I am so out of the collecting phase. I used to work at one comic store (now defunct) at which I had been a regular customer. I'd already been collecting, thus I was simply feeding my own frenzy by getting an additional discount (which got totally used up on NEW titles to collect rather than helping me save money on the titles I was already collecting - yeah, I was an addict). Of course, I was also able to afford really cool gifts for my buddies at Christmas/birthday time (or what we used to think of as cool - boxed Star Trek ship models, Vallejo and Olivia art card collection pieces, character pins). The next comic store I'd worked at was much more upscale, cleaner, friendlier and a wholesome environment for female clientele (much less an employee), and that's totally due to the manager and his choice of staff. He's a great guy.
When I went away to college, I wasn't working (my parents were very cool about ensuring that I would not have to, at least when two hours away from home - I worked while I was local and in junior college) so I didn't have the extra cash for my fix (man!) and had to pare down my collecting to purely Batman titles (there were several of course). Since college, I guess "life" caught up with me. One of the stores I had frequented had gone out of business, one had relocated and the nice store that I'd worked at lost its great guy-manager, so I purposefully boycotted it. A very bad move by the owner - he had an arsenal of bad moves and some slightly illegal ones, at that.
You know, having a kid and working full time really takes the wind out of a girl. I'm glad that most of the important parts of my collection (full series runs that I still reread, special mini-series' that I like and share with others) have been tolerated by both my parents and my live-ins when I've had to move the many boxes. Mul even built a special shelving unit just for my comic boxes (he is so sweet) out of extra wide planks and brick stacks. I've recently reintroduced myself to the collection, pondering what I could release (sell, give away, share with my daughter) and what I really, really didn't want to get rid of. Always a tough decision. Not only do I still like so much of the actual work, there are many purchases and items that are tied up with my memories of those friends that I shared them with and the whys or whens that I got them (having the writer & artist of one comic sign their tour shirt for me - still have that one). But I love my public library and nearby bookstores and still visit the occasional comic shop/gaming store.
Most of the collections I started were by accidental discovery. I would find a book and flip through it with curiosity, like it, realize that it was the middle (or end) of a series and have to go finding the origin just for OCD sake. Then I would love the progression (Y: the Last Man) or art (Mai, the Psychic Girl) or the character itself (Ambush Bug) and want to get all that I could on them. Very rarely is it that I would know of something about to come out and be determined to get the series right from the start (El Diablo). Once in a while, one collection would lead to another - example: from Mai, the Psychic Girl to Crying Freeman to Sanctuary (all manga that's been reprinted with translations). Some of my X-Men stuff led to my going back for the mini-series on Kitty Pryde and Wolverine (yes, that same mini-series that everyone seems to have reported hating - my excuse is I was 15 years old). A particular image of the Enchantress in an Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (like a who's who) led me to investigate the Dazzler series (loved it, got it all). Jokes or secret references in one series could lead me to look at others (I traditionally don't like crossovers, the biggest exception being Teen Titans and X-Men in a single shot - it is awesome) like Munden's Bar, GrimJack, Badger, Whisper, Dynamo Joe and Jon Sable, Freelance (all originating from either Capital or First Comics).
Why don't I collect comics now? I'm still paying for my car, my house, my daughter's college fund (and ignoring my Roth since I can't afford all of that at once), clothes, food, utilities, etc. If only I could afford to smoke three packs a week - then I could quit that and spend the money on comics!
I get to overhear my daughter enjoying her webcomics every now and then. A chuckle, a snort, a peal of laughter, an "omigawd" and here I am on the couch, looking over my shoulder at her back, wondering what I'm missing. So I try a bit of Charby or a Vampirate or whatever. Nope - it just doesn't translate for me. I'm definitely a mainstream hero or antihero fan. Even when they're covered in fur and feathers (Xanadu).
What do you read?
