The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Comics & Me

A little history on me as a comics collector. (Artificially, retroactively placed back in the early part of my blog.) The core of this was written back around the close of the 20th century, when my return to comics following the only time out I'd ever taken was looming large. I've rescued that from a long-unused website and began to freshen it up. I mainly wanted something to link to off the main page.

Yes, the unfortunately named but I've grown to accept that, comic books.

They became a growing passion with me since shortly after coming across them around the age of 6, which would be way back in 1966, when a copy of Fantastic Four #52 found its way into my hands -- it was most likely something bought for me as a car drive entertainment when we were moving down to Levittown, PA in the move from Rhode Island. It wasn't until I had turned 8 when I really began collecting them, though.

My early and strongest connection was to the Marvel Comics of the 1960's and 70's - an affection which was sorely challenged during the late 80's and most of the 90's.

Up through the 70's, I was pretty much what's been called a Marvel Zombie, as my brushes with other comics companies' material were rarely more than tentative contacts. Sure, I'd picked up the occasional Batman or Detective Comics issue, had a smattering of Justice League of America issues (really loved the Earth 2/Earth X crossovers), bought into much of Jack Kirby's more independent output (his Kamandi is still fondly recalled) and some odds and ends, but they were always very separate in my mind and heart from the Marvel characters.

The Fantastic Four, Avengers, etc., were in many ways like real people to me , whose lives and histories I was intimately familiar with.

A good eye, determination and lots of luck all combined to let me fill in the back issues and gaps, so that by late in 1982 my collection of Silver Age Marvel superhero comics was essentially complete, leaving me feeling slightly saddened that there were no more gaps to fill in and no essential backstory to learn aside from what newer writers would ret-con into the history.

Fortunately it was just about this time that the independent comics inductry was finally about to take off for the first time in my lifetime. Little did I realize that by the close of '83 my favorite monthly comics would be a sophisticated, culturally prescient something called American Flagg!, produced by Howard Chaykin and published by First Comics.

DC, too, began some experiments to revive interest in their line. I was open to new worlds, and they appeared as if on cue.

In July of 1998 I reached a point where I decided to do what girlfriends & marriage, peer pressure, high school and college all had failed to do: I stopped buying new comics.

Part of this was because I realized that too many series were just piling up, unread, waiting for that mythic day when I'd have "the time." Part of it was that despite some entertaining comics coming out, much of the joy had fled from the hobby.

A great deal of this was cumulative, as the 1980s saw the rise of the writer/artist and the collector market beginning to home in on a hot artist market. By the end of the decade - most notably at Marvel - the bulk of their sales were attributed to people fixed on investment value. From a business standpoint it was perfectly understandable: If the section of the market where individual buyers were buying multiple copies, sometimed dozens or more, is being driven by the artwork and cared less and less about the story and character development -- aside from value-adding items such as first appearances of new characters and the death of old ones -- that's the portion of the market that's going to get the attention. Cash is king.

This culminated - following the circa '93/'94 collapse of the pyramid scheme that was the hot artist comics investment market) in the predations Marvel's visited on their characters and history. "Heroes Reborn" was a kick to the groin, and while the "Return" roughly a year later brought us a revived Avengers in the capable hands of Busiek and Perez, a modestly de-aged but otherwise honorable Iron Man, also by Busiek (and then in conjunction with long-time talent Roger Stern) and Mark Waid was doing a much better job the second time around on Captain America, I knew the characterization and observance of the characters' histories - much more the case with the Avengers & ol' Shellhead than with Cap - was just due to the teams working on them.

Marvel's approach had obviously shifted in the 90's, and so even these were just an issue away from the latest Flavor of the Month "talent" coming in and reinterpreting the characters based on some passing knowledge of the characters. Besides, the "revived" Fantastic Four started out highly suspect, nosed-dived once Alan Davis left as artist and obvious co-plotter, then went into a power dive with Chris Claremont at the controls. The horror of it wasn't to be believed. It made Tom DeFalco's run on the series seem on-track and inspired.

Aside from all that, I needed to get some finances in order, and my $25 or so weekly habit (and that was with a discount) wasn't helping the cause. It was money I had come to resent spending.

So, at a distance I kept up with the new material via reports from comics-reading friends, and from weekly news sources such as the free-for-the-asking CBEM, for roughly fifteen months. (I later ditched CBEM, but that's another story.)

Late in '99 I decided it was time to come back, attracted by word that The Avengers was still going strong, and by all the buzz surrounding Alan Moore's work for DC/Wildstorm on the "America's Best Comics" line. Cautiously I ventured back in, and within a year was back to buying too many comics again... but at least I was enjoying them once more. Also back with the Legends crowd, I had some fine people to kick opinions around with.

With the new century beginning I was enjoying comics more than I have in years. Between selected current series and finally making the time to delve into my decades of back issues there's always something there to appreciate.

Staying selectively in the loop and happy with the results remains a challenge, something I occasionally make a point of when doing comics posts here.