money to pay my bills. I had pretty much no entertainment budget. I started hanging around a rock n' roll club several days a week. It was interesting because rock celebrities would occasionally drift through on some nights. The bouncer and Jackyl's (the rock band) sound guy were always talking about comics. I hadn't thought about comics in 6 years, so I asked how much an X-Men #1 was worth because I had 2 copies. They looked at me strangely and said "It's not out yet." I said "It came out in 1963." Their eyes popped wide open. I never paid a cover charge again at the club. Those two guy pulled me back in as a reader. I pulled my comics out of storage. I read X-Men #1-192 (whatever my last issue was) and Defenders #1-100+. It was free entertainment. I was pulled back in as a collector.
When I started trying to buy new comics, I almost quit as soon as I did. I renewed a friendship with the comic store manager the minute I walked in the door. He remembered me from the 70's. My problem was the art. Jim Lee's art looked like scratch marks on everything. Rob Liefeld's art was horrid. None of the talent I'd liked in the 80's was credited on the comics I saw. In disgust, I said "What is Bob Layton doing?" My retailer friend said "He's working for Jim Shooter." I said "Who is that?" He pointed out a few early comics from Valiant Comics. I bought Magnus #2 and was stunned. It was exactly what I wanted to see. My friend the bouncer was keyed in on them also. Valiant pulled me back into collecting comics. My employment situation improved, so I had more money. When Jim Shooter was dumped from Valiant, I immediately traded or sold my duplicate copies of VALIANT and ultimately obtained the comics I'd dreamed of owning.... FF#1, Hulk #1, and Amazing Fantasy #15. To a poverty level person, comics had become a hobby that not only paid for itself, but it potentially made me money also.
My comic collecting and my experience in retail made me a perfect candidate as a quality inspector. My attention to defects and details qualified me for a more skilled occupation. My experience in retail allowed me to fine tune efficient work processes. I have money to buy comics, but currently no comics interest me.
I experimented with a lot of stuff in to 90's. Marvel & DC pump out endless volumes of crap. The indy books don't sell enough to make money. The titles I followed were coming out twice a year when I dropped them. Jim Shooter's companies were sabotaged and he was blacklisted in the industry. Dark Horse recently hired him as a writer, but paired him up with some very crappy artwork and then made no effort to promote the books. I find them to be unreadable and the price on everything is far too high. Comics don't retain value because publishers repeatedly sabotage the collecting angle of the hobby. Story arcs go straight to TPB leaving retailers stuck with dead, unsaleable, and worthless backstock. They pump out worthless variants which retailers have to charge exorbitant prices in order to recoup their costs.
Perhaps most importantly, I'm dating again. It's the most beautiful girl in the world. When I'm happy in a relationship, I simply could not care less about keeping up with a monthly comic. She encourages me to collect, but I don't see a lot of wisdom in it.
For me to buy comics, a publisher will need to address every aspect of the product. Stop the bullshit shock events. Fire the prima donna artists that don't follow a script or can't tell a story with images. Decompressed storytelling will have to end. Story arcs will have to end. Pointless variants will have to end. Portrait covers which give no insight into the contents will have to end. Pencils will have to get better. Inking will have to be clean, neat and bring out the best from the pencils. One shots, mini-series, and otherwise pointless comics in a shared universe need to cease entirely. There is far too much filler crap out on the stands wasting shelf space.
Q
